Alonzo Cushing and Pickett's Charge - Ranger Karlton Smith
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- čas přidán 16. 09. 2014
- Join Ranger Karlton Smith for a special battle walk program, "Faithful Unto Death" - Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing and Pickett's Charge. Ranger Smith focuses on Cushing and the actions of Battery A, Fourth U. S. Artillery during Pickett’s Charge, the climactic moment of the battle. Alonzo Cushing became the sixty fourth recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions performed during the battle of Gettysburg.
Alonzo Cushing was born in my hometown, Delafield, Wisconsin. Spent many hours as a kid playing in Cushing Park. There was an obelisk erected there to honor him and his brothers, also civil war heroes.
Descendants of Cushing’s sister received the medal. There were two dozen of them at the award ceremony.
there was a party afterwards . all had a "blast!"
Not only was Alonzo a hero...so were his two brothers. Info from the 3 plaques mounted at his birth place in Delafield, Wisconsin (1899):
"Alonzo H. - Killed repelling Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, having been wounded the third time within a few minutes. Probably no man of his rank did so much to save the day."
"William B - Prominent among his many brave deeds, was the blowing up of the Confederate Ram Albemarle. His Perfection of action in the midst of death dealing missiles was an exhibition of coolness absolutely unparalleled."
Howard B - His courage and determination made his name famous all over the Southwestern border, a terror to the marauding Apaches at whose hands he fell in ambush bravely fighting to lead his men to safety."
Under all 3 plaques are the words:
"So long as such men can be produced in the Republic there is little danger"
Truly admirable family, sad that all of them died they way they did specially Commander William whose wounds left him a wreck and produced much suffering until his early death, I also admire the McCook family from Ohio which lend 14 or 15 of its members to the war effort with some of them also dieing in service.
Please?! Give this guy an honorary history doctorate for his vast knowledge on this particular US Civil War battle
Absolutely. You can see that he has his audience completely engrossed, especially the guy on the left leaning against the canon wheel.
How appropriate that Cushing was finally awarded the Medal of Honor he so richly deserved!
all these guides have the knowledge and skill that i would imagine takes years of study and great dedication, both skills all these park rangers have both. thank you guys for telling so expertly the true stories of both north and south and their cause for which they fought and died.
Well done, Ranger Smith!
I hope we could have similar walks in Europe. We have here also many battle grounds..
Fantastic video. I must admit his pronunciation of various words was difficult to understand at first but his presentation is fantastic. Loved living in Gettysburg for 4 years in college and I can't wait to come down this weekend and pay my respects.
All the Gettys guides are first rate.
Thank you NPS and especially Ranger Smith.
he sounds like he was in the infantry he just sounds tough I like him and give him 5 stars
this is such a good tour the guy is great i get to go to gettysburg this way went to vicksburg 4 years ago someday i hope to go to g.b.
His pronunciation mars an otherwise riveting and outstanding presentation. Nevertheless, an amazingly informative and impressive lesson. Thank you, sir!
I love these talks. The NPS Rangers are the best.
One question. Why do they call it "the Tree of Knowledge?" I hadn't heard of that before.
I've always understood it as somewhat tongue-in-cheek. Shade on that portion of the battlefield is at a premium so Rangers and Guides like to steer tours toward that tree to avail itself of its shade under the guise of it being the "Tree of Knowledge"
Great video
I am a Plankowner of the Navy Destroyer USS Cushing DD-985. It was named for Alonzo's brother WIlliam Barker Cushing.
Both Cushing's and Woodruff's batteries would have sent their caissons to the rear of the ridge to get them under cover and reduce their vulnerability. The rounds for occasional firing would have been brought forward from there so the limbers right behind each gun would be available with full chests for emergencies (I.e., enemy attacks), and the caissons could be sent to the ammo trains as they were emptied. Switching limbers and caissons under fire would be very dangerous.
Woodruff had an infantry regiment in support about 50 yards to the rear of his limbers and so did Cushing. Bad place for troops to be, vulnerable to artillery fire aimed at the batteries, but the position was cramped and putting them behind caissons full of combustible ammunition wasn't safe either. Hancock needed troops in close supporting distance; it was his call.
Did not know Jerry Garcia knew so much about Pickett's Charge. I - for one - am impressed. In between acid-dropping and a 300-night per year touring schedule, that Jerry could fit-in study time to satiate a passion for the US Civil War? That is down-right honorable.
Yeah, I thought his first line would be: "Hello, I'm not Jerry Garcia."
The interesting thing to me is the Armstrong breechloading cannon, built in Newcastle upon Tyne, England where I live . My great grandfather probably worked on it!
The gun was supplied to both sides.
I wonder if he can pronounce "Cushing" yet. Great talk though. These guys are awesome. I would love to hear them in person.
I have not even started this vid. but As always Great job.
Few are as Great - I would have no idea the number of tours this Guide has conducted, however, Alonzo Cushing, I believe, would be very proud that this Ranger has taken the interest and time to be so deep in knowledge on this single soldier’s incredible contribution to the preservation of the Union at not only Gettysburg but throughout his entire adult but all so tragically short professional life. This video should take its rightful place in your digital library on the history of Gettysburg and the American Civil. War.
Jerry Garcia is a ranger at Gettysburg?!? How cool is that!
How many men did Cushing kill in this charge? He kept firing canister (shotgun) directly into the oncoming ranks of confederates until his guns was finally overrun and he was killed with a final head wound! But before his fatal wound, Cushing switched to Double Canister which shredded the confederates coming at his position. He had suffered at least two grievous wounds but stayed in the fight. Then a bullet hit him in the head at the apex of the Armistead's push into the Union Center. Cushing's guns were overrun and captured momentarily until Fresh Union Troops rallied and completed the final defeat of the survivors of Pickett's charge who by some miracle actually pierced the Union Center though the most hellish Fire imaginable. Cushing's actions and his ability to stay in the fight even after being mortally wounded probably saved the Union line from completely collapsing.
When everyone in the US gov agrees on something you know you deserve it. RIP
The civil war still rages today!! Nothing was settled.
I gotta go to Gettysburg.
i loved his lecture. i don't know what you are talking about. I am from Colorado and now live in PA where I sometimes have problems with the Pennsylvania accent, but it is a lot better than New Jersey, or New York or Boston. It is funny that they don't realize they even have an accent.
Men may deserve to be the victims of Man's inhumanity to Man but. the horses... my God... the horses.
neeooo, not the hoorssess
Talk about a dream job!
The Hero who does not break in the Middle - the Gettysburg Adress
Watched all of the videos very well done. It’s a shame the NPS can’t recreate the landscape in and around the park.
They're working on it. Will take another 20 years to complete.
A North Carolina company approach the apex of the angle of the stone wall in front of a smooth bore 12 lb napoleon. Before the private Manning the lanyard fell from mortar fire he pulled and fired his last shot of triple canister into this North Carolina company. Those that saw it reported afterwards there was nothing but pink missed in the air pieces of haversack bodies and broken muskets. It was as if they said that entire company of men cease to exist in a moment!
with all of the division in our country this time of year we must never make the mistakes that these men did we must never allow politicians or any other person in this country to divide us like we are now or God forbid we will end up shooting one another again. All of the statues that people are demanding be taken down are a warning from those men to not do the things they did! For God help us all and the entire world if we should make such a folly again!
Hail mary....what a description...the canisterpink mist and other mortal and physical debris ...
Why would Lee send his men into such a destructive fire ??
Well Jerry Garcia seems to have become a part ranger.
long overdue
I wanna know about the ten brigades that we're supposed to follow the attacking assault brigades. Nothing is ever talked about that. But it should be.
Legend has it that Don Shipley is confirming that navy seals we're at Gettysburg and single handedly won the battle.
I've always found it kind of hard to imagine why there would be a 14 yard (42 ft.) span of space between each gun in a battery. Especially given the shortage of available ground for the Union side I would think surely their artillerists found it necessary to waive that rule of thumb.
The 14 yards is a defensive measure based on the effective casualty radius of artillery of the day. It prevents multiple guns from taking casualties from a single enemy round. As for if they waved it, likely so. Situation always dictates.
Another reason for the distance is if they were in battery and got flanked the correct drill was to have the horses pulling the limber and everything up to the front and then the cannon spins around to the back (the now front) and the spacing between guns allowed for 4-6 horses with a limber and caison to pass through.
I'm still a bit incredulous about just how faithful the Union or Confederates were to that general rule of thumb. Cemetery Hill was said to be bristling with artillery which would seem to contradict this notion. I've no reason to doubt that in ideal or the perfect textbook setting 42 feet between field pieces would be the preferred disposition. I just can't see it on July 2nd or 3rd anywhere on top of Cemetery Hill.
Is it weird that my last name is woodruff and it says woodruff at 38:47
his cousin, twice removed received the medal on his behalf.....cushing was busy & couldn't be in attendance
Nah, he passed it up. Didn't feel worthy of it, for just doing his duty.
He's fantastic but just needs Speech Therapy.
Love the fat, homeless looking rangers, they make the best guides for some reason.
Don't try and correct the guy in public mid presentation. That shows no class.
There is always the know it all.
59:56 at least 3 guys from company I get their heads blown off!
why is that couple dressed in period clothes? is it for the video?
cwb0051 they are reenactors. I know them and use to reenact with them. They are in a battery that portrays Cushing's Battery.
29:37 covid 19 actin up
I hope all you Yankees are Happy with the blacks today.
love em!!!!
IMHO, both sides used stupid tactics throughout the war.
What would your tactics have been?
@@TRYETRAMBULL no shoulder to shoulder lines. Leave at least five feet between the men on the lines. Train the infantry to load quickly lying down because the volley fire should be done in prone position. Much harder target.
Attack mainly at night if you have superior numbers. Soldiers in present time can’t hit anything at night so it would be about impossible with muzzleloaders. The fight would turn into bayonet battles so superior numbers have advantage.
CAN BARELY UNDERSTAND THIS MAN
Seems like all the people in these videos are at least a hundred pounds over weight.
I think I know a few possibilities of what you are thinking .. Most involve mobile bunkers
the gentlemans sorry
speech impediment makes it impossible fon me too listen.
and your spelling disability makes it impossible for me to read your tedious comment...I didn't notice an impediment. It takes a lot of skill to speak knowledgeably or otherwise for that long.
Go to hell.
You need to learn to spell the word, "to", (and it's proper use in a sentence), before making a critical remark to a knowledgeable man's speech!
his knowledge is impressive, but his speech impediment impedes our ability to follow his impressive knowledge. a speech therapist could help him a lot.
this needs to be edited. so much useless talking