A statue of General Anthony Wayne stands as a tribute to him in Freimann Square, downtown Fort Wayne. We are all supposed to disavow him according to the doctrine of political correctness. We are all supposed to disavow all but our most vile, violent and shameful history according to the doctrine of political correctness, in fact. Thus if we speak of Anthony Wayne, says the doctrine of political correctness, it can only be in harsh and negative terms, accompanied by copious apologies to all descendants of General Wayne's former adversaries.
Political correctness is societal suicide. Anthony Wayne would know how to end it, just as he ended Benedict Arnold's machinations at Fort West Point.
[Oh, as an aside this post of tribute is made by a descendant of the Cherokee Nation.]
Source for blue:
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=398
Anthony Wayne was an important American military leader during and after the American Revolution.
***
Wayne played an active role in the coming of the American Revolution. He served on numerous committees in his home county, and encouraged his neighbors to support rebellion against the British government. He served in the Pennsylvania legislature in 1775 [Note: first a man of peace] and joined the Continental Army in 1776. He entered the service as a colonel but quickly advanced to the rank of brigadier-general by 1777.
Wayne had no military experience before enlisting in the Continental Army. Other, more experienced officers resented Wayne's quick advancement. He became known for his bravado and ill-advised attacks. He earned the nickname "Mad" Anthony Wayne because of his impulsive actions on the battlefield. ** [Note: Not for killing Indian children, as his detractors allege]** In 1779, Wayne led an American force against British soldiers at Stony Point, New York. He succeeded in capturing the entire garrison. This was a crucial victory for the Americans.***
In 1780, Wayne played a critical role in preventing Benedict Arnold from turning over the American fortifications at West Point to the English. ** [Note: That would have been disasterous] He also helped to put down a mutiny of Pennsylvania soldiers who had not received payment from the government formed by the Articles of Confederation. He did so by serving as the men's advocate before the Confederation Congress. **[Note: a JAG] ** He retired in 1783 from the Continental Army, having attained the rank of major general.
*** In 1792, President George Washington appointed Wayne as the commander of the United States Army of the Northwest, currently serving in the Northwest Territory. The major purpose of this army was to defend American settlers from Indian attack. Josiah Harmar and Arthur St. Clair had both been defeated at the hands of the Native Americans in the previous few years, and Washington hoped that Wayne would prove to be more successful. [Note: The First Continental Army was wiped out by the British supplied Indian confederacy] To help defend the frontier, Wayne ordered the construction of several forts, including Fort Recovery, Fort Defiance, and Fort Greene Ville. Seeing the build-up of American forces in the Northwest Territory, the local Indians became quite concerned. To ease their fears, the natives' British allies constructed Fort Miamis on the Maumee River. [Note: the arrogant Brits should have rather pulled out of the NorthWest Territory per the 1763 Treaty of Paris, but they were instead setting the scene for the War of 1812] During 1794, Wayne moved against the Indians, who were commanded by Blue Jacket. On August 20, 1794, the two forces met at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, so named because the Indians used trees knocked down by a tornado for cover. Wayne's men quickly drove the Indians from the battlefield. [Note: professional training made all of the difference] Wayne succeeded primarily because of his well-trained troops. Harmar and St. Clair's earlier expeditions had failed due to a heavy reliance on unskilled soldiers. [Who were butchered by the Indians, almost to the man]
*** On August 3, 1795, the Treaty of Greeneville was signed. Representatives from the Miami Indians, the Wyandot Indians, the Shawnee Indians, the Delaware Indians, and several other tribes agreed to move to the northwestern part of what is present-day Ohio. In doing so, they left behind their lands south and east of the agreed upon boundary. Not all Indians concurred with the treaty, and bloodshed continued in the region for the next twenty years as Americans and Indians struggled for control.[Thus Fort Wayne was needed to protect area settlers]
Source for blue:
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=398
Source for red:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Wayne
President George Washington recalled Wayne from civilian life in order to lead an expedition in the
Northwest Indian War, which up to that point had been a disaster for the United States. Many
American Indians in the
Northwest Territory had sided with the British in the Revolutionary War. In the
Treaty of Paris that had ended the conflict, the British had ceded this land to the United States. The Indians, however, had not been consulted, and resisted annexation of the area by the United States. The
Western Indian Confederacy achieved major victories over U.S. forces in 1790 and 1791 under the leadership of
Blue Jacket of the
Shawnees and
Little Turtle of the
Miamis. They were encouraged and supplied by the British, who had refused to evacuate British fortifications in the region as called for in the Treaty of Paris.
Washington placed Wayne in command of a newly-formed military force called the "
Legion of the United States". Wayne established a basic training facility at
Legionville to prepare professional soldiers for his force. Wayne's was the first attempt to provide
basic training for regular U.S. Army recruits and Legionville was the first facility established expressly for this purpose.
He then dispatched a force to
Ohio to establish
Fort Recovery as a base of operations. On August 3, a tree fell on Wayne's tent. He survived, but was rendered unconscious. By the next day, he had recovered sufficiently to resume the march.
[2] On August 20, 1794, Wayne mounted an assault on the Indian confederacy at the
Battle of Fallen Timbers, in modern
Maumee, Ohio (just south of present-day
Toledo), which was a decisive victory for the U.S. forces, ending the war. Wayne then negotiated the
Treaty of Greenville between the tribal confederacy and the United States, which was signed on August 3, 1795. The treaty gave most of what is now Ohio to the United States, and cleared the way for that state to enter the Union in 1803.
Source for red:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Wayne
Posts
The above link asks if the tea parties will last or merely fade out with a whimper.
