Civil War Soldier to be Awarded the Medal of Honor

[agonyea]

Valor is Infinite. This Medal of Honor has been a long time coming.

147 years later, Wis. Civil War soldier gets medal .By DINESH RAMDE


http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world...is-530417.html


The Associated Press

DELAFIELD, Wis. — Seven score and seven years ago, a wounded Wisconsin soldier stood his ground on the Gettysburg battlefield and made a valiant stand before he was felled by a Confederate bullet.


First Lt. Alonzo Cushing, shown in an undated photo provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society, is expected to get the nation's highest military decoration this summer _ the Medal of Honor _ nearly 150 years after he died at the battle of Gettysburg. (AP Photo/Wisconsin Historical Society)

In a photo provided by the Wukesha County Museum, Alonzo Cushing's sister-in-law, Mrs. William Baker "Kate"Cushing , with her two daughters Katherine Abell Cushing and Marie L. Cushing stand in front of the bronze tablet on Cushing Monument in Delafield, Wis. on May 31, 1915, at the dedication of the monument to Alonzo Cushing and two of his brothers _ Naval Cmdr. William Cushing and Army 1st Lt. Howard Cushing. First Lt. Alonzo Cushing is expected to get the nation's highest military decoration this summer _ the Medal of Honor _ nearly 150 years after he died at the battle of Gettysburg.(AP Photo/Waukesha County Museum)

.Now, thanks to the dogged efforts of modern-day supporters, 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing shall not have died in vain, nor shall his memory have perished from the earth.

Descendants and some Civil War history buffs have been pushing the U.S. Army to award the soldier the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration. They'll soon get their wish.

Secretary of the Army John McHugh has approved their request, leaving a few formal steps before the award becomes official this summer. Cushing will become one of 3,447 recipients of the medal, and the second from the Civil War honored in the last 10 years.

It's an honor that's 147 years overdue, said Margaret Zerwekh. The 90-year-old woman lives on the land in Delafield where Cushing was born, and jokes she's been adopted by the Cushing family for her efforts to see Alonzo recognized.

"I was jumping up and down when I heard it was approved," said Zerwekh, who walks with two canes. "I was terribly excited."

Cushing died on July 3, 1863, the last day of the three-day battle of Gettysburg. He was 22.

The West Point graduate and his men of the Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery were defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge, a major Confederate thrust that could have turned the tide in the war.

Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was planning an invasion of the North; both sides knew how important this engagement was.

Cushing commanded about 110 men and six cannons. His small force along with reinforcements stood their ground under artillery bombardment as nearly 13,000 Confederate infantrymen waited to advance.

"Clap your hands as fast as you can — that's as fast as the shells are coming in," said Scott Hartwig, a historian with the Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. "They were under terrific fire."

The bombardment lasted two hours. Cushing was wounded in the shoulder and groin, and his battery was left with two guns and no long-range ammunition. His stricken battery should have been withdrawn and replaced with reserve forces, Hartwig said, but Cushing shouted that he would take his guns to the front lines.

"What that means is, 'While I've got a man left to fight, I'll fight,'" Hartwig said. Within minutes, he was killed by a Confederate bullet to the head.

Confederate soldiers advanced into the Union fire, but finally retreated with massive casualties. The South never recovered from the defeat.

The soldier's bravery so inspired one Civil War history buff that he took up Cushing's cause by launching a ******** page titled "Give Alonzo Cushing the Medal of Honor." Phil Shapiro, a 27-year-old Air Force captain, said such heroism displayed in one of the nation's most pivotal battles deserved recognition, even at this late date.

"We need to honor those people who got our country to where it is," said Shapiro, of Cabot, Ark.

Zerwekh first started campaigning for Cushing in 1987 by writing to Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire. Proxmire entered comments into the Congressional Record, she said, and she assumed that was as far as it would go. But current Sen. Russ Feingold later pitched in and helped Zerwekh and others petition the Army.

After a lengthy review of historical records, the Army agreed earlier this year to recommend the medal.

More than 1,500 soldiers from the Civil War have received the Medal of Honor, according to the Defense Department. The last honoree for Civil War service was Cpl. Andrew Jackson Smith of Clinton, Ill., who received the medal in 2001.

The Cushing name is prominent in the southeastern Wisconsin town of Delafield. A monument to Cushing and two of his brothers — Naval Cmdr. William Cushing and Army 1st Lt. Howard Cushing — stands at Cushing Memorial Park, where the town holds most of its Memorial Day celebrations.

Shapiro, the ******** fan, said he thought of Alonzo Cushing plenty of times last year as he faced a number of dangerous situations during a five-month stint in Iraq.

"I'd think about what Cushing accomplished, what he was able to deal with at age 22," Shapiro said. "I thought if he could do that then I can certainly deal with whatever I'm facing."

[agonyea]

1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing - One Step Closer to the Medal of Honor

March 11, 2010 in Civil War News



The Medal of Honor has been awarded 1527 times for service in the Civil War, including 63 for service at Gettysburg. The recipients have included such well-known participants of the battle as Major General Daniel Sickles, commander of the III Corps, and Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, defender of Little Round Top who was made even more famous by the 1993 movie, Gettysburg.

The medal is awarded to those who distinguished themselves “conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States.” It has been argued that some such medals were awarded for political reasons (e.g., Sickles’) or for frivolous reasons like retrieving the enemy’s battle flag from the deserted battlefield.

But in those earlier years of the award, the Medal of Honor was generally not awarded posthumously. That is, ironically, you had to survive to get it! Some logically argued that, if anything, the soldier was more deserving of recognition if he gave his life in the process — so the policy was changed. But, in the interim, many valiant heroes of the Civil War were denied recognition with the nation’s highest military honor.

One of them was 1st Lt. Alonzo Hersford Cushing, commander of Battery A of the 4th U.S. Artillery at Gettysburg. Now comes word from Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin (Cushing’s place of birth) that 1st Lt. Cushing has been recommended for the Medal of Honor.

Cushing’s battery was positioned at “The Angle”, the focal point of “Pickett’s Charge” on July 3rd, 1863. He was wounded two times by shell fragments, including one which blew a gaping hole in his abdomen. But he survived for a time, refusing to leave the field or delegate his command. Literally holding his intestines in with one hand, according to eyewitnesses, he continued to command his battery against the oncoming waves of Confederates. With Cushing too badly wounded to be heard over the din of battle, his 1st Sgt, Frederick Fuger, began relaying his commands to the battery. Some time later, a third bullet mercifully hit Cushing in the mouth and killed him.

Cushing’s death disqualified him at the time for the Medal of Honor, but, in what some say was a tribute to Cushing’s actions, the medal was awarded to 1st Sgt. Fuger.


1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing

Now, finally, Cushing is poised to be recognized by his country for his heroism. 146.5 years late is better than nothing! Senator Feingold’s recommendation was joined by that of John M. McHugh, Secretary of the Army. It now goes to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and then to the floor where it expected to be passed by a Special Act of Congress.

In recent years, a posthumous Medal of Honor was been traditionally presented to the next of kin at the White House by the President of the United States “in the name of Congress” (which is why it is sometimes erroneously called the Congressional Medal of Honor). We understand that there may be a ceremony at a monument to Cushing in Delafield, Wisconsin or at his grave at West Point.

We hope and expect, however, that there will also be a suitable ceremony on Cemetery Ridge in Gettysburg, where Cushing gave what Lincoln called “the last full measure of devotion

[RetPara]

Dale Gallon did this print a number of years ago......
[CENTER]
"FIRE AT THE ANGLE"[/CENTER]

[Typhoon]

That is an amazing and inspirational story. Thanks for the post. If you get the chance please follow up and let us know when and where the award ceremony will take place...

[Typhoon]

Any word on the whereabouts of the award ceremony?