Nathanael Greene: Washington’s Friend and Trusted General

Profiles in history: An ongoing series of lesser known but significant figures who shaped our world

George Washington contemplating in front of a fireplace, watched by Gen. Nathanael Greene and the Marquis de Lafayette, during the American Revolutionary War, circa 1780, by H.B. Hall. Engraving. Archive Photos/Getty Images

From a young age he walked with a limp, but that would not stop Nathanael Greene from achieving a distinguished military career during the War for Independence. In fact, after George Washington, Greene has been called by historians the “second best” American general in the Revolutionary War.

In his article, “The Most Underrated General in American History: Nathaniel Greene,” historian Russell Weigley says, “Greene’s outstanding characteristic as a strategist was his ability to weave the maraudings of partisan raiders into a coherent pattern, coordinating them with the maneuvers of a field army otherwise too weak to accomplish much, and making the combination a deadly one. [He] remains alone as an American master developing a strategy of unconventional war.”

"Nathanael Greene," portrait of the American Revolutionary War general by Connecticut artist John Trumbull (1756–1843). Oil on wood. Courtesy of the Trumbull Collection, Yale University Art Gallery. Public Domain

Greene was born in Rhode Island in 1742 to a very religious Quaker family. Due to his religion, Greene’s father frowned upon his son wanting to read books and outlawed activities like dancing. But Greene loved all kinds of literature and eventually convinced his father to let him have a tutor. He would go on to have a large book collection on military history.

Greene’s religion meant a lot to him, but once talk of the revolution began, he strayed from the Quakers’s pacifist beliefs. He was expelled from the Quaker church in 1773 after he attended a military parade and showed support for a military rebellion against England. However, he remained devoted to his Quaker religion throughout his life.

In 1774, Rhode Island organized a militia, called the Kentish Guards. When the colony established its army, Greene was made commander.

In 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed George Washington the head of the Continental Army. Congress also appointed 16 other generals, including Greene as a brigadier general who was given a command of seven regiments. Greene and Washington would become lifelong friends. Throughout the war, Greene was known as one of Washington’s most trusted allies.

Greene first played a role in several battles in northern states where the war first broke out. He led part of Washington’s army to victories in the Battles of Trenton and Princeton. He set up supply depots in New Jersey and was soon placed in charge of logistics and support as quartermaster general. But he wanted to be in the center of the action and resigned, and returned to the Continental Army as a commander. After the traitorous actions of Benedict Arnold at West Point, Green was appointed commandant at the fort and executed John André, Arnold’s British contact.

Greene would soon get his chance to make a big difference in the outcome of the war. In 1780, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the Southern Theater after Gen. Horatio Gates lost a key battle in Camden, South Carolina. In the South, he would use superb military tactics to weaken Gen. Charles Cornwallis’s troops. While the British general’s larger army advanced, Greene would keep river and lakes between his forces and British troops.

Key Southern Victory

Greene then attempted to lure Cornwallis’s army to the Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina so he could fight on battlegrounds of his choice. On March 15, 1781, it became clear to Greene that Cornwallis was ready for a fight.

Monument to Gen. Nathanael Greene in the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park in Greensboro, N.C. MarmadukePercy/CC BY-SA 3.0

Greene divided his army into three groups: the first with inexperienced militiamen, the second with experienced commanders who directed the militia, and the third with experienced soldiers. The second and first lines saw some casualties and Greene lost his artillery.

Even with his losses, Greene considered the battle a key strategic victory, as it severely crippled the British presence in the southern colonies. The British lost over 600 men, which were more casualties than the Americans suffered.

When the battle ended, Cornwallis retreated north. Greene tried to follow him, but ran out of ammunition. Even with a poorly equipped army, Greene had driven British forces from North Carolina. Greene continued to move further south and weaken British forces.

Greene continued to serve in the Continental Army until 1783. After he resigned from his command, he moved to Georgia to live on a plantation gifted to him. In 1786, Greene died of sunstroke at the age of 43.

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