"Prepared to Move"

Head Note: Lee was appointed the U.S. Consul-General in Havana, Cuba in 1896 by President Grover Cleveland. He wrote this letter to the Assistant Secretary of State in the U.S almost three months before the Maine explosion.

SIR: ...

I still think that two war ships at least should be at Key West, prepared to move here at short notice, and that more of them should be sent to Dry Tortugas, and a coal station be established there. Such proceedings would seem to be in line with that prudence and foresight necessary to afford safety to the Americans residing on the island, and to their properties, both of which, I have every reason to know, are objects of the greatest concern to our Government.

I am, etc.,

FITZHUGH LEE,

Consul-General.

Source: Excerpt from telegram sent by Fitzhugh Lee, U.S. Consul-General in Cuba, December 3, 1897. Havana, Cuba.