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. He was also 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, Illinois, where the men of Company D elected him their captain.
The unit was in the first line of battle at Shiloh on April 6, 1862, and held its part of the line as the Ohio unit guarding its flanks broke and ran. Wayne was one of the many officers of the 15th cut down in the fighting that ensued.
The battle cost almost 24,000 casualties on both sides, or, in other words, more than the American Revolution, War of 1812 and Mexican War combined.
Yet, there would be eight more Civil War battles with higher casualties.
--Old Secesh
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