MAD ANTHONY LETTER
WAYNE, Anthony (“Mad Anthony”). Autograph endorsement signed (“Anty. Wayne, B.G.”), May 7, 1781. One page, remnants of tipping on verso. Endorsed beneath May 7, 1781 letter signed by James Trimble. The text of Trimble’s letter accomplished in the hand of Declaration of Independence scribe, Timothy Matlack.
WAYNE HEADS SOUTH TO JOIN LAFAYETTE IN VIRGINIA, and Congress asks who is going with him “to the Southward.” The request comes from James Trimble on behalf of the Board of War. Wayne responds, “There are One Major, three captains, three Captain Lieut.’s & three Lieutenants ordered with the detachment from the regiment of artillery.” In a postscript he adds, “N.B. Colo. Forest can provide the names if necessary.” As he did throughout the war, Wayne distinguished himself in the Virginia campaign. Revolutionary War historian Mark Boatner III writes that at the battle of Green Spring, on July 6, 1781, “his impetuosity got him into a position from which only his calm fearlessness and audacity got him out” (Encyclopedia of the American Revolution).