_March 18._ The cruiser _Amazonas_, purchased from the Brazilian government, was formally transferred to the United States at Gravesend, England, to be known in the future as the _New Orleans_.
_March 19._ The _Maine_ court of inquiry concluded its work. The general sentiments of the people, as voiced by the newspapers, were that war with Spain was near at hand, and this belief was strengthened March 24th, when authority was given by the Navy Department for unlimited enlistment in all grades of the service, when the revenue service was transferred from the Treasury to the Naval Department, and arrangements made for the quick employment of the National Guards of the States and Territories.
_March 24._ The report of the _Maine_ court of inquiry arrived at Washington.
_March 27._ Madrid correspondents of Berlin newspapers declared that war with the United States was next to certain. The United States cruisers _San Francisco_ and _New Orleans_ sailed from England for New York, and the active work of mining the harbours of the United States coast was begun.
_March 28._ The President sent to Congress, with a message, the report of the _Maine_ court of inquiry, as has been stated in a previous chapter.
_March 29._ Resolutions declaring war on Spain, and recognising the independence of Cuba, were introduced in both houses of Congress.
With the beginning of April it was to the public generally as if the war had already begun.
In every city, town, or hamlet throughout the country the newspapers were scanned eagerly for notes of warlike preparation, and from Washington, sent by those who were in position to know what steps were being taken by the government, came information which dashed the hopes of those who had been praying that peace might not be broken.
There had been a conference between the President, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the chairman of the committee on ways and means, regarding the best methods of raising funds for the carrying on of a war. A joint board of the army and navy had met to formulate plans of defence, and a speedy report was made to Secretary Long.
Instructions were sent by the State Department to all United States consuls in Cuba to be prepared to leave the island at any moment, and to hold themselves in readiness to proceed to Havana in order to embark for the United States.