Beautiful and meaningful monuments line the southern part of the Paoli Parade Grounds which is west of the Paoli Battlefield. Here you will find two Revolutionary War monuments , the 1817 monument (the oldest in Pennsylvania) & the 1877 monument. There is also a World War I monument, a general memorial and an old WW II urn.
The stone monument is located diagonally across from the World War I monument on the south side of the curved drive and west of the 1877 obelisk or to its right. The narrative reads it is similar in configuration to the World War I monument, but physically I thought it resembled the non-specific war memorial. The granite memorial measures 3' by 6' and is 1'2" deep. The polished front facade contains an inscription followed by the names of the five men who died in World War II. Like the WW II urn, this monument is also from 1946.
The inscription reads:
These grounds have been
landscaped by the citizens
of the
Borough of Malvern
in memory of the boys
who made the supreme sacrifice
World War II
1941 1945
Richard V. LaRue
Charles F. Morris Robert J. Miller
Louis J. Colona Henry H. Bixler
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 Veterans 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. I 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.