OCR Text |
Show IlkkM By ELMO SCOTT WATSON . rSMfPP ty.'-tULY 15 and 1G of this year mark the 45W 1 1 r-r5"' SfffiP 1 T sesqulcentennial of one of the most J$xty- V j ( , . , , . , J brilliant victories in the Revolution, a WT- Wtr''AS&'''ZZ , feat of arms which not only greatly j&C ' -5g5yA f,! heartened the patriots In the struggle . jjtfSUfi -iji V.))iH for liberty and gare the British a miiyUl' f S J Jf PI a kiVS ? ' 1 H n U V0Ck II healthy regard for their opponents ' ' lMi MWlhmW & but also gave to the victor a nickname I which has endured to this day. For It JSfo ly'l UPtfn A I wu Gen. Anthony Wayne of "fiery M M I heart and cool, clear brain" who " STm "marched by night with his picked VSfc command and stormed Stony Point with sword in MMm M IV$ A hand" on July 15-10, 1779, and from that time on MmMWf A V SWr I he was known -by the adoring soldiery of the AW liVWiL I Continental army as "Mad Anthony." I IW .Kgt V tV ' That nickname was true so far as It reflected AtT 1 V -SV--S :S'V 1 'l-tf? 1 liN)ivVx Sv his daredevil courage. But it was not true so far 1 J AH ; nSVvVSX as It suggested recklessness and lack of caution. f&VU Wll ') Wl VCS&V, His later career as a cool and wary commander ff W' lUHl 1 1 .fiSSSS of the forces sent against the trickiest of enemies, ir? : ' " fiett'eJ''-htull-. A the Indians of the Old Northwest, proved that, 'i "" VX sJ)i ior aiier tne iamous Battle of Fallen Timbers, -n-est-bound emigrants floating down the Ohio eang: .Wayne, Anthony Wayne! Free is the river from source to mouth. Free ure the streajna of the North and South-Praise South-Praise to Anthony Wayne! Wayne's capture of Stony Point was the high-epot high-epot of the year 1779. During that summer Washington Wash-ington and Clinton, the opposing commanders, were warily watching each other near New York. Some time before that the Americans had begun the erection of a fort at Stony Point on the Hudson. Hud-son. Stony Point was a bold promontory, reaching reach-ing out half a mile Into the river from the rocky, wooded shoreline and at its greatest height about 150 feet above the water. It was an important im-portant position because it guarded King's ferry, which crossed the Iludson to Verplanck's Point on the east side and which was a link In the American Amer-ican line of communications between New England Eng-land and Washington's former posilioc In New Jersey. Before the Americans could complete the fort, however, Clinton captured the place and finished the Job himself. Inland Stony Point sloped down to a treacherous swamp and to protect this approach ap-proach two lines of abattis were constructed. On th summit the British mounted seven or eight batteries with communicating trenches and rifle-pits, and they also fortified a natural stone bastlan on the east where a government llght- i house now stands. The place was garrisoned with the Seventeenth regiment of British Infantry In-fantry under Lieut. Col. II"nry Johnson, a grenadier company of the Seventy-flrst regiment, 8ome Tories, and a number of artillerymen to man the guns, about COO In all. They called it "Little Gibraltar and believed that It 'could not be captured. Soon after this Clinton began sending out raiding raid-ing parties which ravaged the countryside for .miles around. Thereupon Washington deter-'mined deter-'mined to try to capture Stony Point, not only to put a stop to the raids but also as a dramatic gesture to. show Clinton that, despite his apparent appar-ent advantage 4n the maneuvering thus far, the Continental army was still a force to be reckoned with. He resolved to carry Stony Point by storm In a night attack and the man her selected for the Job was the one man who .could most likely suc- ceed, Gen. Anthony Wayne, a brigadier in command com-mand of the Pennsylvania line. Wayne had proved his mettle In several battles, bat-tles, notably at Monmouth- lie was distinctly an "assault commander." lie believed that the - (Americans were accustomed to put too much reliance re-liance upon their rifles and their marksmanship, and Baron Von Steuben had found him a 'ready ; convert to the value of the bayonet He Is said to have remarked once that he would rather lead men with bayonets and one.icharge of powder pow-der than men with forty charges and; no bayo-,nets. bayo-,nets. He was also a strict disciplinarian and a jflrm believer In the value, of smart uniforms and jwell-kept equipment for maintaining the morale :of the soldiers he commanded- In fact, his - earliest nickname was "Dandy Wayne." In preparation for the attack on Stony Point Washington had recently formed his light Infantry In-fantry into a separate brigade and was ready to give this command to Wayne. According to the jBtory, Washington asked 'Wayne if he would ac- -;cept the Job of storming Stony Point. "I'll storm jhell. General, ir you will plan it," was Wayne's jreply, whereupon Washington, with a quiet smile, . jreplied, "Perhaps we'd better try Stony Point (first." So. the two men began planning the capture cap-ture of that place. ' j For several days before the proposed attack (American scouts had oeen operating around ! Stony Point, seeking to learn all they could about the garrison, cutting off farm supplies that were going Into the fort and preventing the British, ,eo far as possible, from obtaining any informa-Itlon informa-Itlon about the movements of the Continental i forces. Upon Washington's orders, all of the .dogs for three mljes around the fort were privately pri-vately killed bo that they could not sound the alarm when the march on the fort began. During this time Wayne was constantly getting valuable information about the garrison from Pompey, the negro slave of Captain Lamb, a patriot who lived on a small fruit farm near the post Pompey was sent to the fort to sell strawberries straw-berries to the soldiers and lie beenme a welcome daily-visitor. One day he informed the British that It was "corn-hocin' time" nnd that his master mas-ter would not allow him to visit the fort any more in the daytime. So they arranged for him to make his visits at night and each time gave him the countersign for the following night so that he could pass the guard. Wayne decided to make the attempt on the night of July 15. On the morning of July 14 his light Infantry battalions were ordered out. for an inspection, all to be "fresh shaved and well powdered" pow-dered" with rations and full equipment. After Inspection they were ordered to march south and they proceeded to Fort Montgomery, then turned west and went through the pass between Bear mountain and Torn mountain. So well had Wayne concealed his plans that his men them seles did not know what their objective was until they went'lnto camp that night about eight-o'clock eight-o'clock on a farm, a mile and a half below Stony Point They were then told the object of their march and the plan of . attack outlined. The force of some '1,200 men was to be divided into two assaulting as-saulting columns, with Wayne himself leading the one on the right and Colonel Fcbigcr, a Dane who . had Joined the' patriot cause, leading the left. There was not to be a musket loaded In either column and if a man attempted to load his piece and Gre, tho officer nearest him was to kill him Instantly. "Mad Anthoi.y" was going to put the bayonet to test. 'Iu the center was a small force . led by Major .Murfree with loaded muskets who were to return the fire of the British to deceive the enemy into believing thut the main diinger was In the, front nnd center of iheJr works while the two "silent columns" rush forward for their grim business. A force of 100 men, commanded by Lieut Col. Fleury, a French officer, and Major Posey, forui2d the van of Wayne's column and a body of 100 men under Major Stewart preceded Febiger's force. In the advance of each of these was a "forlorn hope" of twenty men each, led by Lieu tenants Knox and Gibbons. They were to sacrifice sacri-fice their lives if need be to remove the abattis through which the two columns were to rush to the attack. Pompey, who had learned that the countersign for that night was to be "The fort is our own 1" not only told Wayne that fact but volunteered to guide the Americans and he went ahead with two stout soldiers, disguised as farmers. At about half past eleven that night the Americans Amer-icans advanced to the attack. Kach wore in hi. hat something white so that friend might he dis tlngulshod from foe In the darkness. Pompej and his two companions were halted hy the first two sentinels and while he engaged them In conversation con-versation his companions seized them and gagged I hem. However, they found the causeway Hooded and the water dueper than they had expected. A British sentry heard a splash in the water and opened fire, which was Immediately relumed by Murfree's men, as had been planned. This brought the British commander down to the center, as It was Intended to do. Immediately the two assaulting forces swept forward. The "forlorn hopes" rushed upon the abattis and tore a way through them, one party losing eighteen of its twenty men In doing so. Through these openings poured the Americans und, although the garrison was bewildered at first, they Immediately opened a plunging fire of grape shot from the can non on the bastions, which however, overshot their mark. Sweeping forward under a storm of musketry, mus-ketry, to which the only response was the clash of steel as Wayne's men drove their bayonets home when the fight came to close quarters, the Americans sprang upon the walls of the fort, shouting the countersign which had become their watchword for the night "The fort is our own ! The fort Is our own 1" Colonel Fleury was the first man over the ramparts and with his own hands he lowered the British Hag. Convinced that resistance was useless, th British began surrendering In squads. Their commander, Johnson, returning from the slope where he had been drawn by the fire of Murfree's men immediately imme-diately surrendered to Feblger. So well limed had been the movements of the two columns that they were only a few minutes apart In reaching reach-ing the middle of the fort. And so wlft and successful had been the attack Hint sleepy-eyed British soldiers were still tumbling out of their barracks when the Americans were In full possession pos-session of the fort. During the brief fighting nt the inner abattis Wayne was struck down by a musket shot which grazed his head. With the blood streaming down his face and thinking that he has received his death wound, he cried "Carry me Into the fort and let me die nt the head of the column." Ills .aides picked him up, hastily bandaged i.ls wound and carried him over the ramparts on their shoulders shoul-ders while he waved his men on with his sword Feblger was woundci In the face, Captain Selden was shot in the side and Captain Phelps, Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Palmer and F.nslgn II.iIl were also wounded. wound-ed. The British loss was 03 killed, 70. wounded and 54:j taken prisoner.- At daybreak the guns of the fort were turned upon the British ships in the river and they ft once cut their cables nnd dropped down the Iludson, carrying the message of disaster to Clinton. Clin-ton. It was a much different .message from the one which Wayne sent to Washington telling of his success. "Our officers and men hphaved like men determined to be - free," he said. Clinton then moved up the river. to tempt Washington In hazarding a buttle to hold Stony Point. Washington inspected the fort carefully nnd decided that It would take at least 1,500 men to hold It, a force which he could not spare. So after removing the cannon and destroying the works, he took away stores and other, property to the value of SI 00,000 and abandoned the post Since Wayne had demonstrated that this "Little Gibraltar" vas not impreguable, Us usefulncs was at an end. |