Feb 13 , 2026

Alonzo Cushing's Sacrifice at Gettysburg Remembered

The roar of cannon fire swallowed the valley. Smoke choked the morning sun. Men fell, screaming in tangled wreckage of iron and blood—but Battery A stood defiantly, its guns roaring salvation. Amid the chaos, a young officer, bent by wounds but unyielding, gripped the wheel of fate itself. This was Alonzo Cushing—a name sealed in fire and sacrifice at Gettysburg.

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The Roots of Resolve

Born July 23, 1841, in Delafield, Wisconsin, Alonzo Cushing carried a family legacy steeped in service. Sons of privilege, yes, but forged in a crucible where duty demanded flesh and soul. West Point shaped him—a scion of military honor and iron discipline.

Faith was his steady anchor. The scriptures whispered in his heart, a quiet armor against despair. He lived by a code beyond orders: love your brothers, bear your cross, stand fast even when all falls away.

“I can only do my duty, and I will do it as long as I live.” – Alonzo Cushing

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” — 2 Timothy 4:7

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The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863. The climactic day of Gettysburg. The air thick with death and determination. Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, sat atop Cemetery Ridge—a lynchpin of the Union line. Cushing’s guns were the walls holding back Pickett’s Charge.

Enemy infantry rushed in waves, hell-bent on breaking the line. Cushing directed men with wounded hands, shouting orders through ringing ears. His artillery barked fury into the oncoming storm. Bullets tore flesh, and shell fragments shattered bone, but he refused retreat.

A musket ball shattered his thigh. He collapsed—but he rose again, grimly ordering continued fire.

Another would-be mortal wound tore through his abdomen. Still, he stayed. The guns kept firing under his command.

When last called upon, he wielded a sword in the face of the enemy, leading men until a bullet pierced his chest. He fell, a warrior crucified on his post.

An unyielding sentinel.

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Honoring the Heroism

Alonzo Cushing’s courage was immediate legend among comrades, but official recognition dragged for decades. The Medal of Honor was posthumously awarded in 2014, nearly 151 years after his death.

His Medal of Honor citation reads:

“For extraordinary heroism on 3 July 1863, while serving with Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, in action at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Lieutenant Cushing continued to direct artillery fire from his exposed position despite multiple serious wounds, only succumbing after the battle.”[1]

Fellow officers remembered him as a living flame of valor. Lieutenant James E. Smith called him “the bravest man I ever knew.”

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Legacy Etched in Blood and Honor

Cushing’s story bleeds into the soul of every soldier who knows the weight of loss and the sting of commitment. A battle-hardened officer refusing to abandon his guns, the ultimate sacrifice etched into the defense of a nation’s ideals.

His courage reminds us:

Valor is not in strength, but in steadfastness.

Sacrifice is never futile when it buys freedom for the weak.

Faith, when fused with duty, turns despair into purpose.

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The battlefield may forget names with time, but scars—both seen and hidden—tell stories of men like Cushing. Men who stood last, bled last, and fought beyond the breaking point.

“Greater love hath no man than this.” His life crucified on Gettysburg’s heights sings this eternal truth to us all.

Veterans, civilians, remember Alonzo Cushing—not just for medals or history books—but for the soul he laid bare on that Pennsylvania ridge. The legacy of every soldier who, when the smoke clears, remains—the last man standing.

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Sources

[1] U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A–F) [2] Longacre, Edward G., Lincoln’s Cavalrymen: A History of the Mounted Forces of the Army of the Potomac [3] Wert, Jeffry D., Cavalryman of the Lost Cause: A Biography of J.E.B. Stuart [4] Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Alonzo H. Cushing Citation

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