The Anthony Wayne medal celebrates his leadership at the Assault on Stony Point, July 15, 1779. Awarded by Congress in recognition of his military prowess, he devised a bayonet-only strategy with Washington that surprised the British. He personally led his men, under cover of night, in the attack which lasted only thirty minutes and produced 550 captured British soldiers.
In addition to Wayne’s medal, Congress awarded medals for actions at Stony Point to Francois Louis Teissedre de Fleury and John Stewart. Duvivier created an earlier version of Wayne’s medal at the request of Benjamin Franklin, but it was regarded as distasteful and poor quality as it was merely a duplicate of the medal made for de Fleury with the original text scratched out and re-engraved. The later version by Nicolas-Marie Gatteaux depicts a female allegorical figure representing America holding a crown and presenting a laurel wreath to Wayne. The reverse features a scene from the Battle of Stony Point.
