been under consideration, and when the Spanish fleet took refuge
in Santiago harbor the President and his counselors decided, definitely
and finally, to begin operations at that end of the island, and to leave
the western provinces unmolested until fall. The regular army, it was
thought, would be strong enough, with the aid and cooeperation of Admiral
Sampson's fleet, to reduce the defenses of Santiago, and the volunteers
might be left in camp at Chickamauga, Tampa, and Jacksonville, to get in
training for an attack upon Havana at the end of the rainy season.

The preparations for the invasion of Cuba seemed, at that time, to be
nearly, if not quite, complete. The whole regular army, consisting of
seven regiments of cavalry, twenty-two regiments of infantry, and
fourteen batteries of artillery, had been mobilized and transported to
the Gulf coast; the quartermaster's department had, under charter,
twenty-seven steamers, with a carrying capacity of about twenty thousand
men; immense quantities of food and munitions of war had been bought and
sent to Tampa, and there seemed to be no good reason why General
Shafter's command should not embark for Cuba, if necessary, at
twenty-four hours' notice.

On May 26, just a week after the appearance of Admiral Cervera and his
fleet at Santiago, the President held a consultation at the Executive
Mansion with the Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Navy, and the
members of the Board of Strategy, and decided to begin the invasion of
Cuba at once. Orders were presumably sent to General Shafter to prepare
for an immediate movement, and Secretary Long telegraphed Admiral
Sampson as follows:

WASHINGTON, May 27, 1898.

_Sampson, Care Naval Base, Key West:_

If Spanish division is proved to be at Santiago, it is the
intention of the department to make a descent immediately upon that
port with ten thousand United States troops, landing about eight
nautical miles east of the port. You will be expected to convoy
transports....

[Signed] LONG.

Three days later General Shafter was directed, in the following order,
to embark his command and proceed at once to Santiago:

WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, May 30, 1898.

_Major-General William R. Shafter, Tampa, Florida:_

With the approval of the Secretary of War you are directed to take
your comman