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Posted on 05/15/2005 9:33:56 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Relying on cold steel and the cover of darkness, General Anthony Wayne's elite Light Corps seized British-held Stony Point, New York, in one of the most daring operations of the Revolutionary War.  Anthony Wayne Addressed to the person whom Wayne considered his "best and dearest friend," Sharp Delany, it would await delivery "until the writer is no more." With a desperate combat in the offing, Wayne wanted the world to know that if he fell he had done so willingly "in the defence of his Country and of the rights of mankind." He was a man of ambition and passion, and his adversaries were equally divided between the British and the petty forces of the new Continental government. Speaking as someone who had often battled to obtain clothing and weapons for his men, Wayne used valuable testimonial space to thunder over those Patriots who had lost their lives "owing to the parsimony and neglect of Congress." Wayne's anger flowed into a third paragraph, in which he worried that his commander, General George Washington, would also fall victim to these forces. Coming near the end of this short missive, Wayne asked his friend to watch over his son and daughter, fearing that "their mother will not survive this Stroke." He closed the note with felicitations to the Delany clan and a vow that he would sup the morrow "either within the enemy's lines in triumph or in the other World!" Anthony Wayne signed his note, filed it carefully away, and then prepared himself to carry out one of the boldest and most desperate military actions of the Revolutionary War. Two threads of history crossed this night along the west side of the Hudson River, twelve miles south of West Point. One was the personal odyssey of a civilian-warrior who had found his calling, the other a martial gesture by a mighty power mired in a war where victory lingered tantalizingly close but always out of reach.  Anthony Wayne, representing the third American generation of his family, was born on January 1, 1745, at Waynesborough in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His bloodlines were English and Irish, his sentiments decidedly republican. The road to his maturity was marked by brief detours as farmer, surveyor, land manager, tanner, and politician. Even as he took part in the vigorous debates that were propelling the American colonies to break with England, Wayne learned the art of war by reading every book on the subject he could find. Not content to limit himself to the theoretical, he also began drilling a volunteer regiment and experiencing firsthand the qualities of citizen-soldiers. When force of reason gave way to force of arms, Wayne received command of the 4th Battalion of the Pennsylvania Line as a colonel in the Continental Army. Wayne and his unit passed through New York City in mid-April 1776, long enough for him to meet and impress George Washington, before he and his command left to take part in what proved to be a bitter coda to the Continental effort to bring Canada into its embrace. While the fighting he was engaged in at Trois Rivières was another American defeat in the midst of a failed campaign, Wayne's coolness under fire and his steady presence during the subsequent retreat made him one of the few to emerge from this tragic miscalculation with his reputation enhanced. In the subsequent actions at Brandywine, Germantown, and especially Monmouth, Wayne, in the words of one of his peers, "behaved Exceedingly Brave." Qualities emerged that clearly marked this soldier. He had a talent for organization, an ambition to succeed, and his swearing was legendary. He also understood that the freedom bestowed by a democracy did not extend into the army, where drill, discipline, and obedience were the necessary prerequisites for victory. Wayne also believed deeply (and made himself a regular nuisance on the matter) that soldiers had to look like soldiers.  General Henry Clinton Most important, Anthony Wayne was a fighter. Washington described him as "more active and enterprising than judicious and cautious." Assigned the task of shadowing a strong enemy column in September 1777, Wayne pugnaciously camped so close to the foe that he fell victim to a counterstroke by bayonet-wielding British Regulars in what became widely reported (and exaggerated for propaganda purposes by both sides) as the Paoli Massacre. Some nine months later, at Monmouth, it was Wayne's aggressive troop handling that put the Continental Army in peril and that paradoxically saved it, as he deftly staved off crushing pressure from superior forces until the Americans could rally to hold the field. Following a fall and winter defending his decisions and angling unsuccessfully for a promotion to major general, Wayne took a leave of absence to return to the family homestead at Waynesborough. He was there, chafing at the inaction, when a note arrived from Washington summoning him to come at once to the lower Hudson Valley. "Now for the field of Mars," Wayne wrote. "I believe that sanguine god is rather thirsty for human gore." Although it is seldom mentioned with an importance equaling other regions of the conflict, the lower Hudson was a constant source of concern for Washington and an inviting avenue of opportunity for his opponents. "The importance of the Hudson River in the present Contest, and the necessity of defending it, are Subjects which have been so frequently and fully discussed, and are so well understood, that it is unnecessary to enlarge upon them," declared Washington. Even when a major British army was not moving southward from Canada to link with forces advancing up the river from New York, the stretch of the Hudson between the port city and West Point seethed with military activity throughout the war.  Lord George Germain The spring of 1779 presented the officer commanding British forces in America with some difficult choices. An old enemy, France, had entered the war on the side of the colonists. The strategic planners in faraway London, meanwhile, had concluded that the ever-elusive victory in America would now be found in its southern tier. A significant part of British Commander in Chief Lt. Gen. Sir Henry Clinton's responsibilities became apportioning enough troops and other resources to support a southern campaign while simultaneously utilizing his powerful New York base to keep the northern region under threat. That the rebel General Washington and his army remained close to New York was not lost on Clinton, nor on those in London, where Lord George Germain, the British secretary of state for the American colonies, was monitoring events and offering a steady stream of advice. In a dispatch dated January 23, 1779, Germain observed: "It is most earnestly wished that you may be able to bring Mr. Washington to a general and decisive action at the opening of the Campaign; but if that cannot be effected it is imagined that with an army of about 12,000 Men in the field under your immediate Command, you may force him to seek for safety in the Highlands of New York or the Jerseys, and leave the Inhabitants of the open Country at liberty to follow what the Commissioners represent to be their inclinations and renounce the authority of the Congress, and return to their allegiance to His Majesty."
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Wrong!!
Answer posted to SamWolf. :-)
I know you are kidding, you would know this.
Re: #28
The sad part about Patton's pic is I can't find the explanation for all his ribbons, etc.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Nope. I guess it's turning out to be the wettest May in years. We're going for some kind of record, yippie.
Magnificent read! It is so abundantly clear that the high caliber of leadership possessed by the Continental Army is still present in our military today.
He had a talent for organization, an ambition to succeed, and his swearing was legendary.
I know for a fact that this is the third time a legendary American General has had his swearing ability magnified. Is there a direct relationship between leadership qualities and cussing? ;^)
If a soldier ain't swearing, he ain't happy. ;-)
What I win? What I win? huh! huh!
Moose on the Loose
Gun doesn't work though. :-(
Complete list of Patton's
Decorations, Citations, and Medals
United States
American Defense Service Ribbon
Bronze Star
Distinguished Service Cross with One Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster
Distinguished Service Medal with Two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters
Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Navy)
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Ribbon with One Silver Star and Two Bronze Stars
Legion of Merit
Mexican Service Badge
Purple Heart
Silver Lifesaving Medal
Silver Star with One Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster
Victory Medal (WWII)
Victory Medal with Four Bronze Stars (WWI)
*Sons of the Revolution Medal
Great Britain
Most Honourable Order of the Bath
Order of the British Empire
*Enteur Pin of Malta
France
Croix de Guerre of 1939 with Palm
Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star
Medal of the Legion of Honor
Medal of Verdun (WWI)
Metz Medal of Liberation (1944)
*Commemorative Medal, City of Nancy
*Commemorative Medallion, City of Metz (1944)
*Commemorative Medallion, Cities of Fontainebleau and Barbizon
*Gourmier Pin of Morocco (French)
*Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor
*Liberation of Tours "Patton" Medallion
*Liberation Medallion, City of d'Epernay
*Liberation Medallion, City of Metz (1918)
*Medallion of the City of Rheims
Belgium
Croix de Guerre of 1940 with Palm
Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold with Palm
*Civilian Shield
Czechoslovakia
Military Cross
Order of the White Lion
Luxembourg
Croix de Guerre
Order of Adolphe of Nassau, Grand Croix
French Morocco
Grand Cross of Ouissam Alaouite
Russia
*Guard's Badge
*Order of Koutouzov, 1st Grade
Sweden
Commemorative Medal of the V Olympiad (1912)
*Armiens, Under Officers Skola
*Kunge Sodermanlands Pansarregemente (Commemorative Token)
·Kungl. Krigs Skolan (Commemorative Medal)
*Kungl. Upplands Regemente (Commemorative Token)
Vatican
*Pope Pius XII Medallion
*Indicates a Medal, Medallion, Badge, Pin, or other device without a ribbon.
LOL!
Moose invades flightline, looks to hitch a ride.
Well, that certainly explains why my Dad and his "tribe" of fighter pilots laughed so much. Talk'n 'bout cussin!
I mean, I never knew that "owl sh_ _" came in great balls and was speckled. ;^)
I swear entirely too much.
Speaking of military talk, you ought to (or not) hear some of the songs Sam has from the Army. Songs that go with marching. LOL. My, oh my.
!!!!!
Oh really? Then how do you explain talking to me on the telephone (accumulative) for over two hours and NEVER a four letter word.
What? On our best behavior? ;^)
You may not know this but when you're on lunch break, Sam calls me all the time and sings marching songs. It's . . . very . . . (sniff) moving.
LOL
That sucks!
Bittygirl discovered corn on the cob is mighty good eating tonight.
Now there's a girl after my own heart. Corn on the cob, yummy!
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