10/31/2026
If you’ve heard the faint clopping of horseshoes while traveling on Route 322 anywhere between Erie and Chester, you might have encountered the wandering ghost of Anthony Wayne.
When the Revolutionary War began, Wayne was a well-respected farmer and businessman. His support for the cause of freedom manifested in 1776 when he received a commission to command the Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion. In February of 1777, General Washington moved Wayne and his Pennsylvanians to the main Continental Army. At the Battle of Brandywine, Wayne’s division held their defensive position against a Hessian force nearly twice their size for two hours.
Wayne died while on active duty at Fort Presque Isle on December 15, 1796, in Erie. His death was attributed to chronic gout, but there are rumors he was poisoned. He was buried in uniform at the foot of the flagstaff. Thirteen years later, Wayne’s son Isaac traveled to return his father to Radnor to rest at St. David’s Church Cemetery.
However, when he opened the casket, he was not met with crumbling bones, but rather a remarkably preserved body. To make his father’s transport easier, Isaac put Wayne’s remains into a pot and boiled the flesh off the bones. Wayne’s flesh and clothing were reinterred in his original grave.
In true Pennsylvania style, the 400-mile trek home was uneven and bumpy. When Isaac arrived at his father’s new gravesite, he was horrified to see that several of the bones were missing and had presumably fallen out of the wagon on his journey home.
Frequently seen along 322 searching for his missing bones, Anthony Wayne is one of America’s most spotted spirits.
Happy Halloween from the Brandywine Battlefield!
