(1745-1796)
[Footnote 4: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.]
[Illustration: Anthony Wayne. [TN]]
Across the pages of history recording mighty conflicts that rock
nations and governments to their foundations, flash certain grand
characters whose career adds a charm to the dreary and often prosaic
narrative. Some bright particular star, whose lustre flings romance
over dry facts, firing the hearts of all patriots with enthusiasm and
national fervor. Honoring the great commanders of the wars of the ages
for their noble deeds, here and there sparkles out the brilliant
genius of a warrior with less responsibility, but whose name inspires
the ardor of men, the love of women, and the fervor of the poet and
novelist. Such a character, such a man, was "Mad" Anthony Wayne, an
able, fearless soldier of the American Revolution, so thoroughly
patriotic such an earnest, honest believer in the righteous cause for
which he fought, that he was mad indeed with all found arrayed against
the interests of the Colonists, or with those who, having donned the
Continental uniform, were indisposed to fight.
Anthony Wayne was born in Waynesborough, Easttown Township, Chester
County, Penn., on January 1, 1745. He sprang from good English stock.
His grandfather resided in Yorkshire, England, but during the reign of
Charles II. purchased an estate in the County Wicklow, Ireland, and
settled on it. Being a thorough Protestant he espoused the cause of
King William III., and in the service of that monarch fought in the
Battle of the Boyne, as a captain of dragoons. In 1722 he came to
America with his four sons, and procured some one thousand six hundred
acres of land in Chester County, Penn., upon which he settled in 1724.
His youngest son, Isaac, the father of Anthony Wayne, received as his
share of his father's estate five hundred acres of land near Paoli.
Born and brought up amid the charming surroundings of this most
beautiful country, it is easily understood why Anthony Wayne became so
thoroughly imbued with tastes for the beautiful. His neatness in
dress, and earnest advocacy of a brilliant uniform for the officers
and men of the Revolutionary Army, had its foundation in the very
atmosphere he lived in, this magnificent Chester Valley. "Dandy" Wayne
indeed, but only so far as neatness in dress and delicacy of taste
were concerned, for a nobler-minded, more unselfish patriot never
entered the army of a nation. Wayne was educated at the Philadelphia
Academy, and he became a surveyor of some note. He attended closely,
however, to his magnificent farm, and took a lively interest in all
affairs affecting his fellow-citizens. In 1765 and 66, only just of
age, he was sent to Nova Scotia to survey some lands belonging to
Benjamin Franklin and others.
In May, 1766, he married Mary, the daughter of Bartholomew Penrose, a
Philadelphia merchant, and settled down to the life of a farmer. He
was a stirring man in his neighborhood, fond of an active and out-door
life. He was filled with military impulses; his choice of a
profession, that of surveyor, evidently arose from his taste for
exploration, and for the excitement incident to plunging into
trackless wastes of forests and mapping out new boundaries. His love
of military pursuits led him to study all the great works on the art
of war, and when the time came he was prepared, as few soldiers of the
revolution were, for the conflict with the trained soldiers of Great
Britain. He formed companies with the men in his neighborhood, and
drilled them assiduously. This gave him prominence and popularity, so
that he is found a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1774-75.
Wayne seemed to have prescience of what was coming, and when the
conflict came he was ready. In September, 1775, he raised a regiment
of soldiers, of which he became the colonel in the January following,
and joined General Sullivan's command in Canada in the spring of 1776.
At the battle of Three Rivers, May, 1776, Wayne displayed remarkable
military knowledge, and was enabled to extricate his command from
difficulties that seemed almost insurmountable. In a letter to Dr.
Franklin and others he gives a graphic description of this engagement.
Of his men engaged he says, "I have lost more than the one-quarter
part, together with a slight touch in my right leg, which is partly
well already." This was Wayne's first battle. He displayed such
remarkable coolness and excellent judgment throughout this engagement,
as to command the respect and admiration of all in the army; his
entire career during this unfortunate Canadian campaign exhibited
clearly his soldierly qualifications. Recognizing these, General
Schuyler, in November, 1776, appointed Colonel Wayne to the command of
Fort Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence, which military post Wayne
considered the second most important in the country. While stationed
here, Wayne busied his men in rendering the place as nearly
impregnable as possible, and by warm, fervid letters implored the
"powers that be" in Pennsylvania, to send proper clothing, food, and
arms to the men of that State serving in his army. So negligent did
the State seem to the needs of its men, that this warm-hearted,
high-spirited warrior, seriously thought of resigning his commission,
being unable to longer witness the impoverished condition of his
troops.
Colonel Wayne was appointed Brigadier General in February, 1777, and
ordered to join General Washington's army at Morristown, N. J., in
April of the same year. He was given command of the "Pennsylvania
Line" consisting of two brigades of four regiments each, with a total
strength of about 1,700 men. His activity and alertness during the
summer, in harassing and annoying the enemy, went far toward ridding
the State of that enemy, and gained for him the praise of Washington,
who publicly acknowledged his "bravery and good conduct." The British,
unable to force their way through New Jersey, determined to go around
by sea to Philadelphia, and after embarking at Staten Island were next
heard from within the Chesapeake Bay. Washington moved his army to
Wilmington, Wayne having been sent ahead to organize the militia
rendezvousing in Chester County, Penn. He rejoined the army at
Germantown and marched with it to Wilmington.
In the battle of Brandywine, September 11, 1777, Wayne was
particularly distinguished. He occupied the left of the American line
at Chad's Ford, and had opposed to his forces, the Hessians commanded
by Baron von Knyphausen. He fought all day, holding his ground
tenaciously, repelling every effort made by the enemy to cross the
ford and worrying them by repeated attacks of his light infantry,
which he frequently sent over the creek for the purpose. The right
wing of the enemy having been turned, Wayne, at sunset, retreated in
good order, without the loss of any artillery or stores. On the
evening of September 20th, Wayne, with a detachment of twelve hundred
men, was suddenly and impetuously attacked at Paoli Tavern by a very
large force of the rear guard of the British army, which rear guard he
had been sent to annoy. By the betrayal of Tory spies at the time of
the attack, the forces "were not more than ten yards distant."
Notwithstanding the impetuosity of the attack, by largely overwhelming
numbers, Wayne succeeded in extricating his command without loss of
artillery, ammunition, or stores. Some sixty-one Americans were
killed. A court of inquiry was instituted to inquire into Wayne's
conduct of this affair, which resulted so distastefully to him that he
demanded a court martial. This court acquitted "him with the highest
honors," a conclusion approved by General Washington.
Wayne's residence was searched by the British immediately after the
Paoli fight, with the hope of capturing the general. The officer, in
his zeal, ripped open a feather-bed with his sword. Mrs. Wayne
indignantly exclaimed, "Did you expect to find General Wayne in a
feather-bed? Look where the fight is the thickest!"
Wayne led the right wing at the battle of Germantown, October 4, 1777,
and forced the enemy back a distance of two miles. The British claim
that "this was the first time we had ever retreated from the
Americans." The balance of the army, failing to accomplish the end
desired, Wayne was compelled to retreat, but this he did in good
order, and when General Howe, who "could not persuade himself that we
had run from victory," as Wayne puts it, followed the Americans, Wayne
drew up in line. "When he advanced near we gave him a few cannon shot
with some musketry--which caused him to break and run with the utmost
confusion." Wayne lost a horse in this engagement, and received slight
wounds in the hand and foot. The memorable winter at Valley Forge
followed. General Wayne, ever active, devoted his time to procuring
necessary supplies for the army. His earnest appeals to the State
authorities and men of influence, for the welfare of the brave men at
Valley Forge, tell a tale of suffering and endurance hard to realize.
Early in the spring of 1778 he successfully raided the British lines,
carrying off horses, cattle, forage, and other supplies. After the
evacuation of Philadelphia, Wayne kept up a constant annoyance around
the rear of the British army, fighting whenever the opportunity came.
The American army re-entered New Jersey in June, 1778, and moved
across that State in a line parallel with the route taken by the
British army. These lines encountered each other on June 28th, at
Monmouth; an engagement fought, in the main, on a plan suggested to
General Washington by General Wayne. General Charles Lee's
half-hearted action, to call it no more severe name, resulted in the
battle of Monmouth being less of a disaster to the British army than
it promised. Wayne did his part gloriously. Lee, who with his own
command was in full retreat when he should have earnestly supported
Wayne, ordered Wayne to retire. This the latter did, chagrined and
mortified, until the mortification was turned into delight upon
meeting the Commander-in-Chief, who immediately ordered Wayne to
advance to the attack again. This was just what Wayne wanted, and with
three Pennsylvania regiments, one from Maryland, and one from
Virginia, he stayed the assaults of the flower of the English army,
the _corps d'elite_, and successfully held his line, causing the enemy
to retire with great loss. General Washington commended General Wayne
in the highest terms for his "good conduct and bravery through the
whole action." Writing of this engagement to the Secretary of War,
Wayne says, "Tell the Phila ladies that the heavenly, sweet, pretty
red coats--the accomplished Gent-n of the Guards and Grenadiers have
humbled themselves on the plains of Monmouth."
The enemy retreated to New York and remained in that city the balance
of the year. Wayne occupied the time in urging active operations and
trying to infuse a more aggressive spirit into the management of
affairs. At this time public affairs were very much hampered by a
feeling of indifference as well as an illusive notion that peace would
soon follow. This affected the nation and the army. Wayne baffled
these false ideas with all his powers. He urged the Government to
forward needed supplies of clothing and food. He could not be
inactive; fervid, earnest, and aggressive, he must be ever doing. The
American Army kept a close watch upon the movements of the British in
New York during the summer and fall of 1779. General Washington
organized a Light Infantry Corps and put General Wayne in command. It
was considered one of the finest bodies of troops attached to the
Continental Army, and was composed, besides "the choicest sons of
Pennsylvania," of two Connecticut and one Virginia regiment. The
Commander-in-Chief was extremely desirous of driving the British from
the forts commanding King's Ferry on the Hudson, at Stony Point, on
the western bank of the river, and at Verplanck's Point, directly
opposite. This dangerous business was confided to Wayne and his Light
Infantry Corps, the plan of operations being carefully prepared by
General Washington. This plan was followed by Wayne, except in one
particular, which change Washington declared to be an "improvement on
his own plan." Wayne, after the most careful preparations, moved to
the assault on Stony Point, a fortification strongly built on a rocky
eminence, one hundred and fifty feet above the Hudson River, at 12
o'clock at night, on July 16, 1779. Wayne's report to Washington tells
the story of the fight most graphically--he says he "gave the troops
the most pointed orders not to attempt to fire, but put their whole
dependence on the Bayonet--which was most faithfully and Literally
Observed--neither the deep Morass, the formidable and double rows of
abatis or the high and strong works in front and flank could damp the
ardor of the troops--who in the face of a most tremendous and
Incessant fire of Musketry and from Artillery loaded with shells and
Grape-shot forced their way at the point of the Bayonet thro' every
Obstacle, both Columns meeting in the Center of the Enemy's works
nearly at the same Instant." Before entering the fort Wayne was struck
in the head by a musket-ball; he fell stunned, but soon rallied, and
by the assistance of two of his aides, was helped into the
fortification and shared the capture with his troops. The Stony Point
achievement roused the patriotic spirit of the Americans. It was
deemed the most brilliant affair of the war. Congratulations from the
Commander-in-Chief, and all the prominent generals, as well as
foremost citizens and Assemblies, were heaped upon Wayne, and Congress
voted him a gold medal to commemorate his gallant conduct, besides
thanking him "for his brave, prudent, and soldier-like conduct in the
well-conducted attack on Stony Point."
After the treachery of Arnold, in 1780, the charge of the fort at West
Point was committed to General Wayne. He marched his division over the
mountain in a dark night, a distance of sixteen miles, in four hours,
"without a single halt or a man left behind." In January, 1781, owing
to the broken promises of Congress, a large number of the men in the
Pennsylvania line mutinied, an event that threatened serious
consequences to the American Army. This defection was suppressed
peaceably, mainly through the excellent tact of General Wayne. He was
idolized by his soldiers, who knew him as the soul of honor, and who
placed implicit trust in his statements. Washington in a letter
certifies to his "great share in preventing worse extremities" and
thanks him for his exertions. In February, 1781, Wayne was ordered to
join General Greene's Army, then operating in South Carolina, but upon
Lord Cornwallis' rapidly transferring his forces to Virginia, this
order was changed, and Wayne was directed to reinforce Lafayette.
This he did at Fredericksburg in June. The enemy seemed intent upon
destroying all military stores they could reach, and for this purpose
continually sent raiding parties through the State. The efforts of
Wayne were ever put forth to suppress these raids. Believing, on July
6, 1781, that Cornwallis's forces were divided by the James River,
Wayne was sent forward to attack them at Green Springs. He found a
great force of the British Army in his front. Too late to retreat,
Wayne with true soldierly instinct, having faith in the courage and
discipline of his men, boldly charged a force five times as large as
his own, threw them into disorder and safely brought his men away
under cover of the enemy's confusion.
Cornwallis hastened to Yorktown, the investiture and siege of which
Wayne aided in furthering, first, by occupying the ground south of the
James River to prevent the enemy's reaching North Carolina; and then
in opening the first parallel with six regiments on October 6, 1781. A
few days afterward he, with two battalions, covered the Pennsylvania
and Maryland troops while they began the second parallel. Wayne, with
the Pennsylvania regiments, supported the French troops in the attack
of the 14th, and was present at the surrender on the 19th.
Notwithstanding a wound in the fleshy part of the leg, early in the
siege, caused by a sentry mistaking him, Wayne remained active, and
participated in the glory of the capture of Cornwallis and his army.
This operation over, Wayne joined the army of General Nathaniel
Greene, in South Carolina, in January, 1782, and was instrumental in
quelling the disturbances in that section. A very large force of
Indians threatened the destruction of his command on the night of June
23, 1782. These Indians were skilfully handled by a noted Creek Chief,
as well as by a British officer. They surrounded Wayne's forces and
held his artillery. Wayne fiercely attacked, using only the bayonet,
and so impetuous was his onslaught, that he broke the lines of the
Indians, and routed them completely. The dead body of the Creek
leader, who, it is said, was felled by Wayne's own sword, was found on
the ground the next day.
Wayne commanded the forces that took possession of Savannah and
Charleston, after their evacuation by the British. Having freed the
South from all marauders, Wayne returned, much shattered in health
from the effect of a low fever, to his old home in Pennsylvania, and
settled down to civil life, desiring, as he puts it, "to pass many
happy hours in domestic felicity with a few of our friends, unfettered
by any public employ and consequently unenvied." He was, however, made
a member of the Council of Censors, and in 1784 represented his county
in the General Assembly of Pennsylvania. He was likewise, in 1787, a
member of the Convention of the State called to ratify the
Constitution of the United States.
To better look after an estate given him by the State of Georgia, in
recognition of the services he rendered that State, Wayne settled
there, and was elected a member of Congress on January 3, 1791. He
served from October, 1791, to March, 1792, when, a contest being made,
Congress decided his election illegal and declared his seat vacant.
Almost immediately after this action, on April 3, 1792, President
Washington appointed Wayne Commander-in-Chief of the United States
Army, with the rank of Major-General; an appointment confirmed by the
Senate on the same day. No more signal act could have marked the
approval of Wayne's great services to the nation in the War of the
Revolution, than this great mark of approbation conferred by his
illustrious Chief. To him was intrusted the settlement of the
difficulties then existing with the Indians in the Northwestern
Territory. These savages, stirred up by the British, armed with
British guns, and often led by British officers, continued the warfare
on the Americans after peace had been declared between the contending
countries. Efforts to subjugate them under Generals Harmar and St.
Clair had failed.
General Wayne, whose entire life clearly shows a man prepared for what
may come, wisely drilled the force he collected to undertake this
work, for a year. He knew the value of a well-drilled and disciplined
army. Having perfected his troops, he, by easy stages, advanced into
the disturbed territory, establishing posts at various points, which
he cleverly fortified, and upon every occasion and opportunity offered
the savages peace. These offers were as often rejected. From Fort
Defiance, a fort he built and named, at the junction of the Miami and
Le Glaize rivers, he, in August, 1794, went down the Miami River, with
about one thousand men, until he came close to a British post, at the
foot of the rapids of the river. Here he sent a last overture to the
Indians, promising peace if they would lay down their arms. Upon their
rejecting this, he, on August 20th, moved to the head of the rapids,
and attacked them with such vigor, using again his favorite weapon,
the bayonet, that their defeat was overwhelming. The entire
surrounding country was laid waste. The army advanced to the junction
of the St. Joseph's and St. Mary's rivers, where a strong fort was
built and named Fort Wayne. The present flourishing city of that name
in Indiana now stands upon this spot. The winter was spent in
Greeneville, at which place the Indians, on August 3, 1795, against
the wishes of their leaders and English allies, signed a treaty of
peace, in which twelve tribes took part--a peace which was never
broken, and by which an immense territory was ceded to the United
States and opened up for settlement. Wayne returned early in 1796, on
a short visit to Pennsylvania, and everywhere _en route_ received the
plaudits of his fellow-citizens. His reception in Philadelphia was
exceedingly brilliant. The unsettled condition of affairs in the
Northwest, however, made his stay brief. Having been appointed sole
commissioner to treat with the disaffected parties there, and directed
to take possession of all forts held by the British in that country,
he returned in June of the same year. With great tact he performed
wisely and well the difficult mission intrusted to him. In November he
left Detroit to visit the last of the posts included in his orders.
This was then called Presque Isle, but is now the site of the city of
Erie. When within a short sail of this post a severe and sudden attack
of the gout came on. He was carried into the block-house at Presque
Isle, in a dying condition, and lingered in great agony until December
15, 1796, when he died. By his own desire he was buried "at the foot
of the flag-staff on a high hill called 'Garrison Hill,' north of the
present Soldiers' Home." (Stille, 343.) In 1809, his son, Colonel
Isaac Wayne, removed the body to the family burying-ground at St.
David's Church, Radnor, Penn., where, on July 4th of the same year,
the Society of the Cincinnati erected a monument in his honor.
So lived, so died, Anthony Wayne; gentleman, soldier, statesman,
patriot. "Mad," "Dandy," "Black Snake," "Tornado." Angry with
traitors--Neat-Courageous--Irresistible. None can study his life
without feeling the nobleness of his character. Courtly in manners,
honorable to a degree, high in aspirations, unselfishly for country,
magnanimous in victory, loyal to authority, affectionate to family,
pure in morality, and earnest for the right, Anthony Wayne's life is a
bright example and legacy to the American youth of all times.
[Signature of the author.]