Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-02-26
"MAD" ANTHONY WAYNE.
Insubordination in the Revolution - no"
Wayne Disobeycd Lafayette


| ton, saws The Cincinnati Commercial
Gazette, was entering upon the last act
in the spring of 1881, though the loot
sore and ragged continentals knew II
not. The final storm-burst was enter
| ing in Virginia. Lafayette, in the COM
mand of the Virginia army, was COM
| PEELED to evacuate Richmond before
| the advance of Corvallis; and Arnold,
the traitor, at the head of $500 men.
was marching to reinforce the conh-
! dent royalists.
Meanwhile Gen. Wayne was enroute
from Pennsylvania TO join Gen. Greene
in the Carolinas. But Washington had
ordered Wayne to aid Lafayette, should
the latter need reinforcements in his
| resistance to CORVALLIS. Lafayette S
| troops were in dispirited and disor-
derly condition upon the retreat. and
| Cornwallis knew it. In writing OF the
| pursuit the duke said: The boy can
not escape me-"
This .'boyhood" of the brave young
| Frenchman was a source of ridicuie
among British officers, and of jealousy
among the continentals. OF the latter.
| Gen. Wayne was n conspicuous IN
| stance. His reputation, rank, and
| violent temper made him intolerant.
| and he never failed to give expression
to his opinions in unmeasured terms.
WAYNE was but days march from
Lafayette when he received an order
from the latter to join and cooperate
with him. indicating therein the route
Wayne's army should take, and the
point where the forces should become
united.
Upon reaching the designated point.
Lafayette was surprised not to meet
Wayne or receive any word from him.
This delayed Lafayette's movements
and filled his mind with apprehension.
The marquis thereupon sent his aid
de-camp, Maj. Anderson, to urge Gen.
Wayne to march with all haste. (This
officer was Maj. Richard Clough An
derson, aid-de-camp to Lafayette. the
father of Maj. Anderson. of Fort Sum-
ter memory, and the late Larz Ander-
son, Esq, of Cincinnati.)
Mai. Anderson found Wayne in
camp, and received from him an un-
gracious promise to move up. AT the
end of three days Lafayette. learning
that Wayne was not advancing, again
sent Maj. Anderson with a peremptory
order to join him by forced marches;
and Maj. Anderson was instructed to
remain with Wayne, and to send for
ward hourly dispatches to his chief un-
til the troops should arrive at camp.
When Anderson reached Wayne on
his second mission he found that Gen.
Wayne had moved but four miles from
his former headquarters. Upon enter
ing the room that served as the adju-
tant's office, Maj. Anderson saluted
Gen. Wayne and his staff; then, asking
for pen, ink, and paper, sat down as if
to write. Looking up to Wayne, whose
curiosity had been excited by this pro-
ceeding, he told the general that he
had been sent by the Marquis de
Lafayette to report the order of his ad-
vance, and that as he was about to for
ward the first of the hourly dispatches
required of him he desired to know
what should be the nature of the re-
port. Wayne was amazed at the con-
duct of Anderson, and staring at him
he asked the aid-de-camp: .'Do you
mean to insult me?'
Anderson denied having any such in
tention, but said that in course of duty
he carried the commands of a superior
officer. Wayne voice, which had been
husky and choked with passion, now
broke forth: Superior! superior! Do
you call any damned foreigner, any
body, my superior. He then poured
forth torrent of oaths and impreca-
tions upon ali foreigners, not sparing
Anderson himself. for having associa-
ted himself with 1.-The fortune-seeking
Frenchman." He became more vehe-
ment as he lashed himself into fury,
striding up and down the room, stamp
ing his feet in a paroXysm of rage. 1t
was the indulgence OF these furious
outbursts of temper, and not his well
known rashness in battle, that gave
him the nickname of Mad Anthony
Wayne.n
The account says that Wayne,
fatigued by his violent actions and the
vehemence of his passions. gradually
subsidized into gentleneSS of action. But
any reference to the object of Ander-
sons mission led to a repetition of the
passionate outburst. An officer sue
ceeded at last in turning the conversa-
tion from the dangerous topic.
Wayne having expressed himself
confident of ultimate success, Mai. An
derson gave expression to his own
gloomy forebodings. Pressed for his
reasons by Gen. Wayne, Anderson re-
piled that as the only hope of success
against formidable foe lay in volun-
tary union and subordination, the ex-
ample he had witnessed that day of an
officer high in rank, and of distin-
guished services, refusingto obey orders
Of superior officer deprived him of
the hope of useful or permanent sue
ceSs.
Gen. Wayne" i" said Maj. Anderson,
Il look to You to remove these appre-
tensions"
This arraignment of Wayne's course
seemed about to produce another
'torm-burst of passion; but Wayne was,
hough envious and eXcitable, true
patriot and soldier. and with almost !.
he same heat with which he had re- l,
used to obey Lafayette he cried out:
Tell him FL jine him! Tell him I'll |
inc him! BY Cd, tell him I'll jine |