Alonzo Cushing’s Gettysburg Valor and Posthumous Medal of Honor

Jan 30 , 2026

Alonzo Cushing’s Gettysburg Valor and Posthumous Medal of Honor

Alonzo Cushing gripped the cannon’s limber for dear life, blood painting his uniform crimson. His left arm shattered. Bone torn. Yet, from the mud and smoke of Cemetery Ridge, he barked orders like a man possessed. The guns would not fall silent on his watch—not today.

Born Into a Soldier’s Spirit

Alonzo Walter Cushing was born in 1841, West Point bred, a captain in the Union Army's artillery by 1863. Raised on the backbone of discipline and faith, his was a Midwest Methodist toughness laced with quiet devotion. He believed fighting for his country was more than duty—it was a sacred trust, a covenant that bound him to something greater than himself.

There was no glory in war for Cushing—only the heavy weight of responsibility. The same man who penned meticulous farm journals would later embrace death on a cannon line, fueled by a warrior’s solemn creed.

The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863. The air thrummed with death over Gettysburg’s blood-soaked fields. Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, positioned at the tip of Cemetery Ridge—the very fulcrum of the Union defense.

As Pickett’s Charge thundered forward, Confederate infantry surged with lethal purpose. Cushing’s guns roared. When a shell took his left arm, he refused the surgeon’s plea to retreat. The enemy crept closer, and with just one arm, Cushing continued to man the gun.

Witnesses recall his voice still clear, rallying his men:

“That’s the last gun—fire it!”

His leg shattered moments later. Still, he stayed—barely conscious—until the Confederates broke the line and the artillery position was lost. Minutes later, mortally wounded, he whispered a prayer and passed into the smoke and silence of legend.

Recognition Earned by Blood

The Medal of Honor came 150 years after the fact, in 2014—long overdue. His posthumous award citation recounts:

“Despite multiple wounds, Captain Cushing maintained his position and continued to command the artillery battery.”

President Barack Obama called Cushing’s sacrifice during the Battle of Gettysburg “the highest nature of bravery.”

Fellow officers remembered him as a man who gave everything—not for personal glory, but because the fate of a nation hung on a single cannon’s blast.

Legacy Etched in Iron and Faith

Cushing’s story is not just a Civil War footnote. It’s a testament to the warrior’s ultimate burden: sacrifice without surrender. His courage echoes through history as a reminder that valor isn’t absence of fear—it’s acting in spite of it.

His enduring legacy rests on a single truth:

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” —John 15:13

Alonzo Cushing’s red-stained hands bore witness to that love.

He died at 22, but his battle cry still reverberates through every generation of soldiers who stand fearlessly at the front line. War demands sacrifice, scars that don’t fade, and a faith forged in fire.

He held his ground when the nation’s fate teetered.

And through that, he left us a legacy not measured by medals but by the grit of a soul unwilling to quit.

This is what true courage looks like.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Citation: Alonzo Cushing 2. National Park Service, Battle of Gettysburg, July 3, 1863 3. Obama, B., Remarks on awarding Medal of Honor to Alonzo Cushing, White House Archives, 2014 4. Warner, E., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964