e concerned, for a nobler-minded, more unselfish patriot never
entered the army of a nation. Wayne was educated at the Philadelphia
Academy, and he became a surveyor of some note. He attended closely,
however, to his magnificent farm, and took a lively interest in all
affairs affecting his fellow-citizens. In 1765 and 66, only just of
age, he was sent to Nova Scotia to survey some lands belonging to
Benjamin Franklin and others.

In May, 1766, he married Mary, the daughter of Bartholomew Penrose, a
Philadelphia merchant, and settled down to the life of a farmer. He
was a stirring man in his neighborhood, fond of an active and out-door
life. He was filled with military impulses; his choice of a
profession, that of surveyor, evidently arose from his taste for
exploration, and for the excitement incident to plunging into
trackless wastes of forests and mapping out new boundaries. His love
of military pursuits led him to study all the great works on the art
of war, and when the time came he was prepared, as few soldiers of the
revolution were, for the conflict with the trained soldiers of Great
Britain. He formed companies with the men in his neighborhood, and
drilled them assiduously. This gave him prominence and popularity, so
that he is found a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1774-75.
Wayne seemed to have prescience of what was coming, and when the
conflict came he was ready. In September, 1775, he raised a regiment
of soldiers, of which he became the colonel in the January following,
and joined General Sullivan's command in Canada in the spring of 1776.
At the battle of Three Rivers, May, 1776, Wayne displayed remarkable
military knowledge, and was enabled to extricate his command from
difficulties that seemed almost insurmountable. In a letter to Dr.
Franklin and others he gives a graphic description of this engagement.
Of his men engaged he says, "I have lost more than the one-quarter
part, together with a slight touch in my right leg, which is partly
well already." This was Wayne's first battle. He displayed such
remarkable coolness and excellent judgment throughout this engagement,
as to command the respect and admiration of all in the army; his
entire career during this unfortunate Canadian campaign exhibited
clearly his soldierly qualifications. Recognizing these, General
Schuyler, in November, 1776, appointed Colonel Wayne to the command of
Fort Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence, which military post Wayn