Alonzo Cushing's Gettysburg Last Stand and Medal of Honor

Oct 05 , 2025

Alonzo Cushing's Gettysburg Last Stand and Medal of Honor

He bled at the wheel of a cannon, grasping the reins even as death tore through his chest. Balls whistled past. Soulless bullets spun dirt at his feet. Alonzo Cushing held the line until his final breath. His hands locked on cold steel, his heart pumping through shattered ribs. The artillery burned brighter than any beacon—a last stand against the dying light of Gettysburg.

Born of Grit and Gospel

Alonzo H. Cushing was not born to quiet life. Raised in Wisconsin, son of a West Point brigadier general, he carried a family code etched in discipline and faith. A devout Anglican, his character fused piety with ruthless resolve. He believed his battle was a calling, not just duty.

His papers from the Academy speak to a soldier shaped not by arrogance but by an iron humility. Cushing once wrote, “I am not so much afraid to die as anxious to perform a soldier’s duty.”

Faith was the backbone of his courage. The promise of redemption whispered in his ear even as cannon smoke grew thick. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," rang in that hellfire (Philippians 4:13).

The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863. The third day of Gettysburg. The war’s crucible—Pickett’s Charge. The Union lines quivered under rebellion’s worst assault. On Cemetery Ridge, Lieutenant Colonel Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery. His orders: hold the angle, no matter the cost.

From dawn, the air was torn by mortality’s scream. His gun crews felled one by one. Cushing’s horse fell beneath him, shrapnel tore muscles from bone. A cannonball shredded his abdomen—mortal by any measure.

But he did not stumble.

Reports confirm he crawled forward, guiding the battery’s fire himself. When asked if he should be moved, Cushing refused. He cried, “I don’t know how to retreat.” For hours, despite agonizing pain, he oversaw plunging shells into the rebel ranks. Artillery fire was his gospel — each thunderous blast a testament.

His stubborn defiance played a critical role in repelling the charge. General Gouverneur K. Warren declared Cushing “one of the bravest men I ever knew.” His valor was proof stamped in the bone and blood of that field.

Honors Long Overdue

Cushing died that day—July 3, 1863—just 24 years old, clutching a handkerchief pressed to his shredded side. The Medal of Honor followed a century later, awarded posthumously in 2014 for “extraordinary heroism at the Battle of Gettysburg”[1].

His citation states:

“Lieutenant Colonel Cushing commanded his battery with 'conspicuous daring' until he fell mortally wounded. His gallantry... materially contributed to the defeat of the assault.”

Generations kept his story quiet, but the truth waited buried beneath the chaos. Veterans' descendants and historians pieced together testimonies, letters, and battle maps—the legacy of a man who fought harder and longer than anyone demanded or expected.

Legacy Beyond the Cannon’s Roar

Alonzo Cushing’s story carries the weight of every fallen soldier who dared stand firm under worse odds. He teaches brutal lessons—not of glory but of sacrifice. Courage is messy. Honor demands pain. Victory is sometimes the silence left behind after men like Cushing go down.

In his wounds we find purpose—not in the avoidance of death, but the embracing of duty beyond fear. This is redemption forged in fire.

For those who wear scars—seen and hidden—Cushing’s last stand offers a torch. “Greater love hath no man than this,” Jesus said, “that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Alonzo Cushing’s name was carved deep in the rock of Gettysburg. Not just because he fired weapons, but because he never yielded. He reminds us that the fiercest battles demand everything—and that every drop spilled can echo through history, calling us to something greater than ourselves.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients 1863–1994 2. Edwin C. Bearss, Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War 3. Congressional Medal of Honor Society, “Alonzo H. Cushing Citation” 4. Stephen W. Sears, Gettysburg (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)