Webb Cook Hayes

He crossed enemy lines alone to aid troops trapped at Vigan.

Webb Cook Hayes was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 20 March 1856, the son of President Rutherford B. Hayes and Lucy Webb Hayes. He visited his father's Civil War regiment as a boy, studied at Cornell University, and served as his father's secretary. In Cleveland he became treasurer of Whipple Manufacturing and helped organize the National Carbon Company.

A member of the First Cleveland Troop, later Troop A of the Ohio National Guard, Hayes took part in presidential escorts before active wartime service. Commissioned a major in the 1st Ohio Cavalry in 1898, he served in the Santiago campaign in Cuba. Wounded during the crossing of the San Juan River, he still took part in the assault on San Juan Hill on 1 July. He also served in the invasion of Puerto Rico.

In the Philippine Insurrection he was a lieutenant colonel in the 31st U.S. Volunteer Infantry. At Vigan, Luzon, on 4 December 1899, he passed alone through enemy lines at night to reach a besieged American force. He returned the next morning to report its condition to the Navy and obtain help. The U.S. Army's Medal of Honor citation says he went "from the beach to the beleaguered force at Vigan" and returned to "secure assistance." The medal was issued on 17 December 1902.

Hayes later served in the China Relief Expedition on Major General Adna R. Chaffee's staff. He accompanied operations in the Russo-Japanese War as an unofficial observer. During the First World War, he served as a colonel and regional commander with the American Expeditionary Forces in Italy.

He also devoted resources to historical preservation, helping establish the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums at Spiegel Grove in Fremont. Hayes died in 1934. His military career spanned several conflicts, but the solitary mission through hostile lines at Vigan remained his defining act of gallantry.