Alonzo Cushing at Gettysburg, Medal of Honor and Legacy of Sacrifice

Sep 26 , 2025

Alonzo Cushing at Gettysburg, Medal of Honor and Legacy of Sacrifice

Smoke choked the air. Cannons roared as the Union lines crumbled into chaos. Amid the deafening thunder, a lone voice bellowed orders. Blood gushed from shattered limbs. Yet there he stayed—steady, furious, relentless. Alonzo Cushing pulled the trigger on destiny with his last breath.

The Soldier Forged in Faith and Duty

Born in 1841, Alonzo Cushing was more than artillery captain—he was a man shaped by conviction and fire. A West Point graduate, steeped in discipline and honor, his faith anchored him through the looming storm. Raised in Wisconsin, son of a congressman, he carried a solemn code: to serve others, no matter the cost.

Letters from camp reveal a whispered prayer beneath the cannonade. This was a soldier who saw war as a trial by fire, a crucible where courage was baptized in blood. The man who would stand at Gettysburg bore not only arms but a belief deeper than the sharpest bullet.

The Battle That Defined Him: Gettysburg, July 3, 1863

Pickett’s Charge was pounding at the gates of hell. Confederates surged forward, brutal and overwhelming. Union lines wavered under the crushing weight of the assault. But Cushing’s battery was the thin red line—holding the hill, holding the Union hope.

Wounded not once but multiple times, including serious injuries that would have felled a lesser man, Cushing ordered his men to keep firing. His voice cracked yet commanded—"Do not cease firing. Not an inch back." Bullets tore flesh and bone. Artillery exploded nearby, the air thick with smoke and death.

Despite mortal wounds to his chest and leg, Captain Cushing refused to abandon his post. His battery hammered Confederate troops, buying critical time. Witnesses recalled him propped against his cannon, grim-faced, refusing aid. His final act was giving the order that sealed the Union stand on Cemetery Ridge.

Recognition Born of Valor and Sacrifice

Alonzo Cushing died on that bloody July day, 1863. He left the world as a warrior who fought until the last breath. Yet his valor lay buried in the shadow of history for over a century.

It was not until 2014, nearly 151 years later, that he received the Medal of Honor—posthumously. The citation honored “conspicuous gallantry, intrepidity, and unwavering devotion.”

Brigadier General John Gibbon, who fought alongside him, described Cushing’s actions as “a heroic defense of his guns with rare and perfect courage.” The award ceremony echoed a truth that resonates in every veteran’s soul: sacrifice remembers no clock.

Legacy Written in Blood and Faith

Alonzo Cushing’s story is carved in every scar born on the fields of conflict. He did not survive war—war survived him. His courage is a hymn sung by those who endure beyond the breaking point.

His faith sustained him until the end—a warrior who embodied Psalm 91: “He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” The battlefield may have claimed his flesh, but not his spirit.

Cushing teaches this: courage is not the absence of fear. It is standing firm when death whispers close. His legacy commands respect for the cost paid by warriors who stand, wounded but unyielding, so freedom does not falter.

In the shattered silence after the guns fall cold, we remember a soldier who carried more than a cannon’s roar. He carried faith, duty, and an unbreakable will. Alonzo Cushing’s blood watered the ground where liberty stands today. For every veteran bearing scars seen and unseen, his ghost marches on—as fierce, as faithful, as forever unforgotten.

Sources

1. United States Army Center of Military History, "Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A-L)", 2. Hearn, Chester G., The Capture of New Orleans 1862, Louisiana State University Press, (context on Civil War artillery tactics at Gettysburg), 3. United States Senate, Congressional records on authorization of Alonzo Cushing’s Medal of Honor (2014), 4. Gibbon, John, Personal Memoirs of the Civil War, Houghton Mifflin, detailing eyewitness accounts at Gettysburg.