#anthony wayne

[nightwingsgypsyrep]

Doing research on the American Revolutionary War ready to teach about it and I just came across Anthony Wayne - someone I had no idea was real, and who I thought was made up to be Bruce Wayne’s ancestor.

Feel like a dumber version of Tim Drake rn.

[retro70s80sandmore]

Abercrombie & Fitch F/W 96.97: Patrick and Anthony Wayne

[kstarlitchaotics]

I think there was literally a comic describing one of them I think it was Anthony but none the less

Still very intriguing

[18thcentury]

Valley Forge

10-26-23

[clove-pinks]

I was reading the interpretive signs at Fort Miamis when I had a John Graves Simcoe encounter in the wild, paging @acrossthewavesoftime!

Simcoe penned one of the Letters From 1794 excerpted on this sign!

I have to laugh at "Mr. Wayne" for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Wayne, Simcoe, and Wayne's aide-de-camp William Henry Harrison all used Maumee/Miami interchangeably for what is called the Maumee River today. Simcoe makes it plural with "Miamis."

I don't know why I'm surprised when I was already aware that Simcoe built Fort Miamis?? It's right there in the opening chapters of William Henry Harrison and the Conquest of the Ohio Country: Frontier Fighting in the War of 1812 by David Curtis Skaggs:

The governor general of Canada, Sir Guy Carleton, recently elevated to the peerage as Lord Dorchester, promised such aid [to Indigenous allies] because he expected the United States and Great Britain to be at war shortly and, if so, they could expect direct assistance from His Majesty's government. To implement this, Carleton ordered John Graves Simcoe, the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada (modern Ontario), to construct a fort near the rapids of the Maumee River. (Named Fort Miamis, though often designated Fort Miami on early maps, was located in what is now the eastern edge of Maumee, Ohio, on the river's north bank.) All this was an aspect of a British desire to create an Indian barrier state between the lakes and the Ohio River [...]

I'll say it again: John Graves Simcoe may have had the greatest effect on the War of 1812, for a person who didn't live to see it.

What were Simcoe's thoughts on the aftermath of the Battle of Fallen Timbers? Did he know that the gates of Fort Miamis were closed to the Indigenous allies of the British, who fled there for shelter from Wayne's army?

[nordleuchten]

Adieu my Dear Marquis, may Life & Laurels Attend you, believe me with every Sentiment of Esteem yours most Sincerely

To the Marquis de La Fayette from Antony Wayne, July 25, 1778

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 2, April 10, 1778–March 20, 1780, Cornell University Press, 1979, p. 118.

[marq-de-laf]

On the 27th of June, Washington called General Charles Lee to his headquarters with Greene, Lafayette, Wayne, Maxwell, and Scott also in attendance.

Forgotten Patriot: The Life and Times of Major-General Nathanael Greene by Lee Patrick Anderson, pg. 158, literally just posting this for the sake of due diligence.

[john-laurens]

I proceeded to Bristol, the little Town was covered by fugitives, the River by Vessels of War & Store Vessels & others from Philadelphia, the Roads choaked by Carriages Horses & Waggons_ the Scene was disgustingly Specked by Regimental Coats & Cockades, Volunteer blades I suppose who had blustered in that habit of the might feats they would perform if the English should dare to come to Philadelpa. upon these I looked with deep contempt_ from Bristol I had the honour of conducting the Marquis [de Lafayette] who is possessed of the most excellent funds good sense & inexhaustible patience to Bethlehem where the Second day after our arrival I left him in Bed anxious for nothing but to be again in our Army as he always calls it, & proceeded through Reading to Lancaster, at Reading I learned of General Wayne’s false Step a second hindrance to our driving the Invaders out of the Country_ that affair & some others you will find spoken of in my sons Letters to me which I shall transmit with this_ the moment I had written the preceeding word another Letter from that Gentleman & the most welcome of all I ever received from him was brought into my Chamber, I had before the receipt of this endeavoured to fortify my mind against the attacks of Ill tidings for as I had heard of death & wounds which had fated other Officers in the Battle of German Town the 3d. Inst. & could learn nothing concerning him, it was natural to conclude that an illjudged tenderness had tonguetied all my friends_ a Sight of the well known hand on this Letter in a moment dissipated every gloomy apprehension but the sudden revulsion of joy cost me a few tears which probably would not have been so soon started if I had heard of his death_ this young Man is a soldier has done well, the Marquis had informed me on our journey that in the Battle of Brandywine_ “it was not his fault that he was not killed or wounded he did every thing that was necessary to procure one or t’other”_

he has in him qualities more valuable than Courage, he understands the Science of War, in theory & is getting fast into practicable knowledge, he is modest & cool_ I know him well_ I speak of him not as my Son_ but with pleasure as a friend, a Countryman & a Member of So Carolina in the former Character I still feel a resentment against him although I judge it best to express it in the softest terms to himself, for the Robberies he has committed, he has taken a husband & Father from his young family, a Guardian from his Brother & Sister, a Son & friend from a dependent Father_ & I still look upon him as standing on the verge of Eternity to morrow I may again hear of his bravery sealed by his fall._ so let it be! if it be God’s Will_ ‘tis mine my duty to bear._

-Henry Laurens to John Lewis Gervais, October 8, 1777

While I was waiting in humble submission to the Will of the Almighty disposer of all events, having heard of death & Wounds fated to our late friend [John] White & other brave Officers in the battle of German Town, inclined rather to indulge a suspicion that with respect to you an illjudged tenderness had tonguetied all my friends, your Letter of the 5th. came in_ the well known inscription instantly dissipated every gloomy Idea, but a sudden revulsion of joy which as instantly followed costing [a] Tear & brought such a fit of trembling upon my whole [torn] probably I should [not have suffered] [torn] much worse news._ Accept O God my h[torn]

I congratulate with my Country upon the good [con]duct & safety of another Citizen who has dared to risque his Life in her Cause_ I congratulate with you my Dear Son, with my Daughter with all our Friends upon your happy escape._ My own duty commands my presence upon this spot, if I were free, I would at all hazards lame & incapable as I am of alert travelling fly to assist as your Nurse until you should be able to take the field again at this distance I can only help you with prayers & good wishes & thank you for the honour you have done me.

No Man can doubt of your bravery, your own good sense will point out the distinction between ge[nuin]e Courage & temerity nor need I tell you that [torn] your duty to preserve your own health & strength as it is to destroy an Enemy.

Other Accounts do no import our loss to have been, as you intimated, very considerable_ & make that of the Enemy illegible about or upwards of 2000, &  among these of Killed & wounded many Officers of distinguished rank_ let me know when you are able, the truth as fully & explicitly as you can, adding any such remarkable circumstances of the battle as you were witness to_ what you learn also of the Enemy’s Army their remaining Numbers & illegible disposition_ & what has happened on the River, Forts & Shipping_ & You will further oblige Your faithful friend & affectionate Father

-Henry Laurens to John Laurens, October 8, 1777

(Non-italicized names in brackets were supplied by myself for context; italicized words in brackets and crossed-out words were supplied by the transcripts in The Papers of of Henry Laurens, vol. 11.)

It’s interesting to compare how Henry Laurens writes about his son John to others and how he writes to John himself.  Parts of the letters are quite similar, with the sections containing “an illjudged tenderness had tonguetied all my friends” reading almost word-for-word.  But Henry’s concern for John’s well-being comes across much more strongly in the letter to John Lewis Gervais.  He is exceedingly proud of John and the way he has defended the colonies, but he also deeply misses John and worries that his life will be cut short in the war (unfortunately, Henry’s worry would become a reality in a few short years).  In his letter to John, Henry expresses his relief at learning that John was alive and makes a short remark about John needing to look out for himself more.  However, despite the concerns Henry voiced in his letter to Gervais, he does not attempt to dissuade John from fighting in the war.  He has accepted that this is John’s desire, and he will support him in it, as hard as that might be for him (“so let it be! if it be God’s Will_ ‘tis mine my duty to bear._”).  This is an interesting contrast to John’s education in Europe, when he deferred to Henry’s preferences and studied law rather than medicine.  As John grew older, he appears to have exhibited a stronger confidence and assertiveness in his decisions, and Henry grew to accept these choices.

Sidenote: it’s unintentionally hilarious that Henry spelled “risk” as “risque.”