Anthony Wayne, 1745-1796

Anthony Wayne
Prepared by the Staff of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County 1954
One of a historical series, this pamphlet is published under the direction of the governing Boards of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SCHOOL CITY OF FORT WAYNE
Mrs. Sadie Fulk Roehrs B.F. Geyer, President Joseph E. Kramer, Secretary W. Page Yarnelle, Treasurer Willard Shambaugh
PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD FOR ALLEN COUNTY
The members of this Board include the members of the Board of Trustees of the School City of Fort Wayne (with the same officers) together with the following citizens chosen from Allen County outside the corporate City of Fort Wayne:
James E. Graham Arthur Niemeier Mrs. Glenn Henderson Mrs. Charles Reynolds
After Harmar and St. Clair had been disastrously defeated by the Indians in the Old Northwest Territory, President Washington appointed General Anthony Wayne to reorganize the American forces, to subdue the savages, and to protect the scattered white settlements along the frontier. Wayne’s campaign culminated in his decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794. General Wayne then marched his men westward to the headwaters of the Maumee at the junction of the St. Mary’s and St. Joseph rivers. Here, on ground commanding the adjacent area, a fort was constructed and named Fort Wayne in his honor. If Wayne’s campaign had failed, settlement in this section might have been indefinitely delayed, and our city might be known by another name.
The following biographical sketch of Anthony Wayne was written by Randolph C. Downes. It was published in 1936 by Charles Scribner’s Sons in the DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, volume nineteen. Both the American Council of Learned Societies, the copyright holder, and the publisher have graciously accorded permission to reproduce the article in its entirety. The portraiture, the best brief biography of Wayne, has been reprinted verbatim; citations and bibliography have been omitted.