n
a friendly visit; but she did not stay long, and got away as soon as she
decently could. The United States sent the battleship Maine to Havana
on the same friendly mission, where she was officially conveyed to her
anchorage. She had been there but a short time when she was blown up, on
Feb. 15, 1898, and 260 American seamen murdered. There was an official
investigation to determine the cause of the explosion, but it found no
solution of the disaster. Various theories were advanced of internal
spontaneous explosion, but no one was misled. The general sentiment of
Americans was that the Spanish in Cuba deliberately exploded a submarine
torpedo under her, to accomplish the result that followed. Previous to
this cowardly act there was much difference of opinion among the people
of all sections of the country as to the propriety of declaring war
against Spain, but public sentiment was at once unified in favor of war
on the announcement of this outrage. On the 25th of April, 1898,
congress passed an act declaring that war against Spain had existed
since the 21st of the same month. A requisition was made on Minnesota
for its quota of troops immediately after war was declared, and late in
the afternoon of the twenty-eighth day of April the governor issued an
order to the adjutant general to assemble the state troops at St. Paul.
The adjutant general, on the 29th, issued the following order, by
telegraph, to the different commands:

"The First, Second and Third Regiments of infantry are hereby
ordered to report at St. Paul on Friday morning, April 29, 1898,
not later than eleven o'clock, with one day's cooked rations in
their haversacks."

The order was promptly obeyed, and all the field, staff and company
officers, with their commands, reported before the time appointed, and
on the afternoon of that day went into camp at the state fair grounds,
which was named Camp Ramsey. Such promptness on the part of the state
militia was remarkable, but it will be seen that they had been prepared
for the order of the adjutant general before its final issue, who had
anticipated the declaration of war.

On April 18th he had issued the following order:

"The commanding officers of the infantry companies and artillery
batteries composing the national guard will immediately take
steps to recruit their commands up to one hundred men each. All
recruits above the maximum peace footing of seventy-six men will