At A Glance
Pennypacker was a native of Chester County, PA and the youngest general to serve in the Civil War
The basic concept for the sculpture was by Charles Grafly
Grafley could not complete the project, so it was passed on to Albert Laessle
Galusha Pennypacker, a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, became at age 22* the youngest general to serve in the Civil War. After the Civil War he served in the South and on the western frontier before retiring to Philadelphia. The General Pennypacker Memorial Committee sponsored this monument in collaboration with the State Art Commission.
The basic concept was developed by Charles Grafly (1862-1929), a sculpture instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) who had studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Among his students at PAFA were Paul Manship, Walker Hancock, Albin Polasek, and Beatrice Fenton. In addition to his sculptures for the Smith Memorial, he created a massive statue of General Meade for Washington D.C.
But Grafly could not complete the Pennypacker project, so it was passed on to his student and assistant, Albert Laessle, who was already known in Philadelphia for his Billy in Rittenhouse Square and his Penguins at the Zoo.
In keeping with the Beaux-Arts tradition, the monument portrays the youthful general in classical costume. With energetic determination the figure strides forward on top of a gun carriage flanked by two tigers.
Adapted from Public Art in Philadelphia by Penny Balkin Bach (Temple University Press, Philadelphia, 1992).
*There is historical debate over Pennypacker’s exact birth year, which ranges from 1842 to 1844, depending on the source. The Chester County Historical Society offers some insight about this issue here.
Voices heard in the Museum Without Walls: AUDIO program: Eric Berg (1945-2020) was a sculptor who lived in Philadelphia and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. Anna O. Marley is Curator of Historical American Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum. Frances H. Kennedy is editor and principal contributor of The Civil War Battlefield. | Segment Producer: Sarah Lilley
Museum Without Walls: AUDIO is the Association for Public Art’s award-winning audio program for Philadelphia’s outdoor sculpture. Available for free by phone, mobile app, or online, the program features more than 150 voices from all walks of life – artists, educators, civic leaders, historians, and those with personal connections to the artworks.
RESOURCES
This artwork is part of the Along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway tour
