The daily gazette., 1877-09-22
PAOLI.
CENTENNIAL OF THE MASSACRE SEP
TENDER 20, 1777-THE HOME
OF MAD ANTHONY WAYNE
AND ITS RELICS. 5t..t.f q

fluttering of flags in the clear September
morn, and in the presence of ten thou
sand people, the ladies cherry-cheeked
the children reburst, and the men stall
wart and Drowned by constant labor in
the field about them,a granite obelisk
commemorative of the massacre at Paoli
on the night of September 30, 1777, was
dedicated Situate about haif nftle
from Malvern Station, the location of the
monument of the unparalleled barbarity
displayed in the bayonetting of the fifty
three who rest beneath it, it stands in one
of the lovelest spots in Chester county.
OFF in the distance is the Blue Ridge; in
the foreground, fields ploughed and har-
rowed; on the right, the woods in which
Mad Anthony Wayne encamped on the
night of the occurrence. In the basin
formed by the crests of the hills, all
around by twenty-five acres now sacred
TO the memory of the fallen, in shocks
showed the fertility eff the soil, which
fairly teens with agricultural wealth and
ha d drunk the blood of the martyrs
The ridges crested with trees taking on
the first colors of the autumn, and all
about, in open spaces, where the carriG. re
of the people. from Delaware, Chester,a and
Philadelphia counties, and from Della
ware State, all of them familiar with the
locality where Birmingham Meeting
house, Chadd's Ford, Yellow Spring,
Paoli, and Warwick we battled for with
steady obstinacy as the keys of the city
of Philadelphia during the disastrous
campaign Of TT winding up with the
horrors of winter at Valley Forge among
bleak hills, cutting winds, and furious
storms.
The platform for the speakers was
located on the upper edge of the hill
facing the trees which were the centre of
Wayne's encampment en- the night of the
massacre, when, as one of the British
officers said, "The rebels are stuck
like pigs one after another, until the
blood ran out of the touch-holes of the
muskets." A little to the right was the
new monument Of granite, and beside it
the old one of white marble, which was
mutilated. The programme as announc-
ed was not carried out at the commemor-
alton proper, but the people, their
carriages, the military, the prancing
steeds, the sound of martial music, the
booths for sales of things edible :and
| bibbible, not always fresh or agreeable,
| were sights to see, All sorts of vehicles
were Oh the ground, from the trotting
| double team to the steady, slow gated
conveyance that would not become ex-
cited if cask of nitro-glycerine were
| exploded beneath it. The delegations,
| civic and military, were early ON the
ground, the organizations represented
being under the chief marshalship of
Colonel Alfred Rupert, of the 18th Regi-
ment. 10th Division, West Chester. The
military companies present were Com
pany G. of Media, Captain Russell COM
manding, 45 muskets; Company A, Cap
| tain Wilson, of Phoenixville, 80 muskets
each. Company l, Captain Cornwell A
muskets. Company e, Lieutenant I'll. NJ.
Worth, "a, of West Chester; Company G,
of Coatesville, Captain Caleb Brown, 40
men; Company A, Independent Delaney
Guards, Captain Hood, 80 men; Wash
ington Troop, mounted, Captain Matlack,
40 men; Griffin Battery, of Phoenixville,
Captain Denithorne; pieces, 2 from
West Chester under Lieutenant Guss; a
delegation of cadets from the Soldiers
Orphan School at Chester Springs, SO
muskets; Pioneer Corps from West Ches-
uIGSSCu do Ipl lbioil oOlulClo3
delegation from Easttown, the home of
General Wayne; Christy Senate from
Wilmington, and civic committee
from Germantown and every township in
the neighboring counties, who took part
in the parade which followed the ad-
dresses made on the platform. While
this was happening at the grounds proper
lasting from nine O'Clock until after
three, when picnic began, Governor
John F. Hartranft had been taken in
charge by committee headed by DIR. j :.
d. Wood aud Major William Wayne at
Paoli station, three miles away. The
Governor was accompanied by his staff
Adjutant General Latt, Colonel Hassin-
ger, and General Brinton.
The WAYNE MANSION AND ITS
RELICS.
The party were driven to the Wayne
mansion in Easttown township, a SOL
Id, stone structure, the exterior as it
was a hundred years ago. 1t is in sx-
cellent condition the present proprie-
tor a grandson of the Revolutionary
hero, taking especial pride in the rel
les there collected. Breakfast was par
taken of, and then the relics were ex-
amined in Mad Anthony's a parlor,
which is only used by his descendants
once year, at Christmas time, for
| within this room are the carpets, the
pictures, the h gh backed chairs, the
rigid andirons, the wide open fire
place the uniform coat 'of the
gallant hero of Stony Point, of buff
and blue cloth, brass buttons for
show, hooks and eyes for use; por
trait of Wayne from life by Peale;
shoe buckets of gold and silver, silver
set with imitation jewels, gold watch
with Roman numerals about the face
with a secondhand, as in modern
stop watches camp drinking cups of
silver witL the monogram ga. W -"
a dress sword over the manteleiece,
and heavy holster pistols used effec
lively in the Revolutionary War, the
stocks inlaid with pearl. The windows
of the house, which is ample in its
accommodations, ARE of the small
panes noticeable at the British build
ings in the Park, so made because
they were admitted in certain sizes
without duty prior to the war. The
and doors of oak, fastened with b otis