Anthony Wayne

American general

• Born: January 1, 1745
• Birthplace: Easttown Township (now Waynesboro), Pennsylvania
• Died: December 15, 1796
• Place of death: Presque Isle (now Erie), Pennsylvania

Wayne was a self-trained, successful American general who was adept at fighting both European and American Indian enemies. His defeat of the American Indians of the Northwest Territory helped open the West to Euro-American settlement.

Early Life

Anthony Wayne, a grandson of Irish immigrants, was born on his family’s estate, Waynesborough. An uncle in Philadelphia educated him as a child. He then spent three years at the Philadelphia Academy, became a surveyor at eighteen, and, on March 25, 1766, married a neighbor, Mary Penrose, after a short courtship. For the next few years the couple lived on the family estate while Wayne farmed and surveyed. They had two children, Isaac and Margaretta.

Life’s Work

During the 1770’s, revolutionary fever spread throughout the American colonies. In 1774, Anthony Wayne was chosen as representative for Easttown Township to the Provincial Convention in Philadelphia. He was involved in numerous local protests against British rule and helped win the support of many of his neighbors for the revolutionary cause. He was elected to a seat in the Pennsylvania assembly and, in 1775, to the Committee of Safety. There he was charged with preparing the state’s military defenses against possible British invasion, writing military regulations, and organizing and supplying the state militia. At the same time, he studied military strategy and history and organized his own volunteer militia. When the American Revolution broke out, Wayne was commissioned a colonel in the newly formed Continental army and sent to assist General John Sullivan in Canada.

As commander, Wayne insisted on strict adherence to military regulations and stiffened the penalties for many minor infractions. He believed his strategy was especially important when dealing with rough, inexperienced recruits who volunteered for the rebel army. They needed discipline to successfully face the highly trained and experienced British army. In Wayne’s first battlefield experiences in Canada, he showed cool determination. He was placed in charge of American troops at Fort Ticonderoga during winter quarters of 1776-1777. There, Wayne and his men faced a constant struggle for food and warm clothing. When disease struck, his weary men threatened to mutiny, but Wayne maintained control.

In March of 1777 he was promoted to brigadier general and placed in charge of two brigades of Pennsylvania regulars in the Continental army. He took command in Morristown, where he drilled and trained his troops. Wayne and his freshly trained soldiers demonstrated skill and bravery against the British at New Brunswick. General George Washington, commander of the Continental army, depended on Wayne to hold his ground and keep the enemy at bay in difficult situations. Wayne was not afraid to charge when outgunned or against overwhelming numbers. Wayne and his men distinguished themselves at the Battles of Brandywine against Hessian forces at Germantown and Monmouth Court House. Because of his seemingly impulsive, fearless acts during battle, he was nicknamed “Mad Anthony” Wayne.

During the 1779 campaign, Wayne commanded an elite light infantry corps of thirteen hundred experienced and specially chosen men who successfully captured Stony Point on their first engagement. The corps moved to the south, where they assisted the Marquis de Lafayette’s command in delaying the movement southward of the British commander, General Cornwallis, and his troops. The delay allowed American forces time to connect with French troops and help defeat the British at Yorktown. In November, 1781, Wayne was ordered to Georgia to help liberate Savannah and Charleston, which were still being held by British troops. It was there that he first encountered American Indians of the Creek and Choctaw tribes who were allied with the British. He successfully persuaded a group of Creek to join the American cause, but the Choctaw refused. He defeated Choctaw forces outside Savannah, which encouraged the British to abandon the city in July of 1782.

While at the front, Wayne was consulted by fellow Pennsylvanians on political matters at home. He argued against the first Pennsylvania constitution, which, in his opinion, would have left Pennsylvania citizens with a weak state government. He advised state leaders regarding military defenses for Philadelphia. He was in charge of recruitment and procurement of troop supplies such as uniforms, blankets, and shoes, which were in constant short supply. He tirelessly lobbied to improve both state recruitment and militia laws, hoping encourage future enlistment. In 1779, Wayne traveled from the battlefield to the Pennsylvania assembly to plead for supplies in person. In spite of his efforts, he was sometimes forced to use his own funds for uniforms and medical care for his men.

For his actions to liberate Savannah, the Georgia assembly awarded Wayne two estates, Richmond and Kew, and hundreds of acres of Georgia land. He was promoted to major general in 1783, and Congress awarded him a gold medal for his actions at Stony Point. He returned home and once again joined the political scene, winning election to the Pennsylvania council of censors in 1783 to draft suggested changes to the state constitution. He also served at the state’s constitutional convention that approved the new federal Constitution. When the terms of his elected offices expired, Wayne traveled to Georgia to run his new rice plantations there. The farms were in disarray, and Wayne was forced to take out large loans to clear the fields and purchase equipment and slaves. The first few yields were not as expected, and he ran into serious financial difficulties that were alleviated years later by giving up most of his Georgia possessions.

Wayne was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Georgia in 1790 but served just six months before he was removed over questionable election practices. As a representative, he tried to raise funds and supplies for the western army fighting American Indians in the Northwest Territory. American troops were having difficulty keeping the peace in the territory east of the Mississippi River and west of the Appalachians. Indigenous tribes did not acknowledge the terms of the Treaty of Paris that granted those lands to Americans.

Members of the Miami, Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot, and other local tribes allied themselves under the leadership of Little Turtle and Blue Jacket and threatened American settlers in the area. British settlers who were still occupying forts against the terms of the Paris treaty encouraged the tribes to resist American settlement in the hope of retrieving their lands. The British fortified Fort Miamis in Ohio and provided American Indians with supplies and information. Congress then appointed Revolutionary War general Arthur St. Clair to bring peace to the area. In November, 1791, St. Clair and his troops were defeated: Six hundred Americans were killed, and St. Clair resigned his commission.

Congress appointed General Wayne to take command of the western army. While awaiting confirmation, he did research on the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Territory, reading books and interviewing traders and missionaries to learn indigenous cultures and warfare tactics. In 1773, Wayne moved his men outside Fort Washington in what is now Cincinnati, Ohio. Whereas American commissioners attempted treaty negotiations with American Indians, Wayne had trained his men as disciplined soldiers, and not as negotiators. When local tribes refused to give up lands north of the Ohio River, Wayne was ordered to take control. As he and his men moved north, they built strongholds along the way for future use. Fort Greenville, Fort Defiance, Fort Recovery, and Fort Wayne were built on the way toward tribal encampments along the Maumee River.

After a series of skirmishes, Wayne met American Indians on August 20, 1794, at a point nicknamed Fallen Timbers because a storm had recently torn down many of the trees in the area. As the Battle of Fallen Timbers began, American Indians fired from behind the protection of the fallen trees and, at first, pushed Wayne’s troops back. Wayne ordered his well-trained forces forward and, with screams to disarm the enemy, his men advanced and routed the indigenous forces. As they fled the advancing American soldiers, they sought refuge in the nearby British fort of Miamis, but the British barred their entrance and American Indians were forced to face the American soldiers without British battlefield assistance. Wayne lost thirty-three men while hundreds of American Indians died. In the days following the Battle of Fallen Timbers, Wayne’s men destroyed cornfields and the villages of the local tribes, making it difficult for them to feed themselves through the following winter. The American Indians agreed to the Treaty of Greenville, surrendering two-thirds of the state of Ohio along with part of southeastern Indiana. In return they received $20,000 in goods and an annuity of $9,500, but were forced to move westward.

Following a brief trip home to Pennsylvania, Wayne returned to the West to oversee the British evacuation of forts in American territory. He supervised American occupation of the forts as well as supply and organization. Within a few years his health began to fail. He suffered a reoccurrence of a fever he had contracted in the south and a painful case of gout. While traveling to Pittsburgh, Wayne died at Presque Isle on December 15, 1796. He was buried at the foot of a flagpole there, but his body was later moved in 1809 to his home in Pennsylvania.

Significance

Anthony Wayne represents one of America’s first self-made generals. He had no formal military training or experience when he joined America’s fight for freedom but immediately set out to learn all he could about the profession. He believed not only in vigorously training his men but also in training himself. He learned the military strategy and tactics of leaders before him, but he also knew the importance of learning about his enemy, including their military attributes. When the face of the enemy changed drastically in the West, he reeducated himself to fight a very different kind of foe and succeeded where two previous generals had failed.

Bibliography

Gaff, Alan D. Bayonets in the Wilderness: Anthony Wayne’s Legion in the Old Northwest. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004. Gaff concentrates on Wayne’s exploits and influence in the Northwest Territory.

Johansen, Bruce E. Shapers of the Great Debate on Native Americans: Land, Spirit, and Power. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000. Johansen examines the issue of American land “ownership,” alliances between American Indian nations to ensure indigenous land sovereignty, and the ties between place and culture.

Nelson, Paul David. Anthony Wayne: Soldier of the Early Republic. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1985. Nelson details Wayne’s military, political, financial, and private lives.

Still, Charles J. Major General Anthony Wayne and the Pennsylvania Line in the Continental Army. Ganesevoort, N.Y.: Corner House Historical Publications, 2000. The author explores Wayne’s revolutionary battlefield exploits.