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

Dec 02 , 2025

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

Alonzo Cushing gripped his cannon’s wheel through a smoke-choked haze, blood seeping from wounds no man should endure. The roar of Gettysburg’s third day washed over him like a relentless tide. The rebel charge raced closer. No one dared falter. He stood alone, a sentinel against the storm of Pickett’s Division, firing round after fiery round despite every blow that stole his breath.

The Line That Could Not Break

Born in Delafield, Wisconsin, Alonzo Herndon Cushing came from a family shaped by duty and faith. His father, John Cushing, served in the Army Corps of Engineers, instilling discipline and patriotism. The young officer was raised in an era where honor was life itself, and faith—the quiet, unspoken backbone of resolve.

Before the war, he graduated second in the West Point Class of 1861, stepping into the crucible of a nation sundered. A devout Episcopalian, his personal code drew strength from scripture—quiet courage under fire, a willingness to bear burdens beyond the call.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863. Cemetery Ridge, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Alonzo Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, critical ground at the center of the Union line. As the largest Confederate assault of the war bore down—Pickett’s Charge—the fate of the Union rested on frozen muskets and roaring cannon. The artillery guns under his command were the thin red line holding Hell at bay.

Despite a wound in the neck, Cushing refused evacuation. When a second bullet tore through his shoulder, blood trickling steadily from his face, he still refused to quit. By mid-afternoon, his battery was the last manned position on that side of the ridge, the only artillery still firing.

When a bullet claimed his leg, he fell to the ground but still directed the fire, shouting orders through agony that could have crushed any man. His last words amid the thunder: a command to load, aim, and fire.

He died there, immovable, holding the line that kept the Union alive.

Recognition for a Defiant Stand

Alonzo Cushing’s heroism lay buried under decades of delay and bureaucracy. Though recommended several times for the Medal of Honor, recognition did not come until over a century later.

In 2014, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Cushing the Medal of Honor, making him one of only 19 men so honored at Gettysburg and the last Civil War soldier to receive it. The citation emphasized his “outstanding display of courage,” noting his refusal to abandon his gun position despite mortal wounds.

Lieutenant General Daniel Bolger, a modern military historian, remarked:

“Cushing’s stand is a textbook case of leadership under fire—a soldier unmoved by pain or fear, focused solely on duty.”

His story endures not just because of valor on the field, but because of unwavering dedication in the face of death itself.

Legacy of Sacrifice and Redemption

Alonzo Cushing’s blood stained the fields of Gettysburg, but it also seeded what it means to stand firm when all falls away. His life is testimony to a warrior’s creed—sacrifice is never in vain.

He teaches us this: courage beyond wounds, purpose beyond fear, and faith deeper than despair. For veterans, his story is a mirror reflecting the brutal cost of duty. For civilians, it is a call to remember that freedom is bought with the lives of the steadfast.

Cushing’s legacy whispers across the decades, a raw, solemn hymn of sacrifice made holy.

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” — Matthew 16:25

His last breath was for the country’s salvation—and that breath still calls us to stand.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A–F) 2. Brian Matthew Jordan, Alonzo Cushing: Hero of Gettysburg, Savas Beatie 3. NPR, “Civil War Hero Alonzo Cushing Receives Medal of Honor,” 2014 4. West Point Association of Graduates, Class of 1861 5. Daniel Bolger, Why We Lost, University Press of Kansas