Anthony Wayne, born Jan. 1, 1745, in the township of Easttown, Chester County, Pennsylvania, was of Irish parentage. In boyhood he showed the military bias of his aspirations by his close study of mathematics and engineering, that he might fit himself to enter the army. From his marriage, in 1767, to 1774, his occupation was that of a farmer and land surveyor; in 1774–75 he was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, and in the latter year, of the Committee of Public Safety. The oppressive policy adopted by Great Britain toward the American colonies aroused all his military spirit; and resigning his seat in the Legislature, he raised a company of volunteers, and received from Congress on the 3d of January, 1776, his commission as colonel. Increasing his company to a regiment, he was ordered with it to New York and afterward to Canada. The 21st of February, 1777, marks the date of his promotion to brigadier-general, and in May, having joined the army under Washington, he distinguished himself by driving the enemy from New Jersey. His skill as a commander, and his personal courage, secured him a conspicuous part in the battles that followed; and being intrusted with a foraging expedition to relieve the destitute army in winter-quarters at Valley Forge, he secured large stores of provisions and many horses for the cavalry, at the same time defeating the enemy in numerous skirmishes.

At the battle of Monmouth, Wayne’s brave conduct gained for him personal notice in the report sent by Washington to Congress, while his brilliant achievement at Stony Point was recognized by a resolution of thanks in Congress, and in the General Assembly of Pennsylvania. After rendering other important services in the North, realizing what had been said of him early in the war, that “where Wayne went, there was a fight always,—that was his business,” he was sent in 1781 to join the Southern army, and was actively engaged in the siege of Yorktown until the final surrender. The efforts of the Americans were now directed to dislodging the British from their two remaining strongholds; and so vigorously was the war carried on in Georgia and South Carolina that by direction of the home Government Savannah was evacuated on the 12th of July, 1782, and Charleston in the latter part of the same year, Wayne marching in and taking possession on the 14th of December,—his last military service during the Revolution. In July, 1783, he returned to his home and civil life. On the 30th of September, he was appointed major-general by brevet; in April, 1792, President Washington nominated him commander-in-chief of an army to subdue the Indians of the Northwest; and after the delays consequent upon organizing and disciplining his men, Wayne began active operations in 1794, resulting in the complete discomfiture of the savage tribes and their British allies. This victory brought valuable territory to the United States, and a long peace with the Indians. After a visit to his home, he returned to the West to fulfil his duties as commissioner, and died soon after from an attack of gout on the 15th of December, 1796, “after a life of honor and usefulness.”

No general ever gained more sobriquets than Wayne; that most widely known, “Mad Anthony,” was given on account of his unexpected success in perilous expeditions, though Washington called him “prudent.” The title of “Dandy Wayne” was also applied to him because of his scrupulous attention to his dress; and in a letter to Washington he declares his preference for an elegant uniform and soldierly appearance, rather than poorly clad troops with more ammunition. The Indians at first called him “Black Snake,” perhaps because that reptile will attack any other species and rarely gets the worst of an encounter. After he defeated them in 1794, however, they named him “Wind,” or “Tornado,” because “he was exactly like a hurricane that drives and tears and prostrates everything before it.”