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Nobody except historians recalls Richmond P. Hobson today. Born in Alabama he attended Annapolis and served in the navy at the time of the Spanish American War. Admiral Cervera's Spanish fleet was inside Santiago Bay in Cuba, with an American fleet under William Sampson and Winfield Schley outside the harbor. Sampson wanted to bottle Cervera's fleet up, and Hobson offered to lead a group of sailors on board a collier, "the Merrimac", which he'd sink at the opening of the harbor to the sea. Hobson and his crew took the Merrimac to that area, but miscalculated so that the ship sank prematurely - so that it failed to bottle up the harbor. Hobson and his men were captured by the Spaniards, but survived the war, and were heroes after the Spanish defeat. Hobson received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Shortly, the handsome young man ran for Congress from his district in Alabama, and won. He serve several terms in Congress - with distinction. He gained a reputation, due to his handsome appearance, of being the most kissed man in the United States. 
But the best thing I know of Richmond Hobson was something that his contemporaries may have thought was a sign of eccentricity. He noticed one day that African-Americans in Washington, D.C. (which was a southern city in it's character) got very shoddy legal assistance when facing court actions (criminal and civil). Hobson started attending court as a free attorney for the African-Americans - something really and truly amazing for a southern white gentleman from Alabama in that period. He died in 1933. To me, his post war career aiding African-Americans make him a true hero.
Footnote: In the 1938 musical comedy film, "The Big Broadcast of 1938" there is a race between two ocean liners, and the owner of one of the liners has intended to put his brother onto the other ship because his brother is a noted jinx. "He has been in every ship disaster since the sinking of the "Merrimac.", the owner says of his brother at the start of the film. Most people thinking of the "Merrimac" as the ironclad that fought the "Monitor" in 1862, must wonder how old the brother really is (at least in his eighties if it was the ironclad). The statement is referring to Hobson's collier of 1898, only forty years before the movie occurs.
But the best thing I know of Richmond Hobson was something that his contemporaries may have thought was a sign of eccentricity. He noticed one day that African-Americans in Washington, D.C. (which was a southern city in it's character) got very shoddy legal assistance when facing court actions (criminal and civil). Hobson started attending court as a free attorney for the African-Americans - something really and truly amazing for a southern white gentleman from Alabama in that period. He died in 1933. To me, his post war career aiding African-Americans make him a true hero.Footnote: In the 1938 musical comedy film, "The Big Broadcast of 1938" there is a race between two ocean liners, and the owner of one of the liners has intended to put his brother onto the other ship because his brother is a noted jinx. "He has been in every ship disaster since the sinking of the "Merrimac.", the owner says of his brother at the start of the film. Most people thinking of the "Merrimac" as the ironclad that fought the "Monitor" in 1862, must wonder how old the brother really is (at least in his eighties if it was the ironclad). The statement is referring to Hobson's collier of 1898, only forty years before the movie occurs.