Final Consecration: True Valor at Gettysburg - The Color Bearers
Sat, Oct 31
|Lyons Central Park
The color-bearers statue of "True Valor at Gettysburg" Civil War monument in Lyons Central Park will be installed and consecrated, to complete the memorial to Wayne County veterans.
Time & Location
Oct 31, 2026, 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Lyons Central Park, Church St, Lyons, NY 14489, USA
About the event
Join us for the final installation and consecration of True Valor at Gettysburg, which represents the courage it took for our men, men from Wayne and surrounding counties, to march in to battle. The monument installation* will be taking place from 12pm - 2pm.
Our own "Chap. John Brown" will consecrate this memorial monument. Immediately following, and weather dependent, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) will hold a short induction ceremony at around 2:30pm at the monument for new members of the Judson Hicks Camp #111. Following the induction, a reception will be held at the Elks Lodge with presentation from author Carolyn Ivanoff. Please Register with RSVP for the Reception.
This statue depicts the soldiers who protected the regimental and national flags of the Union. They were called color bearers and color guards. They were targets on the battlefield and they were first to march forward and often last to exit the battlefield. It was an honor to be chosen to carry the flag. The boys depicted here represent a true story of four such color bearers who were shot at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. The images of Sgt. Judson Hicks and Corp. Payson Derby, the first two to be shot, were chosen for the faces of the two color bearers in our monument. (See clay images to the right)
The third and fourth soldiers, Corp. Edward Riley, and Sgt. William Hart, both of Company K, were also shot and later died.
*PLEASE NOTE: Final Installation of the bronze color-bearers statue, the second piece of the monument, is weather dependent. Plans are for install will be 10/31 from 12pm - 2pm. Rain date for install will be 11/1 in the morning. The public is welcome to attend but must remain outside the perimeter of safety during the installation.