NATHANAEL GREENE
America rightly identifies George Washington as the towering figure of the nation's War of Independence. Yet, without the services of one of history's most implausible military leaders the war might well have taken a different turn.Dimmed by the enormous shadow cast by Washington, the war-saving accomplishments of Nathanael Greene remain relatively unrecognized.
Greene was born July 27, 1742, at Forge Farm in Potowomut, Rhode Island,an isolated community on a peninsula fronting Greenwich Bay. One of the area's oldest families, the Greenes were modestly prosperous, operating saw and gristmills and a forge where Nathanael worked as a youth. In 1770, at age 27, he moved to Coventry, a village about six miles inland, to run a foundry his father had purchased. Though operating the forge aggravated his asthma, a life long affliction, Greene quickly established himself in the community, building a home- a 2 1/2 story dwelling called Spell House - and leading efforts to found the hamlet's first public school.
Little in his past marked Nathanael Greene for military leadership so exceptional that in the closing months of the war it surely bordered on genius.Greene often suffered from asthma and his appearance was characterized by a limp sufficiently pronounced that some of his colleagues at first thought it should disqualify him from military duty. Raised a Quaker, Greene was expelled from the faith before the war began, likely because of his interest and participation in military duties. His Quaker upbringing provided Greene with little opportunity for formal schooling. He was, however, intensely self-educated particularly in mathematics, law, and military history. A voracious reader, he purchased numerous texts dealing with strategy and tactics and in essence, taught him self the art of war. Even more remarkable perhaps is that in his most important role as Commander of the Southern Army, Greene never won an outright victory on any major battlefield.
Greene met Washington for the first time during the siege of Boston, where Greene had taken the Kentish Guards, a 1,600-man unit formed of men from his home region. The young Rhode Islander's exceptional competence was obvious to all and he quickly earned Washington's confidence, becoming one of his closest advisers. It was a trust he would retain throughout eight years of war.
Like Washington, Greene was one of the few American commanders who grasped immediately that the essential condition for American victory was to preserve an army in the field. Thus, in the South, Greene was content to draw the British away from their bases, engage them in chases, exhaust their supplies and fight at times and places of his choosing. After inflicting casualties that at times destroyed as much as a third of the British force, Greene typically chose to withdraw, leaving the ground to his opponent rather than risk losing his small army to acquire momentary possession of otherwise inconsequential real estate. So well conceived was his strategy that by bleeding his opponents of troops,supplies, and endurance he caused British forces to withdraw from the Carolinas and Georgia, thwarting their attempt to sever the South from the rest of the American colonies. Eventually, the British Commander, Lord Charles Cornwallis,moved north out of the Carolinas into Virginia - a trek that took him to Yorktown and to the final defeat that brought the war to a close.
American prospects in the South, dire from the beginning, had deteriorated steadily during the course of the war. The first American commander, Robert Howe, had lost Savannah. The second, Benjamin Lincoln, had lost Charleston and surrendered an entire American army in the process. The third, Horatio Gates, had been routed at Camden, South Carolina, nearly losing an army in a battle so horribly mismanaged that his leadership was most notable for his having been among the first to flee the field. Now, late in the fourth year of the war, the British were perilously close to effective control of Georgia and the Carolinas and to separating the South from the middle and northern colonies.
Greene was appointed commander of the infant nation's southern forces in October 1780. It would tum out to be a fortuitous choice for Washington, who made the appointment, and for the revolutionary cause.
Greene was born July 27, 1742, at Forge Farm in Potowomut, Rhode Island,an isolated community on a peninsula fronting Greenwich Bay. One of the area's oldest families, the Greenes were modestly prosperous, operating saw and gristmills and a forge where Nathanael worked as a youth. In 1770, at age 27, he moved to Coventry, a village about six miles inland, to run a foundry his father had purchased. Though operating the forge aggravated his asthma, a life long affliction, Greene quickly established himself in the community, building a home- a 2 1/2 story dwelling called Spell House - and leading efforts to found the hamlet's first public school.
Little in his past marked Nathanael Greene for military leadership so exceptional that in the closing months of the war it surely bordered on genius.Greene often suffered from asthma and his appearance was characterized by a limp sufficiently pronounced that some of his colleagues at first thought it should disqualify him from military duty. Raised a Quaker, Greene was expelled from the faith before the war began, likely because of his interest and participation in military duties. His Quaker upbringing provided Greene with little opportunity for formal schooling. He was, however, intensely self-educated particularly in mathematics, law, and military history. A voracious reader, he purchased numerous texts dealing with strategy and tactics and in essence, taught him self the art of war. Even more remarkable perhaps is that in his most important role as Commander of the Southern Army, Greene never won an outright victory on any major battlefield.
Greene met Washington for the first time during the siege of Boston, where Greene had taken the Kentish Guards, a 1,600-man unit formed of men from his home region. The young Rhode Islander's exceptional competence was obvious to all and he quickly earned Washington's confidence, becoming one of his closest advisers. It was a trust he would retain throughout eight years of war.
Like Washington, Greene was one of the few American commanders who grasped immediately that the essential condition for American victory was to preserve an army in the field. Thus, in the South, Greene was content to draw the British away from their bases, engage them in chases, exhaust their supplies and fight at times and places of his choosing. After inflicting casualties that at times destroyed as much as a third of the British force, Greene typically chose to withdraw, leaving the ground to his opponent rather than risk losing his small army to acquire momentary possession of otherwise inconsequential real estate. So well conceived was his strategy that by bleeding his opponents of troops,supplies, and endurance he caused British forces to withdraw from the Carolinas and Georgia, thwarting their attempt to sever the South from the rest of the American colonies. Eventually, the British Commander, Lord Charles Cornwallis,moved north out of the Carolinas into Virginia - a trek that took him to Yorktown and to the final defeat that brought the war to a close.
American prospects in the South, dire from the beginning, had deteriorated steadily during the course of the war. The first American commander, Robert Howe, had lost Savannah. The second, Benjamin Lincoln, had lost Charleston and surrendered an entire American army in the process. The third, Horatio Gates, had been routed at Camden, South Carolina, nearly losing an army in a battle so horribly mismanaged that his leadership was most notable for his having been among the first to flee the field. Now, late in the fourth year of the war, the British were perilously close to effective control of Georgia and the Carolinas and to separating the South from the middle and northern colonies.
Greene was appointed commander of the infant nation's southern forces in October 1780. It would tum out to be a fortuitous choice for Washington, who made the appointment, and for the revolutionary cause.