The Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier (sometimes written as Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of American Revolution) is a war memorial located in Washington Square

Washington Square (Philadelphia)

Washington Square, originally designated in 1682 as Southeast Square, is an open-space park in Center City Philadelphia's Southeast quadrant and one of the five original planned squares laid out on the city grid by William Penn's surveyor, Thomas Holme. It is part of both the Washington Square West...

 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. It honors the thousands of soldiers who died during the American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

, many of whom were buried in mass graves in that park.

The memorial was built in 1954 and features an eternal flame

Eternal flame

An eternal flame is a flame or torch that burns day and night for an indefinite period. The flame that burned constantly at Delphi was an archaic feature, "alien to the ordinary Greek temple"....

 and a statue of George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 gazing toward Independence Hall.

The wall of the memorial includes the words:

• "Freedom is a light for which many men have died in darkness"
• "The independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint councils and joint efforts of common dangers, suffering and success" (Washington Farewell Address
  George Washington's Farewell Address
  George Washington's Farewell Address was written to "The People of the United States" near the end of his second term as President of the United States and before his retirement to his home at Mount Vernon....
  
  , Sept. 17, 1796)
• "In unmarked graves within this square lie thousands of unknown soldiers of Washington's Army who died of wounds and sickness during the Revolutionary War."

The plaque upon the tomb of the Unknown Soldier reads:

• "Beneath this stone rests a soldier of Washington's army who died to give you liberty."

External links

• http://www.ushistory.org/tour/tomb-of-the-unknown-soldier.htm