Revolutionary War Heroes

Revolutionary War Heroes. "Animated by an intense love of liberty…". , When General William M. Reilly of the Pennsylvania National Guard died in 1896, his will established a trust fund to create bronze monuments to Revolutionary War heroes. In 1938, when the trust fund had grown large enough, work on the memorial began., General Reilly particularly wanted to honor four volunteers from other countries who "threw themselves into the cause of emancipating the colonies from the yoke of British tyranny": Richard Montgomery, Casimir Pulaski, Friedrich von Steuben, and the Marquis de Lafayette. In celebrating them as individuals, the memorial was meant to express "appreciation and gratitude to the lands which gave these liberty-loving men their birth.", [Captions:] , 1. General Friedrich von Steuben , 1947 , Warren Wheelock (1880-1960) , In 1778 Friedrich von Steuben, a Prussian military expert, joined George Washington's forces in Valley Forge to train the army in tactics, weapon use, and sanitation. Later he led a division in the siege of Yorktown., The artist, a volunteer in the Spanish-American War, began his career as an industrial designer. He taught himself sculpture by whittling good. Wheelock's work ranged from stylized abstract sculptures to representational historic figures, including those of Lincoln, Washington, Paul Revere, and Babe Ruth., 2. John Paul Jones , 1957 , Walter Hancock (1901-1998) , Born in Scotland, John Paul Jones emigrated to America before the Revolution. When the war began, he joined the new Continental Navy and commanded a series of vessels that raided the British Isles and battered British shipping. During one battle, when the enemy mockingly asked him to surrender, he reportedly uttered the famous line, "I have not yet begun to fight!", Artist Walker Hancock served as an officer in the U.S. Army for the protection and repatriation of European art during World War II. He taught for 38 years at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and his Pennsylvania Railroad War Memorial is located in 30th Street Station., 3. General Casimir Pulaski , 1947 , Sidney Waugh (1904-1963) , A Polish nobleman, Casimir Pulaski was an accomplished military commander before he volunteered to assist George Washington. After leading a charge during the Battle of Brandywine, he was commissioned as brigadier general of the American cavalry. Later in the war, he formed Pulaski's Legion, a cavalry and light infantry unit that fought at Charleston and Savannah. In an attempt to rally his men at Savannah, he was mortally wounded., Artist Sidney Waugh attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and trained in Rome and Paris, winning the 1929 Prix de Rome. In the 1930s he received several commissions for federal buildings in Washington, D.C. During World War II he served with the U.S. Army Air Forces. He spent much of his later career with the Steuben Division of the Corning Glass Works, where he created engraving designs., 4. Marquis de Lafayette , 1947 , Raoul Josset (1899-1957) , The most celebrated of the foreign volunteers, Lafayette joined Washington's forces as a major general at the age of 20. The French nobleman was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine, served in the battles of Monmouth and Rhode Island, and aided in the final campaign in Virginia., Sculptor Raoul Josset studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. During the First World War, he worked as an interpreter for American forces in France. In the 1920s he received awards for his war memorials throughout France. He later moved to the United States settling in Dallas to work on the sculpture for the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition in Fair Park., 5. General Nathanael Greene , 1961 , Leis Iselin, Jr. (1913-1990) , Born to a Quaker family in Rhode Island, Nathanael Greene commanded troops in the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown. During a stint as quartermaster general, he worked to improve the army's supply system. Late in the war, when he commanded the southern forces, his strategic decisions helped wear down and ultimately trap the British Army., Lewis Iselin, Jr. studied at Harvard and the Arts Students League in New York City before volunteering for the naval reserve. During World War II he commanded a destroyer ship that sank one of the last German submarines in the war. In the postwar years, he contributed sculpture to the Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial near Paris., 6. General Richard Montgomery , 1947 , J. Wallace Kelly , After serving with the British Army in America during the French and Indian War, Irish-born Richard Montgomery moved back to the colonies a few years before the Revolution. When war broke out, he was commissioned as a brigadier general, and in 1775 he led the invasion of Canada. His forces captured Montreal, but he was killed in the unsuccessful attack on Quebec., A graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, J. Wallace Kelly served in the U.S. Army in World War I and later taught at Haverford College and other local schools. Kelly's The Ploughman is located in the central terrace of the Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial, and his bas-relief eye and hand pylons flank the Memorial's northern entrance.