Very respectfully yours,
Clara Barton.
On the same day, Admiral Sampson, in his reply, pointed out why, as commander of the blockading squadron, his instructions would not permit him to admit food into Cuba at that time.
U.S. Flagship “New York,” First Rate.
Key West, Florida, May 2, 1898.
Miss Clara Barton,
President, American National Red Cross, Key West, Fla.:
Dear Madam: I have received, through the senior naval officer present, a copy of a letter from the State Department to the Secretary of the Navy, a copy of a letter of the Secretary of the Navy to the commander-in-chief of the naval force on this station, and also a copy of a letter from the Secretary of the Navy to the commandant of the naval station at Key West.
2. From these communications it appears that the destination of the steamship “State of Texas,” loaded with supplies for the starving reconcentrados in Cuba, is left, in a measure, to my judgment.
3. At present I am acting under instructions from the Navy Department to blockade the coast of Cuba for the purpose of preventing, among other things, any food supply from reaching the Spanish forces in Cuba. Under these circumstances it seems to me unwise to let a ship-load of such supplies be sent to the reconcentrados, for, in my opinion, they would be distributed to the Spanish army. Until some point be occupied in Cuba by our forces, from which such distribution may be made to those for whom the supplies are intended, I am unwilling that they should be landed on Cuban soil.
Yours, very respectfully,
W.T. Sampson,
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy,
Commander-in-Chief U.S. Naval Force,
North Atlantic Station.
The Red Cross had been requested to hasten south to take food into Cuba, but the admiral had been instructed to keep it out. Nothing remained to do but to inform the government at Washington, and the committee in New York, regarding the situation as developed by this correspondence, and await farther instructions, which was done by cablegram addressed to the chairman of the Central Cuban Relief Committee in New York:
Key West, Fla., May 3, 1898.