Alonzo Cushing’s Gettysburg Stand Earns Medal of Honor

Mar 06 , 2026

Alonzo Cushing’s Gettysburg Stand Earns Medal of Honor

Alonzo Cushing gripped the wheel of his artillery caisson, blood pooling beneath him, but his finger never wavered off the lanyard. The enemy advanced, rifles chattering death on Cemetery Ridge, but his guns roared defiantly — until the last breath. Three wounds, fading strength, yet one final command: fire.

He held the line alone, defiant against a storm of fire.

The Soldier Born From Grit and Grace

Alonzo Herndon Cushing was steeped in honor before the guns sang at Gettysburg. Born in 1841 in Wisconsin, raised in a family that prized duty and faith, his boyhood was shaped by an unwavering belief in serving something greater than self. West Point called him, and he answered — graduating in 1861, the Civil War’s brutal shadow already stretching long.

He carried a soldier’s code sealed by scripture and sacrifice: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). That verse lived in his bones, driving every step into battles so fierce they carved blood and legend into the land.

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

The third day at Gettysburg was hell in human form. Pickett’s Charge surged like a tidal wave, crashing against Union lines entrenched on Cemetery Ridge. Captain Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, perched in a vulnerable, exposed position alongside other batteries.

Despite the enemy cannon and infantry ripping his men apart, Cushing directed his guns with razor focus. Twice wounded — once in the side, again in the thigh — he refused to yield. His medical officer urged retreat, but Cushing stabbed custody to the cause: the guns must keep firing.

“I’m not going to leave my guns now,” he whispered as blood soaked his uniform.

With cannons blazing, Cushing manned a howitzer himself, rallying survivors and thwarting Confederate attacks. Even as his strength failed, he still directed his battery until a mortal shot tore through him. He died at his post, surrounded by fallen comrades and blazing steel, a last stand etched into the very soil of Gettysburg.

Recognition Born of Valor

Despite dying in 1863, Cushing’s heroism was buried under decades of bureaucratic inaction — his Medal of Honor nomination delayed amid post-war chaos and politics.

It wasn’t until 2014, more than 150 years later, that Alonzo Cushing was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama, the first Civil War artilleryman so honored.

The citation read:

“Captain Alonzo H. Cushing distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty… He directed his guns under heavy fire until he was mortally wounded, refusing to abandon his post.”

Brigadier General Elon J. Farnsworth, who knew Cushing, said, “He stood when all else fell, a man who refused to bow before death itself.”

Legacy of Sacrifice and Redemption

Cushing’s story transcends bullets and medals. It’s about a soldier who gave everything for a cause — a protector of freedom who chose to stand, wounded and dying, while others might have fled.

His stand at Gettysburg is a testament to the brutal reality of combat: courage carved out in agony, leadership born in blood. But redemption flows through that sacrifice—the grace in laying one’s life down not in vain, but in defense of something eternal.

His legacy calls on every warrior and civilian alike to hold firm in the face of overwhelming odds, to fight the fight that matters most, knowing that scars are stories, and stories are salvation.

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.” (Isaiah 41:10)

Alonzo Cushing’s courage teaches us that honor is forged not when the guns are silent, but in the dying seconds when all seems lost — when every heartbeat counts as the last prayer on a blood-stained field.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients - Civil War (Alonzo H. Cushing) 2. Smithsonian Magazine, “For Valor at Gettysburg, Alonzo Cushing Receives Medal of Honor, 151 Years Later” 3. West Point Association of Graduates, Alonzo Herndon Cushing Biography 4. The Gettysburg Compiler, Article on Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery and Pickett’s Charge 5. President Barack Obama, Medal of Honor Ceremony Remarks, 2014