Valley Forge National Historic Park, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Chester County native Anthony Wayne’s name is found throughout the United States, including on three forts, ten cities or towns, and counties in 15 different states, including the county where I currently reside in North Carolina. Seeing his statue at Valley Forge inspired me to learn more about one of our founding fathers and his connection to the Revolutionary War.
Wayne was a superb military commander who went from raising a Pennsylvania militia unit at the beginning of the Revolutionary War to finishing the war as a Major General. Wayne led troops in multiple Revolutionary War Battles from an attempted invasion of Canada through Yorktown and ending the war in Georgia, brokering peace with the Creek and the Cherokee, who were both allies of the British.
After the Revolutionary War, Wayne was gifted a plantation in Georgia. Between his family farm in Pennsylvania and the Georgia plantation, where he ran a tannery, served on the Pennsylvania Convention that ratified the Constitution, and briefly represented Georgia in Congress, Wayne often found himself in debt and unable to successfully manage any of his businesses. He sold the plantation, left Congress, became estranged from his spouse (granted a lot of that was due to his womanizing), and found himself retired and suffering from the lingering effects of malaria.
President Washington called Wayne out of retirement in 1792 and asked him to lead the “Legion of the United States.” The Legion was the first standing army of the republic and was primarily responsible for securing the newly acquired Northwest Territory. As the senior commander of the U.S. Army, Wayne built forts, negotiated treaties with native tribes, and developed the structure that the modern U.S. Army follows today. The current 1st, 3rd, and 4th Infantry Regiments of the Army all trace their lineage to being a part of the Legion of the United States. The Legion was only restructured into the Army of the United States due to Wayne’s successes in securing the Northwest Territory.
Wayne died on a return trip from Detroit at Fort Presque Isle (modern-day Erie), Pennsylvania. While he had mixed successes in private life, there is no doubt that Anthony Wayne had a significant impact on the formation and success of the United States.
Finally, I was always curious why Wayne was considered “Mad?” Part of it was that he had a fiery temper. Wayne also always seemed to lead troops into a hot zone in battle. Although he had a temper and fought many battles, Wayne was a cool warrior who took calculated risks. There is a story that was shared about how he was given the name by one of his former troops. Like all true nicknames, it stuck, and we forever remember this founding father of the United States.