Of another sort was the bravery of Dewey at Manila, more notable in its results but in no other way surpassing that of Hobson and his men.  Dewey went forward in spite of unknown dangers of torpedoes, to engage an enemy in the place it had selected as most favorable for Spanish arms, an enemy with more ships, more men, more guns than had the American.  A day later the nation was at the feet of Dewey and the United States had taken a position among the powers of the world never before admitted by them.  In larger degree than ever before, from that moment the United States became a factor in the international history of the world.  At this writing one cannot tell what will be the end of the relations of the United States to the Philippines and the Orient, but the solution cannot fail to be of profit to this nation.  This was a holy war for the liberty of Cuba, but like many another good deed it is bringing its additional rewards.  Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and the Caroline islands are to be liberated, four colonies of Spain instead of one, and the direct and indirect profit, looked at from a purely commercial basis, will be far more than enough to compensate the United States for the cost of the war.  The annexation of the Hawaiian islands as a war measure must be credited to the same cause, for the success of that effort under any other circumstances was problematical.

Yet another sort of bravery was that in the harbor of Cardenas when the little torpedo boat Winslow lay a helpless hulk under the rain of fire from the shore batteries, without rudder or engine to serve, and the Hudson, a mere tugboat with a few little guns on deck, stood by for forty minutes to pass a hawser and tow the disabled vessel out of range.  Both were riddled, the Winslow had half her total complement of men killed and wounded by a single shell, but there was no faltering, and they all worked away as coolly as if nothing were happening.

If one started to catalogue the instances of personal bravery that the war brought out in its first few months, the list would be a cumbersome one.  It is enough here to say that there have been a hundred times when personal courage was needed to be shown, and never a moment’s hesitancy on the part of any man to whom the call came.  Furthermore, in every case in which a particularly hazardous undertaking was contemplated, and volunteers were called for, the number offering has been in every instance far more than was needed.  This was eminently notable on the occasion of Hobson’s sinking of the Merrimac, when more than a thousand in the fleet volunteered for a service requiring but six, and from which it seemed impossible that any could come out alive.