Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: January 2003 Volume 40 Number 1, Pages 25–26

REMARKS ON THE PAOLI BATTLEFIELD

15 July 2000
(On the occasion of the first public sale and book signing
of Battle of Paoli, by the author, Thomas J. McGuire)

Mark Frazier Lloyd

President Emeritus
Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution
(Who was honored for his efforts to assure publication of the book)

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I accept this honor with sincere gratitude to the Paoli Battlefield Preservation Trust, and with the satisfaction a person feels in a job well done, but I also wish to say that I believe my own role to have been relatively minor; nothing more than a facilitator, really, and that I must acknowledge several others. Within the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution – Win Carroll, Jeff Maiden, Jim Marvin, Harvard Wood, and George Wright – each played important roles in winning the Society's commitment to the Paoli Battlefield preservation campaign. We are proud to say that the Society and its Color Guard was among the very first to make a public show of support for transforming this place into an outdoor classroom on the history of the American Revolution. My great appreciation is extended to Andrew Salisbury, Captain of the Color Guard. By the spring of 1999, when it became clear that a well-written and well-illustrated book on the Battle of Paoli was a top priority in furthering the movement to save the Battlefield, it was Andrew who joined with me in making available to Stackpole Books the support of the Society and its Color Guard. The partnership I enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, with Andrew is a large part of the award you have presented me this morning.

Funding of scholarly and general books on the history of the American Revolution is a significant part of the Society's work. Ten times in the past decade, the Society and its Color Guard has made possible the publication and broad distribution of important new works on the birth of our great nation. We are pleased to say that two of those ten are books authored by Tom McGuire. The first was Tom's book on the Battle of Germantown, published in 1994. As early as 1991, we had provided desktop publishing equipment to Cliveden of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in order to bring Tom's book to press. Today, as we celebrate the publication of Battle of Paoli, we also celebrate the seasoned research and writing, the boundless energy, and proven record of accomplishment of Tom McGuire.

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We congratulate him, reaffirm our support of his endeavors, and hope that his interests and talent will some day bring us a third opportunity to publish a history of his on the Revolutionary War in the Delaware Valley. In the interim, it is my great pleasure to announce that the Sons of the Revolution will soon purchase and distribute, free of charge, a minimum of 150 copies of this book to libraries and historical repositories throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. We thereby intend to make the book widely available to the public, and to students of early American history.

On this very day of triumph, however, it is also important to keep in mind that, in many ways, the work on behalf of the Paoli Battlefield has just begun. The Borough of Malvern is now charged with maintaining this site and interpreting it to the public. That is a very large responsibility. Planning must be undertaken, and decisions made, about public resources to be allocated to this place: its physical upkeep, perhaps the construction of some physical plant; the availability of borough personnel to conduct programs here; and the integration of this site with the public museums at the Brandywine Battlefield, Cliveden, Fort Mifflin, Valley Forge and the other preserved sites of the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777. This is not a task that will be accomplished easily or overnight, but it must be done. The Sons of the Revolution, which was instrumental in the establishment of both Independence and Valley Forge National Historical Parks, and which has been a long-term friend of Brandywine and Fort Mifflin, stands ready to participate actively in the continuing work at Paoli.

I thank the Paoli Battlefield Preservation Trust, and the Borough of Malvern, for the honor they have conferred upon me today. I wish you the best of success in the years to come as you take on the good work of making the Paoli Battlefield an historical site of real significance for Philadelphians and indeed, for all Americans.

Thank you.