Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander
Kent Masterson Brown
University Press of Kentucky
<p>" Kent Brown's stunning account of the career of Lt. Alonzo Hereford Cushing offers valuable insights into the nature of the Civil War and the men who fought it. Brown's vivid descriptions of the heat and exhaustion of forced marches, of the fury of battle, have seldom been matched in Civil War literature.</p><p><span>From Library Journal</span></p><p>Barely two years after he graduated from West Point, Capt. Alonzo Cushing's life and military career ended at Gettysburg in the defense of Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge. The self-sacrifice of the youthful Cushing's final acts secured his enduring fame as a tragic hero of the Civil War, but his short life, so abruptly ended, provides only modest raw material for his biographer, who founded The Civil War magazine and is chair of the Gettysburg National Military Park Advisory Commission. Not surprisingly, Brown's well-documented effort is as much a study of Cushing's family history and the Army of the Potomac's early campaigns as it is of Cushing himself. However, this fine piece of Civil War scholarship is the first full-length narrative of Cushing's life. Essential for all libraries with an interest in the Battle of Gettysburg.<br><br>
<em>- Lawrence E. Ellis, Newberry Coll., S.C.</em><br><br>
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. </p>Review<p>"Alonzo Cushing, the subject of <em>Cushing of Gettysburg</em>, was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor."―</p><p>"Cushing is the most famous lieutenant killed during the entire Civil War, and few who stop at Gettysburg fail to hear of the boy who died behind the wheel of his last gun as Pickett's Virginians surged by."―<em>Blue &amp; Gray Magazine</em></p><p>"Vivid descriptions, accurate maps, an inside view of battle strategy from the officers' tents and finally the horror of the battles are provided in generous but readable portions."―<em>Bourbon (Paris, KY) Times</em></p><p>"Extraordinarily gripping. This book will remain current as long as interest in the Civil War remains alive."―<em>Charles P. Roland</em></p><p>"A beautifully written and researched biography of a young officer who lost his life defending Cemetery Ridge against the famous Confederate assault on July 16, 1863."―<em>Civil War</em></p><p>"Brown successfully addresses how the Civil War transformed ethnic relationships in nineteenth-century America and redefined what it meant to be an American."―<em>Civil War Regiments</em></p><p>"A touching and illuminating account of a brief, heroic life."―<em>Register of the Kentucky Historical Society</em></p><p>"Brown is a good story teller, which is especially evident in the poignant opening chapter describing Cushing's West Point funeral."―<em>Society of Civil War Historians Newsletter</em></p><p>"This biography of artillery officer Alonzo Hereford Cushing reads like a Greek tragedy."―<em>Southern Seen</em><br></p>