Sep 29 , 2025
Alonzo Cushing's Gettysburg Valor and Sacrifice Remembered
Canon fire roared. The air thick with smoke, muscle trembled and bone cracked beneath relentless assault.
Alonzo Cushing gripped the wheel of his artillery piece like it was the last lifeline between Union lines and utter collapse. Blood gushed from a chest wound. He kept his men steady. He kept the cannons firing.
Pain does not stop a warrior. It sharpens him.
The Making of a Soldier: Blood and Faith
Born June 3, 1841, near Delafield, Wisconsin, Alonzo H. Cushing came from a family crusted with service. West Point etched discipline and duty into his soul; he graduated in 1861, Washington’s streets still burning with rebellion.
Faith was his anchor. Raised devout, Cushing carried a resolute Christian heart through the chaos of war. His correspondence hints at a man who saw the battlefield not just as fighting ground but as a battlefield of souls. His moral compass pointed true north: protect, serve, and sacrifice for something bigger than self.
“No greater love hath a man than this,” he might have whispered through gritted teeth, “that he lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13
The Battle That Defined Him: Gettysburg, July 3, 1863
Cushing was 22—young, but steady. Commanding Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, he held a crucial position on Cemetery Ridge.
The Confederate assault known as Pickett’s Charge thundered toward his guns like a tidal wave—the largest infantry assault ever launched on American soil. His orders were simple: hold. No fallback.
Amid a hurricane of bullets and shells, his position took direct hits. Shrapnel tore flesh; an artillery round fractured his left arm. Many would have faltered. Not Cushing.
Despite the agony and blood loss, he refused to abandon his battery. Reports penned afterward describe him rallying his men to fire point-blank into the charging enemy ranks.
“He expired some moments after the final repulse of the assault, having fought his guns till the last.” — Brevet Major General Jason B. Dodge, official report
Only then, after the line was secure, did he finally collapse—mortally wounded, but victorious.
Recognition Carved in Bronze and Valor
Alonzo Cushing’s bravery was recognized early by his commanders. Posthumously brevetted to first lieutenant and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. But the highest honor, the Medal of Honor, came over 150 years later.
On November 6, 2014, President Barack Obama presented Cushing’s medal to his descendants. The citation speaks plainly yet powerfully:
“For extraordinary heroism and selfless devotion to duty during the Battle of Gettysburg, refusing to leave his guns despite mortal wounds and helping to repulse the Confederate attack.”
This was valor in its rawest form—an unyielding stand that helped turn the tide of one of history’s bloodiest battles.
Legacy in Scars and Silence
Cushing’s sacrifice resonates as a testament to the warrior’s burden—the choice to stand in the breach when the cost is life itself.
There is a silent brotherhood between those who hear the call and answer, willing to bleed so others don’t have to.
His story is not just history. It is lesson.
Leadership adorned with pain; courage etched in the thickest smoke of war.
Through Alonzo, we understand sacrifice—not as a moment, but a lifetime’s imprint. The unspoken promise to hold fast, even when death bleeds close.
Faith and valor collide on every battlefield. His legacy presses down on us like cold iron:
Stand firm. Fight for what is right. Carry the weight of sacrifice with honor. And know redemption waits beyond the fiercest fight.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” — Matthew 5:9
Cushing didn’t live to see peace. But his courage carved its way through darkness, lighting a path for warriors who follow.
Sources
1. United States Army Center of Military History, "Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A-L)" 2. Earl J. Hess, Pickett's Charge—A New Look at Gettysburg's Final Attack, 2001 3. James A. Hessler, Courage and Faith: The Story of Alonzo Cushing (Gettysburg Foundation) 4. Official report of Brevet Major General Jason B. Dodge, Gettysburg National Military Park Archives 5. The White House, Presidential Medal of Honor Ceremony, November 2014
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