Press release:
The dedication of the Private Conrad Litt memorial headstone will take place at 5 p.m. this Memorial Day, May 25, in the Old Section of Indian Falls Cemetery.
The Civil War veteran was killed at the Second Battle of Fort Wagner, S.C.
Members of Col. John B. Weber Camp No. 44 (NY Dept., Sons of Union Veternas of the Civil War) and the Weber Guard will honor and mark the memorial headstone at the cemetery located at Indian Falls Road, a quarter mile east of Route 77, Pembroke.
This service is part of the Memorial Day Ceremony to be held at the Litt gravesite. This cemetery is adjacent to the newly acquired VA National Veterans Cemetery.
Conrad Litt enlisted in the 100th New York Volunteer Infantry, 2nd Brigade, Company C., on Oct. 24, 1861 as a Private. 2nd Brigade was known as the “Eagle Brigade,” which was sponsored by the Buffalo Board of Trade.
He experienced conflict in Virginia at the Battle of Fair Oaks, where more than half of his Regiment were killed or wounded. Conrad was killed in action on July 18, 1863 during the Union’s night assault on Fort Wagner, Morris Island, S.C., when he was struck in the breast and died instantly.
Conrad’s bodily remains were never recovered for a proper burial, as the fighting continued for another month by laying siege to take control of the Rebel held fort and battery, which was the key to entering Charleston Harbor and the Federal reclaiming of Ft. Sumter, where the first shot of “The War Between The States” had commenced in 1861, announcing the formal Secession of the State of South Carolina from the Union.
The Brothers of Weber Camp No. 44 are honoring him for his actions during the Civil War.
This memorial service in honor of Conrad Litt is adapted from a 1917 Service used by the Grand Army of the Republic to re-dedicate a member’s headstone. The G.A.R. service is scheduled to coincide with the 150 Sesquicentennial celebration of sponsored by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Memorial Day was established to honor the veterans on the fourth Monday in the month of May. It was originally known as "Decoration Day," in the terrible aftermath of our American Civil War, with the decorations of wreaths, flags and flowers, laid upon the graves of those fallen soldiers by their loved ones.
