Military Review English Edition November-December 2014 | Page 155

1st Lieutenant
Alonzo Hersford Cushing

Medal of Honor
Civil War

1

st Lieutenant Alonzo Hersford Cushing will
be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously to recognize his 3 July 1863 actions
at Gettysburg, Pa.
President Barack Obama approved the award
to honor the Civil War veteran. An award ceremony will be held at a future date.
Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S.
Artillery, Artillery Brigade, 2nd Corps, Army
of the Potomac. He was killed in action while
defending a Union position in the vicinity of
Cemetery Ridge on the final day of the Battle of
Gettysburg.
On that day, Cushing’s battery was decimated by Confederate artillery fire until only one
serviceable field piece remained. Cushing was
severely wounded in the abdomen and the shoulder but refused to be evacuated. He continued
to direct the fire of his lone artillery piece in the
face of the Confederate assault known as Pickett’s
Charge.
Through his actions, Cushing is credited with
helping the Union Army successfully prevent the
Confederate charge from breaking through the
center of Union defenses on Cemetery Ridge at a
place later called “The Angle.” Cushing was shot
in the head and killed during the height of the
assault. He was 22 years old.
Cushing is the 64th soldier to receive the
Medal of Honor for actions during the Battle of
Gettysburg.
Alonzo Cushing was a native of Wisconsin
and a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy. He
is buried with full honors at West Point.

(Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)

1st Lieutenant Alonzo Hersford Cushing (center, back row, and
below).

(Photo courtesy of the Center of Military History)