On October 13, 1784, Charles Willson Peale announced in the Philadelphia newspaper The Freeman’s Journal, the addition of this portrait of Anthony Wayne (1745–1796) to his picture gallery. Peale had recently established the gallery to honor the many soldiers and civilians who had participated in establishing the new nation.

Wayne, who was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, was well-educated and, like George Washington, began his career as a surveyor. A member of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1774–75, Wayne raised a regiment at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, earned the rank of colonel in 1776 and was promoted to brigadier general in 1777. In 1783 he became a major general and returned to his home, Waynesboro, outside Philadelphia.

The following year he rejoined the Pennsylvania Legislature and later served as a member of the Constitutional Convention. In 1792 President Washington appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the US Army.