death blow, but Washington, with wonderful
forbearance, permitted him to retain the governorship of the Territory,
from which he was removed by Jefferson in 1802. He lived sixteen years
longer, poor and destitute, having used his own fortune to defray the
expenses of his troops in the Revolution--a debt which, to the lasting
disgrace of the government, it neglected to cancel. He grew old and
feeble, and was thrown from a wagon, one day, and killed. Upon the
little stone which marks his grave is this inscription: "The earthly
remains of Major-General Arthur St. Clair are deposited beneath this
humble monument, which is erected to supply the place of a nobler one
due from his country."

The task which proved St. Clair's ruin was to be accomplished by another
survivor of the Revolution--"Mad" Anthony Wayne; "Mad" because of his
fury in battle, the fierceness of his charge, and his recklessness of
danger--attributes which he shared with Benedict Arnold. He was thirty
years of age at the opening of the Revolution, handsome, full of fire,
and hungering for glory. He was to win his full share of it, and to
prove himself, next to Washington and Greene, the best general in the
army.

His favorite weapon was the bayonet, and he drilled his troops in the
use of it until they were able to withstand the shock of the renowned
British infantry, who have always prided themselves on their prowess
with cold steel. His first service was with Arnold in Canada; he was
with Washington at the Brandywine; and at Germantown, hurling his troops
upon the Hessians, he drove them back at the point of the bayonet, and
retreated only under orders when the general attack failed. At Monmouth,
it was he and his men who, standing firm as a rock, repulsed the first
fierce bayonet charge of the British guards and grenadiers.

So it is not remarkable that, when Washington found an unusually
hazardous piece of work in hand, he should have selected Wayne to carry
it through. The British held a strong fort called Stony Point, which
commanded the Hudson and which Washington was anxious to capture. It was
impossible to besiege it, since British frigates held the river, and it
was so strong that an open assault could never carry it. It stood on a
rocky promontory, surrounded on three sides by water and connected with
the land only by a narrow, swampy neck. The only chance to take the
place was by a night attack, and Wayne eagerly welcomed the opportunity
to t