Late 1700s

General Anthony Wayne's Field Bed

Our City's Namesake: General Anthony Wayne (1745-1796)

General Anthony Wayne came to the Miami Towns at the confluence of the three rivers on orders from President George Washington to build a fort that would one day bear his name. The dedication of that fort on 22 October 1794 is recognized as our city's birthday.

During his career, he earned the moniker "Mad Anthony Wayne" for his risky military tactics. It was during Wayne's campaign that the American Indians were eventually defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1794. The Treaty of Greenville was negotiated the following year which helped open the Northwest Territory for American settlement.

Wayne used this camp bed during the Revolutionary War and in the Northwest Territory from 1792-1796. Folding camp beds were used by military officers such as Anthony Wayne and George Washington in the eighteenth century. The bed was built to support a canvas mattress and a canopy hung on the upper frame to keep out mosquitoes and drafts. It was made to be portable with a removable canopy structure and hinges on the legs and bed frame. The bed collapses to 42" x 23" x 11" which is about the size of a large suitcase. When Wayne completed his work in the West and was preparing to return home, he gave the bed to his friend and aid Ambrose Whitlock. It was borrowed from a descendant for the Fort Wayne Centennial celebration in October 1895 and again by the Mary Penrose Wayne Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution for a "Relic Room" display at the Allen County Courthouse dedication, 23 September 1902. It remained in possession of the DAR and was subsequently donated to the Historical Society in 1933. From the Relic Room to the Society's Swinney House and Old City Hall museums, it has remained an important feature of our exhibitions.