Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745–December 15, 1796) was a United States
Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the
American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality
quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and the
sobriquet of "Mad Anthony".
Anthony Wayne
Revolutionary War Brigadier-General
Anthony Wayne, born near Paoli, Pennsylvania on January 1, 1745. He was
privately educated in Philadelphia.
In 1776, after the outbreak of the American Revolution, he entered military
service as a commander of a Pennsylvania regiment assigned to cover the retreat
of American forces from Quebec. In 1777, after being promoted to brigadier
general, he participated in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown and in 1778
distinguished himself in the Battle of Monmouth. His greatest achievement was a
brilliant victory at Stony Point in 1779. In 1781 he contributed to the British
defeat at Yorktown.
Wayne retired to civilian life in 1783, but he returned to active duty in
1792 as a major general and commander in chief of the western army. After
spending more than two years training his troops, held led an American army
north from the Ohio River, and, on August 10, 1794 he won a decisive victory at
the Battle of Fallen Timbers on the Maumee River, near the site of present day
Toledo, Ohio. The following year he negotiated the Treaty of Greenville, opening
the Northwest Territory to American settlers. After the British had agreed in
Jay’s Treaty to vacate their posts in the Old Northwest, Wayne led the American
force that took possession of the forts in 1796.
Anthony Wayne won major recognition in the American Revolution and in Indian
warfare. A dashing soldier noted for his bravery and quick temper, Wayne was
popularly known as Mad Anthony.
Letter Signed, “Ant Wayne” to “The Lieutenant of the County of Washington,”
from Headquarters, Legionville, PA., April 29, 1793. Wayne, acting under
instructions from President Washington to learn the strength of U.S. forces on
the upper Ohio and determine how many “scouts or spies” should be engaged for
the area between Fort Franklin and the Falls of the Ohio on the Ohio and
Allegheny Rivers, writes to a Lieutenant who is being assigned the task of
enlisting twelve scouts to patrol Washington County and give advance warning of
any threats to their safety. Wayne as assigned to command the small and
faltering U.S. Army in1792, with the purpose of defeating hostile Indians who
were preventing settlement of the Northwest Territory. He began recruiting
additional troops and training the army at Legionville the winter before this
letter was written. There was a great deal to be done and it took several years
to accomplish, but Wayne’s revamped Army eliminated the Indian threat in the
Northwest Territory by the summer of 1795. This letter must represent the
realization by both Washington and Wayne that areas bordering on the Northwest
Territory would need to be defended while the Army was prepared, especially
because Wayne was planning to move his headquarters to Ohio. It also
demonstrates the organizational skills which allowed Wayne to carry out his task
so successfully.
Letter Signed, “Ant Wayne” to “The Lieutenant of the County of Washington”,
Pennsylvania. Allowing authority to the lieutenant to acquire as many scouts and
spies, as he deems necessary to determine the strength of Indians in the Ohio
Valley. - Courtesy of Stanley L. Klos
General Anthony Wayne was born in
the township of Eastown, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the 1st of
January, 1745. He was educated in Philadelphia, and having studied mathematics
with care, he opened a surveyor's office in his native town. He was sent to
Nova Scotia in 1765, to locate a grant of land from the crown to several
gentlemen in Pennsylvania. They made Wayne superintendent of the settlement.
This post he held until 1767, when he returned home, married a young lady in
Philadelphia, and resumed his profession as surveyor. In 1773, he was
appointed a representative to the general Assembly of his state. He quitted
the council for the field in 1775, where he was appointed a colonel in the
Continental army, and went to Canada with General Thomas. At the close of the
campaign there in 1776, he was promoted to brigadier general. He was with the
commander-in- chief at Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth, in all of which
engagements he was distinguished for his valor. The capture of Stony Point
raised him to the highest mark in the admiration of his countrymen. In 1781,
he went with the Pennsylvania line to the South, and in Virginia co-operated
with La Fayette. After the capture of Cornwallis, he was sent to conduct the
war in Georgia, and was very successful. As a reward for his services, the
Legislature of Georgia made him a present of a valuable farm. He was a member
of the Pennsylvania Convention that ratified the Federal Constitution. In
1792, he succeeded St. Clair in the command of the army to be employed against
the Western Indians, and gained a great victory over them in the battle of the
Miamis, in August, 1794. He concluded a treaty with the Indians in August,
1795. While engaged in the public service, and returning home from the West,
he was seized with the gout, and died in a hut at Presque Isle, in December,
1796, aged fifty-one years. He was buried, at his own request, under the
flag-staff of the fort, on the shore of Lake Eric, from whence his remains
were conveyed in 1809, by his son, Colonel Isaac Wayne, to Radnor church-yard,
in Delaware county. The venerable church, near which the body of the hero
lies, was erected in 1717. The Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati
caused a handsome monument of white marble to be erected over his remains,
upon which are the following inscriptions :
North FRont.—''Major-general
Anthony Wayne was born at Waynesborough,* in Chester county, State
of Pennsylvania, A.D. 1745. After a life of honor and usefulness, he died in
December, 1796, at a military post on the shore of Lake Eric, commander-in-
chief of the army of the United States. His military achievements are
consecrated in the history of his country and in the hearts of his countrymen.
His remains are here interred."
South Front.—"In honor of the
distinguished military services of Major-general
Anthony Wayne,
and as an affectionate tribute of respect to his memory, this
stone was erected by his companions in arms, the Pennsylvania State Society of
the Cincinnati, July 4, A.D. 1809, thirty-fourth anniversary of the
;ndependence of the United States of America;
an event which constitutes the most appropriate eulogium of an American
soldier and patriot."
Stony
Point From The South wEst
It was half past eleven o'clock at night when the Americans commenced their
silent march toward the fort. All the dogs in the neighborhood had been killed
the day before that their barking might not give notice of strangers near. The
negro, with two strong men
disguised as
farmers, advanced alone. The countersign was given to the first sentinel, on
the high ground west of the morass, and while he was conversing with Pompey^)
the men seized and gagged him. The silence of the sentinel at the causeway was
secured in the same manner, and as soon as the tide ebbed sufficiently, the
whole of Wayne's little army, except a detachment of three hundred men under
General Muhlenburg, who remained in the rear as a reserve, crossed the morass
to the foot of the western declivity of the promontory, unobserved by the
enemy. The troops were now divided into two columns : the van of the right,
consisting of one hundred and fifty volunteers, under Lieutenant-colonel De
Fleury, and that of the left, of one hundred volunteers, under Major Stewart,
each with unloaded muskets and fixed^bayonets. An avant-guard of twenty
picked men for each company under Lieutenants Gibbons and Knox, preceded them,
to remove the abatis and other obstructions. These vans composed the
forlorn hope on that memorable night._
At a little past midnight the advanced parties moved silently to the charge,
one company on the southern, and the other toward the northern portion of the
height. They were followed by the two main divisions ; the right, composed of
the regiments of Febiger and Meigs, being led by General Wayne in person. The
left was composed of Colonel Butler's regiment, and two companies under Major
Murfey. The Americans were undiscovered until within pistol shot of the
pickets upon the heights, when a skirmish ensued between the sentinels and the
advanced guards. The pickets fired several shots, but the Americans, true to
orders, relied entirely upon the bayonet, and pressed forward with vigor. The
garrison was aroused from their slumbers, and instantly the deep silence of
the night was broken by the roll of the drum, the loud cry To arms.' to
arms.' the rattle of troops from the ramparts and behind the lines, and
the roar of cannon, charged with the deadly grape-shot, from the embrasures.'
In the face of this terrible storm, the Americans forced their way, at
the point
of the bayonet, through every obstacle, until the van of each column met
in the center of the works where each arrived at the same time. At the inner abatis, Wayne as struck upon the head by a
musket ball, which brought him upon his knees. His two brave aids, Fishbow
and Archer, raised him to his feet, and carried him gallantly through the
works. He was able to join in the loud huzzas that arose when the two
columns met as victors within the fort. Colonel Jurst entered the
works and struck the British standard with his own hands. The garrison
at discretion as prisoners of war, and that brilliant achievement was
rendered the more glorious for the clemency which the victors exercised
toward the vanquished. Not a life was taken after the flag was struck and
the garrison had pleaded for quarters. Wayne had but fifteen killed
and eighty-three wounded ; the British had sixty-three killed ;' and
Johnson, the commander, with five hundred and forty-three officers and men,
were made prisoners. The ships of the enemy lying in the river in front of
Stony Point slipped their cables and moved down to a place of security.
Before daylight, Wayne sent to the commander-in-chief the brief but
comprehensive reply, of which a facsimile is here given :
At dawn the next morning the cannons of the
captured fort were turned upon the enemy's works at Verplanck's Point under
Colonel Webster, and a desultory bombardment was kept up during the day.
Major-general Robert Howe had been sent to attack Fort Fayette, but on
account of delays, and some misconceptions of Washington's orders, he did
not make the attack in time to dislodge the garrison. News of Webster's
critical situation and the capture of Stony Point was speedily communicated
to Sir Henry Clinton, and he immediately sent relief to the menaced garrison
at Verplanck's. Howe withdrew, and the enterprise was abandoned.
Washington, clearly perceiving the danger of attempting to retain the post
at Stony Point
July, 1779.
Gold Medal
Awarded By Congress To General WAYNE '
with so few
troops as could be employed in the service, concluded to order an
evacuation, and a destruction of the works after the ordnance and stores
should be removed. This was accordingly done on the night of the eighteenth.
All that was originally intended was accomplished, namely, the destruction
of the works and the seizure of the artillery and stores. A large portion of
the heavy ordnance was placed upon a galley to be conveyed to West Point. As
soon as the vessel moved, a cannonade from Verplanck's and the British
shipping was commenced upon it. A heavy shot from the Vulture struck it
below water-mark, and the galley went down at the point just above
Caldwcll's Landing, where speculation recently made credulity seek for
treasures in a sunken vessel alleged to have belonged to the famous Captain
Kidd. If, as asserted, a cannon was drawn up from a vessel lying at the
bottom of the river there, it was doubtless one of the pieces taken from
Stony Point, and the " ship's timbers" there discovered are the remains of
the old galley. The "treasures," if secured, would be of little worth in
these "piping times of peace."
The British repossessed themselves of Stony Point on the 20th, but they had
little of value left them but the eligible site for a fortification.
The storming and capture of Stony Point, regarded as an exhibition of skill
and indomitable courage was one of the most brilliant events of the war.
Anthony Wayne
From Wikepedia
January 1, 1745(1745-01-01)
– December 15, 1796 (aged 51)
Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745–December 15, 1796) was a
United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career
at the outset of the
American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery
personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of
brigadier general and the sobriquet of "Mad Anthony".
Later, he commanded the
Pennsylvania Line at
Brandywine,
Paoli, and
Germantown. After winter quarters at
Valley Forge, he led the American attack at the
Battle of Monmouth. During this last battle, Wayne's forces were pinned
down by a numerically superior British force. However, Wayne held out until
relieved by reinforcements sent by Washington. This scenario would play out
again years later, in the Southern campaign.
A statue of General "Mad" Anthony Wayne stands in Fort Wayne's
Freimann Square.
The highlight of Wayne's Revolutionary War service was probably his victory
at
Stony Point. On July 15, 1779, in a nighttime, bayonets-only assault
lasting thirty minutes, 3 columns, one personally led by Wayne, overcame
British fortifications at
Stony Point, a cliffside
redoubt
commanding the southern
Hudson River. The success of this operation provided a boost to the morale
of an army which had at that time suffered a series of military defeats.
Congress awarded him a medal for the victory.
Subsequent victories at
West Point and
Green Spring in Virginia, increased his popular reputation as a bold
commander. After the British surrendered at
Yorktown, he went further south and severed the British alliance with
Native American tribes in
Georgia. He then negotiated peace treaties with both the
Creek and the
Cherokee,
for which Georgia rewarded him with the gift of a large rice plantation. He
was promoted to
major general on October 10, 1783.
Political career
After the war, Wayne returned to
Pennsylvania and served in the state legislature for a year in 1784. He
then moved to Georgia and settled upon the tract of land granted him by that
state for his military service. He was a delegate to the state convention
which ratified the
Constitution in 1788.
General Wayne with the Legion of the United States, 1794.
President
George Washington recalled Wayne from civilian life in order to lead an
expedition in the
Northwest Indian War, which up to that point had been a disaster for the
United States. Many
American Indians in the
Northwest Territory had sided with the British in the Revolutionary War.
In the
Treaty of Paris that had ended the conflict, the British had ceded this
land to the United States. The Indians, however, had not been consulted, and
resisted annexation of the area by the United States. The
Western Indian Confederacy achieved major victories over U.S. forces in
1790 and 1791 under the leadership of
Blue
Jacket of the
Shawnees
and
Little Turtle of the
Miamis.
They were encouraged and supplied by the British, who had refused to evacuate
British fortifications in the region as called for in the Treaty of Paris.
Washington placed Wayne in command of a newly-formed military force called
the "Legion
of the United States". Wayne established a basic training facility at
Legionville to prepare professional soldiers for his force. Wayne's was
the first attempt to provide
basic training for regular U.S. Army recruits and Legionville was the
first facility established expressly for this purpose.
He then dispatched a force to
Ohio to establish
Fort Recovery as a base of operations. On August 3, a tree fell on Wayne's
tent. He survived, but was rendered unconscious. By the next day, he had
recovered sufficiently to resume the march.[2]
On August 20, 1794, Wayne mounted an assault on the Indian confederacy at the
Battle of Fallen Timbers, in modern
Maumee, Ohio (just south of present-day
Toledo), which was a decisive victory for the U.S. forces, ending the war.
Wayne then negotiated the
Treaty of Greenville between the tribal confederacy and the United States,
which was signed on August 3, 1795. The treaty gave most of what is now Ohio
to the United States, and cleared the way for that state to enter the Union in
1803.
His grave.
"Mad" Anthony Wayne statue in Valley Forge National Historical Park.
Wayne died of complications from
gout during a
1796 return trip to Pennsylvania from a military post in
Detroit,
and was buried at
Fort Presque Isle (now
Erie, Pennsylvania) where the modern Wayne Blockhouse stands. His body was
disinterred in 1809 and, after boiling the body to remove the remaining flesh,
as many of the bones as would fit in two saddlebags were relocated to the
family plot in
St. David's (Radnor) Episcopal Church cemetery in
Radnor, Pennsylvania. A legend says that many bones were lost along the
roadway that encompasses much of modern
U.S. Route 322, and that every January 1 (Wayne's birthday), his ghost
wanders the highway searching for his lost bones.
