Alonzo Cushing's Valor on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg

Dec 22 , 2025

Alonzo Cushing's Valor on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg

The cannon thundered like the earth itself was breaking apart. Smoke choked the air. Bullets sang death songs all around. Through the chaos, Alonzo Cushing stood at his lonely battery on Cemetery Ridge, Army artillery’s final shield against Pickett’s Charge. Wounded, fading, but unyielding.

He manned his guns until the bitter end.

Blood and Faith: The Making of a Warrior

Alonzo Hersford Cushing was born in Wisconsin, 1841 — a product of broken frontier grit and tight-knit family faith. Raised in a household that believed in duty as a divine calling, Cushing walked into West Point with something harder than brass in his heart. His code wasn’t just military discipline; it was sacred honor.

He carried scripture in his soul. One chapter whispered in his mind: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged...” (Joshua 1:9). He wasn’t just a soldier; he was a man answering a higher summons—to protect, to sacrifice, to endure.

Holding Cemetery Ridge: Steel in the Face of Death

July 3, 1863. The bloodiest stretch of Gettysburg. The Confederates launched Pickett’s Charge—a massive, desperate assault aimed to break Union lines and possibly end the war.

Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, a lynchpin in the Union artillery line. As Confederate shells tore through his guns, he pushed men to load, fire, and hold their ground. He suffered severe injuries—multiple wounds from artillery and musket fire—but refused to leave his post.

Eyewitness reports describe him propped against one of his cannons, blood seeping through, signaling to the gun crews: Keep firing. Every blast from his battery slowed the Confederate advance and saved countless Union lives.

When his men pleaded for him to fall back, he shook his head, whispering, “I’m better here.” He stayed until he collapsed, mortally wounded but still gripping the reins of command.

Honor in the Face of Death

Alonzo Cushing died July 9, 1863, six days after Gettysburg, but his valor was slow to be recognized.

It wasn’t until 2014, 151 years later, that he was awarded the Medal of Honor — the highest tribute from a grateful nation.^1 The citation read:

“Lieutenant Cushing made the supreme sacrifice defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge at the Battle of Gettysburg.”

General Alexander S. Webb, who fought beside him, called Cushing a “man whose gallantry and coolness under fire were unparalleled.” Webb’s own words carved a permanent place for Cushing in the annals of military legend.

The Legacy: Courage Beyond the Grave

Cushing’s story is a stark testament to endurance—when every muscle screams to quit but the mission demands more. His life teaches us courage isn’t the absence of fear or pain, but the decision to fight on anyway.

In the trenches of war, he found purpose. In the fall of his comrades and the thunder of cannons, he found God’s presence in sacrifice.

“Greater love has no one than this,” the Bible says (John 15:13). Cushing lived that love. He held Cemetery Ridge not just for his countrymen, but for the soul of what freedom demands: unyielding sacrifice.

In honoring Alonzo Cushing, remember this: scars borne on blood-soaked fields write the truest stories of valor. They remind us all—veterans and civilians alike—that courage is forged in fire, faith, and the refusal to abandon hope.

He stood when others fell. He gave all he had so others might live.

May we hold fast to that legacy.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Citation for Alonzo Cushing 2. Civil War Trust, Battle of Gettysburg Analysis and Unit Histories 3. Harold Holzer, Gettysburg Commander: The Story of General Alexander S. Webb