How Alonzo Cushing's Stand at Gettysburg Earned the Medal of Honor

Feb 15 , 2026

How Alonzo Cushing's Stand at Gettysburg Earned the Medal of Honor

Alonzo Cushing gripped the cold iron of his cannon as musket balls whistled past, one after another tearing through the air like death’s own choir. Pain blistered in his chest, but his finger never faltered from the lanyard. The thunder of artillery roared, smoke choked the green field, and the Union line at Cemetery Ridge started to crumble. He held fast. Blood seeped from his wound, but he refused to quit.

The boy who would not break

Alonzo Cushing was born into a storied military family in 1841, West Point a birthright, war an expected fate. Raised with iron discipline and a fierce moral compass, Cushing’s faith was a quiet pillar through his life. His letters whispered conviction, quoting scripture—“Be strong and courageous,” a refrain through dark days.

A man forged by duty, honor, and steely resolve, he carried himself with the solemnity of a soldier who knew war was no place for weakness. His artillery unit, the Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, was his charge. He was not just a leader; he was a guardian of lives beneath hellfire.

Defiance at Gettysburg: The crucible of fire

July 3, 1863—the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg. Confederate forces surged toward Cemetery Ridge like a tidal wave. Amidst the rain of bullets and shell, Cushing’s battery bore the lion’s share of the fight. As the enemy advanced, his cannoneers fell. Cushing himself was pierced multiple times—a grave wound to the chest.

But he refused to surrender his post. He ordered his men to keep firing the last three cannons under his control, refusing to let the Confederate assault break the Union line. Eyewitnesses recall him shouting through agonizing pain, rallying his men, directing artillery fire that crippled the enemy’s advance. His blood mixed with powder smoke on that desperate field. From the official Medal of Honor citation:

“Lieutenant Cushing distinguished himself by his heroic and unflinching courage and his conspicuous gallantry in maintaining his battery against overwhelming odds...” [1]

He died moments after ordering the final salvo. His stand helped turn the tide of Pickett’s Charge—one of the Civil War’s defining moments.

Recognition carved in steel and honor

Alonzo Cushing’s heroism was etched in history slowly but surely. His Medal of Honor came posthumously in 2014—more than 150 years after his death and relentless bravery. Then-Army Secretary John McHugh acknowledged:

“Lieutenant Cushing's courage and sacrifice inspired his men and contributed to the triumph at Gettysburg.” [2]

Fellow officers lauded his steadfastness under siege. The artillery that day stopped Pickett’s men cold. President Lincoln called Gettysburg a “turning point” of the war, but Cushing’s sacrifice was the beating heart beneath that blood-soaked soil.

The legacy of unyielding valor

Cushing’s story is not just about glory. It’s about the scars—visible and invisible—that warriors carry and bear for their country. His courage was born from a deep conviction, a refusal to abandon hope even as death closed in.

In his final hours, Alonzo Cushing embodied faith in action—a purity of purpose that transcends battlefields:

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”—John 15:13

His stand is a reminder that true valor demands sacrifice. It is not in survival but in the never-yielding fight for what is right. We honor him not for the medals, but for the raw, unvarnished example of sacrifice that still speaks to us, whispering through the ages to battered souls in every war zone yet to come.

He did not just fire cannons. He fired the soul of a nation’s fight for union, justice, and the endurance of hope. To remember Alonzo Cushing is to remember every soldier who chooses to stand when the world falls apart.

His legacy warns us: courage is costly, but its price births a future where freedom can breathe.

Sources

1. U.S. Army Center of Military History, Medal of Honor Recipients: Civil War 2. U.S. Army News Release, Secretary McHugh Awards Medal of Honor to Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing, 2014