Cuddy  was born in South Carolina and had been trained in ordnance at the Washington Navy Yard, before the war. With the approaching hostilities he chose to serve with the Confederate States, becoming a gunner in the C.S. Navy. He was responsible for all of the Alabama’s ordnance. After the sinking of the Alabama he tried to returned to the Confederacy and was drowned on Jan. 19, 1865, in the Mersey River, while a passenger on the blockade runner, Lelia.