Military Service
Greene mounting his steed.
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The Militiaman - In August 1774, Greene helped organize a local militia group in Rhode Island, which was chartered as the Kentish Guards on October 29th of that year. Quickly rising from the rank of private in this unit to that of a Brigadier General in the newly-formed Rhode Island Army of Observation, Major General Nathanael Greene would become "Second-in-Command" to George Washington, earning a well-deserved reputation as the Commander-in-Chief's most able and dependable officer. A master of logistics and battlefield tactics, Greene went on to become the only American general, other than George Washington himself, to serve all eight years of the Revolutionary War.
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Siege of Boston - Commissioned brigadier general in the Continental Army on June 22, 1775. Greene's first encounter with George Washington took place during the siege of Boston where, it is said, his commander was greatly impressed. In less than a year Washington would consider Greene the best suited of all his generals to succeed him in case of his capture or death. Following the evacuation of Boston by the British forces on March 17, 1776, General Greene took command of the liberated city.
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Evacuation of Boston, March 1776
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Surrender of General Burgoyne
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The Battle of New York - On August 9, 1776, Greene was promoted as one of four new major generals and put in command of the army troops on Long Island, where he chose the sites for fortifications. He was prominent among those who had advised a retreat from the city of New York, but after battles at both Fort Lee and Fort Washington, he shouldered the blame for the loss of both locations.
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The Crucible of Valley Forge - On March 2, 1778, at Washington's request, Nathanael Greene accepted appointment as Quartermaster General and with it the daunting task of provisioning the Continental Army wintering at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. This he did with the caveat that he be allowed to retain the right to command troops in the field, which he did at Monmouth, New Jersey, later that year.
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Winter at Valley Forge
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Engaging Cornwallis' Forces.
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Action in the Southern Theater - Major General Nathanael Greene distinguished himself as the premier tactical military commander of the Revolutionary War. Employing an artful strategy of 'Cat & Mouse', Greene was able to wear down the British army under the command of General Cornwallis. Alternately engaging the enemy force and then retreating into the wilderness, Greene kept his adversary off-balance with a war of attrition Cornwallis' forces couldn't sustain.
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Engaging Cornwallis - Greene pursued Cornwallis' army to Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, giving battle there on March 15, 1781, on ground he had himself chosen. Then, at the height of battle, he once again ordered his men into a tactical retreat leaving the field to Cornwallis, while inflicting so great a loss of men and materials that the British forces withdrew toward Wilmington, North Carolina. During the course of the next several weeks, Major General Nathanael Greene's resourcefulness and superior military instincts were on full display as he allowed Cornwallis's army to march north towards Virginia, while he himself turned his attention to swiftly reconquering the vast inner country of the Carolinas, which he achieved by the end of June.
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Commanding his Troups.
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British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, ending American Revolutionary War.
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Victory at Last - In the end, it was a combined American and French force, under command of George Washington and General Rochambeau that would, beginning on September 29, 1781, engage the British forces of General Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. Following a lengthy, siege, comprised of several alternating ground assaults and bombardments, the British forces ultimately capitulated in surrender on October 19, 1781, their navy arriving five days too late, on the 24th, to effectuate a timely escape.
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For more on the life and times of Major General Nathanael Greene, please "click" this link to access his article on Wikipedia: Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia
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