Unlikely General: "Mad" Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America (virtual)

Chester County History Center

Author Mary Stockwell delves into the life and career of Revolutionary War hero "Mad" Anthony Wayne.

What made Anthony Wayne an “unlikely general”? He was not President George Washington’s first choice to lead an army against the confederation of ​Ohio tribes blocking America’s advance across the Ohio River in 1792. Wayne, a notorious womanizer, heavy drinker, and spend-thrift, had just been removed from Congress for voter fraud. Though he had fought bravely throughout the American Revolution, most notably at Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth Courthouse, he had suffered a physical and mental breakdown during the last year of the war while fighting in Georgia. Over the objections of his cabinet, including Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, Washington took a chance on Wayne and appointed him the commander of the Legion of the United States with orders to open the West for settlement. Wayne took the assignment, worried that his untried soldiers would never be able to defeat the Indians, whom he considered the best fighters in the world, and certain that he would never survive this last campaign into the wilderness. About the Speaker: Mary Stockwell received her Ph.D. in history from the University of Toledo and was a professor of history and department chair at Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio. She has also been a research fellow at the New York Public Library and the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan. Since her retirement from her teaching and administrative career, she has become a full-time writer. She is the author of Unlikely General: “Mad” Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America; Interrupted Odyssey: Ulysses S. Grant and the American Indians; The Other Trail of Tears: The Removal of the Ohio Indians; and Woodrow Wilson: The Last Romantic; and history books for students including The Ohio Adventure; A Journey through Maine; the prize-winning, Massachusetts: Our Home; and The American Story: Perspectives and Encounters to 1865. Admission is Pay as You Wish! Your donation is greatly appreciated. All proceeds benefit the development of future programming and the preservation of the History Center and its collections. The History Center is home to over 750,000 manuscripts, 100,000 photographs, and 80,000 artifacts. Your donation helps us to preserve and share those resources.Presentation is via Zoom, and will be recorded and available for 7 days for all registered participants. We will email out a Zoom link the day of the presentation, and email a link to the recording within 48 hours. Note: the Zoom link emailed out the day of the presentation only takes you to the live presentation; the link emailed out the day after will contain the recorded version.

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

Unlikely General: "Mad" Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America (virtual)

More events from Chester County History Center

Discover more events from Chester County History Center, from Community to other experiences you might love.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.

Unlikely General: "Mad" Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America (virtual)

More events from Chester County History Center

Discover more events from Chester County History Center, from Community to other experiences you might love.

You might also like...

Browse more events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.