Alonzo Cushing's Gettysburg Stand and Delayed Medal of Honor

Jun 04 , 2026

Alonzo Cushing's Gettysburg Stand and Delayed Medal of Honor

Alonzo Cushing lay on the frozen ground of Cemetery Ridge, blood draining from a wound that would soon claim him. His hands gripped the wheel of a cannon, still ramming round after round into the Confederate assault. The enemy surged, smoke and death thick in the Pennsylvania air, but Cushing refused to let the guns fall silent.There was no retreat. There was only the fight.

The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863. The sun scorched the earth around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Pickett’s Charge thundered down the Union lines. At the center, Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery. His position was the breakwater in the flood: if the guns fell silent, the line might crumble. Despite bullets and shells shredding the world around him, despite grievous wounds, he stayed with his guns.

He was hit three or four times. One bullet tore through his arm; another ripped his thigh. Yet, by all accounts—including eyewitness reports and official records—Cushing refused aid and continued to give orders, directing fire against the Confederates even as blood poured from him. One witness said, “His influence was incalculable.” His courage under fire held a vital part of the Union line firm for precious minutes.

Forged in Faith and Duty

Born in Wisconsin, Alonzo Cushing came from a family steeped in service. West Point molded him into a soldier, but it was faith that sharpened his iron resolve. Raised with a deep Christian conviction, he believed his purpose went beyond duty to country; it was service to a higher cause. That divine calling sustained him when the ground beneath him became a graveyard.

“I have held my post with my gun until the last,” Cushing reportedly said, embodying both sacrifice and faith.

His letters reflect a man wrestling with the cost of war and the hope of redemption. It wasn’t glory he sought—it was doing his part, no matter the price.

Valor in the Inferno

Cushing’s stand at Gettysburg was more than stubbornness—it was leadership forged from dogged grit. As Confederate forces wavered and surged, his battery’s fire blunted their momentum. Even after losing three limbs to enemy fire, he continued to give firing commands.

Official Medal of Honor citation reads:

“Lieutenant Cushing held his guns in position under repeated assaults and, although severely wounded, continued firing until he fell, mortally wounded.”1

Brigadier General John Gibbon said of Cushing’s sacrifice, “I would rather have his command than any other in the army.” The artillery officer’s resolve helped seal a Union victory that turned the tide of the Civil War.

Recognition—Over a Century Late

Alonzo Cushing died July 9, 1863, six days after Gettysburg. His bravery was acknowledged modestly at the time with a brevet promotion to captain, but the full measure delayed. It wasn’t until 2014—151 years later—that the Medal of Honor was posthumously awarded, signed by President Obama. The citation acknowledged his “conspicuous gallantry” in the face of near-certain death.

This delay speaks to a painful truth in honoring warriors—sometimes recognition comes too late to touch the hero, but never too late to inspire the living.

Legacy of Courage and Redemption

Cushing’s story is the echo of every soldier who fights with shattered bodies and unbroken spirits. His stand reminds us that courage is not the absence of fear or pain, but the refusal to surrender to them.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

His purity of purpose—fighting for the survival of a nation torn by civil war—meets us on sacred ground. His sacrifice endures as testimony: the price of freedom is steep and often paid in broken bodies and quiet graves.

Today, Alonzo Cushing’s name is a beacon for veterans and civilians alike—proof that honor forged in the fire of combat transcends time. He teaches us that valor means standing when the world tells you to fall, that faith can be the armor no bullet can penetrate, and that legacy isn’t won on battlefields alone but in the hearts that remember and retell.

His gun never stopped firing. Neither can we.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A–L) 2. Charles O. Paullin, The Battle of Gettysburg: Roster of the Artillery Units Engaged 3. John Gibbon, Personal Recollections of the Civil War 4. Presidential Medal of Honor citation, 2014, Public Papers of the Presidents: Barack Obama