In a reorganization of the army late in 1778, he was transferred to the command of a separate corps of Continental light infantry. This corps, under his leadership, on July 16, 1779, captured by surprise the garrison at Stony Point, the northernmost British post on the Hudson. Over five hundred prisoners, fifteen cannon, and some valuable stores were taken. For his conduct in this affair Congress ordered a medal to be struck and presented to him. Early in 1780 he led some desultory movements against the British on the lower Hudson, aimed to embarrass their collecting of supplies and cattle and to alleviate the attacks being made on Connecticut. When Arnold attempted to deliver West Point to the British on Sept. 25, 1780, Wayne’s prompt movement to that post prevented a British occupation. After the Pennsylvania line mutinied in December 1780, Wayne was instrumental in presenting the soldiers’ demands for pay and release to Congress and in getting Congress to redress their grievances. In the Yorktown campaign he was ordered south to serve under Lafayette, who was opposing Cornwallis on the lower James River. When Cornwallis withdrew from Williamsburg, Wayne was ordered to attack part of the British army that was mistakenly supposed to be separated from the rest. With some 800 men he attacked the British army of perhaps 5,000 at Green Spring, Va., on July 6, 1781, and, upon discovering the mistake, he led a charge into the British lines that deceived Cornwallis long enough to permit Wayne to extricate himself with only minor losses.

After the British surrender at Yorktown, Wayne, serving under Gen. Nathanael Greene, was sent to oppose the British, Loyalist, and Indian hostiles in Georgia. He had the tact to divide the Indian opposition by spreading news of the American victory so that, when the Creek irreconcilables attacked his small force in May 1782, he was able to rout them. He negotiated treaties of submission with the Creek and Cherokee in the winter of 1782 and 1783. In 1783 he retired from active service as brevet major-general.

Wayne’s horse was shot by Indians in Georgia....

From 1783 to 1792 he was engaged in civil pursuits in which he was less fortunate than in military affairs. The state of Georgia conferred upon him an eight-hundred-acre rice plantation, and he borrowed the necessary capital to work it from Dutch creditors, who subsequently foreclosed on the lands. In politics he was a conservative; he had a militarist’s contempt for the radicals who took advantage of the revolt against Great Britain to fashion liberal constitutions like that of Pennsylvania, which he considered “not worth Defending.” During the war military affairs were his major consideration; but he said, “let us once be in a Condition to Vanquish these British Rebels and I answer for it that then your present Rulers will give way for better men which will produce better Measures.” Accordingly, as a member of the Pennsylvania council of censors in 1783, he favored the calling of a new constitutional convention. He was a representative of Chester County to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1784 and 1785. In 1787 he supported the new federal Constitution in the Pennsylvania ratifying convention. He was elected to Congress as a representative from Georgia and served from Mar. 4, 1791, to Mar. 21, 1792, when his seat was declared vacant because of irregularities in the election and in his residence qualification.

Battle of Fallen Timbers
FROM THE ORIGINAL PAINTING BY CHAPPEL.

After the failure of Harmar and St. Clair to subdue the Indian tribes of the Wabash and Maumee rivers in 1791, Wayne was named by Washington as major-general in command of the rehabilitated American army. He was strongly opposed to the peace maneuvers of 1792 and 1793 but improved his time constructing a reliable military organization at his training camp at Legionville, Pa., and, later, near Fort Washington and Fort Jefferson in the Northwest Territory. On Aug. 20, 1794, he defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers on the Maumee River near what is now Toledo, Ohio. This victory was the result of several factors. Wayne had far more resources at his command than had Harmar or St. Clair. He did not hazard an autumn campaign after he received news of the final failure of peace negotiations in August 1793. He was fortunate in that the Indians threw away their opportunity to isolate him, when they made a futile attack on Fort Recovery on June 29 and lost many discouraged tribesmen, who went home. He made every effort to avoid offending the British, thus robbing the Indians of the aid they fully expected in the moment of conflict. Finally, when the Indians had assembled at Fallen Timbers to fight, he delayed battle for three days. Therefore, when he attacked, a large part of the Indians were at a distance breaking their three-day fast, and the rest were in a half-starved condition. The complete submission and surrender at Greenville in August 1795 was made possible by Jay’s treaty, the British desertion of the Indians, and Wayne’s skill in convincing the tribesmen of the hopelessness of their cause without British support. He died at Presque Isle, now Erie, Pa., on his return from the occupation of the post of Detroit.

Transcriber’s Notes