Alonzo Cushing's Last Stand at Gettysburg and Medal of Honor

May 17 , 2026

Alonzo Cushing's Last Stand at Gettysburg and Medal of Honor

Alonzo Cushing knelt in the mud beneath a relentless hail of lead and iron. Smoke clawed at the sky, choking out the sun. His fingers trembled as they gripped the wheel of his artillery piece. Blood seeped from wounds that seared through muscle and bone. He would not abandon that gun. Not now, not ever.

The Bloodied Son of Wisconsin

Born July 23, 1841, in Delafield, Wisconsin, Alonzo Cushing was the scion of a proud military family. West Point polished him; duty etched into his spine. His faith was quiet but unshakable—a trust in a purpose greater than the chaos around him. Raised on Scripture and honor, he lived by this immutable code: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

Cushing carried that sacred charge forward. Artillery wasn’t just metal and powder—it was the voice of his resolve, the instrument to hold the line where others would falter.

The Inferno at Gettysburg

July 3, 1863. The sun dawned on a battlefield soaked with the blood of three days’ slaughter. The Union lines braced beneath Cemetery Ridge. Cushing, then a 22-year-old lieutenant, commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery. As Confederate forces launched Pickett’s Charge, enemy infantry surged over open fields, nearly breaking the Union center.

Cushing’s battery was a lynchpin. When neighboring batteries retreated under unbearable fire, he stayed. Multiple wounds tore into him—his leg shattered, and yet he took the reins of his exploding caissons.

Witnesses recount a man who cursed pain and fatigue alike. Though officers ordered withdrawal, Cushing refused to leave his post. “Fire till the last gun,” he seemed to say with quiet fury.

His staff watched, stunned, as he crumpled to the ground, gravely wounded but still crawling to his cannon’s breech. Minutes later, he bled out right there on Cemetery Ridge, refusing triage, refusing to abandon the fight.

Honor Wrought in Valor

For 151 years, Cushing’s heroism simmered in the shadows of history. It wasn’t until 2014 that President Barack Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor, citing “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.”

The official citation reads:

“Lieutenant Cushing displayed extraordinary bravery in voluntarily remaining at his gun after being wounded several times… His coolness, courage, and determination were conspicuous and materially aided the Union defense.”1

Union officers noted his steel nerve beneath a torrent of fire. Colonel E. Porter Alexander, a Confederate artillery chief, later said of the Union batteries at Gettysburg, “The battery commanded by Lieutenant Cushing was the most gallant position on the field.”

Legacy of Blood and Grace

Alonzo Cushing’s story is not just one of blood and sacrifice; it is a testament to unwavering resolve when the world around you falls apart.

His last stand echoes a sacred truth: courage is not born from invulnerability, but from choosing to stand even as the body breaks.

In a nation fractured by war, Cushing’s faith tethered him to a purpose beyond self-preservation.

He died at 22, but his legacy endures. A reminder that valor wears no age, and redemption often enters through the wounds left by duty.

“But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)

In every generation scarred by combat, Cushing’s name offers a lodestar—a fierce example of sacrifice made holy by faith and honor. His life is a call to remember that true courage means pushing beyond the breaking point, knowing that the fight is never just for survival but for something eternal.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A–L) 2. McPherson, James M., Battle Cry of Freedom, Oxford University Press, 1988 3. United States Army, Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Vol. 27, Part 1 4. Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Alonzo Cushing Biography