Anthony Wayne: Soldier of the Early Republic [Hardcover]

Paul David Nelson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 22, 1985

Paul David Nelson has written an exciting biography of an exciting figure—the military hero of the American Revolution and the Indian Wars in the Northwest Territory—"Mad" Anthony Wayne. Some of his contemporaries called him rash and impetuous, a braggart and a dandy. "More active and enterprising than judicious and cautious" was George Washington's verdict. True, Wayne had a flair for the dramatic and consciously acted the role of swashbuckler, but he proved himself one of the best and most successful military leaders of the early American republic.

Despite his reputation for madness, Wayne, as Nelson points out, was a prudent and careful officer whose military record belies the myth. When he ran out of wars to fight, Wayne turned to the political arena. Nelson shows that the qualities which made Wayne a great military leader served him well in politics. He proved himself articulate and shrewd in statecraft in a critical time for the young republic, the years just after ratification of the Constitution.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Nelson effectively argues that Wayne was an energetic natural soldier, not the hotheaded ``Mad Anthony'' of myth. Careful planning and strict discipline won Wayne's victories in the American Revolution. He later instilled professionalism in the new U.S. Army of the 1790s, defeating Northwest Indian tribes at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794). Using exemplary research, Nelson weaves Wayne's personal life into his military and political careers for an excellent, complete biography. It replaces Glenn Tucker's Mad Anthony Wayne (1973). Recommended for college libraries and others with interests in military history or the Revolutionary era. Joseph G. Dawson III, History Dept., Texas A&M Univ., Galveston
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (October 22, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253307511
• ISBN-13: 978-0253307514
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,650,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anthony Wayne: Soldier of the Early Republic, December 30, 2008

By 

Eric Williams (South-Eastern Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anthony Wayne: Soldier of the Early Republic (Hardcover)

Anthony Wayne: Soldier of the Early Republic by Paul David Nelson. 384 pages. 1985.

This book is the biography recommended by the guides at Waynesborough as the best of the available biographies of Anthony Wayne. This book is currently out of print and must have had a small run as new copies go for almost $70.00USD and used copies start around $40.00USD, thank God for libraries.

The book covers Wayne's life from his birth at Waynesborough through the revolution, interwar years, campaigns in the Ohio area, his death near Erie, Pennsylvania, and finishing with his re-internment in Saint David's, Pennsylvania. As such it is a standard chronological biography.

The author tends to stick fairly close to the facts and offers no evaluations of Wayne beyond that offered by Wayne's own peers. The book would be helped by perhaps a chapter on Wayne's legacy and role in popular culture and military history. There is a good deal of interesting detail provided about Wayne's financial troubles and travails. The text moves fairly rapidly and though I got a sense of Wayne the man I did not really get to know him. I am not sure if the reason is due to author's intent or that Wayne was a much more complex man shifting beneath the text. The illustrations tend to be adequate and show portraits of Wayne at various stages as well as prominent people in his life.

Given the available biographical texts this book is a good primer. Had Wayne been merely a hero of the Revolution his memory would have faded like Greene's, von Steuben's, Sullivan's Morgan's, and other generals and heroes. What solidify's Wayne's memory is the role he played culminating not just in his victory at Fallen Timbers but the confrontation and orderly transfer of outposts from Detroit, to Spanish enclaves along the Mississippi, and others. These secured essentially all lands wet of the Allegheny Mountains to the Mississippi River. Sadly though even in the area where he was born, raised, occasioned defeat and victory and is buried there are many who know nothing of the man.