Bunau-Varilla arranged for the Panama City fire department to stage a revolution against Colombia which officially began on November 3, 1903. The US Navy gunboat was dispatched to local waters around the city of Colón, where 474 Colombian soldiers had landed to cross the isthmus and crush the rebellion. "Nashville"s commanding officer, Commander John Hubbard, sent a small party ashore and, with the support of the American superintendent of the Panama Railroad, prevented the Colombians from taking the train to Panama City. On November 13, 1903, after 57 years of policing Bogotá's interests, the US formally recognized the country of Panama.