Military officer; born in Easttown,
Chester co., Pa., Jan. 1, 1745.
His grandfather, who came to
America in 1722, was commander of a squadron of dragoons under William III.
at the battle of the
Boyne, in Ireland.
Anthony, after receiving a good English education in
Philadelphia, was appointed a land agent in
Nova Scotia, where he remained a year.
Returning, he married, and until 1774 was a farmer and surveyor in
Pennsylvania.
He was a member of the
Pennsylvania legislature in
1774-75; and in September of the latter year he raised the 4th Regiment, of the
Pennsylvania line, and was appointed colonel in January, 1776.
He went with his regiment to
Canada; was wounded in the battle of
Three Rivers; and in February, 1777, was made brigadier-general.
In the
battle of Brandywine, in September, he was distinguished; and nine days afterwards he was surprised in the night near the
Paoli Tavern, on the
Lancaster road, in
Pennsylvania, when his command was much cut up, but the remainder retreated in safety.
He led the right wing of the army in the attack at
Germantown, and was slightly wounded.
In the battle of
Monmouth he was very distinguished; and his capture of
Stony Point, on the
Hudson, in July, 1779, was one of the most brilliant achievements of the war. In that attack he was wounded in the head, and Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal.
In June, 1781,
Wayne joined
Lafayette in
Virginia, where he performed excellent service until the surrender of Cornwallis at
Yorktown.
After the surrender, the
Pennsylvania line, under
Wayne, marched to
South Carolina, and their commander, with a part of them, was sent by
General Greene to
Georgia.
On May 21, 1782,
Colonel Brown marched out of
Savannah in strong force to confront rapidly advancing
Wayne.
The latter got between
Brown and
Savannah, attacked him at midnight, and routed the whole party.
This event occurred on the
Ogeechee road, about 4 miles southwest of
Savannah.
The vanguard of the
Americans was composed of sixty horsemen and twenty infantry, led by
Col. Anthony Walton White.
These made a spirited charge, killing or wounding forty of the
British and making twenty of them prisoners.
The sword and bayonet did the work.
The
Americans lost five killed and two wounded. On June 24 a part of
Wayne's army, lying about 5 miles from
Savannah, was fiercely attacked by a body of Creek
Indians, who first drove the troops and took two pieces of artillery; but they were soon utterly routed by a spirited charge.
The brief battle was fought hand-to-hand with swords, bayonets, and tomahawks, and fourteen Indians and two white men were
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killed.
Guristersigo, a famous Creek chief, was killed.
The royalists coming out of
Savannah to assist the Indians were driven back, with the loss of a standard and 127 horses with packs.
The men fled back to the city, and soon afterwards evacuated it.
Wayne took possession of
the city, and of the province of
Georgia, which had been held by the
British military commanders about four years. It was estimated that
Georgia lost in the war 1,000 of its citizens and 4,000 of its slaves (see
Georgia). In 1784-85
Wayne served in the Pennsylvania Assembly, and in the convention that ratified the national Constitution.
In April, 1792, he was made general-in-chief of the army.
The defeat of
Gen. Arthur St. Clair (q. v.) spread alarm along the frontiers and indignation throughout the country.
General Wayne was appointed his successor.
Apprehending that pending negotiations with the Indians, if they failed, would be followed by immediate hostilities against the frontiers,
Wayne marched into the
Northwestern Territory in the autumn of 1793 with a competent force.
He spent the winter at Greenvile, not far from the place of
St. Clair's disaster, and built a stockade, which he named
Fort Recovery.
The following summer he pushed on through the wilderness towards the
Maumee, and at its junction with the
Auglaize he built
Fort Defiance.
On the
St. Mary's he built
Fort Adams as an intermediate post; and in August he went down the
Maumee with 1,000 men and encamped near a British post at the foot of the
Maumee Rapids, called
Fort Miami, or
Maumee.
Wayne, with a force ample to destroy the Indians in spite of British influence, willing to spare bloodshed, offered them peace and tranquillity if they would lay down their weapons.
They refused.
Wayne then advanced to the head of the rapids, and at a place called
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Fallen Timbers, not far above (present)
Maumee City, he attacked and defeated the Indians on Aug. 20.
Almost all the dead warriors were found with British arms.
Wayne laid waste their country, and at the middle of September moved up to the junction of the
St. Mary's and St. Joseph's rivers, near the (present) city of
Fort Wayne, Ind., and built a strong fortification which he named
Fort Wayne.
The little army wintered at
Greenville.
The
Indians perceived their own weakness and sued for peace.
The following summer about 1,100 sachems and warriors, representing twelve cantons, met (Aug. 3, 1795) commissioners of the
United States at
Greenville, and made a treaty of peace.
Brave to the verge of rashness,
Wayne received the name of “Mad
Anthony.”
Yet he was discreet and cautious, fruitful in resources, and prompt in the execution of plans.
After his successful campaign against the Indians, he returned to Fort Presque Isle (now
Erie),
Pa., where he died, Dec. 15, 1796.
His body was afterwards removed by his son and buried in Radnor church-yard, in his native county.
Over his remains the Pennsylvania Society of the
Cincinnati caused a neat marble monument to be erected in 1809.
