Round-Robin Letter (Spanish-American War)

The Round-Robin Letter is the name of an incident in the United States Army that occurred between July 28 and August 3, 1898, during the Spanish–American War. After disease incapacitated thousands of Army soldiers in the wake of the Siege of Santiago, high-ranking officers of V Corps drafted a round-robin letter demanding that the unit be sent back to the United States. Public release of the letter publicly embarrassed the U.S. government.

About the incident
By July 28, 1898, malaria and yellow fever were pandemic among U.S. Army troops garrisoned near Santiago de Cuba on the island of Cuba. V Corps, to which the Rough Riders was attached, had 4,270 men seriously ill (and dying), and corps commanders feared the unit could be wiped out if it stayed in Cuba. The McKinley administration, however, planned to keep V Corps in Cuba until peace negotiations with Spain concluded. Public opinion was also against bringing home an army infected with yellow fever.

Several senior officers met with Major General William R. Shafter, commander of V Corps, and unanimously asked that the corps be withdrawn to the United States. It is unclear whether Shafter agreed and asked for this in writing, or whether Shafter disagreed and the corps commanders decided to put their request in writing. At any rate, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt (commander of the First Volunteer US Cavalry Rough Riders) and while now, acting brigade commander, the only non-general officer of the group of 10 officers was asked by the other generals to draft a round robin letter outlining the problems with living conditions and disease to sent to Army Headquarters in Wiashington, DC. It would also be deliberately leaked to the press.

The term "round robin" dates from the 17th Century French ruban rond (round ribbon). and refers to the practice of signatories to petitions against authority (usually Government officials petitioning the Crown) appending their names on a document in a non-hierarchical circle or ribbon pattern (and so disguising the order in which they have signed) so that none may be identified as a ringleader. This same practice had also been adopted by British sailors petitioning their officers in the Royal Navy (first recorded 1731).

As a volunteer, Roosevelt's career would not be at stake in the way a regular army officer's would be by the communication. (Some sources say there is doubt that Roosevelt was the author, while others say that Roosevelt was only the author of the abridged letter. )Nine generals and Roosevelt signed the letter. An abridged version was given to Shafter to present to the United States Secretary of War. Shafter declined to do so, but did communicate with his superiors about what was happening.

The letter was deliberately leaked to Associated Press correspondents at V Corps Headquarters which cabled it back to the US where it was published throughout the US and beyond. Publication of the round-robin letter turned public opinion against the War Department.

The McKinley administration was outraged by the leaking of the round-robin letter, but knew the public response would be highly negative. On July 28, Secretary of War Russell A. Alger cabled Shafter and ordered V Corps home to Camp Wikoff on Long Island, New York, for quarantine and mustering out. On August 3, the day before the letter appeared in the press, Alger ordered construction on Camp Wikoff to begin and for United States Navy ships to head to Cuba to retrieve V Corps. The first units departed on August 7. Alger claimed that the round-robin letter did not accelerate administration plans to repatriate V Corps. But this appears untruthful, as Alger had long claimed that naval ships were unavailable.