First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing, a 22-year old apple cheeked artillery officer who died heroically during the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg will receive the Medal of Honor for his valiant resistance at "The Angle" during Pickett's charge. Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th United States Artillery, Artillery Brigade, 2nd Corps for the Army of the Potomac. He was positioned a few yards from an innocuous clump of trees behind a low, stone wall on Cemetary Ridge - the focus of the entire Confederate attack. With 15,000 men bearing down on him and most of the Southern artillery targeting his position, Cushing calmly directed fire from his 6 guns straight into advancing men in gray. Firing deadly salvos of double cannister shot, the Southerners paid dearly for every yard they advanced toward "The Angle" - a spot on the ridge where the stone wall bent back 45 degrees. Cushing had been wounded twice, including a serious wound in the stomach. One by one...(Read Full Post)