The Battle of Cárdenas was a minor naval engagement of the Spanish–American War fought on 11 May 1898 in the port of Cárdenas, Cuba, between an American squadron of 5 ships under Captain Chapman C. Todd and 3 small Spanish vessels under Mariano Mateu. The battle resulted in an unusually costly American reverse that dissuaded the U.S. Navy from undertaking further attacks on the port.
Aftermath
Badly damaged, Winslow was towed clear of the action. Her commanding officer and several others in her crew were wounded. Lieutenant John Bernadou saw that the dead and wounded were transferred to Hudson, and he then left the ship after turning command over to Chief Gunner's Mate George P. Brady, who — along with Chief Gunner's Mate Hans Johnsen and Chief Machinist T. C. Cooney — later received the Medal of Honor.
Because at the time members of the Revenue Cutter Service were not eligible for the Navy Medal of Honor, Congress approved a special medal struck for them. Frank Newcomb, the commanding officer of Hudson, received the medal in gold, his officers received it in silver, and the enlisted crewmen in bronze. On the Spanish side, Teniente de Navío Montes, commander of the Antonio López, received the Laureate Cross of Saint Ferdinand.
The Spanish gunboat squadron, made of two steam launches and an armed tug, remained unscathed until the end of the war, when all the units were sold by the Spanish government.
Another outcome was the legal cases initiated due to the damage sustained to private property. The surrounding area of the battle, near the present-day resort town of Varadero, was noted as an elite community that was home to many Cuban aristocratic families of European descent and several took up cases with the post-war Spanish Treaty Committee to receive compensation for damage made to their homes or businesses. The most high-profile of the cases was that of the socialite and heiress Enriqueta García Martín and her husband, landowner Francisco E. Cazañas for damages to their Buena Vista estate grounds near the Bay of Cárdenas, which included extensive farmlands and a major sugar plantation. The couple was awarded a total of $13,138 (over $360,000 in 2020 when adjusted for inflation) by the US Secretary of the Treasury,