The Second Intervention 91... and that is by reconcentration, which would be certain to raise
a storm of protest in this country.^9
The Washington Post's headlines on September 22 read
"Reconcentrado is the Hint Given Cuba... May Adopt
Weyler's Policy." In another article on September 23, the
New York Times again drew a parallel between Cuba and
the Philippines. In discussing General Bell's campaign in
Batangas, "a form of concentration which resulted in estab
lishing peace," it reported that this experience prepared the
Army for "the sort of work that would have to be done in
Cuba."^10 As for an Army consensus on a Cuban war, the
New York Times found the officers it interviewed in agree
ment that a counterguerrilla campaign would be "long and ex
tremely arduous, with no opportunity for distinguishing one's
self, and the result... will be the annexation of Cuba."
11
The political dilemma which might grow from a fighting
intervention in Cuba did not escape the British press. The
Times thought the whole business enormously amusing if the
United States Army and an American general had "to resort
to the devices of the much-abused General Weyler—recon
centrado camps, trochas, and the rest."^12 The Graphic ap
proved of Roosevelt's "judicious threats" to dampen the
politicos' pleas for intervention and recognized that to sup
port Estrada Palma would be foolish: "With the conquest of
the Philippines still uncompleted, a guerrilla war in Cuba,
such as the veterans of the Spanish war could have sus
tained, would have been exceedingly disagreeable."^13
The naval intervention, ordered by Roosevelt on September
8 and 14, continued during Taft's negotiations in Havana.
By the night of September 21, there were three battleships
("Louisiana," "New Jersey," "Virginia") and two cruisers
("Denver" and "Des Moines") in Havana harbor. The next
day two more cruisers arrived with eight hundred Marines.
By October 1, three more battleships and two more cruisers
had arrived and the number of available Marines increased
by two thousand.^14 At Cienfuegos on September 23, Com
mander Fullam placed the Cuban Central Railway under the