Apr 30 , 2026

Alonzo Cushing's Stand at Gettysburg During Pickett's Charge

Artillery smoke choked the hollow of Cemetery Ridge.

Shells screamed overhead. Men fell like dry timber. Amid the crescendo of thunder and blood, Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing gripped the wheel of his gun carriage—his right arm shattered, his left hand wrought with agony. Still, he ordered his men to reload and fire again.

“Don’t give up the guns!” he barked, voice ragged, breath fading, the very definition of unyielding.

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Born of Duty and Faith

Alonzo Cushing was a soldier forged in the crucible of discipline and faith. Born into a family steeped in military tradition—son to a West Point professor—he embodied a code heavier than lead. He joined the U.S. Army’s artillery branch in 1861, driven by a stark conviction that service meant sacrifice.

Raised Presbyterian, Cushing held fast to scripture and purpose, measuring valor as much in spiritual terms as in battle. “The Lord is my rock and my fortress,” he wrote home, his letters swelling with belief that God’s providence undergirded his resolve.

This wasn’t about glory or pride—it was sacred duty, a covenant with country and Creator.

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The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863. The third day at Gettysburg. The Confederates advanced in a thunderous assault known as Pickett’s Charge—12,500 men crossing open ground under devastating Union fire.

Lieutenant Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, positioned near the center of the Union line. The Confederate assault zeroed in on his guns, the linchpin in defending Cemetery Ridge.

When the enemy reached his position, some Union artillerymen fled, others hesitated under the searing hail of bullets and cannon fire. Cushing stayed perched behind his guns.

Wounded multiple times—leg shattered, arm half gone—he fought to keep the battery firing. He refused evacuation despite repeated entreaties. His presence rallied his men to hold firm when all seemed lost.

Contemporary accounts describe him shouting commands through staggering pain, tending to each battery piece as if it was an extension of himself. His leadership slowed the enemy’s surge, blunted the charge’s momentum, and arguably saved the Union center from collapse.

Cushing fell mortally wounded but never surrendered the position.

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Recognition Long Overdue

Alonzo Cushing died on July 9, 1863, at 22 years old, a young warrior who had given all without hesitation.

But recognition came slow.

For 150 years, Cushing’s heroism was largely footnoted in Civil War history. Then, in 2014, President Barack Obama awarded him the Medal of Honor posthumously—the nation’s highest military decoration. The citation highlighted his "extraordinary heroism and selflessness" during Pickett's Charge, persevering despite mortal wounds to keep his battery firing.

“He fought through wounds to hold the line during the climactic assault at Gettysburg,” the citation read^1.

Commanders and comrades alike had praised his courage. Brigadier General Romeyn B. Ayres, his division commander, later called Cushing’s stand “one of the most gallant episodes of the battle.”

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Legacy Etched in Steel and Spirit

Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing’s story is not just about bravery. It stands as a testament to relentless sacrifice—the mind and spirit willing the body beyond its limits.

What does it mean to fight not for recognition, but simply because the fight is right?

His endurance under fire, amid chaos and death, reminds veterans of the burdens warriors carry—visible scars and invisible. It honors the line of sacrifice that stretches from Gettysburg’s fields to deserts and mountains today.

His faith, quiet yet fierce, echoed in the moments between gunfire and agony. Like Paul’s exhortation, Cushing bore his hardships with strength:

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”—Philippians 1:21

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Alonzo Cushing died young, but his legacy blazes like the muzzle flash on Cemetery Ridge—brief, brutal, unforgettable.

We owe him more than medals. We owe him remembrance that honors the grit, the faith, and the refusal to relinquish the fight.

Because in every age, a warrior’s true battle is not just surviving, but standing when all else falls away.

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Sources

1. The White House, “President Obama Awards Medal of Honor to Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing,” 2014. 2. C. Todd, The Guns of Gettysburg: The Story of Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery. 3. Ayres, R.B., Official Reports, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies.

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