When the Revolutionary War broke out, the American Armies were composed merely of armed yeomen, stalwart men of good courage and reasonably proficient in using their weapons, but entirely without the training to engage the British regulars in the open or to deliver an attack themselves.
One of the heroic figures of the Revolution was Major-General Anthony Wayne, known to be the most brutal fighter produced on either side.
Anthony was a born fighter. Indeed, his eager love of battle and splendid disregard for peril have caused many writers to christen this daring commander as “Mad Anthony.” His unique bravery helped create the necessary commander qualities of a true leader.
As Theodore Roosevelt remarked:
“No man could dare as greatly as he did without incurring the risk of an occasional check, but he was an able and bold tactician, a vigilant and cautious leader, well fitted to bear the terrible burden of responsibility which rests upon a commander-in-chief.”
After the Battle of Brandywine, General Wayne was surprised at night by the British General Grey, a redoubtable fighter, who attacked him with the bayonet, killed a number of his men, and forced him to fall back some distance from the field of action. This mortifying experience did not affect Wayne’s courage or self-reliance but gave him a valuable lesson in caution. He showed what he had learned by the skill with which, many years later, he conducted the famous campaign in which he overthrew the Northwestern Indians at the Fight of the Fallen Timbers.
Wayne’s favorite weapon was the bayonet, and he trained his men in its proper use. At the battle of Germantown, Wayne’s troops used the bayonet to drive the Hessians and the British Light Infantry, and they only retreated under orders when the attack had failed elsewhere. But later, at Monmouth, Wayne and his Continentals first checked the British advance by repulsing the bayonet charge of the guards and grenadiers.
In the summer of 1780, General Washington was very anxious to capture the British fort at Stony Point, which commanded the Hudson River. It was impracticable to attack it by regular siege while the British frigates lay in the river, and the defenses were so strong that open assault by daylight was out of the question. That was when Washington suggested to Wayne that he try a night attack. Wayne eagerly responded to this daring feat.
The fort was situated on a rocky promontory, surrounded on three sides by water and on the fourth by a swampy land. Any attacking column had to move across this neck of land. The garrison was six hundred strong. To deliver the assault, Wayne took nine hundred men. The American Army was camped about fourteen miles from Stony Point.
One July afternoon, General Wayne directed his troops in single file along the narrow rocky roads, reaching the hills on the mainland near the fort after nightfall. He divided his force into two columns to advance along each side of the neck. Two North Carolina companies were detached to move between the two columns and make a false attack.
The rest of the force consisted of New Englanders, Pennsylvanians, and Virginians. Each attacking column was divided into three parts. Twenty men led, followed by an advance guard of one hundred and twenty and then by the main body. The commanding officers carried spontoons and other old-time weapons. Wayne personally led the right column with a spear in hand. It was nearly midnight when the Americans began to press along the causeways toward the fort.
They were discovered before reaching the walls, and the British opened a heavy fire of great guns and musketry. The advancing Carolinians responded according to orders, while the men in the columns were forbidden to fire. Wayne had warned them to use the bayonet, and their muskets were not loaded.
No sooner had the British opened fire than the charging columns broke into a run, and timber fell from the walls. Seventeen of the twenty men were killed or wounded, but as the columns came up, both burst through the fallen timber and swarmed up the long, sloping embankments of the fort. The British fought well, cheering loudly. Meanwhile, the Americans pushed silently onto the end using the bayonet. A bullet struck Wayne in the head. He fell but struggled to his feet and forward, two of his officers supporting him. A rumor went among the men that he was dead, but the news of it caused them to charge ahead to reach the top of the wall fiercely.
A fierce but short fight followed in the night. Still, the Americans obeyed Wayne’s wisdom, not firing but trusting solely on the bayonet! Wayne’s two columns had kept almost equal pace and swept into the fort from the opposite side. The three men who first got over the walls were all wounded, but one of them hauled down the British flag!
The Americans' muskets were unloaded as they ran boldly into close quarters, fighting hand-to-hand combat to overthrow their foes with their bayonets. The British lines broke, and the struggle ended.
The Americans had lost a hundred soldiers, and the British lost sixty-three, each one having suffered from the bayonet!
No night attack was delivered with greater boldness, skill, and success.
Hero Tales from American History by Henry Cabot Lodge and Theodore Roosevelt