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Anthony Wayne was born near Philadelphia
at Waynesborough, Chester County,
Pennsylvania, Jan. 1, 1745.
Wayne was named for his grandfather, who
had fought with the British army before emigrating to America.
After studies in Philadelphia, Wayne surveyed the coast of Nova
Scotia and later returned to the family  farm
in Pennsylvania.
With the outbreak of war with England in 1776, Wayne
was commissioned a colonel and assisted General Benedict Arnold in his retreat
from Quebec.
He held various positions with the Continental Army and shared with
General George Washington the long winter of 1777-78 at Valley
Forge. In 1779, Wayne and his
troops captured the English garrison at Stony Point, N.Y.
Sent south in 1781, Wayne and his command were hemmed in by British
General Charles Cornwallis' superior forces at Green Springs, Va., but
managed to escape with his men. He then served under General Nathaniel
Greene, helping to force the British out of Georgia
and South Carolina
in 1782.
Wayne was recalled as a
major general by Washington in 1792 and
sent to take command in Ohio.
Americans knew him as "Mad Anthony," but the Indians would call
him "Blacksnake," because, like the blacksnake, Wayne sat quietly,
patiently waiting for the right moment to strike. Wayne
trained an army of regulars while building a line of forts aimed straight
into the heartland of the alliance in northwest Ohio. As the alliance chiefs nervously
watched Wayne's
slow, methodical approach, American commissioners made overtures of
peace. The British again urged resistance, and the Shawnee killed two American
representatives enroute to a conference with the alliance. The alliance,
however, was beginning to unravel. It could field 2,000 warriors but had
trouble feeding them over an extended period, and Wayne was definitely extending the
conflict. In 1792 the Wabash tribes (Peoria, Piankashaw, Kickapoo, and Wea)
signed a treaty with the Americans which caused them to leave the
alliance and remain neutral. The Fox and Sauk also withdrew at the same
time.
In July, 1793 American commissioners met for the last
time with the alliance. At first, only the Wyandot, Shawnee,
and Miami
favored continuing the war, while the others were undecided. Finally, the
majority decided to fight, and the meeting ended. In October Wayne received orders to begin an advance north from
Fort Washington
(Cincinnati).
One of Wayne's supply trains was destroyed
at Ludlow Spring, but he established himself at Fort
Greenville (80 miles north of Cincinnati). As the
time of confrontation approached, doubts emerged within the alliance, and
the Shawnee
chief, Blue Jacket opened separate negotiations. The start of Wayne's advance may also have played a part in the
British decision to finally close its forts on American territory and
reach an accommodation with the United States. After a
desperate attack on the Americans at Fort
Recovery failed, the alliance
had only 700 warriors in August, 1794 to face Wayne's Legion at Fallen Timbers. After
the battle, the retreating warriors sought refuge with the British at Fort Miami, only to have them close the
gates on their former allies.
Wayne's
army marched right up to the British fort but did not attack. Afterwards,
the Americans burned several nearby Indian villages and destroyed their
food supplies. Then Wayne returned to Fort Greenville and waited. After a
hungry winter, the alliance made peace. No longer able to rely on British
help against the Americans, the Wyandot and other tribes signed the Treaty
of Fort Greenville in 1795 ceding all of Ohio except the northwest.
After accepting the surrender of Detroit
in 1796, he was seized with a severe attack of gout and died at Fort
Presque Isle, Penn.,
Dec. 15, 1796. In 1809, his son retrieved the skeleton of the general,
reinterring the flesh there and returning the bones to be buried in the
family cemetery in Radnor,
Penn.
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