By the departure of General Gates, the command of the army in that quarter devolved upon General Schuyler, who paid the very flattering compliment to Colonel Wayne of entrusting to him the care of the important fortresses of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. This trust, from the month of November 1776 to May 1777, was executed by the commanding officer in a way to merit the ap probation of his general, and to reflect additional honour upon himself.
On the 21st day of February 1777, he was pro moted by congress to the rank of brigadier general; and upon leaving the above named fortresses, joined the main army under the command of General Washington, in New Jersey; with his gallant Pennsylvanians, he contributed, by the testimony of Washington himself, " a large share of bravery and good conduct" in driving the enemy out of that state.
As soon as Sir William Howe developed his ob ject of attempting the conquest of Pennsylvania, and particularly of the capital, Philadelphia, General Wayne was directed by the commander in-chief to proceed to his native county, in order to discipline and arrange the militia who were to rendezvous there. This duty he satisfactorily and promptly performed, and then formed a junction with the main army, which was posted at Brandy wine, under the command of Washington, in order to prevent, if possible, the advance of the British upon the capital. The design was a brave, though a hopeless one; 15,000 men, many of them the raw militia of the country, were but poor antagonists for 18,000 regulars, completely appointed and equipped. And though the result was in favour of superior force and discipline, the merit of the attempt was none the less. Wayne and his division earned some of the brightest laurels that were gathered on that day, by his spirited resistance to the pas sage of Chad's ford by the column under Knyp hausen. Their steady resistance to the Hessians prevented material annoyance to the retreating columns of the Americans.
On the road to the city, the undaunted Washing ton again stopped, with the intention of trying once more the fortune of war. The battle was already commenced by Wayne and his troops, when a ter rible tempest scattered and separated the combat ants. The commander, always on the alert, directed General Wayne to make the daring attempt of cut ting off the enemy's baggage—the best dispositions were made by him for the purpose, and most probably, but for the disclosures of some traitors, the enterprising scheme would have met with com plete success. As it was, however, the wretches we have alluded to piloted the British troops over hills and along by-paths, and by this means they succeeded in surprising the small but gallant band of Americans. The ruthless massacre, at the Paoli tavern, as this combat has been designated, was not soon forgotten. The merciless regulars spared not even the sick and perfectly helpless op ponents, but put to death all within their power. They, however, met with the most severe recep tion, numbers of the assailants being killed in the attempt.
This was the only occurrence in General Wayne's long and distinguished career, which met with censure and disapprobation. Conscious that the misfortune was not owing to his want of bravery or skill, he demanded a court-martial, by whom he was acquitted with the highest honour.
In the bold attack made by General Washington upon Howe's army encamped at Germantown, Wayne took, as he always did, a prominent part. He mingled in the thickest of the fight—his horse was killed under him, and himself wounded. In fact, during the whole of the eventful campaign of 1777, the subject of this memoir passed through all the of the military operations of the year, under the immediate command of Washing ton. In councils, public and private, he rendered his commander the most effectual assistance. It should be mentioned, too, that, at that period, owing to a variety of circumstances, Wayne per formed all the duties which are usually allotted to three general officers.
His health had suffered so severely from his con tinued and laborious exertions, that some respite was necessary. ,He accordingly occupied his lei sure time in proceeding to Lancaster, then the seat of government of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of procuring comfortable clothing for the perishing troops. By his exertions, the Pennsylvania line made in this particular a tolerably respectable ap pearance. Upon his return to the army he found them labouring under an almost total want of pro visions; and he was despatched by General Wash ington upon the most arduous and hazardous enterprise, during the most inclement season of the year, of securing the cattle on the eastern banks of the Delaware, and of procuring forage for the cavalry horses. He returned to camp, to re ceive the thanks of his commander and the blessings of the troops (after a long series of skirmishes, in which he invariaby chastised the enemy), with several hundred head of fine cattle, many excellent horses suitable for cavalry service, and with an abundance of forage. After the evacuation of Philadelphia by the British, and the transfer of the command of their army from Howe to Sir Henry Clinton, the enemy retreated through Jersey, fol lowed by the Americans. Washington, being about equal in numbers, was anxious to attack the British army, and called a council of war for the purpose of taking their advice. But one other general, besides Wayne, concurred in the views of the commander; and he, being anxious to close with his new antagonist, resolved to take his mea sures on his own responsibility. It is known, that the good results to have been expected from this well-directed and spirited attempt were very con siderably affected by the yet unexplained conduct of General Lee, in ordering the retreat of the ad vanced corps, of which he had the command; victory, however, settled on that occasion on the American banners; and very much of the praise, so hardly earned by the fight at Monmouth, is due to the gallant manner in which Wayne seconded the views of the ardent Washington.