41 Facts About Nathanael Greene

Major General Nathanael Greene was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.

Nathanael Greene emerged from the war with a reputation as one of George Washington's most talented and dependable officers and is known for his successful command in the Southern theater of the conflict.

Later in the year, Nathanael Greene became a general in the newly established Continental Army.

Nathanael Greene served under George Washington in the Boston campaign, the New York and New Jersey campaign, and the Philadelphia campaign before being appointed quartermaster general of the Continental Army in 1778.

Nathanael Greene suffered a series of tactical defeats at Guilford Court House, Hobkirk's Hill, and Eutaw Springs, which nevertheless eroded British control over the American South.

Nathanael Greene died in 1786 at the Mulberry Grove Plantation in Chatham County, Georgia.

Nathanael Greene was born on Forge Farm at Potowomut in the township of Warwick, Rhode Island, which was then part of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in British America.

Nathanael Greene was the second son of Mary Mott and Nathanael Greene Sr.

Nathanael Greene was descended from John Nathanael Greene and Samuel Gorton, both of whom were founding settlers of Warwick.

Nonetheless, Nathanael Greene convinced his father to hire a tutor, and he studied mathematics, the classics, law, and various works of the Age of Enlightenment.

At some point during his childhood, Nathanael Greene gained a slight limp that would remain with him for the rest of his life.

In 1770, Nathanael Greene moved to Coventry, Rhode Island, to take charge of the family-owned foundry, and he built a house in Coventry called Spell Hall.

Nathanael Greene began to assemble a large library that included military histories by authors like Julius Caesar, Frederick the Great, and Maurice de Saxe.

Nathanael Greene and Catherine's first child was born in 1776, and they had six more children between 1777 and 1786.

In 1774, after the passage of measures that colonials derided as the "Intolerable Acts," Nathanael Greene helped organize a state militia unit known as the Kentish Guards.

Washington organized the Continental Army into three divisions, each consisting of regiments from different colonies, and Nathanael Greene was given command of a brigade consisting of seven regiments.

Washington established his headquarters in Manhattan, and Nathanael Greene was tasked with preparing for the invasion of nearby Long Island.

Nathanael Greene was, along with several other individuals, promoted to major general by an act of Congress.

Unable to raze Manhattan, Washington initially wanted to fortify the city, but Nathanael Greene joined with several officers in convincing Washington that the city was indefensible.

Nathanael Greene was subjected to heavy criticism in the aftermath of the battle, but Washington declined to relieve Nathanael Greene from command.

At the Battle of the Brandywine, Nathanael Greene commanded a division at the center of the American line, but the British launched a flanking maneuver.

Nathanael Greene's division helped prevent the envelopment of American forces and allowed for a safe retreat.

Nathanael Greene's detachment arrived late to the battle, which ended in another American defeat.

Nathanael Greene commanded a division in the subsequent Battle of Monmouth, which, after hours of fighting, ended indecisively.

Nathanael Greene fought in the subsequent Battle of Rhode Island, an inconclusive battle that ended with a British retreat from the American position.

Outnumbered and under-supplied, Nathanael Greene settled on a strategy of guerrilla warfare rather than pitched battles in order to prevent the advance of the British into North Carolina and Virginia.

Nathanael Greene linked up with Morgan and retreated into North Carolina, purposely forcing Cornwallis away from British supply lines.

Nathanael Greene established three defensive lines, with the North Carolina militia making up the first line, the Virginia militia making up the second line, and the Continental Army regulars, positioned on a hill behind a small stream, making up the third line.

Nathanael Greene initially gave chase but declined to press for an attack after much of the militia returned home.

Rather than follow Cornwallis, Nathanael Greene headed South, where he challenged British commander Francis Rawdon for control of South Carolina and Georgia.

Nonetheless, the British still controlled New York, Savannah, and Charleston, and Nathanael Greene still contended with Loyalist militias who sought to destabilize Continental control.

Nathanael Greene corresponded with Robert Morris, the superintendent of finance of the United States, who shared Greene's view on the need for a stronger national government than the one that had been established in the Articles of Confederation.

In 1784, Nathanael Greene declined appointment to a commission tasked with negotiating treaties with Native Americans, but he agreed to attend the first meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati.

Nathanael Greene then became an original member with the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati.

In 1782 and 1783, Nathanael Greene had difficulty supplying his troops in Charleston with clothing and provisions.

Nathanael Greene paid the debt himself, and in 1791, his executrix petitioned Congress for relief.

In 1788, the mortgagor in England filed a bill to foreclose on the mortgage, while Nathanael Greene's family instituted proceedings against Ferrie, who was entitled to a reversionary interest in the land.

In 1792, a Relief Act was passed by Congress for General Nathanael Greene which was based upon the decree of the land sale; the sum of which he was entitled to was exempted out of the indemnity allowed him at that time, not one cent of which his heirs received except $2,000.

Defense analyst Robert Killebrew writes that Nathanael Greene was "regarded by peers and historians as the second-best American general" in the Revolutionary War, after Washington.

Nathanael Greene is memorialized by statues in or near Philadelphia, Valley Forge National Historical Park, Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and Greenville, South Carolina.

Nathanael Greene commissioned cabinetmaker Thomas Spencer to build a desk and bookcase, likely to be put in this new home.