athanael Greene

was born on 27 July 1742 (Old Style) in Potowomut, RhodeIsland.

The Gregorian Calendar, which is used today, was not adopted in England or hercolonies until 1752. Prior to that year, March was considered the first month of the yearin civil matters as opposed to January. According to his father's journal, Nathanael wasborn on the twenty-seventh day of the fifth month of the year. This makes his birthdayJuly 27th (Old Style) or May 27th (New Style). He was named for his father, who was arespected minister of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and a prosperous businessman.Greene’s mother was Mary Motte, the second wife of his father. Because of Quakerbeliefs about education, Greene was only taught reading, writing, and business math.Later, he would comment on this early aspect of his life,

"I lament the want of a liberal Education."

But, he studied vigorously on his own. He made miniature anchors andother toys to sell in Newport so that he could buy books. Furthermore, he would receiveguidance in his self-education from two influential men. The first man was LindleyMurray, a young lawyer working for John Jay’s law firm in New York. Murray wouldgo on to become the country’s foremost grammarian. The second man was Ezra Stiles,the future president of Yale.As relations between England and thirteen of her colonies in North Americadeteriorated, Greene was caught up in the general fervor of resistance in New England.After attending a military parade in Connecticut, he became an avid reader of militaryworks. The unlawful seizure of one of the Greene family’s sloops by the H.M.S.

Gaspée

,a British revenue schooner, made matters personal.On 20 July 1774, Greene married Catharine Littlefield of Block Island. Caty, as shewas known by her friends, was attractive and vivacious and would give him six children.She was the niece of two future governors of Rhode Island and the daughter of the deputyto the General Assembly. During the war, she visited her husband as much as she couldand was very popular with his associates.In August of 1774, the men of East Greenwich county formed a militia company,which they later incorporated under the name Kentish Guards. Although Greene was afounding member, his participation in the group was challenged because of a slight limpthat he had since childhood. The incident hurt him deeply and was only settled when aninfluential member of the Guards and close friend, James Mitchell Varnum, threatened toresign if Greene was forced to leave.In April of 1775, the Assembly of Rhode Island met at Providence and establishedan Army of Observation. Two months later, Greene was given command as a brigadiergeneral of state troops. There has been much speculation as to why a man who had neverheld a military commission was given the command. Less than a year earlier, this sameman's position in a militia company had been challenged. He led his troops to Boston,where he showed a talent for assembling supplies and suppressing intercolonial jealousies. On 22 June 1775, he was commissioned as the youngest brigadier general inthe Continental Army. A month later, he took command of Prospect Hill during theSiege of Boston. But, he missed the Battle of Bunker Hill on 17 June 1775 whilepetitioning for more supplies in Rhode Island. In a letter describing the battle, heexclaimed,

"I wish we could sell them another hill at the same price we did Bunkers Hill."

Nathanael Greene

Horatio Gates

Charles Earl Cornwallis

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It was in Boston that Greene first met George Washington. Even during their initialmeeting, Washington was greatly impressed. Within a year, he would consider Greenethe best of his generals suited to succeed him in case of his death or capture. The feelingof admiration and respect was mutual as Greene named his first born in honor of thecommander-in-chief. After the British evacuated Boston, Greene took command of thecity.When the Continental Army moved to defend New York in early April of 1776,Greene took command of Long Island. Here, he was placed in charge of the Brooklyndefenses where the British Army was expected to attack. In August, he was promoted tothe rank of major general, but was bed laden with a fever during the Battle of LongIsland, on 27 August 1776. As a result, he did not see his first action until the Battle of Harlem Heights on 16 September 1776. After the battle, he was placed in charge of theAmerican forces guarding the shores of New Jersey at Fort Lee. This would lead to hismost costly mistake of the entire war. Hoping for another Bunker Hill, Greene urged hiscommander to hold nearby Fort Washington, a strategic bastion for the Continental Armyon Manhattan Island. Severely outnumbered and outgunned, the garrison of threethousand men fell to the British with little resistance.Afterwards, Greene played a prominent role in conducting the retreat of theContinental Army across New Jersey. He commanded the right wing of Washington’stask force during the Battle of Trenton on 26 December 1776. He also participated in theBattle of Princeton on 3 January 1777. In March, Washington sent Greene to Congressas his emissary to convince them of the pressing needs of the Continental Army.At the Battle of Brandywine on 11 September 1777, Greene led his division fourmiles in under fifty minutes through broken country to set up a defensive line thatallowed Major General John Sullivan’s division to retreat. Then, he closed his lines andheld the British at bay until nightfall which gave the main force time to withdraw fromthe field. At the Battle of Germantown on 4 October 1777, he led the left wing of thearmy.On 2 March 1778, Washington appointed Greene the new Quartermaster General of the Continental Army. The Quartermaster Department was in shambles and he had tolabor long hours just to keep the Army operating. His reaction to his new assignment isbest summed up with the statement,

"No body ever heard of a quarter Master in History."

Washington still consulted him on matters of strategy and tactics, and heparticipated in all councils of war. The next battle that Greene took an active role in wasthe Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778. On 7 June 1780, he commanded the front lineat the engagement of Connecticut Farms in New Jersey. Two weeks later, he led the forcethat repulsed the British at the Battle of Springfield (23 June 1780).Greene resigned as Quartermaster General on 26 July 1780 because he did not agreewith Congress’s new policy of requisitioning supplies from the individual states. In lateSeptember of 1780, he presided over the military court that convicted Major John André,the British officer who was involved in Benedict Arnold's treason, of spying. A monthlater, Washington gave Greene command of West Point. After Major General

HoratioGates

was defeated by the British Army at the Battle of Camden (16 August 1780),Washington appointed Greene the new Southern Commander.After their stunning victory at Camden, the British had undisputed control of thestates of South Carolina and Georgia with a clear path into North Carolina and Virginia.The British commander, Lieutenant General

Charles Earl Cornwallis

established achain of posts in order to secure his lines of communication and rally Loyalist support.Greene would have to fight Cornwallis in a region that was a logistical nightmare. Hisfirst priority as Southern Commander was to rehabilitate an army that was outnumbered,ill-equipped, and demoralized.Greene split his force in the face of a superior enemy by sending a flying army underthe command of Brigadier General

Daniel Morgan

to threaten Cornwallis and bolsterlocal militia support. By separating his army, he was maximizing the limited resources of the land, while keeping the separate units close enough to unite in order to fight. Hewould avoid a major engagement with the British and harass them until he had theadvantage and could go on the offensive. He coordinated his efforts with local patriots

Daniel Morgan

Francis Marion

Andrew Pickens

Thomas Sumter

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such as

Francis Marion

Andrew Pickens

Thomas Sumter

, and Elijah Clarke in

petiteguerre

(partisan operations) against the British.Cornwallis reacted by sending a force under the command of his subordinate,Lieutenant Colonel

Banastre Tarleton

, after Morgan in the hope of catching himbetween the two British forces. When Greene learned of Tarleton’s pursuit, he wrote toMorgan,

"Col. Tarleton is said to be on his way to pay you a visit. I doubt not but hewill have a decent reception and a proper dismission."

The result was the Battle of Cowpens on 17 January 1781. Morgan soundly defeated Tarleton in the greatest patriotvictory of the war in the South, rivaled only by the repulsion of the British forces atCharleston in 1776. Then, Morgan reunited with the main force and the flight to the DanRiver began in earnest. When Greene learned that Cornwallis was in pursuit, heexclaimed,

"Then he is ours!"

The "Race to the Dan" exemplified the superior mobility of the American Army. Ina month’s time, the Americans marched two hundred miles to North Carolina eluding thepursuing British in harsh weather. It also exemplified Greene’s superior use of localgeography and contingency planning. Greene succeeded in escaping the British Armyand forced them to overextend their supply lines in one move.Cornwallis returned southward to recruit additional Loyalist support and supplies,while Greene recrossed the Dan River and trailed him. The two forces met head-on at theBattle of Guilford Courthouse on 15 March 1781. Cornwallis succeeded in drivingGreene from the field, but he suffered severe casualties in a Pyrrhic victory. When theBritish Parliament learned of the battle, Charles James Fox exclaimed,

"Another suchvictory would destroy the British Army."

Weakened, Cornwallis withdrew toWilmington, North Carolina and eventually on to Yorktown, Virginia, where he wasdefeated by a joint Franco-American force.Next, Greene led his army back into South Carolina and began the

'War of thePosts.' Forces under his command along with partisans simultaneously attacked variouspoints in the exposed British line of forts. He led his main army in three moreengagements, the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill (25 April 1781), the Siege of Ninety-Six (22May-19 June 1781), and the Battle of Eutaw Springs (8 September 1781), the bloodiestengagement of the entire war. Although he succeeded in completely destroying Britishauthority in the southern states, he never achieved a single tactical victory. His lack of success in winning a battle is best summed up in his own words,

"We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again."

In only twenty months, Greene succeeded in capturing all of the British posts taking3,500 prisoners and splitting the British Army in half, bottling them up in Charleston andWilmington. He also played a vital role in the re-establishment of civil government inthe South. A major factor in his success was an outstanding group of subordinatesincluding: two Marylanders, Otho Holland Williams and John Eager Howard, twocavalrymen,

William Washington

(second cousin of George Washington) and

HenryLee

(father of General Robert E. Lee), and his Polish engineer,

Thaddeus Kosciuszko

.After the war, Greene moved his family to his new estate, Mulberry Grove, justnorth of Savannah, Georgia. He attempted to settle down to the life of a Southernplanter, while spurning attempts by prominent Georgians to involve him in local politics.He was forced to sell additional property awarded to him by the states of North and SouthCarolina in order to solve severe financial problems caused by the war. Tragically, hedied at the age of forty-four on 19 June 1786 of a stroke, possibly caused byoverexposure to the sun. His remains and those of his son, George Washington Greene,rest beneath a monument in Johnson Square in downtown Savannah. Eventually,Congress would pay off his debt and erect a monument to his memory in the nation'scapital. It will never be known to what great heights he would have risen had he lived alonger life.

Banastre Tarleton

William Washington

Henry Lee

Thaddeus Kosciuszko

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