Alonzo Cushing's Stand at Gettysburg Saved the Union Line

Nov 29 , 2025

Alonzo Cushing's Stand at Gettysburg Saved the Union Line

Pain. Fire. The roar of cannon louder than any prayer. The line trembles beneath a sky bleeding smoke. There he stands, 22 years old, a young artillery officer named Alonzo Cushing. Mortally wounded but refusing to quit. “Keep firing,” he commands. The guns don’t go silent that July day at Gettysburg. They can’t. Not while lives and the fate of a nation dangle on his grit.

Raised for War and Honor

Alonzo H. Cushing was born into a lineage carved of grit and service. West Point class of 1861, the son of a soldier-soldier family. Life hardened him into a man who knew discipline wasn’t just rules — it was surviving hell on earth. His faith was rooted in something deeper than orders: a covenant to protect the vulnerable, to stand firm when the world implodes.

Raised Presbyterian, his letters hint at a soldier wrestling with the brutal irony of war — the holiness in sacrifice, the ugliness blood demands. Scripture must have lingered in mind when he faced the oncoming storm:

“Be strong and courageous... for the Lord your God is with you.” — Joshua 1:9

Cushing was no stranger to courage. His soul was sharpened by duty and an unyielding moral compass. No retreat. No surrender.

The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863 — the third and final day of Gettysburg — found Cushing entrenched on Cemetery Ridge, commanding Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery. Confederate forces, led by Pickett’s Division, surged with ferocity toward the Union center. Cushing’s 10 artillery pieces were the thin red line.

When the Confederate assault crashed in, his command was hit hard — cannoneers splintered, horses killed, guns silenced one by one. Cushing took a bullet through his abdomen early, a wound severe and deadly by any measure. Yet, he refused to abandon his post.

“I’m not leaving,” he reportedly said. He crawled around his battery, using the last ounces of strength to direct fire, rally his men, and mastermind backbreaking volleys. Despite another wound — this time to his leg — Cushing stayed kneeling, eyes locked on the enemy, lips moving in near prayer and command.

Witnesses later reported his stoic endurance was nothing short of miraculous. His vision blurred. Blood stained the earth. A final gunshot and he collapsed, his soul leaving behind the cannons that had just saved the Union line.

Valor Etched in Iron and Words

Alonzo Cushing was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously — a full 151 years after his sacrifice — by President Barack Obama in 2014. The citation reads:

“For conspicuous gallantry, intrepidity, and marked coolness and endurance in the performance of duty, and in defense of his position with his battery which was the extreme left of the position held by the Union troops.”

President Obama saluted a legacy sealed not in ceremony but in unflinching battlefield honor.

General Hancock, his superior, lauded Cushing’s bravery during the battle:

“The battery fought until utterly destroyed, and its commander was mortally wounded, but he never thought of quitting.”

Men like Cushing are forged in the crucible of combat — bloodied, unyielding, holy in their sacrifice.

Legacy Carved by a Dying Charge

Alonzo Cushing’s story is more than history. It’s the raw blueprint of sacrifice. An eternal reminder that courage is not the absence of fear but the will to keep fighting anyway.

His withering wounds and primal command on Cemetery Ridge teach us about grit born from faith. True valor is messy and sacred. It's the refusal to yield when the world crashes in. When all seems lost, the warrior prays with iron resolve.

For veterans, Cushing stands as a kindred spirit — a man who faced death and chose unrelenting duty. For civilians, his life pierces apathy, bearing witness to the cost of liberty.

As scripture tells us:

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” — John 15:13

Alonzo Cushing did just that. And in that act, he secured more than a battlefield. He earned a place in the eternal ranks — where sacrifice is honored, scars hold stories, and courage meets redemption.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, “Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A–F)” 2. NPR, “Alonzo Cushing Medal Of Honor Ceremony” (2014) 3. National Park Service, “Gettysburg National Military Park: Alonzo Cushing Biography” 4. U.S. Congress, Senate Report 113-23 (Medal of Honor award, 2014)