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

Dec 23 , 2025

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

Blood. Noise. Fire swallowing the ridge. The screams of dying men drowned out the orders, but not Alonzo Cushing. He stood amid hell’s fury, his cannons hammering steady thunder into the Confederate onslaught at Gettysburg. Wounded—mortally—he kept firing. No surrender. No retreat. Just grit and will fueled by something deeper than duty. Faith, honor, and the weight of every brother beside him.

Born for Battle and Burdened by Faith

Alonzo Hersford Cushing carried more than a family name. Born in 1841 into a proud Wisconsin family with military blood, he embodied the era’s stern codes of loyalty and sacrifice. West Point honed the steel inside him, but faith lit the fire.

Raised among Presbyterian teachings, Cushing’s resolve fused with scripture and unwavering duty. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) This verse wasn’t hollow words. It was armor for a young artillery officer preparing to stand against the abyss.

Holding the Guns at Cemetery Ridge

July 3, 1863—the third hellish day at Gettysburg. The Confederates launched their infamous Pickett’s Charge, a desperate wave against Union lines entrenched on Cemetery Ridge. Cushing, then a 22-year-old first lieutenant commanding Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, found his position at the center of the storm.

Despite a broken leg from an earlier shell blast, he refused to leave the line. Blood dripping down his face from multiple wounds, Cushing directed every cannon left standing to rip through advancing infantry. His voice, hoarse but unyielding, cut through the chaos. “Keep firing! Don’t let them take this ground!”

Witnesses said he leaned on his howitzer limber, gripping the reins of fate as enemy muskets and shells tore at his body. Even as his strength ebbed, his guns never ceased. No commander was more ferocious, no artillery officer a more determined shield.

When the final Confederate charge collapsed, Cushing’s battery was almost destroyed—but the line held. He lay dying on the field, his last fight fought in iron and smoke.

Posthumous Honor: Medal of Honor, 2014

For 151 years, his courage burned in the shadows of history. Only in 2014 did the nation fully acknowledge it. Secretary of the Army John McHugh awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for Cushing’s “extraordinary heroism and unwavering commitment” during that pivotal moment at Gettysburg¹.

The award citation extolled:

"First Lieutenant Cushing maintained a position that was critical to the Union line despite multiple wounds and overwhelming Confederate assaults. His leadership helped turn the tide of battle."

General George Alexander Custer, present at Gettysburg though on a different flank, reportedly called Cushing “one of the bravest men I ever knew.” A brother-in-arms who saw courage defined in bone and blood.

Lessons Etched in Stone and Spirit

Alonzo Cushing’s story is not about glory. It’s about the sacrifice behind every inch of ground held, every moment bought in war’s hell. His perseverance under mortal wounds reflects a truth veterans know too well: valor often wears quiet scars and ends in silence.

He chose purpose over pain.

His faith was a beacon, a reason to stand when the body failed. From that ridge, his example whispers across generations:

Hold your ground. Protect your brothers. Die with honor before yielding a step.

In a nation still grappling with meaning and sacrifice, Cushing’s legacy—a forgotten hero’s final stand—calls us back to the true cost behind every medal and memory.

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

Alonzo Cushing kept faith until the last breath. That faith lights the way for warriors and civilians alike, reminding us that courage is forged in the crucible of sacrifice—and redemption is found not in victory alone, but in how a man endures.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A–F) 2. The Gettysburg Medal of Honor Recipients, U.S. Army Historical Records 3. David G. Martin, The Story of Alonzo Cushing: Hallowed Ground at Gettysburg (Civil War Times)