Wayne, ANTHONY

Wayne, ANTHONY, an American general, was born at Easttown, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1745, the grandson of a Yorkshirer who commanded a body of dragoons at the battle of the Boyne, and emigrated to Pennsylvania. Raising in 1776 a regiment of volunteers, he was appointed colonel of it, and sent to Canada, where he covered the retreat of the provincial forces at Three Rivers. He commanded at Ticonderoga until 1777, when he was made brigadier-general, and joined Washington in New Jersey. He fought bravely at Brandywine; led the attack at Germantown; captured supplies for the distressed army at Valley Forge; distinguished himself at Monmouth; was defeated at Paoli; but achieved his most brilliant victory in the carrying of Stony Point with the bayonet at midnight, July 15, 1779. His courage and skill saved Lafayette in Virginia in 1781; and he aided in the siege of Yorktown. At the close of the war, rewarded by popular enthusiasm, and having, by his dash and audacity, acquired the sobriquet of 'Mad Anthony,' he retired to his farm in Pennsylvania, subsequently took up a tract of land granted to him in Georgia, and sat in congress for a few months. Appointed, on Washington's recommendation, in 1792 general-in-chief of the army, he next year commanded a successful expedition against the Indians of the north-west, founded Fort Wayne, and in 1795 signed a treaty with the Indians by which the United States acquired a large addition of territory. He died at Presque Isle (now Erie), Pennsylvania, 15th December 1796.