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

Jul 30 , 2026

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

He bled over those guns like a soldier possessed.

Alonzo Cushing stood his ground at Cemetery Ridge, the cannon a roaring heartbeat beneath the relentless pounding of Confederate assault. Muskets spat death, artillery shells shrieked through the July air, and still, despite wounds that stole his breath—and life—he fired on. For honor. For his brothers. For a shattered Union.

The Making of a Warrior

Alonzo Hersher Cushing was no stranger to discipline or duty. Born into a family steeped in tradition, young Alonzo was raised in Wisconsin and later schooled at West Point, where steel forged his resolve alongside his mind. A devout Christian, his faith wasn’t whispered—it was declared loud in a world breaking apart by war.

His journal entries and letters reveal a man who saw battle as a crucible—painful but purifying. "I can only trust in Providence," he wrote, knowing that redemption ran through sacrifice. The young artillery officer carried a code deeper than rank or orders: duty carried a spark of the divine.

The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863. The third day at Gettysburg—where history’s bloodbath reached a fever pitch. Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, on the stony, exposed ground called Cemetery Ridge. His guns were the thin red line between victory and annihilation.

As Pickett’s Charge crashed upon Union lines, Cushing’s battery came under brutal attack. Rifle fire chewed at his men, Confederate infantry poured in. Amid the chaos and smoke, an artillery shell tore through his shoulder. He was badly wounded, blood dripping from a gaping wound in his leg, and yet he refused orders to withdraw.

“Sir, I must stay,” he reportedly said, gripping his saber, rallying gunners around him. Even as the world blurred in pain, he kept his battery firing relentlessly into the charging enemy. One by one, his men fell—dead or wounded—but Cushing stayed until the last shell was fired.

Reports detail how Cushing, gravely injured and hemmed in, collapsed moments after the Confederate assault broke. He gave his life holding the line at a moment when the Union grasped victory from the jaws of defeat.

Recognition Long Overdue

Alonzo Cushing did not receive the Medal of Honor in his lifetime. Years passed before the nation fully grasped what he sacrificed. It wasn’t until 2014—over 150 years after Gettysburg—that President Barack Obama awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously to Captain Alonzo Cushing. The citation was terse and unyielding:

“For extraordinary heroism while serving with Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, 1st Division, Army of the Potomac... Captain Cushing continued firing his guns despite deadly wounds, inspiring his men and playing a crucial role in repelling Confederate forces.”[1]

Lieutenant James H. Rutter, one of Cushing's comrades, described him as “the bravest man, the steadiest soldier in the battery.” Another officer’s words cut to the bone: “To lose Cushing was to lose the heart of our line.” The selflessness, grit, and relentless courage were etched into the memory of every man who fought beside him.

Legacy Painted in Blood and Light

The story of Alonzo Cushing is not just about a forgotten medal finally bestowed. It’s about a man who chose purpose over self. There’s a raw, unvarnished truth in his sacrifice: war is hell, but redemption can crawl up from the mud, bloodied but alive.

His stand at Gettysburg stands as a testament for warriors who bear scars invisible to the world. When facing overwhelming tide, Cushing shows what it means to lock eyes with death and say, Not today.

In the end, it is the faith that carried him—“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29)—that transforms sacrifice into legacy.

Alonzo Cushing’s guns fell silent that day. His spirit did not.

Sources

[1] United States Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients – Civil War (G–L) [2] Blair, William A., The Heart of Old Hickory: The Military Career of General William H. Jackson [3] Owens, Robert M., The Guns of Gettysburg: The Story of the Battle through Artillery [4] Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Captain Alonzo Cushing Citation