Nicknamed "Mad Anthony" by his troops for his fearlessness and quick temper, Gen. Anthony Wayne of Radnor, Chester County, was one of the best tactical commanders of the American armed forces during the American Revolution.
He survived the war and died Dec. 15, 1796 in Erie while enroute home from fighting Indians in Michigan. In accordance with is last wishes, he was buried beneath the blockhouse on Presque Isle. Thirteen years later, his son Isaac went to Erie to dig up the body and take it home for reburial in the family plot in Radnor.
The people in Erie didn't want to have the body taken away so they compromised and called in Dr. James Wallace, who separated the bones from the flesh in a large vat. The general's flesh and clothing were reburied beneath the blockhouse and Isaac put the bones on a wagon and made the long journey home.
On the bumpy road, legend has it that some of the bones fell out of the wagon, so when they put the general's remains into the grave at St. David's Churchyard in Chester County some of his bones lay along the 385 mile trail that is today U.S. Route 322. Every New Year's morning, which is the general's birthday, his ghost rises from the grave and gallops from St. David's and back in search of his bones.
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