The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-12-27
Nv 9
49,
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colonies and the mother country. But
Anthony Wayne was a man of action.
not merely man of words, and New
Years day of 1776 found him at his
home, Waynesborough, impatiently
awaiting word from Philadelphia,
where the Pennsylvania committee of
safety was about to choose the col
onels for the four battalions, which
were TO be sent to the aid Of General
Washington and his Continentals be-
fore Boston. Unable TO restrain his
Impotence. Wayne. two days later.
babe his Polly and their children
hasty good-by and set out for Phila-
delphia, there to learn that he had
been appointed colonel of the first bat
TALON.
So the military career Of Anthony
Wayne began and how brilliant that
career was is told in one of the most
interesting biographies of recent
months-Thomas Boyd's Mad An
thony Wayne" published by Charles
Scribners' Sons. No better charac-
ization of Wayne can be given than
in the scene, as Boyd describes 1t.
which took place after the long, bit
ter winter at Valley Forge when
Washington summoned his generals to
a council to decide whether or not to
allow the British. who were preparing
to leave Philadelphia for New York.
to pass across New Jersey unmolested.
Gen. Charles Lee spoke longest and
loudest and his advice was to let the
British alone. Then:
Anthony Wayne had sat apart, hold
ing a book beyond which he had
looked with hright-eyed scorn as ten
of his fellow officers had agreed with
Charles Lee. He raised his head
We'll, general" asked his Excel
lency, what do you propose to dor"
Wayne answered quickly, Fight
sir"
But that reply could scarcely have
surprised the commander-in-chief or
any of the others. For when hadn't
the leader Of the Pennsylvania line
voted in favor of attack? At Brandy
winer At Germantown? At White
tack. attack 1t was the only word
he knew.
And those two words ATTACK" and
slight" were the keynotes of his whole
career, both in the Revolution and dur
ing the Indian war afterwards. II
would have been appropriate If he
could have died on the field of battle.
Instead, he was stricken by illness In
December of 1896 at the fort at
PresQue isle on the shores Of Lake
Erie, and there after great suffering
the end came on December Is.
He had hoped for many
more years; only ffty-two he would
be IL he kept on till January.
But he had no desire to keep on until
January; not like this. He could think
neither Of past joys nor regrets. His
life with Polly, the glory of Mon
mouth and Stony Point, his madden
ing experiences with the Georgia plan
tation, that election to congress which
began in good faith and ended close
to humiliation, his victory at the Fall
len Timber and his greater triumph
at Greenville-these things were all OF
equal indifferences to him now. Even
If he had known of the years to come,
that many of his forts would grow
into cities. that there would be Wayne
counties. Wayne townships. waynes-
villes and Waynesburgs throughout
America, that century later youths
of the country he had won from the
Indians and British would feel strong
with valor at evocation Of his name
even had he fully known the achieve
ments that had been his they would
-
suffering was great and more than he
colld withstand.
Nevertheless there was one thought
that came into his death-conscious
r-ind; some time before ten minutes
past two of the morning OF that cold
December Is the general separated his
twisted lips to stay, Bury me at the
foot of the fagstar, boys."-which
doubtless was as close to home as II
he had died at Waynesborough-
The third member of the trilogy of
Revolutionary notables who had New
Years day as their birthday was a
woman. Born on January 1, 1852,
Elizabeth Griscom of Philadelphia,
was married to John Ross. a Philadel-
phia merchant, who was also an up
holsterer. His most able assistant
was his wife who had become widely
known for her excellent materials and
the unusual skill with which she
shaped them She carried on the busi-
ness after his death and employed a
dozen or more women assistants, some
Of them her sisters. daughters. or
nieces-
Among her patrons were the fore
most citizens of Philadelphia and she
numbered among her friends such men
as Washington, Franklin. Adams and
Rittenhouse. So perhaps II was nat
ural that when the Continental con-
gress on June IA. 1777, Resolved, that
the flag Of the thirteen United States
be thirteen stripes alternate red and
white; that the Union be thirteen
stars. white on blue field. represent
ing q new constellation, the commit
tee which was appointed to carry ont