CacheMore 2023 one of my other hobbies series! This cache was hidden as part of a friendly geocaching competition to encourage exploring the areas surrounding North Central WV, Southwest PA, and Western MD. To learn more and participate for yourself, please click HERE.
“Mad” Anthony Wayne is the person Waynesburg, PA was named after.
Revolutionary War General. Born in the township of Easttown, Chester County, Pennsylvania to Isaac Wayne; he received a private education and was trained as a surveyor. In 1765, in the employ of Benjamin Franklin, he traveled to Nova Scotia, Canada to survey the land and catalogue the natural resources there. After the outbreak of war in 1775, Wayne raised a regiment, the 4th Pennsylvania, and was made its Colonel in 1776. He was wounded at the Battle of Three Rivers earning accolades which led to his promotion to brigadier general in February 1777. His command at the Battle of Brandywine, September 1777, suffered more casualties than any other American unit, Wayne requested his own court martial as a result. The Court of Inquiry unanimously found him not guilty of misconduct, and he was acquitted with the highest honor. He received General Washington's commendation at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, and was again wounded in action at Stony Point in 1779, still earning a victory which led to Congressional resolutions praising Wayne's command as well as a gold medal commemorative for his gallant service. He was ordered south by Washington in February 1781, and contributed to the British defeat at Yorktown, Virginia. He was promoted to major general in October 1783. After the war, he returned to Pennsylvania, and served in the state legislature for 1784. President Washington nominated Wayne as Commander-in-Chief of the Army, which was approved by the U.S. Senate and accepted by Wayne in April 1792. It was in this capacity that in 1794, he won a decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers; the following year he negotiated the Treaty of Greenville opening the Northwest Territory to settlers. Wayne then rendered service in quelling filibustering expeditions from Kentucky against the Spanish dominions, and also took the lead in occupying the lake posts delivered up by the British, during which service he died most probably due to complications from gout at Fort Presque Isle in present day Erie, Pennsylvania in 1796, and was interred there. In 1809, his son, Colonel Isaac Wayne, ordered that his father's remains be disinterred and moved. Those carrying out the orders had the body boiled to remove the remaining flesh. The bones were relocated to the family plot in Pennsylvania, the boiled soft tissue was returned to the Erie grave, now located where the present day Wayne Blockhouse stands. Counties in thirteen states, numerous towns, streets, and schools have been named in his honor. The boroughs of Waynesboro and Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, as well as Fort Wayne, Indiana are named after the heroic general.
Why Anthony Wayne was considered mad.
Wayne is not recognized as a strategist and is primarily seen as a reckless battle tactician. He was considered impulsive, bad-tempered, and overly aggressive as a military leader. He has been criticized due to his actions against Native Americans. It was General Mad Anthony Wayne who led the first wave of Indian removal in the United States, different people maintain that celebrating Wayne glosses over and ignores his role in the genocide of Native Americans. In addition to the destruction and death he caused against the Native Americans, Wayne is remembered for a variety of other faults. First, his open relationships with other women some of them married. Second, Wayne accepted the institution of slavery and also used slaves in an attempt to enrich himself on his plantations. Third, Wayne and his campaign manager engaged in electoral fraud while Wayne was running for Congress and Congress removed Wayne from office.
Now to the cache. When you drive through Waynesburg and look up on top of the court house you will see a statue of “Mad” Anthony Wayne. I had trouble hiding the cache near by. So you need to head out of town to find the cache.