Before & After: Cushing + extra photos!

Mike Serpa

Major
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
I got a request in the Chat Room to do a Before & After. It caught me off guard.

Alonzo Hersford Cushing (January 19, 1841 – July 3, 1863) was an artillery officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He died at the Battle of Gettysburg while defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge. Action has been undertaken to award him the Medal of Honor; as of December 2013, more than 150 years after his death, the nomination has been approved by the United States Congress, and now awaits review by the Defense Department and the President.
more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_Cushing


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Alonzo Cuserpahing.jpg

From the New York State Military Museum. Note - incorrect identification.

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LOC photo - Lt. Rufus King, Lt. Alonzo Cushing [standing middle], Lt. Evan Thomas and three other artillery officers in front of tent, Antietam, Md. 1862

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LOC photo - Topographical engineers at Headquarters, Army of Potomac, in front of Yorktown, Va. [Cushing, standing far right next to Allan Pinkerton. Identities from waroftherebellion.com]

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LOC photo- Gen. Edwin V. Sumner and staff Warrenton, VA 1862
Photograph from the main eastern theater of the war, Burnside and Hooker, November 1862-April 1863. Left to right: Capt. W. G. Jones, Maj. Laurence Kip, A.D.C., Lt. Col. Joseph H. Taylor, A.A.C., Gen. Sumner, Capt. J. M. Garland, Chief of Ambulances, Capt. Samuel S. Sumner, A.D.C., Alonzo Herford Cushing, Lt. Col. W. W. Teall.

Edit: forgot this 1861 West Point photo.
ACushing WestPoint1861.jpg
 
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I got a request in the Chat Room to do a Before & After. It caught me off guard.

Alonzo Hersford Cushing (January 19, 1841 – July 3, 1863) was an artillery officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He died at the Battle of Gettysburg while defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge. Action has been undertaken to award him the Medal of Honor; as of December 2013, more than 150 years after his death, the nomination has been approved by the United States Congress, and now awaits review by the Defense Department and the President.
more at

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From the New York State Military Museum. Note - incorrect identification.

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LOC photo - Lt. Rufus King, Lt. Alonzo Cushing [standing middle], Lt. Evan Thomas and three other artillery officers in front of tent, Antietam, Md. 1862

View attachment 44736
LOC photo - Topographical engineers at Headquarters, Army of Potomac, in front of Yorktown, Va. [Cushing, standing far right next to Allan Pinkerton. Identities from waroftherebellion.com]

View attachment 44737
LOC photo- Gen. Edwin V. Sumner and staff Warrenton, VA 1862
Photograph from the main eastern theater of the war, Burnside and Hooker, November 1862-April 1863. Left to right: Capt. W. G. Jones, Maj. Laurence Kip, A.D.C., Lt. Col. Joseph H. Taylor, A.A.C., Gen. Sumner, Capt. J. M. Garland, Chief of Ambulances, Capt. Samuel S. Sumner, A.D.C., Alonzo Herford Cushing, Lt. Col. W. W. Teall.

Edit: forgot this 1861 West Point photo.
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Love the pictures, Mike. A genuine American hero who deserves that medal if anyone does.
 
Thanks. IIRC Frederick Fuger, who replaced Cushing, is a MOH recipient also for his actions on the same day as Cushing. I think he received his MOH in the 1890s. Some 125 years before Cushing.


These are terrific, thank you! What I loved about Cushing's long overdue MoH was the attention- remember? Talk about good press! His actions, our military men and women, Gettysburg, the ACW, our Medal of Honor- importance of history-all in the spotlight. It was quite wonderful.

Gettysburg College's Musselman Library has what is apparently an autographed class photo of Alonzo Cushing among its special collections. The photo, which is the same image as the class photo Mike Serpa posted immediately above, is signed, "Truly yours, A.H. Cushing, 4th Arty." It is a page from the West Point Class of 1861 photograph album of 2nd Lt. William H. Harris:
http://www.gettysburg.edu/news_events/photo_detail.dot?cInode=f0867c8c-8905-457c-bfe3-f997d24f5451


Is that a different collection from their ' Special Collections '? If the photo is in their Special Collections, they're terrific to communicate with, nicest, most pleasant and helpful people on the planet. They'll allow you to use it for educational purposes, if you ask. That was a few years ago, rules may have changed- if they must say ' no ', they'll sure say it nicely.
 
These are terrific, thank you! What I loved about Cushing's long overdue MoH was the attention- remember? Talk about good press! His actions, our military men and women, Gettysburg, the ACW, our Medal of Honor- importance of history-all in the spotlight. It was quite wonderful.




Is that a different collection from their ' Special Collections '? If the photo is in their Special Collections, they're terrific to communicate with, nicest, most pleasant and helpful people on the planet. They'll allow you to use it for educational purposes, if you ask. That was a few years ago, rules may have changed- if they must say ' no ', they'll sure say it nicely.

I believe it is part of the same Special Collections that you're familiar with. And yes, the librarians, archivists, and other staff members at Musselman Library are exceptionally helpful! I see that the link above no longer works, so here's a new one to a Facebook post where the Center For Civil War Photography shared the photo with a detailed description of both the picture and Cushing's actions at Gettysburg.
 
Whoa, thank you! Career army too- after he immigrated! " During the war I was present at 63 battles and minor engagements..... "- we sure know Gettysburg was one. Wonder how many descendants carrying Fuger's indestructible genes are around today? Wonderful ingredients to our proverbial mixing pot, gee whiz.

@Pat Young , MoH winner, immigrant Lieut.-Colonel Frederick Füger, cool stuff.
 
Whoa, thank you! Career army too- after he immigrated! " During the war I was present at 63 battles and minor engagements..... "- we sure know Gettysburg was one. Wonder how many descendants carrying Fuger's indestructible genes are around today? Wonderful ingredients to our proverbial mixing pot, gee whiz.

@Pat Young , MoH winner, immigrant Lieut.-Colonel Frederick Füger, cool stuff.
Here is a thread I started on Fuger
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/th...tysburg-medal-of-honor-winner-f-füger.104188/
 
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