Civil War soldier to get Medal of Honor

A Union Army officer killed more than 150 years ago during the Battle of Gettysburg will receive the nation’s highest military honor from President Barack Obama today.

It took an act of Congress and years of lobbying by descendants and admirers of First Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing to get the Wisconsin native the recognition they thought he deserved.

Recommendations for a Medal of Honor usually must be made within two years of an act of heroism, and Cushing was killed in July 1863.