the condition of the army had become so alarming that its
general officers drew up and sent to General Shafter the following
letter:

We, the undersigned officers, commanding the various brigades,
divisions, etc., of the army of occupation in Cuba, are of the
unanimous opinion that this army should be at once taken out of
the island of Cuba and sent to some point on the northern sea-coast
of the United States; that it can be done without danger to the
people of the United States; that yellow fever in the army at
present is not epidemic; that there are only a few sporadic cases,
but that the army, is disabled by malarial fever, to the extent
that its efficiency is destroyed, and that it is in a condition to
be practically entirely destroyed by an epidemic of yellow fever,
which is sure to come in the near future.

We know from the reports of competent officers and from personal
observation that the army is unable to move into the interior, and
that there are no facilities for such a move if attempted, and that
it could not be attempted until too late. Moreover, the best
medical authorities of the island say that with our present
equipment we could not live in the interior during the rainy season
without losses from malarial fever, which is almost as deadly as
yellow fever.

This army must be moved at once or perish. As the army can be
safely moved now, the persons responsible for preventing such a
move will be responsible for the unnecessary loss of many thousands
of lives.

Our opinions are the result of careful personal observation, and
they are also based on the unanimous opinion of our medical
officers with the army, and who understand the situation
absolutely.

This letter was signed by Generals Kent, Bates, Chaffee, Sumner, Ludlow,
Ames, and Wood, and Colonel Roosevelt.

In view of such a state of affairs as that disclosed by this letter
there was, of course, only one thing to be done. The War Department
decided to remove the Fifth Army-Corps at once from Cuba, and before the
middle of August a large part of General Shatter's command was on its
way to Montauk Point.

As a result, I presume, of sleeping without shelter from the heavy dew
in the field-hospital at the front, and over-exerting myself by walking
around the lines of the army in the blazing sunshine of midday, I w