Michael Hudson was born in 1834 in Sligo, Ireland, and immigrated to the United States before the U.S. Civil War. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on September 12, 1861, in Brooklyn, New York, and served aboard the sloop-of-war USS Brooklyn during the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor on December 31, 1864. Sgt Hudson received an honorable discharge on October 25, 1865, and died on December 10, 1876. He was buried at the Maple Hill Cemetery in Charlotte, Michigan.
His Medal of Honor Citation reads:
On board the U.S.S. BROOKLYN during action against rebel forts and gunboats and with the ram TENNESSEE in Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864. Despite severe damage to his ship and the loss of several men on board as enemy fire raked the decks, Sergeant Hudson fought his gun with skill and courage throughout the furious 2-hour battle which resulted in the surrender of the rebel ram TENNESSEE.
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