The Cushing Brothers
The triumphs and tragedies of Chautauqua County’s soldiers, especially the Cushing brothers, are revealed in the letters, diaries, and images they provided.
Alonzo H. Cushing
Alonzo Cushing
Alonzo Hersford Cushing was born January 19, 1841, in what is now the city of Delafield, WS. At the age of six his family moved to Fredonia, NY, where his grandfather, Zattu Cushing, was the first permanent settler.
Cushing graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in the class of June 1861 and became active in the Civil War. In July 1863 Cushing commanded Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery at Gettysburg, and was hailed by contemporaries as heroic in his actions on the third day of the battle.
On July 3, the third day of the battle, Cushing was wounded three times. First, a shell fragment went straight through his shoulder. He was then hit by a shell fragment, which tore into his abdomen and groin.
Despite being grievously wounded, Cushing continued to command his battery due to the limited number of men left. Because he could not shout over the sounds of the battlefield, he was held aloft by his 1st Sergeant, who faithfully passed on his commands. Cushing was killed when a bullet struck his head at the height of the assault. He was 22 years old.
Following his death, Cushing was posthumously promoted to first lieutenant and his body was interred in the West Point Cemetery. His headstone bears the inscription “Faithful unto Death.
Medal of Honor Recipient
In May 2010, 147 years after his death, Alonzo H. Cushing was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama. Use the buttons below to watch the Medal of Honor Ceremony and the Hall of Heroes Ceremony.
William B. Cushing
William Cushing
William Barker Cushing was born November 4, 1842 in Delafield, WS. He was the youngest of four brothers, the second youngest being Alonzo Cushing, who lost his life in the Battle of Gettysburg.
Cushing was raised in Fredonia and attended school at the U.S. Naval Academy but was expelled for pranks and poor scholarship. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he pleaded his case to U.S. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles and was reinstated. Cushing went on to acquire a distinguished record, frequently volunteering for the most hazardous missions. His heroism, good luck, and coolness under fire were legendary.
What defined Cushing’s military career was his daring plan and its successful execution to destroy the Confederacy’s ironclad ram CSS Albemarle. The powerful ironclad dominated the Roanoke River through much of the war and by the summer of 1864 the U. S. government decided that something should be done to either capture or destroy it. On the night of October 28, 1864, Cushing and a group of 14 men made their way up river and were able to detonate an explosive charge, sinking the vessel. Only Cushing and one other man in his group were able to escape.
After the war Cushing continued to serve in the Navy and earned the rank of captain. While he was on leave at home in Fredonia, Cushing met Katherine Louise Forbes and the two eventually married and had two daughters.
Cushing suffered from severe back pain the remainder of his service in the Navy, and it’s believed it may have been caused during the sinking of the Albemarle. His health deteriorated so that by December 8, 1874, it became impossible to care for him at home and he was removed to the Government Hospital for the Insane. Commander Cushing died on December 17, 1874 and was buried on January 8, 1875 at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland.
Five ships in the U.S. Navy have been named USS Cushing after Commander Cushing. The last one was decommissioned in September 2005. A portrait of Cushing hangs in Memorial Hall at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. Nearly all of the other portraits in the hall are of admirals.
Howard B. Cushing
Howard Cushing
Howard Bass Cushing, like his celebrated brothers William and Alonzo, was born in Delafield, WS, but lived most of his early years in Fredonia, NY. He and his three brothers all served with distinction in the War of Secession. All of them were driven by a strong sense of patriotism and honor. Like two of his brothers, Howard died a young man while serving his country.
He was five foot, seven inches tall and described as “spare, sinewy, and active as a cat” with “keen gray or bluish green eyes.” His intense physical presence along with his reputation as a fierce fighter and his death in action in Arizona led to his being dubbed the “Custer of Arizona”.
Cushing served in the U. S. Army from 1861 to 1871. Throughout the Civil War he served in the Artillery Command, first volunteering as a private in the 1st Illinois Light Artillery and later securing a federal commission as a second lieutenant in Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, the battery his brother Alonzo commanded when he was killed at the battle at Gettysburg. Howard was a 1st lieutenant in F Troop, 3rd U. S. Cavalry when he died during what is known as “Cushing’s Pursuit” in southeastern Arizona.
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“Lieutenant Cushing was one of the best and bravest officers in Arizona. He was considered the most successful Indian fighter in the Army; brave, energetic and tireless. He followed the foe to their strongholds and there attacked them with vigor and spirit, dealing them blows the savages could not withstand.
“On the 5th of May, 1871, Lieutenant Cushing, several civilians and three other soldiers, were killed at Bear Springs, in the Whetstone Mountains, about thirty-five miles from Tucson. They were pursuing a Chiricahua Apache band under Chief Cochise, the predecessor of Geronimo, who had recently broken a winter truce
“Cushing's force of twenty-two men was ambushed when they entered a canyon. His party was surrounded before a shot had been fired. The fight was a desperate one, fought with courage and great skill on both sides.
“While Cushing was endeavoring to lead his men out of the trap, he received the wounds that killed him. After Cushing fell, the Apaches made a determined charge and came upon the men hand to hand. Had it not been for the courage and good judgment displayed by Sergeant John Mott, no one would have survived.
“Mott, by keeping up on the backbone of the hills, was able to escape and reached Camp Crittenden without being surrounded or [ambushed] again.
“Inside of forty-eight hours three troops of cavalry were in pursuit of the Apaches.
“When the force arrived at Bear Springs, there was to be seen every evidence of a most bloody struggle. The bodies of Lieutenant Cushing and his comrades lay where they had fallen, stripped of clothing, which the Apaches always carried off from their victims. In all parts of the narrow little canyon were the carcasses of ponies and horses half-eaten by the coyotes and buzzards; broken saddles, saddlebags, canteens with bullet holes in them, pieces of harness and shreds of clothing scattered about, charred to a crisp in the flames which the savages had ignited in the grass to conceal their line of retreat.“How many Apaches had been killed was never determined. Taking their dead, the Chiricahuas apparently ascended from the canyon to the crest of the hills in a fringe of pine timber and escaped. They never halted until they regained the depths of the Mexican Sierra Madre, their chosen haunt.”
One of Tucson’s downtown streets is named Cushing Avenue in Howard Cushing’s honor. His remains were buried in May 1871 at the National Military Cemetery, The Presidio, in San Francisco.