The Politics of Intervention

78 THE POLITICS OF INTERVENTION

created for himself. By dispatching "Denver" and "Marietta"
without orders, by urging Estrada Palma to fight on, by act­
ing to protect American lives and property, he had encour­
aged the contestants in the civil war to increase their pressure
for American intervention. In the face of what appeared to
be an explosive situation around Havana, where Guerra,
Asbert, and Loynaz del Castillo had joined their columns,
Roosevelt hurriedly sent more ships and Marines to Cuban
waters. Even before "Denver" and "Marietta" put parties
ashore, he wired Bacon:

We should have a large force of marines in Havana at the earliest

possible moment on any ships able to carry them. Cable Steinhart...

that we will send ships and marines as soon as possible for the protection

of American life and property.^69

Roosevelt, on September 13, was still anxious to avoid
intervention, and he recognized that Estrada Palma's unpopu­
larity and military weakness made it unwise to intervene on
his behalf. The Cubans were "not suffering from any real
grievance whatsoever," yet they had plunged themselves into
a civil war that endangered their very existence as a nation.
To find a solution to "what is happening in Cuba ... I expect
to do some tall thinking in the effort to bring about a condi­
tion which shall, if possible, put an end to anarchy without
necessitating a reoccupation of the island by our troops."^70
The next day Roosevelt acquiesced to American involvement
in the Cuban insurrection when he increased his military
commitment to "protect American interests by fulfilling Ameri­
can obligations to Cuba."^71 After a conference with Secretary
Bonaparte, Roosevelt had the Navy dispatch three battle­
ships, a cruiser, and the transport "Dixie," carrying a Marine
battalion, into Cuban waters. The Marine Corps also formed
two more battalions at Norfolk and the League Island Navy
Yard; these embarked on September 16 and 17.^72
In an effort to halt the fighting (which was largely halted
anyway) and perhaps encourage new negotiations among the
Cubans, Roosevelt resorted to personal diplomacy. In a long