Nathanael Greene

Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 (N.S.) – June 19, 1786), was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer.

Command in the South

On October 14, 1780, he succeeded General Gates as Commander-in-Chief of the Southern army, and took command at Charlotte, N.C. on December 2. The army was weak and badly equipped and was opposed by a superior force under Cornwallis. Greene decided to divide his own troops, thus forcing the division of the British as well, and creating the possibility of a strategic interplay of forces. This strategy led to General Daniel Morgan's victory of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, and to the battle at Guilford Court House, N.C. (March 15), in which after having weakened the British troops by continual movements, and drawn in reinforcements for his own army, Greene was defeated, but inflicted a great loss of men to Cornwallis. Three days after this battle, Cornwallis withdrew toward Wilmington. Greene's generalship and judgment were again conspicuously illustrated in the next few weeks, in which he allowed Cornwallis to march north to Virginia and himself turned swiftly to the reconquest of the inner country of South Carolina. This he achieved by the end of June, in spite of a reverse sustained at Lord Rawdon's hands at Hobkirk's Hill (2 miles north of Camden) on April 25. This action forced the British to the coast.

Related Topics:
October 14 - 1780 - Gates - Charlotte, N.C. - Cornwallis - Daniel Morgan - Cowpens - January 17 - 1781 - Battle at Guilford Court House, N.C. - Wilmington - Virginia - Lord Rawdon - Hobkirk's Hill - Camden

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Greene then gave his forces a six weeks' rest on the High Hills of the Santee River, and on September 8, with 2,600 men, engaged the British under Lieutenant Colonel James Stuart at Eutaw Springs. The battle, although tactically a draw, so weakened the British that they withdrew to Charleston, where Greene penned them during the remaining months of the war. Greene's Southern campaign showed remarkable strategic features. He excelled in dividing, eluding and tiring his opponent by long marches, and in actual conflict forcing him to pay heavily for a temporary advantage a price that he could not afford. He was greatly assisted by able subordinates, including the Polish engineer, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the brilliant cavalry captains, Henry ("Light-Horse Harry") Lee and William Washington, and the partisan leaders, Thomas Sumter and Francis Marion.

Related Topics:
Santee - James Stuart - Eutaw Springs - Charleston - Tadeusz Kosciuszko - Henry ("Light-Horse Harry") Lee - William Washington - Thomas Sumter - Francis Marion

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South Carolina and Georgia voted Greene liberal grants of lands and money, including an estate, Boone's Barony, south of Edisto in Bamberg County. This he sold to meet bills for the rations of his Southern army. On his Georgia estate, Mulberry Grove, 14 miles above Savannah, he settled in 1785, after twice refusing the post of Secretary of War. He died there on June 19, 1786 of sunstroke.

Related Topics:
Georgia - Edisto - Bamberg County - Savannah - 1785 - Secretary of War - June 19 - 1786

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Greene was a singularly able, and like other prominent generals on the American side, a self-trained soldier. He was second only to Washington among the officers of the American army in military ability. Like Washington, he had the great gift of using small means to the utmost advantage. His attitude towards the British was humane and even kindly: he even generously defended Gates, who had repeatedly intrigued against him, when Gates's conduct of the campaign in the South was criticized.

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