Show R recalling M an H heroic arole deed of I 1 8 A V J k t aw R 1 4 44 r ii 7 V WV the of the collier merrimac frome DrOW t T I 1 richmon pearson hobson 5 X AAY aj the medal of honor morro cadt castle I 1 e of the united states by ELMO SCOTT WATSON n 1 l HE other day congress authorized r hl the presentation of a medal of honor to a man who as a lieutenant in the united states navy during the spanish american war had won worldwide fame overnight A 6 ile he was the col lindbergh or of his day lie ile was the leader of an expedition the story of which thrilled the whole nation and put his name on the lips of every american of him the author of an article in a boston magazine in september 1808 1898 said aid the Spar tans who held the pass at ther may be forgotten the COO englishmen who made the charge at balaklava may go unsung noung ung but in this land under the stars and stripes forever will linger the memory of the gritty christian gentleman richmond pearson of alabama ste sic transit gloria indeed for richmond pearson hobson had to wait nearly 85 years for the official recognition of his deed and when it finally came the newspapers which had bad once em blazoned his name in streaming headlines recorded the award of the medal of honor in a news story of onla a few brief paragraphs hobson was born at greensboro ala august 17 27 1870 educated in the greensboro public schools and in the southern university he became interested in the navy a 9 visit to new orleans and won an appointment to the united states naval academy at annapolis from which he was graduated in 1889 in the academy he be had devoted himself to naval con and in 1891 he was made an assistant naval constructor with the rank of lieutenant which he held at the outbreak of the span lab ish american war just before deweys deleys memorable victory at manila bay in the philippines a spanish fleet consisting of four armored cruisers and three torpedo boat destroyers led by admiral cervera left the cape verde islands for cuban waters cervera succeeded in eluding the flying squadron of the united states navy commanded by commodore schley which had set out to find the enemy and entered the harbor of santiago la in safety schley followed him to santiago and established a blockade of the enemy fleet while awaiting the arrival of captain sampson acting rear admiral and commander in chief of our naval natal forces who was hurrying to santiago with a fleet led by his flagship the new york the story of how hobson got his chance for fame Is told by john II 11 spears in his history ni story of our navy as follows after reaching santiago and taking one look at the narrow entrance to the harbor the possibility lity of sinking a ship there to effectually close it and so prevent cerveris con eras veras exit was apparent up to many of the officers of the squadron sampson knowing the width of the channel had considered the plan of sinking a ship in it and in a dispatch dated may 27 had ordered schley to sink the collier sterling there but schley ignored the order on the very day he reached santiago sampson began to carry out the plan there was the merrimac she had been sold to the government at a price twice her value S bhe he was a bad ship she could serve the nation nuch much better in blocking the channel than in any other way and preparations to sink her into the channel were immediately begun at the earnest request of mr richmond hobson assistant naval constructor he be was wag put in charge ha H had been placed on the new york to watch her workings in actual war and write a report thereon for the chief of his bureau ills knowledge of ships fitted him for the task and he had already showed his courage when he worked the ran range under on the new york during the bombardment of san juan de porto rico klco about tuo HO hundred men were employed in stripping the merrimac for it was intended to send her in just before daylight next morning however no wever after stripping her it was necessary to fit her alth n ith torpedoes that would sink her instantly when the time came and this took so long that day had arrived on june 2 before she was as ready hobson was anxious to go then but the admiral ordered him to wait Afe meantime antime a crew ot of six men had been selected from among the hundreds that crowded aft to volunteer they were daniel montague chief master at arms of the new york george charette gunners gunders mate first class of the new york J E U murphy coxswain on the iowa john P phillips a machinist oscar deignan Del gnan cox coxswain sain and francis kelly a water tender all of the merrimac to this crew of six men coxswain Rudolp by clausen of 0 the new york added himself by eluding the vigilance of the officers at 3 on the morning of june 3 these men headed away for the harbor A steam launch from the new york under naval cadet joseph W powell followed to pick up the crew of the merrimac should they succeed lo in getting away from her after performing their work in either the rowboat or the Ilfe raft that had been provided for them it was wag a cloudy night but because the channel was so narrow it was absolutely certain that the merrimac would be discovered before she reached her destination and that a heavy fire from the abe batteries of all kinds would enfilade her while the sentinels and the troops encamped along the shore were likely to spatter her deck with mauser bullets as a tropical rainstorm would pelt her with drops of water in short there was not one chance in a thousand apparently for any of these men to live through that adventure and yet they had eagerly volunteered for it it and one had stowed himself away on board without permission nor was the chance of cadet powell and his men much better for it was his duty to follow the merrimac to the mouth of the harbor where he be too would beas be as easy a target as the men on the ship and there to wait until after daylight getting his bearings by the outlines of the morro against the sky hobson drove the old ship into the center of the narrow channel A hell of flame leaped out on both sides as she passed the morro moo chile the vizcaya that was on guard just around the bend began firing with her broadside battery the spaniards thought we were coming with our squadron to force the harbor and all the guns big and little that would bear and mapy that would not nol were fired with feverish rapidity immediately the shots began to reach the ship but no vital damage was done then the time to sink tier her had come and hobson pressed the electric button three of the torpedoes that were placed at her waterline exploded tearing open her sides the man at the anchor cut it loose bringing up her bead just opposite the point while her stern swung slowly around with the tide it seemed for a moment that she must sink as they wished right across the channel but she filled so slowly that she lay lengthwise of the channel and well at one side before she finally struck bottom spears then quotes hobsons narrative of the rest of the action as follows we were all aft lying on the deck shells and bullets whistled around six inch shells from the vizcaya camf came tearing into the merrimac Merrl mac crashing clear through while the plunging shots from the fort broke through her decks wot a man must move I 1 said and it was only owing to the splendid discipline of the men that we were not all killed we must I 1 lie to there till daylight I 1 told them now and again one or the other of the men lying with hla his face glued to the deck and wondering whether the next shell would not come our way would say we better drop off now dow sir but I 1 said bald walt wait till daylight it would have been imps sabie to get the catamaran anywhere but on to the shore where the soldiers stood shooting and I 1 hoped that by daylight we might be recognized and saved it was splendid the way those men behaved the fire of the soldiers the batteries and the vizcaya was awful when the water came up on the Merri merrimack macs decks the catamaran floated amid the wreckage but she was still made fast to the boom and we caught hold of the edges ind and clung on our heads only being above water at daylight the fire ceased and a spanish launch came toward the wreck we agreed to try capturing her and running for the open sea but as she drew near a dozen spanish marines aimed their Ala mausert users at us and I 1 saw that 14 western parlance they had bad the drop on us Is there any officer in that boat to receive a surrender of prisoners of war I 1 shouted an old man leaned out under the awning and waved his hand it was admiral cervera the marines lowered their rifles and we were helped into the launch then we were put in cells in morro castle it was a grand sight a few days later to see gee the bombardment the shells striking and bursting around el morro then ve e were taken into santiago I 1 had the court martial room in the barracks my men were kept prisoners in the hospital in his prison hobson hobon was visited by spanish officers who asked permission to shake his hand and congratulate him for his courage at his request a message was sent to admiral sampson telling the commander that he and his men were safe and except for minor wounds of two kelly and murphy that they had come through their terrible experience unscathed at first the spanish authorities refused boex change the prisoners cut but at last lait on july 6 hobson and his men were marched blindfolded through the spanish lines to a place halfway the spanish trenches and the amerlean american lines and the formalities of exchange were completed by spanish and american officers under a big celba ceiba tree even before hobsons nob sons release from prison the news of his deed had made him the man of the hour in america so when he was sent up to new york with instructions to report to tin the secretary of the navy at washington on the condition of the spanish ships wrecked in the battle of santiago which followed soon after bag hl exploit he was glien glen such an ovation as no man since his time except colonel lindbergh has known next followed the kissing bee which made him almost as famous as his deed in ID Saat santiago lago harbor at long beach in august 1898 a st louis girl asked permission to kiss the merrimac hero and he blushingly gave permission after that the deluge wherever he went hundreds of women mobbed him for the privilege of paying their respects other honors came to him rapidly alabama his bis native state was the first to propose giving min him a jeweled sword alq II 11 was raised ten numbers in the ranks of naval constructors and was made a captain for more than a bear ear he be enjoyed the hero worship of the nation then the fickle public began to forget him when the newspapers ceased to chronicle his every movement lie ile was put in charge of raising the wrecks of spanish ships and in the course of this duty he went to china to superintend the repairing of the spanish ships sunk by dewey at mardla manila while mile there he began having trouble with his eyesight and he asked to be retired from active service by this time the newspapers and the public had definitely turned against him his heroism at santiago was either forgotten or minimized ills his request to be retired was denied and in 1003 1903 he resigned his commission after his retirement he began making speeches throughout the country advocating a large navy and as early as 1902 he predicted the world war which came 12 0 fears later in 1006 he wis wac elected to congress from his home district in alabama and during his eight years in congress he served on the committee on naval affairs i since his retirement from congress he has devoted his time to the cause of prohibition and to fighting the spread of the use of narcotics C 6 by western newspaper anlon tn lon |