On July 3, 1863, at 1.07 p.m., seventy five guns of the Army of Northern Virginia opened fire on the Union Army lines on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg.  Colonel E. Porter Alexander was given the task of directly a deadly fire against that portion of the Union lines as a prelude to the attack now known as Pickett’s charge.

Battery A, 4^th U.S. Artillery was situated over on Cemetery Ridge.  It consisted of 6 guns, and 110 men.  It was commanded by 22 year old First Lt. Alonzo Cushing of Wisconsin.  The bulk of the Confederate artillery fire began to land on the hill behind Lt. Cushing’s battery.  Some of the shots from a mile away rained hell, iron and death on Lt. Cushing’s battery, for over two long hours.  The incoming rounds blew up artillery limbers, knocked wheels off guns, and disemboweled horses, mules and men on the hill.

Only two guns in the six gun battery were capable of firing at the 15,000 Confederate troops that were advancing toward them from the Emittsburg Pike.  Most of their horses and mules had been wounded and killed in the two hour Confederate cannonade.  Lt. Cushing gave his sergeant the order, “By hand to the front,” and the guns were wheeled into position by hand.  There at the fence, they poured their deadly fire into the attacking Confederate infantry.  Lt. Cushing was subsequently wounded by Confederate artillery fire.  His first wound was a shell fragment that went through his shoulder.  He was then horribly wounded by a shell fragment which tore into his abdomen and groin.  Lt. Cushing held his intestines in place while begging his superior officer to allow him to stand in place and work his guns against the approaching enemy.

He was held in place by Sgt. Frederick Fuger, who passed on Lt. Cushing’s commands to the cannoneers.  As General Lewis Armistead’s Virginia soldiers closed into the Bloody Angle at Cemetery Ridge, their attack reached a critical climax.  Cushing’s battery poured canister fire into the attacking Confederate columns.  Cushing’s battery had run out of long range ammunition earlier, so all he had left was canister, which threw one inch balls at the soldiers like a giant shotgun.

A soldier who witnessed the battle told the following:  “Lt. Cushing, of Battery A, 4^th U.S. Artillery, challenged the admiration of all who saw him.  Three of his limbers were blown up and changed with the caisson limbers under fire.  Several wheels were shot off his guns and replaced, till at last, severely wounded himself, his officers all killed or wounded, and with but cannoneers enough to man a section, he pushed his guns to the fence in front, and was killed while serving his last canister into the ranks of the advancing enemy.”

While yelling an order to his battery, Lt. Cushing sustained a rifle wound through his open mouth.  He fell to his knees, and died in his sergeant’s arms.  His body was collected by his brother, and he was interred at the United States Military Academy at West Point.  The U.S. Army awarded him a brevet promotion to the rank of Lt. Colonel.

His mother had a headstone erected which denoted his brevet rank, and which was inscribed with the words, “Faithful Unto Death.”

This faithful soldier of the Civil War gave his last full measure of devotion to his country on July 3, 1863.  Margaret Zerwekh, a 90 year old woman that lives on land in Delafield Wisconsin, where Lt. Cushing was born, began a campaign in 1987 to have Lt. Alonzo Cushing awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  She wrote to then U.S. Senator William Proxmire, lobbying for the award.  This petition was later picked up and joined by Air Force Captain Phil Shapiro of Cabot, Arkansas.  They met with U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, who later petitioned the U.S. Army to have the honor awarded to Lt. Alonzo Cushing.  Captain Shapiro even created a Facebook web site for the purpose.

After a detailed review of historical accounts and the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Secretary of the Army John McHugh has recently approved their request.  This award will be submitted by the Army to the Congress for approval.  This summer, Brevet Lt. Colonel Alonzo Cushing will be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his conspicuous gallantry and bravery in action at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863.

A group of modern day supporters from around the country have succeeded in having a little known Civil War hero recognized for his valor and his devotion.  These days, when we see and hear the word “hero”, overused and abused, it is wonderful that someone like Lt. Alonzo Cushing receive the honor and recognition he so richly deserved.

Steven Harrell has practiced law in Perry, Georgia since 1989.

He is the author of The Unionist,  A Novel of the Civil War and The Rifle Captain, A Novel of World War I. Both are available at  Amazon.com, and Barnes&Noble.com. You may email him at sharrell@comsouth.net.