This site is the battleground where the Paoli Battle of the Revolutionary War took place. On September 21, 1777, a significant battle was fought by a heroic Continental force right here in Malvern. Just after the serious defeat at Brandywine, Gen. Anthony Wayne camped here and prepared to attack the rear of British forces under Gen. Howe. During the night the British forces attacked with muskets unloaded and bayonets fixed. Revealing their own position by firing their muskets, Wayne’s men were easy targets. SOURCE
Daybreak revealed a grim reality. At least fifty-three Americans were dead and scores were wounded. The graves of those fifty-three men are located to the east of the flag pole in the Paoli Memorial Park, the site of today’s Memorial Parade Activities. The actual graves are under the original monument. There is a long mound under the memorial.
There is an organization which runs the battlefield site. I took the following excerpt from their site: "The Paoli Memorial Association is a privately held non-profit organization that is separate from either PBPF or the Borough of Malvern. Its 20+ acres includes a Parade Ground with many commemorative monuments as well as the mass grave of 53 Continental soldiers killed in the Battle of Paoli and site of an 1817 obelisk, recognized as the second oldest memorial to American soldiers in the United States. Part of the Paoli Battlefield National Historic Place, portions are used for other community purposes, including athletic fields, playgrounds and a log cabin for Boy Scout activities.". SOURCE
There are many components to this site. It is similar to a historic district, only more compact with one singular purpose. All totaled, there are two contributing buildings, two contributing sites, and five contributing objects included on the listing. They are the Paoli Battlefield Site, Paoli Parade Grounds, Paoli Massacre Monument (1817), Paoli Massacre obelisk (1877), World War I monument (1928), World War II urn (c. 1946), and caretaker's house and garage (1922).
To make it clear there are two distinct parts. The Parade Grounds are what one would see when they first enter and come around the curved or horseshoe driveway. This is where the monuments are located and a tract of ground in the center. There are also a ball field, tennis courts and a playground to the right, also part of the old parade grounds. Past the 1817 monument to the left or east of the parade grounds are 40 acres of grass, dotted with interpretives that constitute the battleground.
One is never at a loss to understand what happened here or figure their relative position to the sites as eight, attractive and well-constructed interpretives dot the Iandscape as well as several minor other signs of history. think one of the attractions here, besides the endless tracts of grass which constitute the once battlefield, is the 1817 monument. This war memorial is so old it was vandalized by Civil War soldiers who bivouacked here in the 1860s. This is the second oldest Revolutionary War monument in America. So precious and old is this monument it is encased in protective plexiglass and locked inside a stone wall enclosure protected by a locked gate (which anyone can hop over to get close-ups of the obelisk). It still stands sentinel over the burial mound.
The monument was erected in 1817 by Republican Artillerists of Chester County. The monument is located to the left of the other monuments, standing by itself and sentinel over the mass veterans burial mound beneath it. There is a long loop which accommodates both way traffic and offers easy parking so you can get as close as you want. The inscriptions are very hard to read as they are worn and the monument only half resembles its original state; its base having been stolen years and years ago.
This veterans grave and accompanying monument/headstone were dedicated in 1817, 40 years after the deaths of the troops at the hands of the British. Part of the dedication speech that day speaks to the mass grave: and "these men who fell far from their homes and their friends were deposited in one Common grave in this retired & sequestered spot and here we raise this Monument as a standing record of our gratitude for their services & respect for their Memories — to honor those who have nobly fallen to obtain the liberty and blessings which we now enjoy..." A partial list of the dead can be found HERE.
The inscription reads:
Front of Monument:
Sacred to the memory of the patriots who on this spot fell a sacrifice to British barbarity during the struggle for American Independence on the night of the 20th September 1777.
Left Side of Monument:
The atrocious massacre which this stone commemorates was perpetrated by British troops under the immediate command of Major General Grey.
Back of Monument:
Erected by the citizens of Chester and Delaware counties September 20, 1877, being the centennial anniversary of the Paoli Massacre.
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The other inscriptions on this monument are copied from the memorial stone formerly standing here which was erected by the Republican Artillerists and other citizens of Chester County September 20, 1817.
Right Side of Monument:
Here repose the remains of fifty three American soldiers who were victims of cold blooded cruelty in the well known massacre at Paoli while under the command of Genl. Anthony Wayne an officer whose military conduct, bravery and humanity are equally conspicuous throughout the Revolutionary War.
Originally, the monument was conceived to be of white marble, consisting of a pyramid mounted on a pedestal, resting on a plinth of Pennsylvania blue marble "about 8.ft 4 or 5 In" ... The monument was "finished under the direction of the celebrated [William] Strickland," the prominent neoclassical and Greek Revival Architect of Philadelphia ... A group effort was required ... so the Republican Artillerists pitched in and finished a stone and lime wall enclosure 65 feet long, 20 feet wide, and about 4 feet height, with a gate in the middle of the western wall. All of this has been recreated and is there today. The dedication ceremonies were held on September 20, 1817. At 10 A.M. at Paoli Tavern, the Republican Artillerists mustered over 400 soldiers from several local militia regiments ... Revolutionary veterans ... marched in the procession ... a solemn military procession and headed over the Lancaster Turnpike....The pedestal was inscribed on all four sides with words composed by Dr. William Darlington. SOURCE
The original 1817 Monument was over 8 feet tall but vandalism (as already stated) over the decades resulted in the loss of the base and the capstone on which the original pyramid form was placed. This not only reduced the height of the monument, but also, since the pyramid (the tip was chipped off) was then mounted on the top of the rectangular main section (the "dado" or "sollid part"). This gives it more of an obelisk shape rather than the shape of Anthony Wayne's Memorial Stone at St. David's Church in Radnor, PA
I also found a book with an incredibly long and ridiculous title about the dedication of the second monument in 1777. There is a fine excerpt about this original monument:
On the Fourth of July, 1817, the RepubUcan Artillerists of
Chester County, at the instance of the late Dr. William Darlington, resolved to enclose in a durable manner, the graves of
the brave men who perished in the massacre near the Paoli on
the twentieth of September, 1777, and also to erect a suitable
monument to their memory. The work was proceeded Avith,
the graves enclosed with a substantial stone wall, and a handsome marble monument about nine feet in height, appropriately
inscribed, was procured and erected in the centre of the enclosure.
On the twentieth of September, 1817 — the fortieth anniversary of the massacre — the monument was dedicated with appropriate military honors. A full account of the proceedings
on the occasion will be found in the appendix. The surrounding grounds, containing about twenty-three acres, were subsequently conveyed to the military organizations of Chester and
Delaware counties, to be held in trust for a parade ground.
They are situated in Willistown township, Chester county,
about half-a-mile from the junction of the West Chester and
Pennsylvania railroads, at Malvern station.
The monument thus erected having, in the lapse of years,
become very much injured and defaced, and being no longer a
fitting memorial to the heroic dead, steps were taken to procure
the erection of a new one, and at a meeting held on the
grounds on July 4th, 1875, composed of the military of the
district, of the organization known as the Centennial Minute
Men of Chester County, and of private citizens, the project assumed a delinite shape. SOURCE