Nathaniel Greene was born at Potowomut, within the jurisdiction of
Warwick, Rhode Island, on the 6th of June, 1742. His ancestors, of
good English extraction, were among the first settlers on the banks of
Providence River. Having a natural aptitude for study, he spent his
extra earnings for books, which trained and developed his mind, as
physical toil and out-door sports had strengthened his body. In 1770,
being elected to the General Assembly of Rhode Island, he acquitted
himself with credit. Foreseeing the struggle with the mother country,
he began to prepare himself for an active participation by studying the
best military text-books of those times. He married in July, 1774. The
following April, the battle of Lexington rendering the war inevitable,
Rhode Island promptly responded to the call for troops by raising an
army of sixteen hundred men; and in May, 1775, Greene was placed in
command as major-general. He showed the good effects of his former
preparation by the vigilant drill and thorough discipline of the troops
intrusted to his command. By his conduct at the battle of Bunker Hill,
he gained the confidence and esteem of Washington. When the different
bodies of State troops were reorganized into the Continental army,
Greene received a regular commission as brigadier-general on the 22d
of June, 1775; but in acknowledgment of his sterling worth, Congress
promoted him to the rank of major-general on the 9th of August, 1776.
His first regular battle was that at Harlem, when the British, having
taken New York, lay siege to Fort Washington. During the subsequent
retreat of the Americans through the Jerseys, he was the companion and
counsellor of Washington. When defeat was at last changed to victory
by the battle of Trenton, he seized the artillery of the enemy and
cut off their retreat to Princeton. The American army went into
winter-quarters at Valley Forge; and then Greene, yielding to the
urgent entreaties of Washington and of Congress, assumed the arduous
duties of quarter-master-general, which onerous position he held for
two years, with credit to himself, and with inestimable benefit to the
army. Greene presided at the “board of inquiry” convened for the trial
of André. With regret he signed the decree of the court condemning the
young officer to death. The post at West Point left vacant by Arnold’s
treason was given to Greene, who took command Oct. 8, 1780. After the
defeat of Gates at Camden, Greene was intrusted with the command of the
armies of the South, which post he held until the close of the war.
At the conclusion of his military career he established himself on a
plantation in Georgia, and for the first time in many years enjoyed the
opportunity of indulging his love of nature. This tranquil pleasure,
however, was short-lived, for through an unfortunate exposure to a
Southern sun and the exhalations of a Georgia rice-field, he contracted
a malignant fever, from which he died on the 19th of June, 1786, aged
but forty-four years. As a man, he was honorable, trustworthy, and
patriotic; as a soldier, wise, prudent, brave, and unflinching in the
discharge of his duty.