NATHANAEL GREENE

Warwick, Rhode Island
August 7, 1742−June 19, 1786
You Don’t Need to Win a Battle to Win a War

If there was a military science book available in Coventry, Rhode Island, in the 1750s, Nathanael Greene read it. The fact that he gained most of his military training through books rather than practical experience set him apart from most other military leaders in the Revolutionary War. However he acquired it, his military knowledge paid off later when he became one of George Washington’s most trusted generals, capping a meteoric rise for the former member of the Rhode Island General Assembly and militiaman in a local company called the Kentish Guards.

On-the-Job Training

Greene was one of four Rhode Islanders to rush to Boston to offer his services after the battles at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Shortly thereafter, the Rhode Island General Assembly authorized a force of 1,600 troops to travel to Massachusetts and appointed Greene to lead them. The Assembly was taking a chance. Greene’s military experience to that point amounted to what he had learned from books in his large personal library and a bit of training with the Kentish Guards. That proved to be enough.

When Washington arrived in Boston to take command of the American troops, he and Greene bonded immediately. Their friendship and close working relationship contributed significantly to the Americans’ ultimate military victory.

Washington and Greene took their war on the road and fought wherever they were needed following the successful conclusion to the siege of Boston. Where Washington went, Greene was sure to follow.

REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS

Greene had a unique perspective on serving his country as a soldier. Early in the war many patriots were willing to serve in their local areas. Once the army moved to a different locale they went home. Greene was not among them. He theorized that patriots’ unwillingness to travel with the army would prevent a military victory.

Next Stop, New York

In 1776, Greene led troops during the battles at Long Island, New York City, and Princeton, New Jersey. On July 1, 1776, his troops were under great pressure on Long Island where British army units were massing to drive them away. Washington dispatched 500 men to reinforce him. Unfortunately, Greene became ill and missed the rest of the battle. He recovered in time to suffer severe anguish over the loss of Fort Washington in the Battle of New York.

FEDERAL FACTS

The Americans were desperate for supplies in 1776. In typical “good news, bad news” fashion, while Greene was calling for reinforcements, Washington’s aide-de-camp, Samuel Blachley Webb, noted in his diary: “We have also received intelligence that our cruisers on the back of Long Island have taken and carried in one of the enemie’s [sic] fleet laden with intrenching [sic] tools.” At least Greene and his reinforcements could dig in for the battle, even if they had no hopes of winning it.

There were better days ahead for him, but not always on the battlefield. Before his next major assignment after the defeat at New York, and a largely unsuccessful year on the battlefields in 1777, Greene had to help save Washington’s job. A cabal of politicians and jealous officers formed a plot in late 1777 aimed at replacing Washington as commander in chief and ousting Greene because of his loyalty to the general. The loosely organized plot never came to fruition, due in part to Greene’s refusal to support any attempts to denigrate Washington.

The Long Winter

When the Continental Army went into winter quarters at Valley Forge in 1777−78, it was woefully short of supplies. To remedy the shortage, effective March 24, 1778, Washington named Greene as the army’s quartermaster, whose job it was to make sure the troops were supplied with food, clothing, quarters, and equipment. Greene accepted the position reluctantly. Nevertheless, he performed the job admirably after extracting a promise from Washington that he would be in command of troops when needed.

True to his word, Washington assigned Greene to command troops at the June 28, 1778, battle at Monmouth, New Jersey. He also named Greene commanding officer at West Point, a post Benedict Arnold had vacated.

REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS

Greene was a fair man. Once André admitted that he was a spy, the Americans had little choice but to hang him for his treachery. However, Greene met with the British General James Robertson after the sentence was pronounced to listen to arguments to save André’s life. He considered them carefully, but ultimately rejected them. André was hanged.

Greene arrived at West Point shortly after John André’s and Benedict Arnold’s plot to turn the site over to the British was revealed. He stayed at West Point long enough to strengthen its defenses and chair the commission to try André. Then he was reassigned to a new theater.

Greene Heads South

As 1780 neared, the Americans needed a talented, aggressive army commander in the Deep South, where the British had won a series of significant victories in 1779. General Horatio Gates was not up to the task. Washington sent Greene to replace him.

Quotations to Live (and Die) By!

“WHAT I HAVE BEEN DREADING HAS COME TO PASS. HIS EXCELLENCY GENERAL WASHINGTON HAS APPOINTED ME TO COMMAND OF THE SOUTHERN ARMY… THIS IS SO FOREIGN FROM MY WISHES THAT I AM DISTRESSED EXCEEDINGLY… HOW UNFRIENDLY WAR IS TO DOMESTIC HAPPINESS!”

—NATHANAEL GREENE IN AN OCTOBER 1780 LETTER TO HIS WIFE CATHERINE

Greene arrived at Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 2, 1780. Due to his perennial shortage of men and supplies, he played cat-and-mouse with the British army for several months. He finally lured them into a battle at Guilford Court House on March 14, 1781. The Americans did not win the battle, but they damaged the British considerably. The British sustained 532 casualties, considerably more than the American total of 365.

Greene then began a systematic withdrawal across South Carolina that further weakened the British, who were getting farther and farther away from their supply sources as they followed him.

The British commander, General Cornwallis, fell into Greene’s trap. The two sides met again in battle at Hobkirk’s Hill, Ninety Six, Eutaw Springs—always places of Greene’s choosing. Finally, after the battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781, Cornwallis realized the futility of his chase. Greene had won the war without winning a battle. Greene left South Carolina in August 1783, secure in the knowledge that he had been instrumental in securing independence for the United States.

REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS

Greene did not leave the South empty-handed. The North Carolina legislature gave him 5,000 guineas, and Georgia presented him with 24,000 acres of prime real estate—and a place to be buried.

Back to Georgia

Once the war ended, Greene returned to Rhode Island, which no longer held the fascination it once had for him. He had some valuable land in Georgia, so he moved the family there in late 1785. Life was idyllic for them.

Sadly, the beauty was not to last. While visiting a fellow planter in early June 1786, Greene stayed out in the sun too long. He became feverish and died a few days later. The country went into mourning for the man who had stayed so loyal to George Washington and his country throughout the war—and can truly be credited with helping to save both.