Legionville
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military basic training
Basic Training
Basic Training may refer to:* Basic Training, a 1971 American documentary directed by Frederick Wiseman* Basic Training , an American sex comedy* Recruit training...
facility, established by Major General Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne was a United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and the sobriquet of Mad Anthony.-Early...
, in 1792, near present-day Baden
Baden, Pennsylvania
Baden is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, along the Ohio River. The population was 4,377 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Baden is located at...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
to train the soldiers of the Legion of the United States
Legion of the United States
The Legion of the United States was a reorganization and extension of the United States Army from 1792 to 1796 under the command of Major General Anthony Wayne.-Origins:The impetus for the Legion came from General Arthur St...
.
History
After the disastrous defeat of Arthur St. ClairArthur St. Clair
Arthur St. Clair was an American soldier and politician. Born in Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office...
on November 4, 1791, (St. Clair's Defeat, near present Fort Recovery, Ohio
Fort Recovery, Ohio
Fort Recovery is a village in Mercer County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,273 at the 2000 census. The village is near the location of Fort Recovery, first established in 1793 under orders from General Anthony Wayne....
) the U.S. Army was totally re-built. This new army was to be called the Legion of the United States
Legion of the United States
The Legion of the United States was a reorganization and extension of the United States Army from 1792 to 1796 under the command of Major General Anthony Wayne.-Origins:The impetus for the Legion came from General Arthur St...
and was based on the writings of Colonel Henry Bouquet
Henry Bouquet
Henry Bouquet was a prominent British Army officer in the French and Indian War and Pontiac's War. Bouquet is best known for his victory over Native Americans at the Battle of Bushy Run, lifting the siege of Fort Pitt during Pontiac's War.-Early life:Bouquet was born into a moderately wealthy...
and Maurice Saxe. Henry Knox
Henry Knox
Henry Knox was a military officer of the Continental Army and later the United States Army, and also served as the first United States Secretary of War....
, Secretary of War and President George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
liked the idea of a Legion. In 1792 they brought Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne was a United States Army general and statesman. Wayne adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military exploits and fiery personality quickly earned him a promotion to the rank of brigadier general and the sobriquet of Mad Anthony.-Early...
out of retirement and gave him the rank of Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the Legion. The Legion was recruited and re-formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
. Elements of the old 1st and 2nd Regiments became the 1st and 2nd Sub-Legion. From June of 1792 to November 1792, the army was cantoned at Fort LaFayette in Pittsburgh.
In October 1792, General Wayne scoured the Ohio River for a suitable place to winter and train the army and get them away from the distractions of the city. Twenty-Two miles from Pittsburgh on the western bank of the Ohio and near the modern town of Baden, Pennsylvania
Baden, Pennsylvania
Baden is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, along the Ohio River. The population was 4,377 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Baden is located at...
, Wayne found a site that was perfect. This site was either near or on a former Indian Village called Logstown
Logstown
The riverside village of Logstown was a significant Native American settlement in Western Pennsylvania and the site of the 1752 signing of the treaty of friendship between the Ohio Company and the Amerindians occupying the region in the years leading up to the...
(circa 1744-1761). On November 28, 1792, Wayne disembarked with fanfare and good wishes from the citizens of Pittsburgh and in four hours disembarked at the new cantonment that he dubbed Legion Ville http://www.legionville.com. An advance detachment had arrived on November 9 and had begun preparing for the arrival of the main army.
By December 1792, the fortification had grown to over 500 buildings and had a population five times larger than the small City of Pittsburgh. The camp was laid out on an east-west axis with ravines on the north, east and west. Four redoubts ringed the cantonment numbered 1-4. A ditch surrounding the entire housing area was over a mile long. Thirty-six men were garrisoned in each redoubt and an additional 120 men were stationed around the perimeter. Total guards were 260 men, seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Single story huts were built for the enlisted men of the dragoons, infantry, artillery and rifle-corps. Officers of the dragoons and artillery had two-story barracks. Major General Wayne's house and the hospital were two-story log cabins with chimneys on both sides. The total area of the cantonment was about 35 acres (141,640.1 m²). Estimates of the personnel at Legion Ville vary, but 2,500 is the popular figure.
After the men were properly housed, training started in earnest. The troops fired at targets every day as Wayne wanted marksmen. Bayonet drills, hand-to-hand combat, mock battles and overnight encampments outside the installation were common. The dragoons (cavalry) under the able leadership of Captain Robert MisCampbell built an obstacle course south of Legion Ville. The artillery lieutenants and captains built an artillery range. An auxiliary rifle range was built a half-mile west of the site. The troops were marched continually and battle formations and tactics taught to the new officers. Minor infractions were dealt with severely (lashing with a Cat-o-Nine Tails) and courts martial were common. Captain William Eaton who would lead the U.S. Marines ashore at Tripoli in 1806 was often the presiding judge. Some significant events that occurred at Legion Ville were the visit of Big Tree and Guyasuta
Guyasuta
Guyasuta was an important leader of the Seneca people in the second half of the eighteenth century, playing a central role in the diplomacy and warfare of that era...
with Wayne in March 1793 and the duel of Lieutenant Daniel Jenifer and Ensign William Pitt Gassaway. Gassaway was killed and buried in the unmarked military cemetery. Colonel Thomas Proctor visited the camp and stayed for months helping the artillery become proficient. On February 26, 1793, Dr. Joseph Strong of Connecticut climbed the western bank of the hill and drew a picture of the site in a letter to a friend, Dr.Mason Cogswell. This is the only known depiction of the site and located at Yale University. During the winter 16 additional soldiers died and were buried in an unmarked cemetery, the exact location of which is being determined by historians and archaeologists. Additional names of the dead buried at Legion Ville are: Private Henry Dundalo http://www.poortown.com/fronts/115frontpage, Private William Perry, Private James White, Private Randolph Hutchins, William Williamson, Private John Patterson, Private John Fry and Private Jarrett Rogers (Source National Archives).
As spring broke and the Native Americans were not interested in peace, George Washington gave the go-ahead for the campaign. On April 30, 1793, the largest flotilla of military barges ever assembled on the Ohio River departed Legion Ville for Fort Washington, Cincinnati, Ohio
Fort Washington, Cincinnati, Ohio
Fort Washington was a fort in the early history of Cincinnati, Ohio. The location is marked by a plaque at the Guilford School building, at 421 E 4th St, Cincinnati, which now occupies the site...
. On August 20, 1794, the Legion of the United States defeated the Indian Confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers
Battle of Fallen Timbers
The Battle of Fallen Timbers was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between American Indian tribes affiliated with the Western Confederacy and the United States for control of the Northwest Territory...
and on August 3, 1795, the Treaty of Greenville
Treaty of Greenville
The Treaty of Greenville was signed at Fort Greenville , on August 3, 1795, between a coalition of Native Americans & Frontiers men, known as the Western Confederacy, and the United States following the Native American loss at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It put an end to the Northwest Indian War...
was signed opening the Northwest Territory to settlement. The discipline and intense training at Legion Ville was a critical factor in one of the most brilliant campaigns in United States history.
Research is still being done on Legion Ville. Although it isn't known for sure that all these men served there, they were in the Legion of the United States: William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
, Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis
Meriwether Lewis was an American explorer, soldier, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition also known as the Corps of Discovery, with William Clark...
, William Clark
William Clark
William Clark was an American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor. A native of Virginia, he grew up in prestatehood Kentucky before later settling in what became the state of Missouri...
, William Eaton, Zebulon Pike, Sr., Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and to find the headwaters of the Red River,...
, Jr., Henry Burbeck
Henry Burbeck
Henry Burbeck , son of William Burbeck and Jerusha Glover, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He served in the United States army for more than forty years most notably during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 and achieved the rank of Brigadier General.In the Revolutionary War, he fought at...
, Solomon Van Rensselaer
Solomon Van Rensselaer
Solomon Van Vechten Van Rensselaer was a United States Representative from the state of New York, a lieutenant colonel during the War of 1812, and postmaster of Albany. He was the son of Gen...
and Leonard Covington
Leonard Covington
Leonard Wailes Covington was a United States Army Brigadier General and a member of the United States House of Representatives.-Biography:...
.
General Wayne left Legion Ville intact. In 1824 the Harmony Society
Harmony Society
The Harmony Society was a Christian theosophy and pietist society founded in Iptingen, Germany, in 1785. Due to religious persecution by the Lutheran Church and the government in Württemberg, the Harmony Society moved to the United States on October 7, 1803, initially purchasing of land in Butler...
purchased the property. The property was later bought by the A.M. Byers Company who in turn sold it to National Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio. In 1973, the Anthony Wayne Historical Society was formed to preserve the site. Repeated attempts to purchase the site from National Tire failed. Senator John Heinz (see Heinz Senate Papers/keyword legionville) introduced a bill to make the site a national park, but President Jimmy Carter pocket-vetoed the bill due to a clerical error. National Tire and Rubber sold the site to Bogus Mouradian. Bogus Mouradian sold the property to Leroy Friend of Bridgewater who in turn sold it to Mitchell Unis of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania and Alex Barlamas of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, the current owners. Currently a developer from New York is interested in purchasing the site for commercial development. There are ongoing efforts to preserve this site.
See also
Further reading
- Anthony Wayne and the Founding of the US Army, by Richard C. Knopf. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1960
- Anthony Wayne a Name in Arms, by Richard C. Knopf. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1960
- Legion Ville Rediscovered: A Forgotten Chapter in American History by Patrick R. Riley, 1993, Masters Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
- The West Point Orderly Books, 1792-1797, Transcribed by Richard C. Knopf.
- The Beginnings of the US Army, 1783-1812 by James Ripley Jacobs, 1945.
- Historical Register and Dictionary of the US Army, from its Organization, September 29, 1789 to March 2, 1903, Volume I and II, Washington, DC, GPO, 1903.
- Senator John Heinz State Papers, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.