I am, yours with great respect and consideration, (Signed) JOSE TORAL. In Santiago de Cuba, July 4, 1898. Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Camp near San Juan River, Cuba, July 6, 1898. To the Commander-in-Chief, Spanish Forces, Santiago de Cuba. Sir:--In view of the events of the 3d instant, I have the honor to lay before your Excellency certain propositions to which, I trust, your Excellency, will give the consideration which, in my judgment, they deserve. I inclose a bulletin of the engagement of Sunday morning which resulted in the complete destruction of Admiral Cervera's fleet, the loss of six hundred of his officers and men, and the capture of the remainder. The Admiral, General Paredes and all others who escaped alive are now prisoners on board the Harvard and St. Louis, and the latter ship, in which are the Admiral, General Paredes and the surviving captains (all except the captain of the Almirante Oquendo, who was slain) has already sailed for the United States. If desired by you, this may be confirmed by your Excellency sending an officer under a flag of truce to Admiral Sampson, and he can arrange to visit the Harvard, which will not sail until to-morrow, and obtain the details from Spanish officers and men on board that ship. Our fleet is now perfectly free to act, and I have the honor to state that unless a surrender be arranged by noon of the 9th instant, a bombardment will be begun and continued by the heavy guns of our ships. The city is within easy range of these guns, the eight-inch being capable of firing 9,500 yards, the thirteen-inch, of course, much farther. The ships can so lie that with a range of 8,000 yards they can reach the centre of the city. I make this suggestion of a surrender purely in a humanitarian spirit. I do not wish to cause the slaughter of any more men, either of your Excellency's forces or my own, the final result, under circumstances so disadvantageous to your Excellency being a foregone conclusion. As your Excellency may wish to make reference of so momentous a question to your Excellency's home government, it is for this purpose that I have placed the time of the resumption of hostilities sufficiently far in the future to allow a reply being received. I beg an early answer from your Excellency. I have the honor to be, Very respectfully, your obedient servant, W. R. SHAFTER, Major-General, Commanding. Headquarters Fifth Army Corps, Camp near Santiago, July 9, 1898. Hon. Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. I forwarded General Toral's proposition to evacuate the town this morning without consulting any one. Since then I have seen the general officers commanding divisions, who agree with me in that it should be accepted.