The Land of the Miamis: An Account of the Struggle to Secure Possession of the North-West from the End of the Revolution until 1812Barce, Elmore
History
The Land of the Miamis: An Account of the Struggle to Secure Possession of the North-West from the End of the Revolution until 1812
Barce, Elmore
Indians of North America -- Wars -- 1750-1815; Miami Indians; Northwest, Old -- History
The great soul of Washington was sorely tried, but he did not falter.
The first thing to do was to raise an efficient army, and that was done.
Early in the year 1792, the forces of the United States were put on a
new footing. The military establishment was now to consist of "five
thousand one hundred and sixty-eight non-commissioned officers, privates
and musicians." Enlistments were to be made for a period of three years,
and the pay of the soldiers increased. General Anthony Wayne was
appointed commander and instructed by Washington to spare neither powder
nor ball, 'so that his men be made marksmen.'
Wayne was a fighter of fearless courage and daring brilliancy. He was
now forty-seven years of age and had entered the revolution as a Colonel
in the Continental Army. He had fought with Washington at Brandywine and
Germantown, and had driven the Hessians at the point of the bayonet. "At
Monmouth he turned the fortunes of the day by his stubborn and
successful resistance to the repeated bayonet charges of the Guards and
Grenadiers." The storming of Stony Point is ranked by Lossing as one of
the most brilliant achievements of the Revolutionary war. He fought at
Yorktown and later drove the English out of Georgia. His favorite weapon
of offense was the bayonet. General William Henry Harrison, who was aide
to Wayne at the battle of Fallen Timbers, said to him: "General Wayne, I
am afraid you will get into the fight yourself, and forget to give me
the necessary field orders." "Perhaps I may," replied Wayne, "and if I
do, recollect the standing order of the day is, 'Charge the damned
rascals with the bayonets!'"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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