Alonzo Cushing and the Gettysburg Stand That Helped Save the Union

Mar 17 , 2026

Alonzo Cushing and the Gettysburg Stand That Helped Save the Union

Alonzo Cushing gripped his artillery’s ramrod through a hailstorm of shot and shell. Blood pounded in his ears, each breath a battle against the pain tearing through his body. The enemy surged forward, shadows darkening the Union line. And still, he refused to silence his cannon. Because some fights—you fight to the last breath.

Background & Faith

Born into a family of service and faith, Alonzo Hersford Cushing carried a code deeper than duty. West Point class of 1861, a young artillery officer sworn to protect a fractured nation. His letters reveal a man fortified by scripture and steely resolve. “I trust in the Lord for strength, that He will guide my hand,” he wrote before Gettysburg, clinging to Psalm 23 in the darkest hours.

Raised amid the scars of a young republic, Cushing’s faith balanced the brutality he knew was coming. The battlefield demanded more than skill—it demanded heart, and the acceptance of sacrifice as a soldier’s covenant. He entered combat not as a reckless youth, but a man embodying a sacred trust.

The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863—the third day at Gettysburg. Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, positioned on Cemetery Ridge. This was the electricity before Pickett’s Charge, the eye of storm and fury.

The Confederate assault hammered the Union line, thousands of men pounding like relentless tides. Cushing’s battery was a lynchpin holding the line. Despite multiple wounds—his leg shattered, blood pouring from his hands—he stayed at his gun.

“He shouted orders between bouts of intense pain,” recorded his comrades.[1] His voice, though ragged, directed gunners to keep firing into the charging enemy ranks. His artillery did not falter, even as musket balls tore through flesh and bone.

At one point, Cushing reportedly crawled forward to adjust a cannon’s position himself, blood soaked into the earth beneath him. A Union officer later said:

“Lieutenant Cushing’s determination kept the battery in place when few thought it could hold.”[2]

When a Confederate burst finally silenced his gun, Cushing lay mortally wounded. Yet his final acts delayed the assault long enough for Union reinforcements to stabilize the shattered line. His stand arguably swung the battle’s outcome. Gettysburg was the turning point, and Cushing was one of its unbreakable pillars.

Recognition Earned in Blood

Medal of Honor—the nation’s highest award for valor—eluded Cushing for over 150 years after his death. The heroics at Gettysburg were well-chronicled, but official recognition lagged.

In 2014, after decades of advocacy by historians and descendants, the Medal of Honor was finally awarded posthumously.[3] President Obama presented the honor to Cushing’s family, affirming:

“His courage and sacrifice preserved the Union.”[4]

The citation extols his relentless defense despite mortal wounds, calling his duty “above and beyond the call.” Fellow officers lauded his steadiness under fire, a testament to warrior spirit forged in sweat and blood.

Cushing’s death was not in vain. His relentless courage cemented a legacy that only history could fully appreciate years later.

Legacy Carved in Scarred Earth

Alonzo Cushing’s story endures—more than a dusty relic of Civil War history. He represents a sacred ideal among warriors: to stand when all hope fades, to fight for a cause greater than life itself.

His sacrifice reminds veterans and civilians alike: courage is not the absence of fear, but the refusal to yield to it. Redemption comes through sacrifice, a truth immortalized on the fields of Gettysburg.

Cushing’s life and death echo a Psalm fitting for those who bear scars—visible and hidden:

“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” — Psalm 23:4

He held his ground so freedom might endure—for generations yet unborn. His blood waters the soil of liberty. We remember him not just as a soldier, but as a sentinel of hope in the nation’s darkest hour.

To fight for your brothers. To face death with quiet resolve. To embody purpose in the fire—that is the legacy of Alonzo Cushing.

Sources

[1] US Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A–F) [2] Earl J. Hess, The Union Soldier in Battle: Enduring the Ordeal (LSU Press, 1997) [3] U.S. Department of Defense, Press Release “President Obama awards Medal of Honor to Alonzo H. Cushing,” 2014 [4] The White House Archives, “Remarks by the President at Medal of Honor Ceremony,” November 6, 2014