Lyons in Wayne County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

True Valor at Gettysburg

Sculpted by Gary Casteel

True Valor of Gettysburg was Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Susan A. Dalaba, April 20, 2025

1. True Valor of Gettysburg was Marker

Inscription. 350 men of the 111th New York Infantry rose early on the morning of July 2, 1863 to a meager breakfast of crackers, bacon and coffee before continuing their march toward Gettysburg. They waited in the fields south of town, eager to join the battle and restore the honor lost the previous year at the controversial surrender at Harper’s Ferry. Finally, orders came to move south along Cemetery Ridge and plug a critical gap in the Union line. With fixed bayonets and shouts of Remember Harper’s Ferry, the 111th smashed into Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade and then fired into the flank of Wilcox’s Alabama Brigade, helping to drive both Confederate Brigades from the field. Historian Lewis H. Clark wrote: “They advanced with firmness, the remembrance of Harper’s Ferry tingling in their nerves, and when the enemy were met it was with a sublime courage which rose above danger and made the One Hundred and Eleventh irresistible.” The losses were great: that evening only 185 of the 350 men who had set out that morning presented ready for duty.

In 1886, Regimental Chaplain J.N. Brown wrote: “I recollect that in the first charge, on

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the 2nd of July, our first color-guard fell wounded. He called for the second to take the flag and bear it onward. As he did so he was instantly killed. The third grasped it, fell mortally wounded, and the fourth seized the falling standard, and raising it aloft bore it onward to victory. Such was the honor to the brave men, who could thus do and dare for their country and for the flag.” The color bearers who died that day were Sergeant Judson Hicks of Company A, Corporal Payson Derby of Company G, and Corporal Edward Riley of Company K, would be discharged after the amputation of his right leg.

This memorial is dedicated to all the brave and selfless men from Wayne and Cayuga counties who served in the War of the Rebellion.

Erected by Sponsored by the Wayne County Historical Society and the Isaac Mullie Foundation.

Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Patriots & Patriotism • War, US Civil. A significant historical date for this entry is July 2, 1863.

Location. 43° 3.8′ N, 76° 59.578′ W. Memorial is in Lyons, New York, in Wayne County. It is at the intersection of Church Street and William Street, on the left when

True Valor at Gettysburg Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Susan A. Dalaba, June 3, 2025

2. True Valor at Gettysburg Marker

traveling west on Church Street. Located in Lyons Central Park. Touch for map. Memorial is in this post office area: Lyons NY 14489, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this memorial is in Upstate New York,

specifically in Western New York,

in the Finger Lakes,

and in the Rochester Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

New Netherland,

and one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Battles of the Civil War Memorial (here, next to this marker); Lyons Downtown Historic District (a few steps from this marker); The Bank (within shouting distance of this marker); Wayne County (within shouting distance of this marker); 20th Century Transportation Mural (within shouting distance of this marker); Dedicated to All Lyons Firefighters (within shouting distance of

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this marker); Generations of Smiles #4 (within shouting distance of this marker); Memorial (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lyons.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 5, 2025. It was originally submitted on April 22, 2025, by Susan A. Dalaba of Cortland, New York. This page has been viewed 415 times since then and 193 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on April 22, 2025, by Susan A. Dalaba of Cortland, New York. 2. submitted on June 3, 2025, by Susan A. Dalaba of Cortland, New York. • Michael Herrick was the editor who published this page.