Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

into Canada. In the defeat which followed, in which general Thompson was made a prisoner, colonel Wayne, though wounded, displayed great gallantry and good conduct, in collecting and bringing off, the scattered and broken bodies of troops.

In the campaign of 1776, he served under general Gates, at Ticonderoga, and was highly esteem-ed by that officer for both his bravery and skill as an engineer. At the close of that campaign he was created a brigadier-general.

At the battle of Brandywine, he behaved with his usual bravery, and for a long time opposed the progress of the enemy at Chad's ford. In this action, the inferiority of the Americans in numbers, discipline and arms, gave them little chance of success; but the peculiar situation of the public mind was supposed to require a battle to be risked; the ground was bravely disputed, and the action was not considered as decisive. The spirits of the troops were preserved by a belief that the loss of the enemy had equalled their own. As it was the

intention of the American commander in chief to hazard another action on the first favourable opportunity that should offer, genéral Wayne was detached with his division, to harrass the enemy by every means in his power. The British troops were encamped at Tredyffrin, and general Wayne was stationed about three miles in the rear of their left wing, near the Paoli tavern, and from the precautions he had taken, he considered himself secure; but about eleven o'clock, on the night of the 20th September, major-general Gray, having driven in his pickets, suddenly attacked him with fixed bayonets. Wayne, unable to withstand the superior number of his assailants, was obliged to retreat; but formed again at a small distance, having lost about 150 killed and wounded. As blame was attached. by some of the officers of the army, to

general Wayne, for allowing himself to be surprised in this manner, he demanded a court martial, which, after examining the necessary evidence, declared that he had done every thing to be expected from an active, brave, and vigilant officer; and acquitted him with honour.

A neat marble monument has been recently erected on the battle ground, to the memory of the gallant men who fell on the night of the 20th September, 1777.

Shortly after was fought the battle of Germantown, in which he greatly signalized himself, by his spirited manner of leading his men into action. In this action, he had one horse shot under him, and another as he was mounting; and at the same instant, received slight wounds in the left foot and left hand.

In all councils of war, general Wayne was distinguished for supporting the most energetic and decisive measures. In the one previous to the battle of Monmouth, he and general Cadwalader were the only officers decidedly in favour of attacking the British army. The American officers are said to have been influenced by the opinions of the Europeans. The baron de Steuben, and generals Lee and Du Portail, whose military skill was in high estimation, had warmly opposed an engagement as too hazardous. But general Washington, whose .opinion was in favour of an engagement, made such disposition as would be most likely to lead to it. In that action, so honourable to the American arms, general Wayne was conspicuous in the ardour of his attack. General Washington, in his letter to congress, observes, "Were I to conclude my account of this day's transactions without expressing my obligations to the officers of the army in general, I should do injustice to their merit, and violence to my own feelings. They seemed to vic with each other in manifesting their zeal and bra

very. The catalogue of those who distinguished themselves, is too long to admit of particularizing individuals. I cannot, however, forbear mentioning brigadier-general Wayne, whose good conduct and bravery, throughout the whole action, deserves particular commendation."

In July, 1779, the American commander in chief having conceived a design of attacking the strong post of Stony Point, committed the charge of this enterprise to general Wayne. The garrison was composed of 600 men, principally highlanders, commanded by lieutenant-colonel Johnson. Stony Point is a considerable height, the base of which, on the one side, is washed by the Hudson river, and on the other is covered by a morass, over which there is but one crossing place. On the top of this hill was the fort; formidable batteries of heavy artillery were planted on it, in front of which, breast works were advanced and half way down, was a double row of abattis. The batteries commanded the beach and the crossing place of the morass. Several vessels of war were also in the river, whose guns commanded the foot of the hill.

At noon, on the 15th of July, general Wayne marched from Sandy Beach, and arrived at eight o'clock in the evening, within a mile and a half of the fort, where he made the necessary disposition for the assault. After reconnoitering the situation of the enemy, at half past eleven, he led his troops with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets, and without firing a single gun, completely carried the fort and made the garrison, amounting to 543, (the rest being killed) prisoners. In the attack, while at the head of Febiger's regiment, general Wayne received a wound in the head with a musket-ball, which, in the heat of the conflict, supposing mortal, and anxious to expire in the lap of glory, he called to his aids to carry him forward and let him die in the fort. The resistance, on the part of the garrison

was very spirited. Out of the forlorn hope of 20 men, commanded by lieutenant Gibbon, whose business it was to remove the abattis, 17 were killed. For the brave, prudent, and soldier-like conduc displayed in this achievement, the congress presented general Wayne a gold medal emblematic of the action.

Immediately after the surrender of Stoney Point, general Wayne transmitted to the commander in chief, the following laconic letter:

"Stoney Point, July 16, 1779.

"2 o'clock, A. M.

"Dear General-The fort and garrison, with colonel Johnson, are ours; our officers and men behaved like men determined to be free.

"Yours most sincerely,

"ANTHONY WAYNE.

"GEN. WASHINGTON.”

In the campaign of 1781, in which lord Cornwallis, and a British army were obliged to surrcnder prisoners of war, he bore a conspicuous part. His presence of mind never failed him in the most critical situations. Of this he gave an eminent example on the James River. Having been deceived by some false information, into a belief that the British army had passed the river, leaving but the rear guard behind, he hastened to attack the latter before it should also have effected its passage; but on pushing through a morass and wood, instead of the rear guard, he found the whole British army drawn up close to him. His situation did not admit of a moment's deliberation. Conceiving the boldest to be the safest measure, he immediately led his small detachment, not exceeding 800 men, to the charge, and after a short, but very smart and close firing, in which he lost 118 of his men, he succeeded in bringing off the rest under cover of the wood. Lord Cornwallis, suspecting the at

tack to be a feint, in order to draw him into an ambuscade, would not permit his troops to pursue.

The enemy having made a considerable head in Georgia, Wayne was dispatched by general Washington to take command of the forces in that state, and. after some sanguinary engagements, succeeded in establishing security and order. For his services in that state the legislature presented him with a valuable farm.

On the peace, which followed shortly after, he retired to private life; but in 1789, we find him a member of the Pennsylvania convention, and one of those in favour of the present federal constitution of the United States.

In the year 1792, he was appointed to succeed general St. Clair, who had resigned the command of the army engaged against the Indians, on our western frontier. Wayne formed an encampment at Pittsburgh, and such exemplary discipline was introduced among the new troops, that, on their advance into the Indian country, they appeared like veterans.

The Indians had collected in great numbers, and it was necessary not only to rout them, but to occupy their country by a chain of posts, that should, for the future, check their predatory incursions. Pursuing this regular and systematic mode of advance, the autumn of 1793, found general Wayne with his army, at a post in the wilderness, called Greensville, about six miles in advance of fort Jefferson, where he determined to encamp for the winter, in order to make the necessary arrangements for opening the campaign to effect early in the following spring. After fortifying his camp, he took possession of the ground on which the Americans had been defeated in 1791, which he fortified also, and called the work fort Recovery. Here he piously collected, and. with the honours of war, interred the bones of the unfortunate al

« ForrigeFortsæt »