The Death of Gen. Anthony Wayne

 

No Rest in Peace

Personal Note:
There are literally dozens of internet sites describing the bizarre events surrounding the exhumation of General Wayne’s body. Most are titled “Wayne was buried in two places,” which by the way is true. I struggled for a very long time wondering if I wanted to include them in my blog as I’ve always felt that sensationalizing his death only overshadowed the accomplishments of his life. I finally came to the realization that many people have no idea of who Wayne was or what he did for our country. With that in mind, I decided to include the details, not to sensationalize it, but in my own way of raising an awareness of Wayne the man even if had to be through “shock value.” My thought being if what follows encourages readers to learn more about Wayne the man, I’ll have accomplished what I set out to do.

An Unknown Soldier Who Served with General Wayne

Wayne returned home to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania in the spring of 1796. No doubt his first order of business was to visit the grave of his beloved wife Mary Penrose Wayne, or as the General called her, “my beloved Maria.” Mary died on April 18, 1793 while her husband General Wayne was encamped at Legionville, Pennsylvania preparing for his campaign into the Ohio country.

Wayne’s spent family time with friends and his 26 year old daughter, Margaretta Atlee and her husband William Richard Atlee, and son, Isaac, a 24 year old bachelor. Sadly, Wayne wouldn’t live long enough to see any grandchildren.

His visit home was cut short that summer by a request that he take a tour of the forts he had established during his campaign (1793-95) to determine their condition. For the most part his trip was a success but the gout that had plagued him for years was worsening.

Nearing the End

On Saturday November 19th, while aboard ship on his trip home, he asked to be put ashore at a small outpost at Presque Isle. The General was immediately taken to the quarters of Captain Russell Bissell, commander of the outpost for treatment.

Gout is a very painful condition where the kidneys fail to rid the body of uric acid. Lumps can form under the skin and the excess acids sometimes crystallize in the joints making movement extremely painful. Where it was once assumed to be caused by rich foods, it’s now considered part of the kidney failure process.

The gout had reached Wayne’s stomach and he was in intense pain. His doctor, Dr. George Balfour, one of the physicians attending him wrote that he (Balfour): “dispairs of his recovery.” Near the end, Wayne asked that Dr. J. C. Wallace, stationed at Pittsburg, 100 miles away be summoned but by the time Dr. Wallace arrived it was too late. Finally on Thursday December 15, 1796, 2 o’clock in the morning, General Anthony Wayne died.

He had requested that he be buried at the foot of the flagpole two days after his death, in full uniform and in a plain wooden coffin. On his coffin lid brass tacks marked his initials, A. W., his age and the year of his death.

Reconstructed Blockhouse At Presque Isle (Erie, Pa)

General Wayne's Original Grave

With All Due Respect

The Macabre Story Begins

In the fall of 1808, twelve years after her father’s death, daughter Margaretta, seriously ill at the time, asked her brother Isaac to go to Presque Isle and bring their father’s remains back to Radnor, Pennsylvania and be reburied in the family plot in the churchyard of the Episcopal Church.

The following spring, Isaac Wayne enlisted the services of Dr. Wallace, the doctor who General Wayne had requested to see shortly before his death to accompany him to Presque Isle to bring the remains home. The two men left Radnor 200 hundred miles to the northwest. The assumption was that because 18 years had passed since General Wayne’s death, the remains would more than likely be skeletal so rather than taking a large wagon, so they felt all they needed was a small two wheeled sulky with room enough for a small box to contain the bones. They were about to find that assumption was wrong.

A 2 - Wheeled Sulky

Now What?

Upon their arrival, Dr. Wallace, already familiar with the site was quickly able to locate the grave of General Wayne. Digging down they stuck the lid of the coffin and scrapped away the dirt exposing the brass tacks and the Initials of the General. To their horror they discovered that the body was not only not skeletal, but in fact was in excellent condition, the only exception the condition of one leg and foot. Immediately both men realized there was no way they would be able to transport the entire body back to Radnor, a trip of several days, owing to decomposition. It was finally agreed that they only way to transport the General’s remains was if they were skeletal and for that to happen the bones needed to be removed from the General’s body.

Note: One must wonder about the range of emotions felt by Wayne’s son in coming to that conclusion. How much of a part he actually took in the process is unknown, but years later when writing about it, he said he felt remorse at not having left the remains at Presque Isle, however his sisters illness played a significant part in his decision.

The Process

Dr. Wallace sent for a large kettle but it wasn’t large enough to contain the entire body so as horrible as it sounds, the body was cut up into pieces and dropped in the boiling water. As the flesh separated from the bones, Dr. Wallace delicately remove them one by one and packed them into several small boxes. When finished, the liquid left in the kettle along with any remaining flesh, medical instruments and knives were carefully placed back into the coffin and the grave recovered. How long the entire process took is unknown.
Finally finished, the boxes containing the bones were loaded onto the sulky and the two men started back toward Radnor. Finally on July 4, 1809, the remains of General Anthony Wayne were laid to rest in the St. David’s Episcopal Church in Radnor.

Closure

The Blockhouse at Presque Isle was destroyed by arsonists in 1853 and the Generals original grave site was lost but luckily it was rediscovered in 1870 and properly marked. When opened, it was discovered that most of the grave had rotted away but the coffin lid with the brass tacks used to spell out Wayne’s initials, age and date of birth remained intact.

Like the grave, the blockhouse itself has undergone several changes. It was rebuilt in 1880 then again in 1984 and has undergone continuous repairs by civic groups and the Boy Scouts of America

Fact or Fiction

FACT: How General Anthony Wayne Acquired the Nickname “Mad Anthony Wayne.” No it wasn’t entirely because of his fiery temper or because of a daring bayonet assault on a British position during the Revolutionary War, or that he was insane. It came about because someone actually made him mad (yes as in angry)

During the Revolutionary War, Wayne, used many spies, among them a man who had his own nicknames, “Jeremy the Rover” to some and “the Commodore” by others. One of Jeremy’s wandering tendencies made him a chronic deserter, despite punishment by lashing and stints in the blockhouse.

In 1781, local constables jailed Jemmy for disorderly conduct. He told his jailers that he was Wayne’s good friend and demand to be set free. When the constables refused, Jemmy asked that a messenger be sent to General Wayne to order his release from jail. But when Wayne heard this, his anger flared. He refused to intervene and added that if it happened again, he would order, “29 lashes well laid on.”
Jemmy could not believe his ears when he heard Wayne’s reply. Jemmy muttered, “Anthony is mad. He must be mad or he would help me. Mad Anthony, that’s what he is, Mad Anthony Wayne.

This humorous tale spread around the Continental Army campfires and was repeated by soldiers in the ranks. "Mad Anthony Wayne" had a rhythm and cadence that caught on and stuck. Mad Anthony's nickname became a "nom de guerre", or as I call it, a household word.

Check this link for the whole story: http://www.ushistory.org/paoli/history/waynemad.htm

FACTS AND FICTION

Fiction? (Perhaps)

On display at the Erie County Historical Society is a large cauldron said to be the very cauldron used to boil down the remains of General Wayne. One writer claims when contacted, the society had no record of every receiving it as part of a Wayne collection and really had no idea of where it came from. So I guess it’s anyones guess. The cauldron contains plastic replicas of human bones (see picture below) and while admittedly it is certainly an eye catcher, I found the display a little cheap, tacky and disrespectful.

Wayne's "Kettle of Death?"

 ANTHONY WAYNE’S GHOST

Unfortunately Anthony Wayne has garnered more bizarre stories on the internet than I can count, but one interesting piece of fiction/fact (depending on whether you believe it or not) is the story about the “Ghost of Anthony Wayne.” The story goes that traveling along the 200 miles of bumpy roads from Presque Isle back to Radnor, some of the boxes fell off the sulky and some of the smaller bones were lost. Believers claim that every year on Wayne’s birthday, January 1st, Wayne’s ghost is seen along the trail looking for his lost parts.

So Where Do We Go From Here

Ask most Americans who General George Armstrong Custer was and they’ll quickly tell you, “He and all his men got wiped out by the Indians at the Battle of the Little Big Horn” Some will even add that he was one of the youngest Generals in the Civil War and that he graduated at or near the bottom of his graduating class at West Point. The sad thing is what he is remembered for most is his failure.

Ask most Americans who General Anthony Wayne was and you’ll be lucky to get responses beyond, “I think he was a general in a war that everyone thought was crazy.” The sad thing about that is he is rarely remembered least for his accomplishments; accomplishments I might add that changed this history of our nation. As I wrote earlier, if this final blog surrounding Wayne’s death serves as nothing more than trigger to cause folks to reflect back on the accomplishment of his life than I feel I’ve done the right thing here. If you are a teacher or just a story teller like me, if anyone asks who General Mad Anthony Wayne was, tell them, “He’s the man who opened the Ohio country so you’d have a safe place to live.”

General Anthony Wayne was instrumental in the formation of the United States and he spent most of his life in its service. He was a husband, father, a member of the United States House of Representatives, a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, a hero of the Revolutionary War and the General who finally brought an end to the decades of Indian wars in the Northwest Territory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

As I pointed out in my opening, if this gruesome part of Wayne’s life encourages readers to learn more about Wayne the man than I have accomplished what I set out to do. General Anthony Wayne was an American patriot of the highest order so the greatest amount of respect we can pay him is to remember the accomplishments of his deeds and his service to country and not the sensationalism of his death. I think we’d all agree, he deserves nothing less.