Anthony Wayne Quotes

Anthony Wayne was a United States Army officer and statesman. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him promotion to brigadier general and the nickname Mad Anthony. He served as the Senior Officer of the Army and led the Legion of the United States.

Wayne was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and he worked as a tanner and surveyor after attending the College of Philadelphia. He won election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly and helped raise a Pennsylvania militia unit in 1775. During the Revolutionary War, he served in the Invasion of Quebec, the Philadelphia campaign, and the Yorktown campaign. His reputation suffered due to his defeat in the Battle of Paoli, but he won wide praise for his leadership in the 1779 Battle of Stony Point.

After the war, Wayne settled in Georgia on land that had been granted to him for his military service. He briefly represented Georgia in the United States House of Representatives, then returned to the Army to accept command of the Northwest Indian War. His forces defeated several Indian tribes at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, and the subsequent Treaty of Greenville ended the war.

Wayne died in 1796 while on active duty. Various places and things have been named after him, including the cities of Fort Wayne, Indiana and Waynesboro, Virginia, and Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

✵ 1. January 1745 – 15. December 1796
Anthony Wayne photo
Anthony Wayne: 6 quotes1 like

Famous Anthony Wayne Quotes

“It is not thus that the Black Snake, the great General Wayne acted; he was a true warrior and a brave man; he was equal to any of our chiefs that we have, equal to any that we have ever had”

Anthony Wayne

Reverend John Heckewelder, in his History, Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations who Once Inhabited Pennsylvania and the Neighboring States, Chapter XXXIII, p. 192. [emphasis added]
Context: …They also make a distinction between a warrior and a murderer, which, as they explain it, is not much to our advantage. It is not, say they, the number of scalps alone which a man brings with him that prove him to be a brave warrior. Cowards have been known to return, and bring scalps home, which they had taken where they knew was no danger, where no attack was expected and no opposition made. Such was the case with those Christian Indians on the Muskingum, the friendly Indians near Pittsburg, and a great number of scattered, peaceable men of our nation, who were all murdered by cowards. It is not thus that the Black Snake, the great General Wayne acted; he was a true warrior and a brave man; he was equal to any of our chiefs that we have, equal to any that we have ever had…

“Forward, my brave fellows, forward! Carry me into the fort. If I am to die, I want to die at the head of the column!”

Anthony Wayne

upon being wounded in the head at Stony Point
Attributed

“Facts are stubborn things.”

Anthony Wayne

Wayne, in a 1 May 1794 letter to the contractors who had failed to properly provision the Legion of the United States.
Attributed
Source: [Sword, Wiley, President Washington's Indian War: The Struggle for the Old Northwest, 1790-1795, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1985, 0-8061-2488-1, 265]

“Dear Gen'l, -- The fort & garrison with Col. Johnston are ours. Our officers & men behaved like men who are determined to be free.”

Anthony Wayne

note to Washington after receiving the surrender of Stony Point
Attributed

“Issue the orders Sir, and I will storm Hell.”

Anthony Wayne

when asked by General George Washington if he would undertake the capture of Stony Point
Attributed

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