Anthony Wayne

Anthony Wayne
Portrait by Edward Savage, c. 1795
5th Senior Officer of the United States Army
In office
April 13, 1792 – December 15, 1796
PresidentGeorge Washington
Preceded byArthur St. Clair
Succeeded byJames Wilkinson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1791 – March 21, 1792
Preceded byJames Jackson
Succeeded byJohn Milledge
Legislature Member of the Pennsylvania Assembly
In office
1774–1775
Personal details
Born(1745-01-01)January 1, 1745
Easttown Township, Province of Pennsylvania, British America
DiedDecember 15, 1796(1796-12-15) (aged 51)
Fort Presque Isle, Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting placeFort Presque Isle, Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
and
St. David's Episcopal Church, Radnor, U.S.
Political partyAnti-Administration party
Spouse
Mary Penrose
(m. 1763)
Children2, including Isaac
Parent
RelativesWilliam Wayne (great-grandson)
William Wayne (great-great-grandson)
Blake Wayne Van Leer
Jonwayne
Samuel Van Leer (brother-in-law)
OccupationSoldier
Signature
NicknameMad Anthony
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/servicePennsylvania Militia
Continental Army
United States Army
Years of serviceContinental Army (1775–1783)
United States Army (1792–1796)
RankMajor general
Battles/wars

Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and a Founding Father of the United States. He 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 brigadier general and the nickname "Mad Anthony".[1] He later served as the Senior Officer of the Army on the Ohio Country frontier and led the Legion of the United States.

Wayne was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and worked as a tanner and surveyor after attending the College of Philadelphia. He was elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly and helped raise a Pennsylvania militia unit in 1775. During the Revolutionary War, he served in the Invasion of Quebec, the Philadelphia campaign, and the Yorktown campaign. Although his reputation suffered after his defeat in the Battle of Paoli, he won wide praise for his leadership in the 1779 Battle of Stony Point and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.[2] Soon after being promoted to major general in 1783, he retired from the Continental Army. Anthony Wayne was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati of the state of Georgia.[3] In 1780, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[4]

After the war, Wayne held a brief career in congress and private business. Following St. Clair's defeat, Wayne was recalled by President Washington from civilian life to command of U.S. forces in the Northwest Indian War, where he defeated the British-backed Northwestern Confederacy, an alliance of several American Indian tribes. Leading up to the war, Wayne oversaw a major change and reorganization of the entire United States Army. Following the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, he later negotiated the Treaty of Greenville which ended the war and their alliance with the British.[5]

Wayne's legacy is controversial and debated in the 21st century with his legacy contested, due to his tactics under the Washington administration’s policies against Indian tribes during the Northwest Indian War.[6][7][5]

  1. ^ Boatner, Mark M. (2006). Encyclopedia of the American Revolution: Library of Military History. Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 670.
  2. ^ Washington, George (July 16, 1799). "Wayne Storms Stony Point, New York (1779)". Primary Source Media. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  3. ^ Aimone, Alan Conrad (2005). "New York State Society of the Cincinnati: Biographies of Original Members and Other Continental Officers (review)". The Journal of Military History. 69 (1): 231–232. doi:10.1353/jmh.2005.0002. ISSN 1543-7795. S2CID 162248285.
  4. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Hixson, W. (2013). American Settler Colonialism: A History. Springer Publishing. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-1-137-37426-4. the American approach to Indian removal: it would seek to accomplish the project humanely and through diplomacy but when Indians resisted giving up colonial space, "justice" was on the side of military aggression and ethnic cleansing.
  6. ^ Dixon, Mark E. (May 20, 2015). "What Almost Bankrupted Gen. Anthony Wayne". Main Line Today. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Harper, Rob (2021). "Across the City Council Divide". Reviews in American History. 49 (2): 222–231. doi:10.1353/rah.2021.0023. ISSN 1080-6628. S2CID 238033600.