The Immigrant Who Took Over When Cushing Was Killed at Gettysburg: Medal of Honor Winner F. Füger

Pat Young

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Today, Alonzo Cushing will be awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallant service at Gettysburg. However, another member of his battery already received the Medal of Honor for his actions during Pickett's charge.

Frederick Füger was a German immigrant from Koppingen who came to the US in 1853. Three years later he enlisted in the United States Army. According to his wiki entry:

Füger’s five-year enlistment was set to expire in 1861 when Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter. He reenlisted and was promoted to First Sergeant of Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery under the command of Lt. Alonzo Cushing. During Pickett's Charge, as the Confederates were about to cross over the stonewall, Sgt. Füger was aiding his commander in directing the battery's fire when Cushing was killed. Füger assumed command of the battery and fired the remaining rounds of canister before fighting hand-to-hand to drive the Confederates off the field. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for this action. He also received a commission as Second Lieutenant in the Regular Army. By his own account Füger was present at 63 Civil War battles and minor engagements being slightly wounded twice.

Here is his Medal of Honor citation:

All the officers of his battery having been killed or wounded and five of its guns disabled in Pickett's assault, he succeeded to the command and fought the remaining gun with most distinguished gallantry until the battery was ordered withdrawn.
 
The family history was published in 1904 and it includes this caveat:

"Prepared and printed for the use of members of the family only."

Since Fuger was still alive, I assume he had some role in preparing it. It quotes his "diary" and other writings.

The version I linked to contains some transcription errors.
 
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Fuger describes his reason for re-enlisting in 1861 at the end of his five year enlistment in the regular army:

In July, 1 86 1 , after live years of hard con-
tinuous service, my term of enlistment expired. I
was then twenty-rive years of age, had acquired a
good knowledge of the English language, of this
country and its people from Florida to California.

I was about to enter into business, being offered
a fine position with about $1,800 a year to start with;
but at this time Fort Sumpter had been fired on ; the
North as well as the South was wild with excitement,
and the prevailing patriotic fever seized me, dominat-
ing all questions of private interest. I had imbibed a
love for a military life, and having been in the Artil-
lery service so long, determined to re-enlist in that
branch, taking chances for promotion. So far I had
only served as private, corporal and sergeant. I left
Camp Floyd, Utah, and marched across the plains,
arriving at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in October,
1 86 1. From there I proceeded by railway to Wash-
ington City, D. C, where we were organized into a
light battery.

Thenceforward I served in the Army of the
Potomac from December, 1861, to the surrender of
General Lee's army at Appomatox Court House, April
9, 1865, four years of almost continual and severe
campaigning. During the war I w r as present at sixty-
three battles and minor engagements, being wounded
but twice, once in the head at the battle of White Oak
Swamp, June 30, 1862, and once in the left arm at
the battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862. I served
my entire time, from August, 1856, when I enlisted,
to June 18, 1900, a period of forty-four years, in the
4th Artillery
 
Here is Fuger's description of Cushing:

Lieutenant [Cushing] my commander, was a most
able soldier, a man of excellent judgment and great
decision of character ; devoted to his profession, he
was most faithful in the discharge of every duty,
accurate and thorough in its performance ; possessed
of mental and physical vigor, joined to the kindest of
hearts, he commanded the love and respect of all who
knew him. His superiors placed implicit confidence
in him, as well they might. His fearlessness and
resolution, displayed in numerous actions, were unsur-
passed and his noble death at Gettysburg should
present an example for emulation to patriotic defend-
ers of the country through all time to come.
 
Here is Fuger's assessment of the Confederate artillery barrage on July 3, 1863:

Our artillery bore its full share of the trials and
glories of Gettysburg. The "duel" on the third day
of the battle was remarkable as the only great exhibi-
tion of the strength of that arm of the service by
General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. In no
other battle did Lee develop a force of over 100 guns
in line or maintain a cannonade for over an hour. As
a demonstration, or spectacle rather, it was superb,
but as a military operation ineffective, in that its
destructiveness was insufficient to impair the ability of
our infantry to resist and repulse the great charge for
which it was designed to pave the way ; nor did it
cripple our artillery to an extent commensurate with
the vast expenditure of ammunition, which they could
not and never did replace.
 
List of Battles

Colonel Fuger was with General George B.
McClellan's Army of the Potomac through the Penin-
sular Campaign and participated in the following
battles:

1862. Near Fairfax, Va., March 27th.

Rappahannock River, March 30th.
Siege of Yorktown (6 days), April.


Williamsburg, Va., April.

Williamsburg, Va. (2nd battle), May.

Fairfax, Va., June 1st.

In front of Richmond, up to June 28th.

Allen's Farm, June 29th.

Peach Orchard, June 29th.

Savage Station, June 29th.

White Oak Swamp, June 30th.

Malvern Hill, July 1st.

Thoroughfare Gap, August.

Second Bull Run, August.

South Mountain, Md., September.

Antietam, Md., September 17th.

Charleston, Va., September.

Fredericksburg, Va. (3 days), December.

1863. Chancellorsville,Va.,May 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th.
Thoroughfare Gap, Va., June.
Gettysburg, Penn., July 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
Sulphur Springs, Va., October 12th.
Bristow Station, Va., October 14th.
Parker's Store, Va., November 29th.
Stevenson, Va., November.

1864. Rappahannock Station.
Mine Run.

Wilderness, Va., May 5th to 8th.
Participated in Sheridan's Raid, May 5th

to 25th, and the following battles:
Todd's Tavern, Va., May 4th.
Meadow Bridge, Va., May 6th.
Yellow Tavern, Va., May nth.
Strawberry Hill, Va., May 13th.

[Harris
[25]



Harris Shop, Va., May 13th.
Coal Harbor, Va., June 3rd.
White Oak Swamp, Va., June 13th.
Riddle's House, Va., June 13th.
Participated in General Wilson's raid
from June 22nd to July 2nd.
Nottoway Court House, June 23rd.
Stony Creek, June.
Ream's Station, June.
With General Sheridan in the Shenandoah
Valley.
Winchester, Va., August 17th.
Summit Point, V., August 21st.
Kearneyville, Va., August 25th.
Berryville, Va., August.
Bunker Hill, August.
Opequan, Va., September 15th.
Cedar Creek, Va., October 19th.

In Sheridan's raid, via Shenandoah Valley, we
crossed the Blue Ridge above Staunton, Va., to
Virginia University, where we took 5,000 prisoners;
then we marched along James River Canal to within
a few miles of Lynchburg, Va.; then, turning about,
marched to the White House, Va., where we joined
the army of the Potomac in front of Petersburg, and
took position on extreme left of that army."

The raid rested from February 27 to March
26, 1865. Actions at Waynesborough, Va., March
2nd, and at Ashland, Va., March 15, 1865.

In Richmond Campaign, under General U. S.
Grant, March 28 to April 9, 1865, and engaged in
the following battles:

Dinwiddie Court House, Va. , March 31st.

Scott's Cross Roads, Va., April 2nd.

Wilson's Farm, Va., April 3rd.

Sailor's Creek, Va., April 6th.

Appomattox Station, Va., April 8th.
 
I love how the family history describes the marriage of Fuger, then 30 years old, to Margaret Tennant:

When on recruiting service at Grand Rapids.
Mich., in 1866, Major Fuger, then a bachelor of 30
years, met his fate in the person of Miss Margaret
Tennant. Attracted by her beauty and numerous
admirable qualities, he married her at Grand Rapids,
January 31, 1867. Miss Tennant, who was much
younger than her husband, was a Scotch lassie, born
in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1846, and was barely twenty
years of age at the time of her marriage.
 
Here is what Fuger said about the Battle of Gettysburg in his "diary" (I have corrected obvious transcription errors):

"From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., July 3
1863, there was a lull in the [firing], each [party], appar-
ently, waiting to see what the other was about to do,
and at what point an attack was to be made. About
1 o'clock, p. m., two cannon shots from the right of the
Washington Artillery (Confederate) suddenly broke
a silence which had prevailed over the battlefield for
nearly two hours. The solitary smoke from these two
shots had scarcely disappeared, when the whole Con-
federate line, in one blaze of fire, opened with 150 guns.
The Union artillery replied with 100 guns, occupying
a front of over a mile. Of this bombardment, or
artillery duel, I will only say, it was the most terrific
cannonade I ever witnessed, in fact, the most terrible
the New World has ever seen, and the most prolonged
The very earth shook beneath our feet, while the hills
and woods seemed to reel like drunken men. For an
hour and a half this terrific firing continued, during
which time the shrieking shells, the fragments of rock
shattered from the stone wall in our front, the splash
of bursting shell and shrapnel, the fierce neighing of
the wounded and dying artillery horses, formed a scene
terribly grand and sublime. About 2:30 p.m., the
order 'cease firing,' was given, followed by a similar
course on the part of the enemy. The 'artillery duel
had ended, and all our ammunition except the cannister
had been expended. General Webb, of Hancock's
Corps, at this moment rode up to where Lieutenant
Cushing, in command of our battery, was standing,
and said, 'Cushing, it is my opinion that the Confed-
erate infantry will now advance. Cushing replied,
"I had then better run my guns right up to the stone
wall, and bring all my cannister alongside each piece."
General Webb replied, 'All right, do so." The com-
mand was then given, and the six guns were brought
by hand to the stone wall, leaving room enough for
Numbers i and 2 to work. All the cannister was
piled up in the rear of each Number 2. In doing this,
we were obliged to take a closer interval (say, about
nine yards, the usual interval being about fourteen
yards). This was caused by some obstruction on our
left. On our right was a stone wall at right angles
with the other. The Confederate infantry, about 16,000
strong, now began their advance. They were the best
troops in Lee's army, namely, Pickett's division; three
brigades, Garrett's, Kemper's and Armistead's, in the
center, supported on the left by General Heth's division
and on the right by General Anderson's. Kemper was
on the right, Garrett in the center, and Armistead on
the left, marching in close order with measured steps,
as if on parade. They moved forward toward us
solidly and deliberately, and when they were within
450 yards, Battery A began firing at them with single
charges of cannister, mowing down gaps in the line,
which were immediately filled up.

At this time, Cushing was wounded in the right
shoulder, and in a few seconds after in the abdomen, a
terribly severe and painful wound. He called out,

"Fuger, Fuger, stand by me, and impart my orders to the
Battery,' but he soon became faint and suffered fright-
fully. I wanted to have him taken to the rear, but he
refused, declaring he would stay right there and right
it out, or die in the attempt. When the enemy were
within 200 yards, double and treble charges were fired,
opening immense gaps in their lines, to the extent of a
company front. Lieutenant Miller, commanding the
right half of the Battery, was at this juncture killed.
When the enemy had approached within 100 yards,
Lieutenant [Cushing] was shot in the mouth and in-
stantly killed. I was standing on his right and a little in
advance of him, when I saw him fall forward ; I caught
him in my arms, and ordered two men to carry him to
the rear.

This placed me in command of the battery, and I
shouted to the men to obey my orders. We continued
to fire double and treble charges of cannister, but,
owing to the dense smoke, could not see very far to
the front. At this moment, to my utter amazement,
I saw General Armistead leap on the stone wall with a
number of his troops, landing right in the midst of our
battery. I shouted to my devoted cannoneers and the
drivers, whose horses had been killed, to stand their
ground, which they heroically did, [fighting] hand-to-
hand with pistols, sabers, handspikes or rammers,
until, with the help of Webb's Pennsylvanians (four
regiments), who had rushed from the rear to our sup-
port, the enemy were all killed or disabled. Not one
of the daring party, who came over the stone wall,
ever returned. Pickett's command collapsed. Armis-
tead fell mortally wounded but a few yards from
where Cushing, his young and gallant adversary, gave
up his life. Among the dead were found a number
whose skulls were crushed in by the suddenly impro-
vised weapons of our brave gunners.
 
Fuger did not become a US citizen until 1888. By then he had lived in the US for 35 years, had been in the army for 32 years, and had received the Medal of Honor.
 
Fuger:
fuger photo bw.JPG
 
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