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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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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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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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Wanna take a ride? ;-)
Just checkin' in....
Heh, lettin' ya'll know that I've been MIA because I came to Alabama to visit my kids and grandkids for this week.
Having trouble with my traveling laptop's ISP so am borrowing daughter and son-in-law's computer right now. Talk to ya'll when I get another chance. Not gonna get to read the story 'bout the Battle of Stony Point tonight. :-( Will have to catch up when I am back home and bored with no grandbabies. I'm having lots of lovin' from these kiddos!!! :-)
Hugs all!
LOL! And it's real "slick" too. :-)
Cadences before the Army went Co-Ed and PC were really fun. :-)
Evening Victoria.
Nice Pick-em-up.
Thanks for the info on the Espontoon. I always thought it was just a Pointy stick.
Well lets just say there wasn't a whole lot of leftovers, and leave it at that.
That's good to hear! I am glad you made it safely there. Give everyone there a big Howdy for us. BTW, bittygirl misses you. Let us know when you're back in town.
LOL. Moving? That wasn't the word I was thinking of.
Hey wait a minute, what lunch break?!
When you call I am indeed on my best behavior. Besides, you never get me riled, well, not in a bad way. ;-)
I only swear when I'm frustrated or angry.
More evidence the girl is a genius in the making!
Have fun with the grandkids, you can read anytime!
LOL. You always fool me though 'cause I think you are going to sing the real words and then oops!
Cool stuff. Thanks Phil, I learned something new!
BTT!!!!!!
Some time ago, an unnamed person, maybe a FReeper, maybe not, had the chance to consume some moose roast. Said roast had somehow managed to walk through customs at an entry port unchallenged.
Now, personally, I have no knowledge of this incident.
the roast tasted awesome.
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