Greene, Nathanael, 1742–86, American Revolutionary general, b. Potowomut (now Warwick), R.I. An iron founder, he became active in colonial politics and served (1770–72, 1775) in the Rhode Island assembly. At the beginning of the American Revolution he commanded a detachment of militia at the siege of Boston and was in charge of the city after the British evacuation (1776). Greene helped plan the defense of New York (1776), but illness kept him from the battle of Long Island. He was with Washington (1776–77) at Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown Germantown, residential section of NW Philadelphia, Pa. Settled by Dutch and Germans in 1683, Germantown became one of the earliest printing and publishing centers in the country.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Valley Forge. In Feb., 1778, he became quartermaster general while still holding his field command; he reorganized the department, found supplies for the army, and rendered fine service in this capacity. His notable ability at organization also appeared in his fieldwork. He fought (1778) at Monmouth and in the Rhode Island campaign and was president (1780) of the court-martial board that sentenced Major John André. After Gates was defeated at Camden (1780), Greene became the commander in the Carolina campaign Carolina campaign, 1780–81, of the American Revolution. After Sir Henry Clinton had captured Charleston , he returned to New York, leaving a British force under Cornwallis to subordinate the Carolinas to British control.
..... Click the link for more information. . He reorganized the Southern army, and he and his lieutenants (notably Daniel Morgan Morgan, Daniel, 1736–1802, American Revolutionary general, b. probably in Hunterdon co., N.J. He moved (c.1753) to Virginia and later served in the French and Indian Wars and several campaigns against Native Americans.
..... Click the link for more information. and Henry Lee Lee, Henry, 1756–1818, American Revolutionary soldier, known as Light-Horse Harry Lee, b. Prince William co., Va. He was a cousin of Arthur Lee, Francis L. Lee, Richard H. Lee, and William Lee and was the father of Robert E. Lee.
..... Click the link for more information. ), with aid of partisan bands under Francis Marion Marion, Francis (mâr`ēən), c.1732–1795, American Revolutionary soldier, known as the Swamp Fox, b. near Georgetown, S.C.
..... Click the link for more information. , Thomas Sumter, and Andrew Pickens Pickens, Andrew, 1739–1817, American Revolutionary soldier, b. near Paxtang, Pa. He moved (1752) to South Carolina and took part (1761) in frontier warfare against the Cherokee .
..... Click the link for more information. , turned the tide in Carolina. Greene's forces were defeated at Guilford Courthouse, Hobkirks Hill, and Eutaw Springs, but each time the British victory was reversed, and he pushed south to surround Charleston until the British evacuated it (1782). The campaign is generally considered an example of excellent strategy, and Greene's generalship is much admired. To get supplies for the Continental Army, Greene often had been forced to endorse personal notes. After the war the dishonesty of a contractor forced him to sell his estates to honor those pledges. The people of Georgia, however, gave him a plantation.

Bibliography

See biographies by his grandson, G. W. Greene (3 vol., 1867–71), and T. G. Thayer (1960); W. Johnson, Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathanael Greene (1822, repr. 1973).

Greene, Nathanael

(born Aug. 7, 1742, Potowumut, R.I.—died June 19, 1786, Mulberry Grove, Ga., U.S.) American general. He served in the colonial legislature and as commander of the colonial militia (1775). He led troops in the Continental Army at Boston and New York, then fought in the battles at Trenton, Brandywine, and Germantown. He succeeded Gen. Horatio Gates as commander in chief of the southern army (1778), and his strategy so weakened the British troops that Gen. Charles Cornwallis abandoned plans to conquer North Carolina (1781). Greene began the reconquest of inner South Carolina, and by late June 1781 he had forced the British back to Charleston. He presided at the court-martial of John André in the Benedict Arnold affair (1780).

Greene, Nathanael (1742–86) soldier; born in Warwick, R.I. Raised a Quaker, he was expelled by the Society of Friends for his preoccupation with military matters. His militia experience, however, served his country well at the outbreak of the American Revolution; as a brigadier general, he fought at Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. Assigned to command Continental forces in South Carolina in October 1780, Greene fought a series of battles that forced the depleted British to withdraw into their fortifications at Yorktown, Va. After the war, he retired to an estate near Savannah, Ga.