Greene, Nathanael (1742-1786), an American Revolutionary War general, is noted for his campaigns against the British in North and South Carolina between 1780 and 1782. Many historians rank him second only to George Washington as an American military leader.
Greene was born to a Quaker family on Nov. 27, 1742, at Potowomut (Warwick), Rhode Island. Because he was interested in military affairs, the Quaker church, which is opposed to war, expelled him. He served in the Rhode Island legislature from 1770 to 1772, and in 1775. In October 1774, when trouble with Britain threatened, he organized a militia company called the Kentish Guards. Because he had a stiff knee, his men would not let him act as an officer, and he served in the ranks. After the battle of Lexington, the Kentish Guards set out to aid the patriots at Boston. The governor of Rhode Island was loyal to the British and recalled them. But Greene and three other men went to Boston. He became a brigadier general in the Continental Army and took part in the siege of Boston. In 1776, he became a major general, and then commanded the army of occupation in Boston.
Greene fought in the battles of Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown, and he was with Washington at Valley Forge. In 1778, he became quartermaster general. But he resigned in 1780 because of what he considered an unfair investigation by politicians of his department.
In December 1780, Greene replaced General Horatio Gates, whose army had been badly beaten at Camden, South Carolina. The British suffered heavy losses in fighting against Greene’s forces at the Battle of Guilford Court House in North Carolina in March 1781. Greene pushed the British back into Charleston and Savannah by the end of 1781. Georgia later gave him a plantation near Savannah. Greene died on June 19, 1786. Rhode Island placed a statue of him in the U.S. Capitol in 1870.
See also Eutaw Springs, Battle of ; Guilford Courthouse, Battle of .
