American Occupation of Cuba (1906-1909)

Telegram from Jacob Sleeper

Chargé d’affaires Sleeper gives an update on the situation in Cuba. If Havana is attacked, Cuban President Tomás Estrada Palma cannot guarantee the protection of American lives and property. Following Palma’s advise, Sleeper and Captain John C. Colwell, commander of the USS Denver, landed an armed battalion near the city. The British now consider their interests in Cuba as under threat.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-13

Translation of memorandum from James Colwell to the Navigation Bureau

Commander Colwell of the United States Navy informs the Bureau of Navigation about the location of a battalion with rapid-fire guns.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-13

Letter from Jacob Sleeper to Elihu Root

Jacob Sleeper, chargé d’affaires, updates Secretary of State Root on the uprising in Cuba. The veterans have given up their efforts to bring about peace, and President Tomás Estrada Palma is not certain if the government will be able to put down the rebellion although he is hopeful there will be a quorum in the House and Congress. Estrada Palma has pledged to safeguard Americans and their property. In Santa Clara and Pinar del Rio provinces, bridges and culverts have been destroyed. The rebels are now threatening to dynamite train stations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-13

Telegram from Frank Maximilian Steinhart to Robert Bacon

Consul General Steinhart conveys to Assistant Secretary of State Bacon a request from Cuban President Tomás Estrada Palma for American intervention in Cuba. Estrada Palma will resign as soon as American troops have landed in Cuba to protect the country from “complete anarchy.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-13

Telegram from Jacob Sleeper to William Loeb

Chargé d’affaires in Cuba Sleeper relays a message from the General Manager of the Western Railway to Secretary to the President Loeb that the Cuban rebels destroyed culverts, cut telegraph wires, and stopped several trains. The manager argues that since the Cuban government cannot protect their trains, they should stop train service west of San Cristóbal.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-08

Telegram from Frank Maximilian Steinhart to William Loeb

The Cuban Secretary of State has asked Consul General Steinhart, in the name of Cuban President Tomás Estrada Palma, to ask President Roosevelt for two vessels to be sent immediately to Havana and Cienfuegos in Cuba to quell a rebellion. Estrada Palma will talk with the Cuban Congress later and will ask for intervention, but it must be kept secret that he has asked for vessels.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-08

Letter from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Taft thanks President Roosevelt for the complimentary telegram Roosevelt sent about Taft’s speech. He proposes that a man named Cairns, who is from Maine and a good man with experience abroad, might go to Collier’s magazine and provide a counter story about Ross. Taft also comments on a letter he mistakenly sent to the president instead of Kerr, Roosevelt’s correspondence with Henry Cabot Lodge about Horace H. Lurton, Justice John Marshall Harlan’s wish to retire with Lurton’s appointment in place, and how the Tafts had a good time in Maine.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-08

Telegram from Jacob Sleeper to William Loeb

Chargé d’affaires in Cuba Sleeper informs Secretary to the President Loeb that the revolutionary movement has started in Manzanillo, Cuba, and they have two thousand men armed to fight.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-09

Telegram from Jacob Sleeper to Elihu Root

Chargé d’affaires Sleeper updates Secretary of War Root on the fighting in Cuba. The United States forces defeated Cuban combatants who attacked a train.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-10

Telegram from Frank Maximilian Steinhart to William Loeb

Consul General Steinhart relays the message that the President of Cuba asks that ships from the United States remain to give security to the island. If they are unable to compromise, the Cuban Congress will indicate the desired type of intervention. Steinhart appreciates the reluctance in the United States to intervene as there are not many who understand the situation in Cuba.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-10

Telegram from Jacob Sleeper to Elihu Root

Chargé d’affairs Sleeper informs Secretary of State Root about insurgency activities in Cuba. An emissary has left Havana to attempt to induce Faustino Guerra to cease hostilities and begin peace negotiations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-07

Letter from Robert Bacon to Theodore Roosevelt

Acting Secretary of State Robert Bacon encloses for President Roosevelt a dispatch from the American officials in Havana about the political situation in the Republic of Cuba.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-07

Letter from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Taft informs President Roosevelt that he would like to consult Secretary of State Elihu Root on the prospect of interference in Cuba. If the U.S. sends troops to suppress disorder, they would have a conflict similar to the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-02

Letter from William J. Bruff to William Loeb

William J. Bruff gives William Loeb advance notice of a cable that President Roosevelt will soon receive from President Tomás Estrada Palma of Cuba. Estrada Palma would like to secure ammunition for Cuba from the M. Hartley Company, the United States government’s representative for foreign business.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-24

Letter from Juan Francisco O’Farrill to Jacob Sleeper

Cuban Secretary of State and Justice O’Farrill submits a statement regarding the insurgent forces operating against the government of Cuba and the government forces opposing them. The Cuban government will institute a vigorous campaign as soon as the arms and ammunition ordered from the United States are received, and it hopes to crush the revolt in a short time.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-28

Letter from Jacob Sleeper to Elihu Root

Jacob Sleeper, chargé d’affaires in Cuba, informs Secretary of State Elihu Root that the situation in Cuba is somewhat improved. The Cuban government is recruiting heavily to increase their forces and is offering amnesty to any rebels who lay down their arms.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-28

Telegram from Jacob Sleeper to Elihu Root

Jacob Sleeper telegrams Secretary of State Elihu Root that there was an armed insurrection against the government in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, in which several hundred armed men attacked. The government claims no trouble elsewhere and has arrested several known leaders.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-20

Letter from Theodore P. Shonts to William H. Taft

Chairman Shonts of the Isthmian Canal Commission sends Secretary of War Taft proposals for securing alternative sources of labor for the construction of the Panama Canal. He recommends Spanish or Chinese laborers, and outlines the costs for either group. He asks Taft for his input on the proposals.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-05-16

Telegram about message from British Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand

British Ambassador H. Mortimer Durand has notified the State Department that the Cuban railroad at Sagua La Grand is threatened by revolutionaries, and hopes that the United States will offer protection. Second Assistant Secretary of State Alvey A. Adee has sent the message to Acting Secretary of State Robert Bacon, and wishes for President Roosevelt to be notified as well.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906

Memorandum: relative to vessels and men available for Habana

A list of the status of American vessels and men available for arrival at Havana, Cuba. Lists the current location of ships, their readiness to sail, and how quickly they would be able to reach Havana, in addition to the number of sailors and marines present on the ships.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09