Alonzo Cushing was commander of an artillery battery on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, during what is now known as Pickett's Charge, according to an account provided by the White House. After Confederate cannon fire ripped into his position prior to the charge, he personally took over firing his single remaining artillery piece. Most of the rest of his men were either killed or wounded.
During the close-in fighting as Confederates approached, he was wounded in the shoulder and then in the stomach, but refused to be taken to the rear for treatment and continued directing firing of the artillery piece until he was mortally wounded by a bullet.
Cushing was buried with honors at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from which he had graduated just two years before his death. He was posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel.
A monument to his honor stands on the Gettysburg battlefield.
Previously this year, President Obama awarded Medals of Honor to veterans who fought as long back as World War II when he recognized 24 Army veterans who had been passed over for the recognition because of bias.
Well-Deserved Honor. --Old Secesh
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