Alonzo Cushing's devotion at Gettysburg held Cemetery Ridge

Oct 01 , 2025

Alonzo Cushing's devotion at Gettysburg held Cemetery Ridge

The air burned thick with smoke and screams. Alonzo Cushing gripped his cannon’s wheel, blood leaking from a shattered leg. Yet he refused to yield. Across the hellscape of Gettysburg, he held the line. His fingers curled tight around the fuse lanyard—pulled it again and again while all around him faltered and died. This was no ordinary act of courage. This was devotion beyond death.***

Background & Faith: A Soldier Forged in Conviction

Born in Delafield, Wisconsin, 1841, Alonzo H. Cushing came from a family steeped in duty and sacrifice. West Point shaped him into an artillery officer who understood war’s brutal honesty. His faith ran deeper than pistol scars or drill commands. Raised Methodist, he carried a quiet conviction that his fight served a higher calling—protection of a fractured nation and the fragile threads of freedom.

His letters home spoke not only of strategy but of grace under pressure. Cushing embodied a warrior’s code grounded in God’s strength. “The Lord upholds me,” he would later trust with his dying breath, a whisper between thunderclaps of musket fire.

His was not a reckless bravery but a covenant—blood and soul pledged to duty and country.

The Battle That Defined Him: July 3, 1863, Devil’s Den

Over three days July 1–3, 1863, Gettysburg tore men to shreds. But July 3 birthed an unholy crescendo. Confederate forces pushed to break Cemetery Ridge. Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, positioned atop that ridge—key to Union defense.

As waves of rebels surged, his cannon roared fire. Then a bullet found his hip and shattered his leg. He should have fallen. Instead, Cushing ordered his men to lift him up against the gun carriage. Still firing.

Reports from survivors describe the scene:

“He kept the guns firing and gave the command till the last moment… his spirit never flagged.” —Lt. Edward S. Burton, Battery A

No retreat. No reprieve. Only the deafening blast of cannon and a man fighting through pain and death itself. Blood soaked his uniform, but still, the fuse was pulled, powder ignited, solid shot hurled into the enemy.

Moments later, he collapsed, mortal wounds claiming him on the field. Yet those fatal minutes broke the Confederate assault—buying Union lines time to rally.

Recognition: Honor Demanded by Valor

Cushing’s heroism was recognized swiftly but not fully for over a century. Posthumously breveted to Lieutenant Colonel, his name faded into the dusty volumes of forgotten valor. Only in 2014, after decades of advocacy by descendants and historians, was he awarded the Medal of Honor.

The citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry, heroism, and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in the defense of Cemetery Ridge.”

General Winfield Scott Hancock called Battery A’s stand “an unequalled exhibition of heroism.” Soldiers and historians alike name Cushing a “guardian angel” of Union artillery that day, whose refusal to bend sealed Gettysburg’s fate.

His scars, invisible but eternal, tell a story of sacrifice no medal can fully grasp.

Legacy & Lessons: Courage Carved in Sacrifice

Alonzo Cushing’s story isn’t merely history. It’s the uncompromising measure of a warrior’s soul under fire. His wounds remind us courage is not absence of fear—it’s faith in a cause greater than oneself, in duty, in the legacy left for those who come after.

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

The hill where he fell became a shrine to endurance, a testament to the price of freedom. His legacy whispers across generations: A leader doesn’t quit when the darkness bites hardest.

He wasn’t saved from death. He embraced it, wielding faith like a battle standard, hell-bent on holding ground that could not be lost.

Cushing’s truth cuts through the noise today—reminding all who bear scars of war that valor carved in pain shapes the very soul of a nation. That sacrifice is not forgotten. That purpose endures.

Sources

1. McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom (Oxford University Press) 2. United States Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War 3. Cushing, Alonzo H. Service Records, National Archives 4. Foote, Shelby. The Civil War: A Narrative (Vintage Books) 5. National Park Service, The Battle of Gettysburg 6. Katcher, Philip. The Civil War Medal of Honor (Osprey Publishing)