The Winning of the West, Volume 4: Louisiana and the Northwest, 1791-1807Roosevelt, Theodore
History
The Winning of the West, Volume 4: Louisiana and the Northwest, 1791-1807
Roosevelt, Theodore
Northwest, Old -- History; United States -- Territorial expansion; West (U.S.) -- History
Of all men, Wayne was the best fitted for the work. In the Revolutionary
War no other general, American, British, or French, won such a
reputation for hard fighting, and for daring energy and dogged courage.
He felt very keenly that delight in the actual shock of battle which the
most famous fighting generals have possessed. He gloried in the
excitement and danger, and shone at his best when the stress was sorest;
and because of his magnificent courage his soldiers had affectionately
christened him "Mad Anthony." But his head was as cool as his heart was
stout. He was taught in a rough school; for the early campaigns in which
he took part were waged against the gallant generals and splendid
soldiery of the British King. By experience he had grown to add caution
to his dauntless energy. Once, after the battle of Brandywine, when he
had pushed close to the enemy, with his usual fearless self-confidence,
he was surprised in a night attack by the equally daring British general
Grey, and his brigade was severely punished with the bayonet. It was a
lesson he never forgot; it did not in any way abate his self-reliance or
his fiery ardor, but it taught him the necessity of forethought, of
thorough preparation, and of ceaseless watchfulness. A few days later he
led the assault at Germantown, driving the Hessians before him with the
bayonet. This was always his favorite weapon; he had the utmost faith in
coming to close quarters, and he trained his soldiers to trust the
steel. 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. His greatest stroke was the storming of Stony Point, where
in person he led the midnight rush of his troops over the walls of the
British fort. He fought with his usual hardihood against Cornwallis; and
at the close of the Revolutionary War he made a successful campaign
against the Creeks in Georgia. During this campaign the Creeks one night
tried to surprise his camp, and attacked with resolute ferocity, putting
to flight some of the troops; but Wayne rallied them and sword in hand
he led them against the savages, who were overthrown and driven from the
field. In one of the charges he cut down an Indian chief; and the dying
man, as he fell, killed Wayne's horse with a pistol shot.
Wayne Reorganizes the Army
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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