General Anthony Wayne was another historic character I came to learn about during my visit to Colonial Williamsburg. As I went to a historic home in the old town where the generals gathered to plan for their attack on Yorktown, I listened to a couple of generals, General Anthony Wayne and General Henry Knox, discussing the plan of attack with a couple of guests who seemed to know the history very well and engaged the characters in discussion as if they were talking with the real characters. The actors portraying the generals knew their characters very well, and answered the questions from the guests as if they were answering in first person.

One of the questions asked by the guests was whether General Wayne was really mad like his nickname ‘Mad Anthony’ suggested. The actor who portrayed General Knox answered that the reason for the nickname was because General Wayne was know to have fiery temperament and ‘hot blooded,’ and the nickname came about because of his treatment on a subordinate who showed incompetence. But he was also known as a strict disciplinarian who demanded obedience and loyalty from his men, and in return he showed loyalty and constantly tried to improve their circumstances. Many people in Pennsylvania where he came from repeatedly returned to fight with him.

General Wayne was one of the trusted generals who served under the command of General George Washington. When Washington became the first president of the country, his high regard for General Wayne’s military skills and judgment was demonstrated by appointing Wayne as the commander-in-chief of the American armies. Wayne led the Continental Army in fighting a confederate of Indian tribes in the Northwest Territory (now the Midwest states of Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan) that secretly served the British. Today we find places named after Wayne in those areas (the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Wayne County in Michigan) as well as in his home state of Pennsylvania.

In the photo below, you can see the actor who portrayed General Wayne explaining how his light infantry troops planned to attack the British in Yorktown.