Alonzo Cushing

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Lt. Alonzo Cushing (January 19, 1841 - July 3, 1863); a graduate of West Point class of 1861, he commanded Battery A of the 4th US Artillery at The Battle of Gettysburg during The American Civil War and was hailed by contemporaries as heroic in his actions defending against Pickett's Charge on the third day of the battle. He was wounded three times. First, he was shot in the shoulder, the bullet went straight through his shoulder. Then, he was shot in the groin area. After these injuries a higher ranking officer said, 'Cushing go to the rear.' Cushing, do to the limited amount of men left, refused to hed to the rear. Being this the height of Pickett's Charge, the officer agreed. Finally, Cushing was fatally wounded, when he was shot in the lip and the bullet exited through the back of his skull. He died on the field at the height of the assault as the advancing ranks of The Army of Northern Virginia reached the opposing lines of The Army of the Potomac amassed along Cemetery Ridge.

His body was returned to his family and then interred in The West Point Cemetery in Section 26, Row A, Grave 7. His headstone bears, at the behest of his mother, the inscription “Faithful until Death.”
His brevet rank was Lt. Col. His Brother was Lt William B. Cushing. His first Sgt Frederick Fuger received the Medal of Honor.