Ohio History Journal

34        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

LETTER FROM WILLIAM H. STEVENSON,

President of the Western Pennsylvania Historical Society

Among the letters received by the Chairman of the

Fallen Timbers State Park Committee is the following:

PITTSBURGH, PA., September 10, 1929.

MR. W. J. SHERMAN, Chairman,

Toledo, Ohio.

DEAR SIR--I have your kind invitation to attend the dedica-

tion of a monument to General Anthony Wayne on the site of the

battlefield of Fallen Timbers, Saturday, September 19th and ex-

ceedingly regret that owing to a previous engagement I cannot be

present.

The ceremonies connected with the unveiling and dedication

of this beautiful monument are of particular interest to every

Pennsylvanian, for it was in Pittsburgh that General Wayne, pur-

suant to President Washington's orders, organized "The Legion

of the United States."

General Wayne started to organize his Legion at Fort

Fayette, which stood at the corner of Penn Avenue and Ninth

Street (as those thoroughfares are known today) in Pittsburgh,

in the summer of 1792. There he gathered together a motley

crowd, mostly adventurers from the larger eastern towns and

cities. The terrible defeats of Harmar and St. Clair and the re-

ports of Indian atrocities committed on their troops served to

deter voluntary enlistments, and Wayne was compelled to take

what he could get. Soon he discovered that the environment of

Pittsburgh was not conducive to the maintenance of good dis-

cipline. Pittsburgh was but a frontier post infested with the usual

evils attendant on such places. Wayne did not have the present-

day power of creating prohibition zones, and he soon found that

Monongahela whiskey and military discipline didn't mix. So he

very wisely in the fall of the year removed his troops and their

equipment down the river on flatboats to the open country at this

spot, which came to be known as Legionville, where the men were

largely free from the temptations of the frontier town.

At this camp, Wayne put his men through a thorough school

of military training. He put into effect the lessons he had learned

in the Revolution from Baron Steuben, and which he had his

troops so effectively employ at Stony Point when he captured that

place with the bayonet. He taught the Legion all the drill of the

• 1
 

Ohio's Monument to General Anthony Wayne        35

 

regular soldiery. He showed them how to lower their muskets

and charge direct at the enemy with the terrifying yell just as our

boys are being taught in our many training camps today. They

were impressed with the duty of implicit obedience and with con-

fidence in their officers, who then, as now, led and did not follow

their men. Wayne is said by historians to have been an ideal

leader of men and the most capable drill-master under whom the

American army had served.

Wayne's spirit of patriotism and fair play to soldiers deserv-

ing promotion is illustrated in this autograph letter given by Mrs.

Joseph Beardsley, of Bridgeville, Pa., to the Historical Society of

Western Pennsylvania. In writing to Major-General Knox, then

Secretary of War, Wayne says: "I cannot think of committing the

lives of good men and the interests of my country and my own

honor into hands of men devoid of military ambition who are

novices in the profession of arms." As a result of Wayne's work,

his men, when put to the test, were not found wanting, and their

glorious victory over the Indians at Fallen Timbers on August

20th, 1794, was the most emphatic vindication of his wise leader-

ship. That victory opened the way to peace with the savages and

made sure the retirement of the British from the posts in our ter-

ritory which they had held without warrant since the close of the

Revolution. It made possible the settlement of our Northwestern

Territory out of which were carved half a dozen great states.

Here on this spot Wayne raised the first flag of the United

States with its thirteen stripes and stars, it being the herald of

freedom and civilization to a vast extent of country on and beyond

the Ohio. Wayne did not long survive his great victory which

brought much joy to the sorely tried Washington and to all the

American people. He died at Erie, November 1₇th, 1796, but his

memory is still green in the hearts of our people. It has been said

that "the path of glory leads but to the grave," but in the case of

Wayne it has led to immortal fame. As the ages lengthen and the

importance of his work becomes more and more evident to the eye

of the discerning and impartial historian, the value of his deeds

and services to his country grows, and Anthony Wayne's place in

the American Hall of Fame becomes more and more secure.

Very truly yours,

WILLIAM H. STEVENSON,

President, Western Pennsylvania Historical Society.

• 2