| Anthony Wayne | |
|---|---|
 A young Anthony Wayne, circa 1790s. | |
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Full Name |
Anthony Wayne |
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Born |
January 1, 1745, Easttown, Pennsylvania, British Colonies |
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Died |
August 13, 1825, Easttown, Pennsylvania, URAS |
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Grand Marshal of the Army of the American Republic |
1799-1802 |
|
Years of Service |
1775-1824 |
|
Spouse |
Sarah |
|
Children |
None |
|
Parents |
No information |
"Mad" Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745- August 13, 1825) was an American General, the first Duke of Easttown, and a critical figure in the rise of the Union of Royal American States.
After serving as a Brigadier General in the Great Revolution, Anthony Wayne remained in the army and in the 1790s served as a righthand man to the rising star of the country, Andrew Jackson. When Jackson overthrew the Triumvirate in 1799 and took power as dictator, Wayne supported him and used his troops to help suppress any discontent about the change of power. That same year, Wayne was promoted to Grand Marshal, the highest military rank in the army. To this extent, he personally sent General William Henry Harrison to the United States of Rio del la Plata as a military advisor; this was because Wayne feared Harrison's ability to take over his position of command. In January, 1800, it was Grand Marshal Wayne who influenced Jackson to declare war on the Barbary States, and begin the American colonization of North Africa.
In 1802, upon the election of Napoleon Bonaparte to the Presidency of the Louisiana Republic, Grand Marshal Wayne personally took it upon himself to order his assassination. Without informing Jackson or anyone else in government, he hired a woman, Constance DuPont to assassinate Bonaparte at his inauguration ceremony. DuPont botched the attempt, and Napoleon survived. The plot was exposed, and Jackson was furious; he sacked Wayne back down to general, and William Henry Harrison became the new Grand Marshal. In response to this, Louisiana formed a military alliance with Great Britain, Georgia, and South Carolina. When Wayne once again went off on his own and began sponsoring rebellion in New Brunswick, Great Britain responded by declaring war. And so the Second Seven Years War began, mostly as a result of Wayne's actions.
Wayne, still a General, was placed in command of the American forces attacking Quebec. Wayne proved exceptional at igniting rebellion among the Quebecois, who never truly became integrated in British society. Wayne was directly battling Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, who succeeded in keeping Wayne at bay for several years, despite the harsh winters and dwindling supplies. Along with several counterattacks, Wayne suffered several major defeats in the early years of the war, and only his past allegiance to Jackson kept him in service.
On January 1, 1805, Wayne left the front to attend the coronation of Jackson in Philadelphia; Andrew Jackson, who had for the past five years had served as dictator, would now officially become King. Wayne, in honor of his great duty shown to his country, was appointed as the first Duke of Easttown, Pennsylvania. Also that year, Louisiana famously switched sides in the war and Bonaparte became quick friends with Andrew, creating an awkward situation for General Wayne. Further alienating Wayne was the fact that his personal enemy, William Henry Harrison, was now Prime Minister.
Returning to the front, things remained relatively entrenched until 1808. That year, backed with reinforcements and an army under General Hunter DeRensis attacking Ontario to draw off British supplies, Wayne threw everything he had at Wellington's forces. Despite several counterattacks, Wayne's army smashed through Wellington's last remaining British soldiers, and in December, 1808, right before the start of winter, Wellington surrendered to Anthony Wayne, publically handing over his sword to the now somewhat redeemed General.
General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, in old age.
When the entire war ended in 1809, Wayne, now 64 years old, announced that he would not retire from the army, but would stay. His request was honored by King Andrew, and he was placed in charge of the military occupation of North Ontario. When North Ontario was lifted from martial law and became a state in 1812, Wayne was once again pushed to resign, but refused. For the rest of the decade he was given menial tasks, and pushed around the country being put in charge of random fortifications.
Publically, he was loved by almost everyone; they considered him a hero of the Second Seven Years War, and a confident of King Andrew. But on the other hand, most nobles and others in the military loathed him for his careless attitude, and reckless, womanizing behavior. Most blamed him for causing the Second Seven Years War in the first place, and believed he should have been drummed out of the army; one of the biggest critics was Hunter DeRensis, and even King Andrew believed that Wayne had outlived his usefulness. In 1817, after being personally insulted by New York Congressman Ichabod Lemming, the 72 year old General challenged him to a duel. Amazingly enough, Wayne won the duel, and Lemming was killed as a result. This wasn't the only time that Wayne entered public arguments with people who questioned his brains and morals, and blamed him for the thousands of dead and suffering.
But in 1821, it seemed that Wayne had finally become useful again. Indian policy had become very important in the last few years, and while most were treated reasonably enough, several simply refused to cooperate with the URAS government. In response, Wayne was placed in charge of several units of URAS soldiers with the directive of putting an end to this resistence. The aging General took his orders literally, and brutally crushed entire tribes and nations. Several cases have been documented of these so called "death squads" with many Indians being systematically shot and buried. Known in the modern world as genocide, Wayne became infamous for following the orders of the King and not caring for the tens of thousands he watched die.
In 1824, Hunter DeRensis was appointed as Prime Minister under a new Whig administration. In his first year of office, DeRensis called Wayne to the capital and demanded his resignation. Wayne refused, until the new Prime Minister stated coldly that if he did not leave willingly, he would be dishonorably discharged, and his "death squads" would be brought into the public eye. Crushed, the 79 year old General finally resigned from his position in the military. DeRensis put an end to the death squads, although they were restarted in 1832.
Returning to Easttown, Pennsylvania, Wayne lived for another year before dying of natural causes in 1825. He was given a state funeral, despite his many life mistakes; since he never had any children, his title of Duke of Easttown passed to General Karl Krettek VI, whose family still had noble positions in Prussia. Anthony Wayne has been villified over the years for starting the Second Seven Years War, and for his genocidal tactics against the Indians. Few defend him in the present day, and his once honorable career has been tarnished by his lack of morality and intelligence for predicting the consequences of his actions.