Nathaniel Greene, a major-general in the American army, was born, May
22, 1742, near the town of Warwick in Rhode Island. His father was an
anchor smith, and, at the same time, a Quaker preacher, whose
ignorance, combined with the fanaticism of the times, made him pay
little attention to the worldly learning of his children, though he
was very careful of their moral and religious instruction. The
fondness for knowledge, however, of young Greene was such, that he
devoted all the time he could spare to its acquisition, and employed
all his trifling gains in procuring books. His propensity for the life
of a soldier was early evinced by his predilection for works on
military subjects. He made considerable proficiency in the exact
sciences; and, after he had attained his twentieth year, he added a
tolerable stock of legal knowledge to his other acquisitions. In the
year 1770, he was elected a member of the state legislature, and, in
1774, enrolled himself as a private in a company called the Kentish
Guards. After the battle of Lexington, the state of Rhode Island
raised what was termed an army of observation, in order to assist the
forces collected in Massachusetts, for the purpose of confining the
British within the limits of Boston, and chose Greene its commander,
with the title of major-general. His elevation from the ranks to the
head of three regiments, may give some idea of the estimation in which
his military talents were held. June 6, 1775, he assumed his command
before the lines of Boston; and, not long afterwards, General
Washington arrived, to take the command in chief of the American
forces. Between these two distinguished men an intimacy soon
commenced, which was never interrupted. Greene accepted a commission
from congress of brigadier-general, although, under the state, he held
that of major-general; preferring the former, as it promised a larger
sphere of action, and the pleasure of serving under the immediate
command of Washington. When the American army had followed the enemy
to New York, after the evacuation of Boston, they encamped, partly in
New York and partly on Long Island. The division posted upon the
island was under the orders of Greene; but, at the time of its
unfortunate affair with the enemy, he was suffering under severe
sickness, and General Sullivan was in command. When he had
sufficiently recovered his health, he joined the retreating army,
having previously been promoted to the rank of major-general, and was
appointed to command the troops in New Jersey destined to watch the
movements of a strong detachment of the British, which had been left
in Staten Island. December 26, 1776, when Washington surprised the
English at Trenton, Greene commanded the left wing of the American
forces, which was the first that reached the town, and, having seized
the enemy’s artillery, cut off their retreat to Princeton. Next
summer, Sir William Howe having embarked with a large force at New
York, for the purpose of landing on the eastern shore of the
Chesapeake, and thence marching to Philadelphia, Washington hastened
to oppose him; and, September 11, the battle of the Brandywine took
place, in which the Americans were defeated. In this affair, Greene
commanded the vanguard, together with Sullivan, and it became his duty
to cover the retreat, in which he fully succeeded. After General Howe
had obtained possession of Philadelphia, the British army, in
consequence of this victory, encamped at Germantown, where an attack
was made upon it by Washington, October 4, 1777, in which Greene
commanded the left wing. The disastrous issue of this attempt is well
known; but it has been asserted, that the left wing was the only part
of the American army which had the good fortune to effect the service
allotted it that day. The next service upon which General Greene was
engaged, was that of endeavoring to prevent lord Cornwallis from
collecting supplies, for which he had been detached into the Jerseys,
with 3000 men; but, before Greene could bring him to an action, he had
received reinforcements, which gave him so great a superiority, that
the American general was recalled by the commander-in-chief. In March
of the following year, Greene, at the solicitation of Washington,
accepted the appointment of quarter-master-general, on two conditions;
that he should retain his right of command in time of action, and that
he should have the choice of two assistants. At the battle of
Monmouth, in the ensuing month of June, he led the right wing of the
second line, and mainly contributed to the partial success of the
Americans. After this, he continued engaged in discharging the duties
of his station until August, when he was sent to join Sullivan, who,
with the forces under his command, aided by the French fleet under
D’Estaing, was preparing to make an attempt upon Newport in Rhode
Island, then in possession of the enemy. The command of the left wing
of the troops was assigned to Greene. The enterprise, however, failed,
in consequence of some misunderstanding between Sullivan and
D’Estaign; and the consequent retreat of the American army was covered
by Greene, who repulsed an attack of the enemy with half their number.
When General Washington, alarmed for the safety of the garrisons on
the North river, repaired to West Point, he left Greene in command of
the army in New Jersey. The latter had not been long in that command,
before he was attacked, near Springfield, by a force much superior to
his, under Sir Henry Clinton; but the enemy were repulsed, though they
burned the village. This affair happened June 23. October 6, he was
appointed to succeed the traitor Arnold in the command at West Point.
In this station, however, he continued only until the 14th of the same
month, when he was chosen by General Washington to take the place of
General Gates, in the chief direction of the southern army. From this
moment, when he was placed in a situation where he could exercise his
genius without control, dates the most brilliant portion of Greene’s
career. The ability, prudence and firmness which he here displayed,
have caused him to be ranked, in the scale of our revolutionary
generals, second only to Washington. December 2, 1780, Greene arrived
at the encampment of the American forces at Charlotte, and, on the
4th, assumed the command. After the battle of the Cowpens, gained by
Morgan, January 17, 1781, he effected a junction with the victorious
General, having previously been engaged in recruiting his army, which
had been greatly thinned by death and desertion; but the numbers of
Cornwallis were still so superior, that he was obliged to retreat into
Virginia, which he did with a degree of skill that has been the theme
of the highest eulogy. He, soon afterwards, however, returned to North
Carolina, with an accession of force, and, March 15, encountered
Cornwallis at Guilford court-house, where he was defeated; but the
loss of the enemy was greater than his, and no advantages accrued to
them from the victory. On the contrary, Cornwallis, a few days
afterwards, commenced a retrograde movement towards Wilmington,
leaving many of his wounded behind him, and was followed for some time
by Greene. Desisting, however, from the pursuit, the latter marched
into South Carolina, and a battle took place, April 25, between him
and lord Rawdon, near Camden, in which he was again unsuccessful,
though again the enemy were prevented by him from improving their
victory, and, not long after, were obliged to retire. May 22, having
previously reduced a number of the forts and garrisons in South
Carolina, he commenced the siege of Ninety-Six, but in June the
approach of lord Rawdon compelled him to raise it, and retreat to the
extremity of the state. Expressing a determination ‘to recover South
Carolina, or die in the attempt,’ he again advanced, when the British
forces were divided, and lord Rawdon was pursued, in his turn, to his
encampment at Orangeburg, where he was offered battle by his
adversary, which was refused. September 8, Greene obtained a victory
over the British forces under Colonel Stewart, at Eutaw Springs, which
completely prostrated the power of the enemy in South Carolina. Greene
was presented by congress with a British standard and a gold medal, as
a testimony of their sense of his services on this occasion. This was
the last action in which Greene was engaged. During the rest of the
war, however, he continued in his command, struggling with the
greatest difficulties, in consequence of the want of all kinds of
supplies, and the mutinous disposition of some of his troops. When
peace released him from his duties, he returned to Rhode Island; and
his journey thither, almost at every step, was marked by some private
or public testimonial of gratitude and regard. On his arrival at
Princeton, where congress was then sitting, that body unanimously
resolved, that ‘two pieces of field ordnance, taken from the British
army at Cowpens, Augusta, or Eutaw,’ should be presented to him by the
commander-in-chief. In October, 1785, Greene repaired, with his
family, to Georgia, some valuable grants of lands near Savannah having
been made to him by that state. He died June 19, 1786, in his 44th
year, in consequence of an inflammation of the brain, contracted by
exposure to the rays of an intense sun. General Greene possessed, in a
great degree, not only the common quality of physical courage, but
that fortitude and unbending firmness of mind, which are given to few,
and which enabled him to bear up against the most cruel reverses, and
struggle perseveringly with, and finally surmount, the most formidable
difficulties. He was ever collected in the most trying situations, and
prudence and judgment were distinguishing traits in his character. In
his disposition, he was mild and benevolent; but when it was
necessary, he was resolutely severe. No officer of the revolutionary
army possessed a higher place in the confidence and affection of
Washington, and, probably, none would have been so well calculated to
succeed him, if death had deprived his country of his services during
the revolutionary struggle.