GREENE, Nathanael,
soldier, born in Potoworout, within the jurisdiction of Warwick, Rhode Island, 6
June, 1742; died at Mulberry Grove, Georgia, 19 June, 1786. He was the fifth in
descent from John Greene, a surgeon, who came over in the next company after
Roger Williams, and became an original proprietor in both Providence and
Shawomet. Nathanael was the fourth son in a family of eight boys and one girl,
two being the issue of Nathanael the elder's first marriage, and the others of
the second. The elder Nathanael was a Quaker, exercising on Sunday his gift as a
preacher, and his sons were brought up according to the strictest principles of
that sect. Young Nathanael was trained in common with the other boys to work in
the field, the mill and the forge. Young Greene was of a robust nature, fond of
athletic sports, in which he excelled; but he was also of a studious
disposition. A chance meeting with a young collegian named Giles aroused a
desire for more knowledge than the crude educational materials in vogue in this
Quaker community afforded His father was appealed to, to enlarge his means of
study; and shortly afterward Nathanael, under the guidance of a Scotchman named
Maxwell, began Latin and geometry.
Euclid became an absorbing study, and a copy of this
treatise, purchased with his own earnings, was his almost constant companion on
his daily round of duty. Between 1753 and 1755 he made the acquaintance of
President Stiles, then a clergyman in Newport, and under his guidance acquired a
knowledge of such authors as Locke, Watts, and Swift. The latter was his
literary model, and he shaped his ideas of history upon Ferguson's "
History of Civil Society." About the same time he met Lindley Murray,
the "grammarian of three generations of ungrateful school-boys,"
with whom he had many profitable discussions on the subjects of his
readings.
In 1760 Nathanael took a step that exhibited his independence
of judgment and action. At that time a strong prejudice against inoculation
prevailed, and the practice of it had been forbidden by the assemblies of
Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the latter rejecting it as late as 1772. Greene,
finding the scourge of small-pox raging in New York on one of his visits,
submitted to inoculation, much to the scandal, it is presumed, of his neighbors
and friends. In order to conduct intelligently a lawsuit in which the family had
become involved, he made, in his twentieth year, a thorough study of
Blackstone's " Commentaries" and Jacob's "Law Dictionary."
As the business of the Greene forge, at Coventry, required the constant
attention of one of the partners, Nathanael removed to that place in 1770. In
April, 1765, he had been admitted a freeman in Warwick, by virtue of his
proprietorship of an estate at West Greenwich. Three years later he canvassed
the County for signatures to the association test, and shortly after his removal
to Coventry he sat in the general assembly as a representative from that
place.
The disputes between the colonies and the British government
were commented upon by the young legislator, and so well known were his
sentiments that the royal agents appointed to seek out the offenders in the
burning of the "Gaspe " at once fixed their suspicions upon
him, and for some time he was in danger of being summoned to the court of
inquiry at Newport. He was convinced that war would be the outcome of pending
troubles, and applied himself to the study of military science. From Sharpe's
"Military Guide," Turenne's "Memoirs," Ceasar's "
Commentaries," and Plutarch, he derived that theoretical military
knowledge which he so successfully put into practice in his military career. In
1774 an independent company, recruited from East Greenwich, Warwick, and
Coventry, was formed under the name of the Kentish Guards, and Greene
immediately enrolled himself as a private, after failing of an election to the
office of lieutenant. Even his admission as a private was some time in doubt,
owing to a slight limp in his gait. In securing his military equipment, Greene
showed his customary energy, making a trip to Boston, and not only bringing back
the accoutrements concealed under straw in his wagon, but also having with him a
deserter from one of the British regiments in Boston, whom he had employed to
act as drill-master.
The Quakers looked askance at Greene's interest in military
matters, and a conference resulted in the severance of his formal connection
with that fraternity; but he never lost his attachment for this simple religion.
The news of the battle of Bunker Hill
aroused the Rhode Island assembly, and they voted to raise a brigade of three
regiments to join the forces around Boston, commissioning Greene as
brigadier-general. This contingent joined the American army at Jamaica Plain, on
3 June, 1776, and the young officer at once proceeded with the task of
organizing the undisciplined men in his command. Washington
arrived at Cambridge on 2 July, and upon Greene devolved the duty of welcoming
the commander-in-chief in the name of the soldiers, which task he performed in a
dignified and pleasing manner. During the siege of Boston he was stationed at
Prospect Hill, and in the affair of Dorchester Heights he commanded a brigade.
On the evacuation of Boston he was ordered to Long Island, but during the
disastrous operations in this campaign he lay at the point of death. The
American army made a stand at Harlem in the retreat from Long Island ; but the
critical situation induced Greene, who had been promoted to major general, to
propose to Washington the abandonment of New York, and the occupation of the
Westchester shore from King's Bridge, and the council of war finally approved
the plan. Fort Washington was to be held, to obstruct the passage of the Hudson
; but its downfall soon followed, and Greene, who advised its retention, has
suffered in reputation in consequence.
The question of his responsibility has been the subject of
controversy between Bancroft, the historian, and George W. Greene. Cornwallis
crossed the Hudson on 18 November, 1776, and made a movement to cut off the
American retreat to the Hackensack ; but Greene engaged him at the head of the
stream, and held him until the troops had crossed. The retreat through the
Jerseys now began, and the harassed army brought up at Trenton on 2 December,
where Washington at once set about getting his baggage and stores across the
Delaware. On 25 December the American army, with Greene in command of the left
wing and Sullivan of the right, surprised the Hessian garrison at Trenton, and
gained a complete victory. Greene urged a rapid pursuit of the enemy, but was
overruled by a council of war. The victory, however, was soon followed by a
strategic movement on the weakened garrison at Princeton, and after a sharp
engagement the British retreated to join the main army under Cornwallis.
Greene's conduct and wise counsels throughout the campaign
had commended him to Washington; and when, in March, 1777, the latter found it
necessary to present to congress his views and plans, Greene was selected for
the mission. The "Conway cabal," which in the succeeding winter
assumed dangerous proportions, had already begun its work of discrediting
Washington and Greene with congress, and partly on this account Greene was sent.
He succeeded in having a resolution passed relieving Washington from
subservience to a council of war. But Greene's most important work at this
period was the part he took in the battle of the Brandywine, 11 September,
1777.
The only hope of success for the British in the attempt to
drive Washington from his very strong position at Chadd's and Brinton's fords
was in turning his right flank by a circuitous march of eighteen miles up the
Lancaster road and across the forks of the Brandywine
toward Birmingham meeting-house. The British were safe in trying this, because
their superior force (18,000 against 11,000) enabled them to separate the wings
of their army with little risk. The movement was admirably conducted by
Cornwallis, but he did not succeed in striking the American flank, because
Washington made a new front with his right wing under Sullivan, near Birmingham
meeting-house, so that Sullivan received the attack on his front. Yet, in spite
of this, the superiority of the British in discipline gave them the advantage in
the desperate fight that ensued, and Cornwallis succeeded in pushing Sullivan
obliquely toward the village of Dilworth. If this movement had been completed it
would have cut the American army in two and utterly routed it; but it was foiled
by the generalship of Greene in executing Washington's prompt orders to stop the
dangerous gap.
Greene was in command of the reserve, stationed on a lofty
eminence a little in the rear of Wayne, who
commanded the centre behind Chadd's ford. On receiving Washington's order he
marched his brigade five miles in forty-five minutes, and, connecting with
Sullivan near Dilworth, averted the impending destruction of the army. Wayne had
time to withdraw the centre, and Armstrong the right wing, in good order; and so
the whole army was united at Chester in excellent condition. Careless writers
have sometimes vaguely described the American army as "routed"
at the battle of the Brandywine, and this notion has crept into text-books of
American history. An army cannot properly be said to be "routed "
when it is ready to renew the fight next day.
The best commentary on the battle of the Brandywine is
furnished by the fact that, while it was fought on 11 September, it was not
until the 26th of that month that General Howe
reached Philadelphia. This delay was due to Washington's
skilful maneuvering; but the best of generals cannot maneuver and detain the
enemy with an army that has just been routed. The reason why the Americans were
not routed at the Brandywine is to be found in Greene's memorable double-quick
march to Dilworth, and the admirable manner in which he sustained the
languishing fight at that critical point.
On 26 September, General Howe, having eluded Washington on
the Schuylkill, entered Philadelphia, stationing the bulk of his army at
Germantown, and on 4 October the battle of Germantown was fought. Greene's
division, moving in a circuitous course to attack the front of the British right
wing, delayed by the difficulties of the route and a mistake of his guide, did
not get to the field as early as was planned, and Wayne accidentally occupied
the ground assigned it. When victory seemed imminent an unfortunate mishap
turned the tide, and General Greene again, with wonderful skill, covered the
retreat. The army went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Greene meanwhile
crossing to the west bank of the Delaware to oppose Cornwallis's march for its
occupation ; but he prudently retired on learning the unequal strength and
resources of the opposing forces.
The defective organization and administration of the
quartermaster-general's department had been, from the beginning of the war, a
source of embarrassment to the army; and, at the earnest solicitation of
Washington, Greene accepted, in March, 1778, the office of
quartermaster-general, reserving his right to command on the field of battle. On
18 June the British evacuated Philadelphia and took up the line of march through
the Jerseys. Greene and Hamilton urged
giving them battle, and on 28 June a general attack was made on Clinton's forces
at Monmouth Court-House. General Charles Lee commanded the advanced corps,
Stirling the left, and Greene the right wing of the American forces. Lee, who
had frowned upon the plan of opposing Clinton's march, disgraced himself on the
day of battle by dilatory and disobedient conduct. After the battle, Clinton
continued his retreat to New York, and Washington, marching northward, crossed
the Hudson and encamped in Westchester County. After the battle, Greene, taking
no time for rest, immediately attended to the numerous orders and dispositions
required of him as quartermaster-general.
On the arrival of Count d'Estaing with the French fleet, it
was determined to make a combined attack on Newport. Greene, from local
interest, wished to take part in the expedition, and in August took up his
quarters with one division of the army at Tiverton. The designs of the allies
failed through a variety of mishaps, chief among which was the disablement of
the French fleet by a tremendous gale. Shortly afterward Greene went to
Philadelphia, at the request of the commander-in-chief, to give information of
the late expedition, and the causes of its failure, to congress, and there he
was received with distinguished consideration.
The year 1779 was inactive and uneventful, the Americans held
the line of the Hudson, and the operations of the enemy were confined to burning
defenseless towns on the coasts of Connecticut and Virginia. Greene found
abundant labor in his difficult and annoying duties as quartermaster-general.
The delays of congress in providing for a systematic method of raising supplies
caused the greatest annoyance. The winter of 1780 was one of great suffering to
the Americans for the want of proper shelter and lack of food. A general
defection of the troops was threatened, and Knyphausen,
learning of it, and hoping to deal a decisive blow, hastened from Staten Island,
and on 7 July, 1780, took possession of Elizabethtown, and burned the village of
Connecticut Farms, but was driven back from Springfield to the coast, where he
tarried until Clinton's arrival from the south. Washington had proceeded
northward with his main body, leaving Greene, with Maxwell's and Stark's
brigades, Lee's corps, and the militia, to cover the country and the public
stores.
Clinton attacked Greene at Springfield on 23 June, 1780; but
Greene held him at bay at the Rahway bridges, and, gradually contracting his
front, which had been lengthened to cover the mountain-passes, secured a strong
position back of the town, and there awaited another attack. Clinton's forces,
after setting fire to the town, retreated, and did not halt until they had
reached Staten Island. Greene and his officers were thanked in general orders.
On 17 September, Washington set out for Hartford, for a conference with Rochambeau,
leaving Greene in command of the army. The Americans moved forward to Tappan on
the 19th, and late in the evening of the 25th Greene was apprised, in a few
hurried lines from Hamilton, of Arnold's
treason. The captive Andre arrived at Tappan under
close guard on 28 September, and the following day a board of inquiry, with
Greene as president, was convened for his trial. With tears Greene signed the
decree of the court condemning the young officer to death.
Clinton dispatched three commissioners to argue Andre's case,
and Greene was sent by Washington to confer with them ; but their efforts were
unavailing. It has been asserted, but not confirmed, that Greene cast a deciding
vote in the council against granting Andre's prayer to be shot instead of
hanged. He held that Andre, if punished at all, should receive the punishment
meted to spies according to the laws of war.
In August, 1780, General Greene, annoyed by the inefficiency
of congress in providing supplies, and rightly suspecting an intention on its
part of interfering with him in the discharge of his duties as
quartermaster-general, resigned that office. Washington's enemies in congress
chose to consider this action as a mark of disrespect for that body, and
attempted unsuccessfully to drive him from the army. The post at West Point,
left vacant by Arnold's treason, was confided to Greene, who assumed the command
on 8 October, 1780.
Gates's failure in the
southern campaign compelled his recall in August, and by common consent Greene
was looked upon as the fittest man to retrieve the fortunes of the southern
army. Washington, empowered by congress, wrote on 14 October, asking Greene to
take Gates's late command. The task he found before him on taking command at
Charlotte, 2 December 1780, was formidable enough to daunt the boldest spirit.
In front of him was an army of 3,224 men, abundantly clothed and fed, well
disciplined, elated with victory, and led by an able general. To oppose this
force, he had an army of 2,307 men, of whom 1,482 were present and fit for duty,
547 were absent on command, and 128 were detached on extra service, half fed,
scantily clothed, cast down by defeat, and many of them defiant of all
discipline. Furthermore, the country was infested with Tories. Recognizing the
impossibility of facing Cornwallis with such inferior numbers, Greene resolved
to divide his forces, by which means he might not only secure an abundant supply
of food, but could keep the enemy within narrower bounds, cut them off from the
supplies of the upper country, revive the drooping spirits of the inhabitants,
threaten the posts and communications of the enemy, and compel him to suspend
his threatened invasion of North Carolina.
Morgan was detached with the famous Maryland brigade, and
Colonel Washington's regiment of light dragoons, to take up a position near the
confluence of the Pacolet and Broad rivers, in the hope of threatening his
adversary's left flank. With the other division, Greene, after a laborious march
through a barren country, took post at Hick's creek on the Pedee, near the South
Carolina line. Tarleton, who was hastening forward from the main army,
meditating a decisive blow at his despised opponents, attacked Morgan at the
Cowpens, on 17 January 1781, and, after a hard-fought battle, was utterly
routed, losing over 300 men killed and wounded, with about 500 prisoners, out of
a total force of 1,100.
Cornwallis was infuriated by this disaster, and, ridding
himself of his heavy luggage and whatever might impede his progress, at once set
out in active pursuit of Morgan, in a most brilliant march Greene effected a
junction of the two divisions of his army at Guilford Court House on 9 February,
1781. He had expected here to meet re-enforcements from Virginia, but, as they
had not yet arrived, he thought it best to retreat toward them and put the broad
stream of the Dan between himself and the enemy. By practicing every expedient
his fertile mind could devise, he succeeded in getting across the River, without
loss of men, baggage, or stores. Cornwallis, who had been close upon his heels
for more than 200 miles, finding his troops fatigued and dispirited by their
fruitless march, prudently retired to Hillsborough. Presently Greene received
his re-enforcement, and thereupon, crossing the Dan, came to battle with
Cornwallis at Guilford Court-House, 15
March.
Although this battle was a tactical success for the British,
the Americans nevertheless gained a decisive strategic advantage, for the enemy,
being too much shattered to continue the contest, retired to Wilmington, from
which point he moved into Virginia to effect a junction with the forces of
General Phillips. Greene immediately turned his face southward, leaving
Cornwallis to proceed unmolested into Virginia. Greene's reasons for this move
were given to Washington in a letter on 29 March, as follows : "I am
determined to carry the war immediately into South Carolina. The enemy will be
obliged to follow us, or give up the posts in that state."
If the former took place, it would take the war out of the
devastated state of North Carolina, and give the inhabitants time to recuperate;
and, in the event of leaving the posts in South Carolina to fall, the enemy
would lose far more than they could gain in Virginia. The most important
strategic post in South Carolina was Camden, which stood at the intersection of
the principal roads leading to the north and west with those leading down to the
seaboard. On 20 April the American army established itself in a strong position
at Hobkirk's Hill, near Camden, and on the 25th it was assaulted there by the
British under Lord Rawdon. This was exactly the move for which Greene had been
preparing. The assault ought to have resulted in the total ruin of the British
army; but, through an accidental misunderstanding of orders, Greene's very best
men in the Maryland brigade behaved badly, and he was forced to abandon his
position. The defeat, however, did not prevent his reaping, as he invariably did
all the fruits of victory. He had already sent Marion and Lee to take Fort
Watson, and thereby cut Rawdon's communications with the coast. This operation,
admirably planned and brilliantly successful, obliged Rawdon to abandon Camden
and fall back toward Charleston, and from this title Greene had the game
entirely in his own hands.
During May and June he re-conquered all the back country of
South Carolina and Georgia, capturing Port Motte, Fort Granby, Orangeburg, and
Augusta, with all their garrisons. After a sanguinary siege of twenty-eight
days, he forced the British to evacuate Fort Ninety-Six, and thus give up their
last hold upon the interior. Greene's army had now been incessantly in motion
for seven months. After a rest of about six weeks in a secure position on the
high hills of Santee, he met the British army, in the command of which Rawdon
had been succeeded by Stuart, in a decisive action at Eutaw
Springs. In the morning the British were driven off the field by a superb
charge upon their left flank; but, after retreating some distance in disorder,
they rallied in a strong position, protected by a brick house and palisaded
garden, and succeeded in remaining there during the afternoon, but only because
Greene desisted from further attack until the cool of the evening. For thus
holding their second position a few hours, albeit on sufferance, the British
absurdly claimed a victory, and the error has been repeated by American writers
who ought to know better. At nightfall the British retreated, as Greene saw they
must, and he now renewed his attack. The enemy were chased nearly thirty miles
by Marion and Lee, and there was a wholesale capture of prisoners. Of the 2,300
men with whom Stuart had gone into the battle, scarcely more than 1,000 reached
Charleston, where they remained for the next fourteen months, shut up under the
shelter of their fleet.
The battle of Eutaw Springs was a decisive and final victory
for the Americans in South Carolina. Congress testified its appreciation of
Greene's brilliant conduct by a gold medal and a vote of thanks. Little more was
done till the next July, when Savannah was taken by Wayne. On 14 December 1782,
Greene marched into Charleston at the head of his army, and the next summer,
when the army was disbanded, he journeyed homeward, stopping at Philadelphia,
where he was greeted by enthusiastic crowds and treated with high consideration
by the congress that had come so near depriving the country of his
services.
In the autumn of 1785 he removed to a plantation at Mulberry
Grove, which had been presented to him by the state of Georgia. Although his
fortune was impaired by the war, and he was compelled to bear a heavy pecuniary
responsibility incurred through the dishonesty of an army contractor for whom he
had become security while quartermaster-general, his life on his plantation was
very happy in the society of his charming wife and genial friends. His death, at
the age of forty-four, was caused by sunstroke.
In a speech before the Society of the Cincinnati, Alexander
Hamilton said that Greene's qualifications for statesmanship were not less
remarkable than his military ability, which was of the highest order. His series
of campaigns from December, 1780, to September, 1781, will bear comparison with
the best work of Turenne or Wellington. What he might have done on a greater
scale and with more ample resources, it is, of course, impossible to say; but
the intellectual qualities that he showed were precisely those that have won
distinction for the foremost strategists of modern times. It would be difficult
to praise too highly the superb maneuvering that drew Cornwallis 200 miles from
his base, forced a battle on him at Guilford under such circumstances that
victory proved hardly less fatal to him than defeat, and thus turned him off
into Virginia, leaving Greene's hands free to drive Rawdon from Camden and re-conquer
South Carolina.
Congress voted that a monument to Greene be raised at the
seat of government; but more than ninety years elapsed before the resolve was
fulfilled by placing an equestrian statue, from the hand of Henry Kirke Brown,
in Washington. A monument, dedicated to Greene and Pulaski jointly, stands in a
public square in Savannah.
Greene married, 20 July, 1774, Miss Catherine Littlefield,
niece of the wife of the governor of Rhode Island, the Catherine Ray of
Franklin's letters, and by her he had two sons and three daughters. The
authoritative life of the great general is by his grandson, George Washington
Greene (3 vols., 8vo, New York, 1867-'71). The sketch previously published by
the same author in Sparks's "Library of American Biography" was
compiled from printed sources, not from original documents. The controversy
between George Bancroft and George W. Greene, occasioned by some remarks in
Bancroft's history, was carried on in the pages of the "North American
Review " and the "Historical Magazine." The letters
connected with this controversy are published in the second volume of Greene's
life, which also contains numerous extracts from the general's private
correspondence. The addresses on the presentation of the statue of General
Greene were published by the government at Washington in 1870, in a pamphlet of
eight pages. A selection from his dispatches relating to the southern campaign
is preserved in two folio volumes in the state department. Some of his letters
may be found in Force's "Archives," and others in Sparks's "Correspondence
of the American Revolution" ; but the bulk of his correspondence still
remains in manuscript. Mr. Greene's intention, announced in 1870, of publishing
all his grandfather's papers in a work of several volumes, was never carried
out.
--His grandson, George Washington Greene, author, born in
East Greenwich, Rhode Island, 8 April, 1811; died there, 2 February, 1883,
entered Brown University, but left before graduation on account of failing
health. From 1825 till 1847 he resided in Europe, and in 1837 he was appointed
United States consul at Rome. On his return to this country in 1848 he was
appointed professor of modern languages at Brown. In 1852 he removed to New
York, and devoted himself to teaching, and writing historical and other articles
for periodicals. In 1853 he edited Addison's works, with copious notes (6 vols.,
New York). He took up his residence at his native place in 1865, and soon
afterward was chosen to represent the town in the legislature. He made speeches
in 1867 and 1869 on the ratification of the 14th and 15th amendments to the
constitution of the United States. In 1872 he was chosen professor of American
history at Cornell. His published works include, besides two text-books of
botany, one of French grammar, and several addresses: "Historical
Studies" (New York, 1850); "History and Geography of the Middle
Ages" (1851) ; "Biographical Studies" (1860);" Historical
View of the American Revolution "(Boston, 1865) ; "Nathanael Greene:
an Examination of the Ninth Volume of Brancroft's History" (1866) ; a life
of General Nathanael Greene in Sparks's "American Biography," and a
more extended one, published separately (3 vols., New York, 1867-'71); "The
German Element in the War of American Independence" (1876) ; and a
"Short. History of Rhode Island" (Providence, 1877)
Nathanael's nephew, Albert Collins Greene, United States
senator, born in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, 15 April, 1791 ; died in
Providence, 8 January 1863, was the son of Perry Greene. He received an academic
education, and then studied law in New York City, where he was admitted to the
bar. Subsequently he returned to Rhode Island, and there practiced his
profession. In 1815 he was elected to the lower branch of the state legislature,
in the year following was chosen brigadier-general of the militia, and later
major general. He was again elected to the legislature, and held office from
1822 till 1S25, being speaker during the last year. From 1825 till 1843 he was
attorney general of Rhode Island, then for two years a member of the state
senate, when he was elected as a Whig to the United States senate, serving from
1 December 1845, till 3 March, 1851. Subsequently he served for a single term in
each branch of the legislature, and finally retired in 1857.
