her heavier four-inch guns. According to an eyewitness account, Spanish guns rained shells down from half a dozen direcrions, bur rhe enemy posirions were rough to spor because rhe Spanish used smokeless powder. The Americans were using ourdared bl ack powder ammunirion, which served to borh cloud the gun crews' view of rhe barrle and alert the enemy of incoming shells. During rhe barrle, H udson's Second Lieurenant James Hutchinson Scorr and Thi rd Lieurenant Ernesr Meade commanded rhe six-pound deck guns. As rhe fog of war intensified , Second Assistant E ngineer Theodore Lewton mounted rhe deckhouse locared afr of rhe pilorhouse ro help Newco mb navigare the shallow bay and idenrify fri end and foe rhrough rhe smoke of H udson's guns. The ship's boy, sixteenyea r-old Moses Jones, fed ammunirion to the main guns withour hes ira rion, and sreward Henry Savage passed up shells fro m rhe currer's magazine. A vereran of rhe Civil War, Savage shouted up to Lew ton, "H or rime in rhe old rown ronighr, Mr. Lewton! " As Newcomb larer wrote, "Each and every member of H udson's crew ... did his whole dury cheerfully and without the leas t hesiration." As rhe barrle raged, Spanish gunners foc used rheir fire on Winslow, which was still closest to shore. Enemy shells wro ughr desrrucrion on rhe torpedo boar, shooring down her smokestack and ventilator and disabling her steering gear, engines, and armored conning tower. In addi tion to rhe battle damage, a stiff breeze was pushing rhe crippled vessel even closer towa rd shore and shallow warer. Lr. Bern adou ca lled out to rhe approaching H udson, "I am injured; h aul me our." Newco mb res po nded immediarely, steering H udson th ro ugh rhe muddy shallows and churning up brown warer wirh her propeller. The curter came in close while Ensign Bagley and a number of Winslow's crew stood on deck to catch rhe row line rhar Lieutena nt Sco rr was heaving in rheir direcrion. The enemy fire inrensified and Bagley yelled out, "H eave her. Let her come. Ir's gerri ng prerry hot here ." By rhe time H udson closed th e d is ta nce, an enemy sh ell explod ed on Winslow, insta ntly killing Bagley and another man and mortally wounding three others. These men we re the first cas ualties
SEA HISTORY 157, WINTER 201 6- 17
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~~-- ~ Artist Austin D wyer's depictions of Hudson's daring and heroic rescue of USS Winslow will be part ofhis upcoming book on famous tugboats that went beyond the call ofduty. of the Spanish-A merican Wa r, and Bagley the first America n officer killed in the conflict. D es pit e th e e n em y sh ellin g, un favorable w inds, and sh allow wa ter, H udson's crew managed to get a three-inch h awse r over to the Winslow and began rowing her our of range of Spanish gunfire. W ithin minu tes, the hawser snapped, either due to the srrain or an incoming shell. E ither way, Newcomb d etermined to succeed, exclaiming, "We will make ir fas t this rime." Risking his own vessel and crew a second time, Newcomb plowed further into the mud, backing and filling to carve a p ath in the sea fl oo r to the stricken Winslow. H udson's ass istant eng in ee r Nath aniel C utchin oversaw the cutter's fas t-changing steam-engine operations, and in the chaos never missed an engine-order bell. Mea nwhile, the deck crew gor another line to the stricken Winslow, pulled her alongside, and secured the torpedo boar alongside the cutter's rail in true tugboat fas hion. This time, Newcomb and his crew succeeded in hauli ng rhe stricken vessel to safety, beyond rhe ra nge of enemy guns. The crews of rhe Winslow and Hudson served with honor in the Barde of Cardenas Bay. For their heroism, Congress recognized three of Winslow's crew with the Medal of
H onor. H udson's men nor only saved the Winslow a nd her crew from certa in destruction, they poured 135 six- pound shells into the enemy in just rwenry minutes while they were doing ir. Afrer the fierce firefi ght, Newcomb received further orders to ferry Winslow's dead and wo und ed to medical fac ilities located at Key Wesr. Thar evening, the casualties were loaded onboard the cutter and Newcomb steamed at top speed to the Navy's base of operation s, arriving at 7:00AM the next day. In a single 24-hour period , Newcomb and h is m en h ad sco ured Carden as Bay, fou ght the enemy, rescued rhe Winslow, and sped the torp edo boat's casualties to distant Key Wes r. In mid-August, at the conclusion of the brief wa r, the cutter H udson re rurned to a rousi ng welcome at her homeporr in New York. In a special message to C ongress, President William M cKinley commended H udson for rescuing the Winslow " in the face of a most galling fire" and recommended special recognition for her crew. A joint resolution of Congress provided the cutter's lin e a nd en gineer ing officers wi th Con gressio nal Silver M ed als. Congress awa rded Bron ze Med als to the enlisted crewmembers, including Henry Savage and Moses Jones-the first time in US history
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