Nathanael Greene

Early life and education

Greene was born in 1742 on Forge Farm at Potowomut in the township of Warwick, Rhode Island, which was then part of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in British America. He was the second son of Mary Mott and Nathanael Greene Sr., a prosperous Quaker merchant and farmer. Greene was descended from John Greene and Samuel Gorton, both of whom were founding settlers of Warwick. Greene had two older half-brothers from his father's first marriage and was one of six children born to Nathanael and Mary. Due to religious beliefs, Greene's father discouraged book learning, as well as dancing and other activities. Nonetheless, Greene convinced his father to hire a tutor, and he studied mathematics, the classics, law, and various works of the Age of Enlightenment. At some point during his childhood, Greene gained a slight limp that would remain with him for the rest of his life.

In 1770, Greene moved to Coventry, Rhode Island, to take charge of the family-owned foundry, and he built a house in Coventry called Spell Hall. Later in the year, Greene and his brothers inherited the family business after their father's death. Greene began to assemble a large library that included military histories by authors like Julius Caesar, Frederick the Great, and Maurice de Saxe.

Family

In July 1774, Greene married the nineteen-year-old Catharine Littlefield, a niece by marriage of his distant cousin, William Greene, an influential political leader in Rhode Island. The same year, one of Greene's younger brothers married a daughter of Samuel Ward, a prominent Rhode Island politician who became an important political ally until his death in 1776. Greene and Catherine's first child was born in 1776, and they had six more children between 1777 and 1786.

American Revolutionary War

Prelude to war

After the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the British parliament began imposing new policies designed to raise revenue from British America for a war which colonists had played a pivotal role in instigating. After British official William Dudington seized a vessel owned by Greene and his brothers, Greene filed an ultimately successful lawsuit against Dudington for damages. While the lawsuit was pending, Dudington's vessel was torched by a Rhode Island mob in what became known as the Gaspee Affair. In the aftermath of the Gaspee Affair, Greene became increasingly alienated from the British. At the same time, Greene drifted away from his father's Quaker faith, and he was suspended from Quaker meetings in July 1773. In 1774, after the passage of measures that colonials derided as the "Intolerable Acts", Greene helped organize a state militia unit known as the Kentish Guards. Because of his limp, Greene was not selected as an officer in the militia.

Commander under Washington

The American Revolutionary War broke out with the April 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord. In early May, the legislature of Rhode Island established the Rhode Island Army of Observation and appointed Greene to command it. Greene's army marched to Boston, where other colonial forces were laying siege to a British garrison. He missed the June 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill because he was visiting Rhode Island at the time, but he returned almost immediately after the battle and was impressed by the performance of colonial forces. That same month, the Second Continental Congress established the Continental Army and appointed George Washington to command all colonial forces. In addition to Washington, Congress appointed sixteen generals, and Greene was appointed as a brigadier general in the Continental Army. Washington took command of the Siege of Boston in July 1775, bringing with him generals such as Charles Lee, Horatio Gates, and Thomas Mifflin. Washington organized the Continental Army into three divisions, each consisting of regiments from different colonies, and Greene was given command of a brigade consisting of seven regiments. The Siege of Boston continued until March 1776, when British forces evacuated from the city. After the end of the siege, Greene briefly served as the commander of military forces in Boston, but he rejoined Washington's army in April 1776.

Washington established his headquarters in Manhattan, and Greene was tasked with preparing for the invasion of nearby Long Island. While he focused on building up fortifications in Brooklyn, Greene befriended General Henry Knox and struck up a correspondence with John Adams. He was also, along with several other individuals, promoted to major general by an act of Congress. Because of a severe fever, he did not take part in the Battle of Long Island, which ended with an American retreat from Long Island. After the battle, Greene urged Washington to raze Manhattan so that it would not fall into the hands of the British, but Congress forbade Washington from doing so. Unable to raze Manhattan, Washington initially wanted to fortify the city, but Greene joined with several officers in convincing Washington that the city was indefensible. During the withdrawal from Manhattan, Greene saw combat for the first time in the Battle of Harlem Heights, a minor British defeat that nonetheless represented one of the first American victories in the war.

After the Battle of Harlem Heights, Washington placed Greene in command of both Fort Constitution (later known as Fort Lee), which was on New Jersey side of the Hudson River, and Fort Washington, which was across the river from Fort Constitution. While in command of Fort Lee, Greene established supply depots in New Jersey along a potential line of retreat; these would later prove to be valuable resources for the Continental Army. Washington suggested to Greene that he remove the garrison from Fort Washington due to its vulnerability to a British attack, but he ultimately deferred to Greene's decision to continue to station soldiers there. In the subsequent Battle of Fort Washington, fought in November 1776, the British captured the Fort Washington and its 3,000-man garrison. Greene was subjected to heavy criticism in the aftermath of the battle, but Washington declined to relieve Greene from command. Shortly after the Battle of Fort Washington, a British force under General Cornwallis captured Fort Lee, and the Continental Army began a retreat across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. Greene commanded part of Washington's army in the December 1776 Battle of Trenton and the January 1777 Battle of Princeton, both of which were victories for the Continental Army.

Command in the South

By October 1780, the Continental Army had suffered several devastating defeats in the South under the command of Benjamin Lincoln and Horatio Gates, leaving the United States at a major disadvantage in the Southern theater of the war. On October 14, 1780, Washington, acting on the authorization of Congress, appointed Greene as the commander of the Southern Department of the Continental Army. By the time he took command, the British were in control of key portions of Georgia and South Carolina, and the governments of the Southern states were unable to provide much support to the Continental Army. Greene would face a 6,000-man British army led by General Cornwallis and cavalry commander Banastre Tarleton, as well as numerous Loyalist militias that worked with the British. Outnumbered and under-supplied, Greene settled on a strategy of guerrilla warfare rather than pitched battles in order to prevent the advance of the British into North Carolina and Virginia. His strategy would heavily depend on riverboats and cavalry to outmaneuver and harass British forces. Among Greene's key subordinates in the Southern campaign were his second-in-command, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, cavalry commander Henry Lee, the Marquis de Lafayette, Daniel Morgan, and Francis Marion.

While en route to the Southern theater, Greene learned of the October 1780 American victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain, which postponed Cornwallis's planned advance into North Carolina. Upon arriving in Charlotte, North Carolina, in December 1780, Greene went against conventional military strategy by dividing his forces; he would lead the main American force southeast, while Morgan would lead a smaller detachment to the southwest. Cornwallis responded by dividing his own forces, marching the main detachment against Greene while Tarleton led a force against Morgan. In the January 1781 Battle of Cowpens, Morgan led Continental troops to a major victory that resulted in the near-total destruction of Tarleton's force. After the battle, Cornwallis set off in pursuit of Morgan, burning some of his own supplies in order to speed up his army's movement. Greene linked up with Morgan and retreated into North Carolina, purposely forcing Cornwallis away from British supply lines. On February 9, in consultation with Morgan and other top officers, Greene decided to continue the retreat north, heading toward the Dan River at the North Carolina-Virginia border.

With the British in close pursuit, Greene divided his forces, leading the main contingent north while sending a smaller group under Colonel Otho Williams to harass British forces. Greene's force outpaced the British and crossed the Dan River on February 14. Greene's contemporaries were impressed by the speed and efficiency of the retreat through difficult territory; Alexander Hamilton wrote that it was a "masterpiece of military skill and exertion." Unwilling to travel even farther from his supply lines, General Cornwallis led his army south to Hillsborough, North Carolina. On February 22, Greene's force crossed back over the Dan River to challenge Cornwallis in North Carolina.

Later life and death

After resigning his commission, Greene returned to Newport. Facing a large amount of debt, he relocated to the South to focus on the slave plantations he had been awarded during the war, and he made his home at the Mulberry Grove Plantation outside of Savannah. In 1784, Greene declined appointment to a commission tasked with negotiating treaties with Native Americans, but he agreed to attend the first meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati. He then became an original member with the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati.

Refusal of duel with Senator James Gunn

In 1785, Georgia Senator James Gunn challenged Nathanael Greene to a duel on two occasions. Gunn felt that Greene had disparaged him a few years earlier, in 1782, when the American Revolution was ending. Greene had attempted to keep his war horses for his personal use. Gunn sold his war horses in return for lesser horses and a slave and Greene submitted the incident to a Military Court of Inquiry. The Military Court did not find any issues with Gunn for the incident, but Greene was still not pleased and submitted the incident to Congress, which did condemn Gunn.

In February 1785, when Greene was in Savannah inspecting his plantation, Gunn, who also lived in Savannah, sent a threatening letter to Greene. Greene refused to engage in an argument with Gunn. Still not being satisfied, Gunn challenged Greene to a formal duel on another plantation in Savannah, which challenge was delivered by Major Benjamin Fishbourn and Colonel James Jackson (and later General), who was another Georgia politician.

On March 2, 1785, Greene declined the duel, on the advice of General Anthony Wayne, stating that he would "never establish a precedent for subjecting superior officers to the call of inferior officers for what the former have done in the execution of their public duty." Greene stated to Colonel Jackson that he could have had Gunn court martialed and had his commissions stricken, but he did not want to degrade Gunn. Nevertheless, the decision to decline the duel weighed on Greene's conscience and he wrote to George Washington to make sure his reputation was intact. Very few men declined challenges to a duel back then as it would often label them as a coward. In a May 20, 1785 letter, Washington assured him that his reputation was intact and he had nothing to worry about. Gunn did suffer some slight damage as he was not elected back to the Senate in 1786 (although he was re-elected in 1787 and the successive years after). Even with Washington's assurances, Greene would always carry pistols in case he ran into Gunn (as they both lived in the Savannah area).

Death

A year later, on June 13, 1786, Greene fell ill due to sunstroke during their return home from Savannah, with his wife, having stopped to visit William Gibbons. They had been guests of Major Nathaniel Pendleton the previous night. Gibbons and Green walked around the former's rice field to view the crop. The sun was "intensely hot," but Greene felt he was accustomed to such temperatures, having been a soldier. On their final leg home, Greene complained of a severe pain in his head. On June 15, his forehead was inflamed and swollen. On advice from Major Pendleton, who had come to visit, Greene's wife arranged for a doctor to visit the next morning. Over June 17 and 18, his condition worsened, and it was decided to blister Greene's temples in order to relieve the blood pressure in his head. The treatment came too late, however, and Greene "lapsed into a total stupor, from which he never revived." Greene died at Mulberry Grove early in the morning of June 19, aged 43. General Anthony Wayne, whose plantation was nearby, was present at Greene's death.

The official cause of death was sunstroke. (Some have posited that Greene rode through the Georgia heat because he was afraid that Gunn would attack him after the sun went down.)

The day after Greene's death, his body was transported by water to Pendleton's home, which occupied the corner of Bay Street at Barnard Street in Savannah. The funeral procession to the city's Colonial Park Cemetery began around 5.00 PM. For over a century, Greene's remains were interred in the Graham Vault, alongside John Maitland, his arch-rival in the conflict. On November 14, 1902, through the efforts of Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati President Asa Bird Gardiner, his remains were moved to a monument in Johnson Square in Savannah. Greene Square, about a third of a mile southeast of Johnson Square, was named for him upon its platting in 1799.

Greene was in debt. In 1782 and 1783, he had difficulty supplying his troops in Charleston with clothing and provisions. He contracted with Banks & Co to furnish supplies but was compelled to put his name to the bond for the supplies. An order was given by Greene to Robert Morris for payment of the amount; this was paid by the Government of the United States to the contractor, who did not use it to pay the debt and left the bond unpaid. Greene paid the debt himself, and in 1791, his executrix petitioned Congress for relief. Greene had obtained some security from a partner of Banks & Co named Ferrie on a mortgage or lien on a tract of land, but the land was liable to a prior mortgage of £1,000 sterling to an Englishman named Murray. In 1788, the mortgagor in England filed a bill to foreclose on the mortgage, while Greene's family instituted proceedings against Ferrie, who was entitled to a reversionary interest in the land. The court ordered the land be sold and the sale proceeds to be first used to extinguish the mortgage, with the balance to go to representatives of General Greene. The land was sold, and after the £1,000 mortgage had been paid off, the residue of £2,400 was to go Greene's representatives. However, the purchaser never took title and never paid the money on the grounds that the title was in dispute. In 1792, a Relief Act was passed by Congress for General Greene which was based upon the decree of the land sale; the sum of which he was entitled to (£2,400) was exempted out of the indemnity allowed him at that time, of which his heirs received $2,000 (~$61,965 in 2024). In 1830, the administrators of Murray filed a bill of Chancery against the land; however, his agent who had bought the land had not taken title to it, on the grounds that there was a dispute about the land. The claim to the title was not resolved, and the money was never paid. Meanwhile, from 1789 to 1840, the plantation had gone to ruin; under the original decree, the land, instead of bringing the sum it had first bought, was sold for only $13,000. This left Greene's representatives only about $2,000 instead of £2,400. In 1840, they applied to Congress for the difference between the two sums. In 1854, the case was put to Congress for the relief of Phineas Nightingale, who was the administrator of the deceased General Greene.

Legacy

Historical reputation

Defense analyst Robert Killebrew writes that Greene was "regarded by peers and historians as the second-best American general" in the Revolutionary War, after Washington. The historian Russell Weigley believed that "Greene's outstanding characteristic as a strategist was his ability to weave the maraudings of partisan raiders into a coherent pattern, coordinating them with the maneuvers of a field army otherwise too weak to accomplish much, and making the combination a deadly one.... [He] remains alone as an American master developing a strategy of unconventional war." Historian Curtis F. Morgan Jr. describes Greene as Washington's "most trusted military subordinate." According to Golway, "on at least two occasions, fellow officers and politicians described Greene... as the man Washington had designated to succeed him if he were killed or captured." He was also respected by his opponents; Cornwallis wrote that Greene was "as dangerous as Washington. He is vigilant, enterprising, and full of resources–there is but little hope of gaining an advantage over him." Alexander Hamilton wrote that Greene's death deprived the country of a "universal and pervading genius which qualified him not less for the Senate than for the field." Killebrew argues that Greene was the "most underrated general" in American history.

Memorials

His statue, along with that of Roger Williams, represents the state of Rhode Island in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol. Washington, D.C., also hosts a bronze equestrian statue of Greene in Stanton Park. A large oil portrait of Nathanael Greene hangs in the State Room in the Rhode Island State House, and a statue stands outside the building's south facade. A cenotaph to him stands in the Old Forge Burial Ground in Warwick. Greene is also memorialized by statues in or near Philadelphia, Valley Forge National Historical Park, Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and Greenville, South Carolina. The Nathanael Greene Monument in Savannah, Georgia, serves as his burial place.

Numerous places and things have been named after Greene across the United States. Fourteen counties are named for Greene, the most populous of which is Greene County, Missouri. Municipalities named for Greene include Greensboro, North Carolina; Greensboro, Georgia; Greensburg, Pennsylvania; Greenville, North Carolina; Greenville, South Carolina; Greeneville, Tennessee; and Greensboro, Pennsylvania. Other things named for Greene include Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn and several schools. Several ships have been named for Greene, including the USRC General Green, the USS General Greene, the USS Nathanael Greene, and the USAV MGen Nathanael Greene.

The Nathanael Greene Homestead in Coventry, Rhode Island, features Spell Hall, which was General Greene's home, built in 1774. Greene commissioned cabinetmaker Thomas Spencer to build a desk and bookcase, likely to be put in this new home. The desk and bookcase is now at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. It was built in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, in the Chippendale Style. An inscription written in graphite on an interior drawer says that the desk originally belonged to Nathanael Greene.

Mulberry Grove Plantation

Mulberry Grove was abandoned after the Revolutionary War and, on April 18, 1782, the State of Georgia bought it for General Greene as a reward for his service during the war.

In 1793, seven years after Greene's death, Eli Whitney produced the cotton gin at Mulberry Grove. Whitney was the tutor to Greene's children. A large ginning machine was built on the plantation in 1794, the foundation of which is still there.

The Mulberry Grove Site is on the National Register of Historic Places.