[November 4, 2015] Although I occasionally highlight a real hero in this leadership blog, it’s important to remind readers that while the majority of the heroes are produced as a result of many acts of physical courage, it is moral courage that is most difficult. In the case of our hero featured today, Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing, he possessed both physical and moral courage.
Cushing earned the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions. As an artillery battery commander he was at the center of the most pivotal day of perhaps the most important battle of the U.S. Civil War. What is interesting is that the MoH was awarded by President Obama last year.1 Personally I’m not a fan of politicians presenting medals to those who fought in battles long ago because it is impossible to say why they did not receive an award at the time, regardless of the documentation.
This minor controversy in no way detracts from Cushing’s heroic deeds at this famous battle. He was wounded twice before being urged to retire from the battlefield … he refused and reportedly said, “I’ll stay and fight it out or die in the attempt.”2 He died giving commands to keep firing accurately and did so with Confederates only a few hundred yards away (a serious problem for an artillery battery). Lieutenant Cushing was shot in the mouth and fell.
“He is so representative of a people who had that sort of fortitude, who sacrificed that much.” – Kent Masterson, Civil War Historian
Yes, Lieutenant Cushing is a hero. His actions on and off the battlefield showed his courage in the face of great odds. We salute him for his bravery.
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- http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/28/us/politics/medal-of-honor-for-a-civil-war-hero-150-years-in-the-grave.html?_r=0
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_Cushing