Originally from New York, he lived well by pre-Civil War standards. He built the spacious Wayne House in Union in 1857, owned 640 acres, and ran a successful business, on top of being one of the first people to join the new Republican Party. A strident abolitionist, he left it all, against his wife's wishes, and joined the Union Army when the Civil War broke out. He joined the 15th Illinois Volunteer Infantry in Freeport, where the men of D Company elected him captain. The unit was in the first line of battle at Shiloh on April 6, 1862, and held its ground as the Ohio unit guarding its flanks broke and ran. Wayne was one of many officers cut down in the fighting. The battle cost almost 24,000 lives on both sides, or more than the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War combined. Yet there would be eight Civil War battles with higher casualties.
Originally from New York, he lived well by pre-Civil War standards. He built the spacious Wayne House in Union in 1857, owned 640 acres, and ran a successful business, on top of being one of the first people to join the new Republican Party. A strident abolitionist, he left it all, against his wife's wishes, and joined the Union Army when the Civil War broke out. He joined the 15th Illinois Volunteer Infantry in Freeport, where the men of D Company elected him captain. The unit was in the first line of battle at Shiloh on April 6, 1862, and held its ground as the Ohio unit guarding its flanks broke and ran. Wayne was one of many officers cut down in the fighting. The battle cost almost 24,000 lives on both sides, or more than the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War combined. Yet there would be eight Civil War battles with higher casualties.
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Captain Co. D 15th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Killed at the Battle of Shiloh April 6, 1862
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