Show qa 42 VA AV pit alardo a ado d gak v W af arjyra by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ULY 15 and 10 16 of bf this year mark the sesquicentennial ot of we one of the most brilliant victories in the revolution a feat of arms which not only greatly heartened the lie patriots to in the struggle for liberty and gave gace the british a healthy regard for their opponents but also gave to the victor a nickname which lias has endured to this day for it was gen anthony wayne of fiery heart and cool clear brain who marched by night with its his picked command and stormed stony point with sword in band on july 1510 1516 15 10 16 1779 and from that time on he be was known by the adoring soldiery of the continental array army as mad anthony that nickname was true so far as it reflected his daredevil courage but it was not true rue so far as it suggested recklessness and lack of caution his later career as a cool nod and wary commander of the forces sent against 7 the trick trickiest test of enemies the me indians indiana 0 the old northwest proved that for or after the famous battle of fallen timbers westbound west bound emigrants floating down the sang bang wayne anthony wayne free la is the river from source to mouth free are arc the str streams eains ot of the north and south praise to anthony waynea 1 waynes capture of stony point was the high spot of the year 1779 during that summer washington 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 tort fort at stony point on the hudson stony point was a bold promontory reaching out halt half a mile into the river from the rocky wooded shoreline and at its greatest height beight about feet above the water it was an important position because it guarded kings aings ferry which crossed the hudson to point on oa the enst east side and which was a link to in the american line of communications between new england and former position in new jersey before the americans could cum complete the tort 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 two tines lines of abatgis abattis were constructed on tho alia summit the british mounted seven or eight batteries with communicating trenches and rifle pits and they also fortified a natural stone bastion bastian on the east where a government lighthouse now stands the place was garrisoned with the seventeenth regiment of british infantry under col ali enry nry johnson Jo linson a grenadier company of the seven ty first fi regiment some and a number of artillerymen artilleryman artillery men 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 parties which ravaged the countryside for miles around thereupon washington determined to try to capture stony point not only to put a stop to the raids but also as a dramatic gest gesture tire to show clinton that despite his apparent advantage in the maneuvering thus tar far the continental army was still a force to be reckoned with ile he resolved to carry stony point by storm in a night attack and the man he selected for the job was the one mancho man who could most likely succeed gen anthony wayne a brigadier in command of the pennsylvania line wayne had bad proved his mettle in several hat battles batties notably fit at monmouth he was distinctly an d assault commander ue lie believed that the americans were accustomed to put too much reliance upon their rifles and their marksmanship and baron von steuben had found him a ready convert to the value of the bayonet ne ile Is said to have remarked once that lie he would rather lead men with bayonets and one charge of powder than meo men with forty charges and no bayonets lie ile was also a strict disciplinarian and a firm believer an fn anthe the lalue of smart uniforms and well kept equipment for maintaining the morale of the sold soldiers lers he commanded in fact ills his eart earliest lest nickname was dandy wayne in preparation for the attack on stony point washington bad recently formed his light infantry into a separate brigade nod and was ready to give tills this command to wayne Accord according ng to the story washington asked wayne it if he would accept the job of storming stony point ill storm hell bell general if you will plan it was waynes reply whereupon washington with a quiet smile replied perhaps wed better try stony point first so tho the two men began planning the capture of that place for several ilas before tile proposed attack american scouts had been operating around stony point seeking to learn all they could about the garrison cutting olt off farm supplies that were going into the fort ard and preventing the british so far as possible from obtaining any information about the hie movements of tile continental forces upon orders all of the dogs for three mile i around the fort were arl cately killed so that they could nut not sound aff 1 1 arly rb A ak ti VI X M I 1 V yia N A Z I 1 af AA AAA 2 Z Z 0 0 t ft 4 ea W if ae 1 fx X X X K mad anthony wayne C ic his hi word sword blade gleams and his beams ri and never either in vain aae V uke like the ocean tide at our head bead he h rides ride the th tearless fearless maj mad anthony jaynet Z 1 bangi band the ui rifles ainu ro co w down falls the startled toe foe A t CHORUS V ae and many rn y a redcoat here the continentals Continent als scorning com y shall over cover meet the blaze ol of the lh broad sunlight that on th the morrow morning c Z ile was oer er a chef of his speech so 0 o brief sac ie who utters utter his hi wishes so a plain T c ere he speaks peak a word the orders order or are heard from the eyes of mad anthony baynot aim I 1 firel fire I 1 exclaim his hi eyes e banff bang each gun un replies rep liet s CHORUS 3 it II Is ij best beat to laa at our count rya rys call cail g it we must leave this hit lifetime of PJ pain e and who would shrink from the perilous brink Z p when ted led by mad anthony wayne wayna rent toni tan the bufler batles sound our forces fill the iho round ground 6 if f CHORUS v ut let them form thel r ranks rank til in firm hilaa at sf it will welt melt at 0 oar jr incle ba ball rain every that shot must tell on a redcoat w well 11 or we anger mad andion anthony wayne trawl tramp trawl tramp I 1 away they go S ys now retreats the beaten foe fee Z CHORUS e from sound soldier songs compiled by e edward arthur dolph and published by 4 the cosmopolitan book corporation as 36 ir X S the alarm when the march on the tort fort began during this time wayne was constantly getting valuable information about the tha 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 to the soldiers and he became a welcome dally daily visitor one day lie he informed the british that it was corn time and that his master would not allow him to visit the tort fort any more in the daytime so they arranged tor for him to make his bis visits at night and each time gave him film 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 bis tight light infantry battalions were ordered out for an inspection all to be fresh shaved and well powdered 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 ills plans that his men themselves did not know what their objective was until they went into camp that night about eight on a farm a mile find and a half below stony point they were then told tile the object of their march and the plan of attack outlined the force of some 1200 men was to be divided into two assaulting saul ting columns with wayne himself leading the one on the right and colonel febiger ger a dane who had joined the patriot cause leading the left there was not to be a musket loaded in either column and it if a man attempted to load his piece and fire the officer nearest him was to kill bill him instantly mud anatholy Ant hoLy was going to put the bainet to test in the center was vas a small force led by major Blur free with loaded muskets wiio who were to return the fire of the british to deceive the enemy into bollei esing ing that tile the main danger was in the front and center of their arks while the ti two tiso so silent columns rush forward tor for their grim business A force of men commanded by rushit col fleury a french officer mod find major posey tormad the van of was lies a body of 0 men under major stewart preceded Fe bigers force in the advance of each of these was a forlorn hope of twenty men each led by lieutenants knox and gibbons they were to 0 sacrifice their lives if 1 need be to remove tb the through which the two columns were to rush to tile the attack pompey who had learned earned that the countersign for that night was to be the fort Is our own owal V not only told wayne that fact but volunteered tu to guide the americans and lie went ahead with two stout soldiers disguised as farmers at about half past eleven that night the americans icons advanced to the attack rach each wore in hla his hat something white so that friend ml might ht be distinguished from foe in the darkness pompey and ills his two companions were baited by the first two sentinels and while he en engaged agad them in conversation his companions seized them and gagged them however they found the causeway hooded flooded and tho the water deeper than they hall had expected A british sentry heard a splash in the water and opened tire fire which was immediately cretu returned arned by murtress Mur trees nien men as had bad been planned this brought the british commander down to tile the center as it was intended to do immediately the two assaulting forces swept fo forward nvard the forlorn hopes rushed upon the abatgis abattis and tore a way through them one party losing eighteen of its twenty men in dolne doing so through these openings poured the americans and 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 to which the only response was the clash of steel as waynes 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 la Is our awill the fort Is our owal own colonel floury fleury was the first man over the ramparts and with his own hands lie he lowered the british flag convinced that resistance was useless tile the british began surrendering in squads their commander johnson returning from the slope where lie he had bad been drann dran by the fire of Mur blur frees men immediately surrendered to fellger ger so well time 11 had been the movements of the two columns that they were only a few rul minutes apart in reaching the middle of the fort and so swift and successful had been the attack that sleepy eyed british soldiers were still tumbling out of their barracks when the americans were in full possession of the fort during the brief fighting at the inner wayne was struck down by a musket shot which grazed his head bead with the blood streaming down his face and thinking that lie he has received ills his death wound lie he cried carry me into the fort and lek let me die at the head of the alie column nis ills aides picked him up hastily bandaged ris Ms wound and carried him over the ramparts on their shout ders while lie be kaied ills his men on with his sword fellger was wo foundell in the face captain selden was shot in the side and captain phelps lieutenant palmer and ensign nail hall were also wounded the british loss was 63 killed 70 wounded and 5 13 taken prisoner at daybreak the guns of the fort were turned upon the british ships in the river and they at once cut their cables and dropped down the hudson carrying the ines message sage of disaster to clinton cllnton it was a n much different message from the one which wayne sent to washington ton telling of his success our officers and men behaved like men determined determine to be free lie he said clinton then moved up the river to tempt washington in hazarding a battle to hold stony point washington inspected tile fort carefully and decided that it would take at least 1400 men to bold it a force which lie he could not spare so after removing the cannon anil and destroying the works lie he took away stores and other property to the baue of and abandoned llie post since rince boine had demonstrated that tills this little gibraltar wal was s not Impre impregnable gauble its usefulness was at au aa end |