Dec 16 , 2025

How Alonzo Cushing’s Sacrifice Saved the Union Line at Gettysburg

The cannon's roar cut through the hot, suffocating air at Gettysburg. Smoke choked the line. Blood soaked uniforms. Amid spiraling death, a single officer stood relentless—wounded, staggering, still giving orders. Alonzo Cushing gripped the reins with one hand, his other pressed against a ghastly wound. His guns did not cease. Not for a second. Not until the last breath left his broken body.

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Born of Duty and Devotion

Alonzo Cushing was no ordinary soldier. Born July 23, 1841, in Wisconsin to a family steeped in service, his blood ran warrior and scholar alike. West Point molded his mind, but God shaped his heart. Steeped in Christian faith, Cushing carried a burden heavier than any lead projectile—the call to protect his men and country, no matter the cost.

His personal journal whispered verses from Romans 8:38–39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life... shall be able to separate us from the love of God.” That conviction cemented a warrior’s peace beneath the storm of bullets. It was not glory he sought, but the fulfillment of a sworn oath.

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The Battle That Defined Him

July 3, 1863. The third day of Gettysburg. Pickett’s Charge thundered toward Cemetery Ridge, a tide of Confederate men aiming to break Union lines.

Lieutenant Colonel Alonzo Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, positioned on the ridge’s front line. Enemy shells shattered the guns, men fell by the dozen, but Cushing remained. Twice wounded already, he refused withdrawal. When the lead horses hauling artillery were felled, Cushing tied himself to the limber, firing guns by hand. His bloodied hands gripped tools to keep the cannons firing until the enemy breached his position.

A bullet tore through his hip and stomach. He collapsed, voice fading but still commanding. His second-in-command, Lt. Joseph Stewart, described Cushing “still ordering his men forward while dying.” Before darkness swallowed him, Cushing’s artillery had drawn enemy fire, disrupted their advance, and saved the Union line at Cemetery Ridge.

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Recognition: Valor Carved in Bronze

Cushing died on the field, July 3, 1863. His sacrifice was known but underacknowledged for decades.

Nearly 150 years later, on November 6, 2014, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded Cushing the Medal of Honor—the nation’s highest military decoration—for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.” The citation praised his “undaunted courage” to “remain and direct his battery’s fire despite grievous wounds.”[1]

Fellow officers called him “the bravest and most devoted artillery officer.” His charge was not just a defense of ground but a testament to unwavering resolve.

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Legacy Etched in Sacrifice

Alonzo Cushing’s story is a war hymn of endurance—of holding the line when hope staggers and death presses close.

He teaches that heroism is not measured by survival but by the refusal to yield in the crucible of sacrifice. His faith was a shield; his actions an arrow that pierced through despair.

In a world quick to forget the blood beneath every flag, Cushing reminds warriors and civilians alike what true courage demands: unswerving purpose, love for comrades, and strength born in the deepest pain.

“Let us not grow weary while doing good,” he might have said, echoing Galatians 6:9. His legacy commands it.

The ground where Cushing fell still whispers that some men stand in the fiercest storm—not for honor, but for the souls of those they lead. And in that standing, they find both redemption and immortal valor.

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Sources

[1] U.S. Army Center of Military History + Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War (A–F)

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