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FORGOTTEN HEROES OF THE

Nathanael Greene: The General Who Saved the Revolution Gregg A. Mierka : ’s Artilleryman : Swamp Fox of : Fighting Frontiersman John Stark: Live Free or Die DEDICATION: This book is dedicated to veterans of all of America’s wars and conflicts throughout history.

Frontispiece: A sword owned by Nathanael Greene, one of the greatest generals of the American Revolution. TABLE OF CONTENTS OTTN Publishing 16 Risler Street Why Nathanael Greene Should Stockton, NJ 08859 www.ottnpublishing.com Be Remembered...... 6

Copyright © 2007 by OTTN Publishing. All rights reserved. Printed and bound in the of America. 1 “A Great & Good Man Indeed”...... 8

First printing 2 Emergence of a Patriot ...... 11

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 3 The Fighting Quaker...... 22

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 4 A Trail of Blood...... 35

Mierka, Gregg A. 5 The Quartermaster General...... 45 Nathanael Greene : the general who saved the Revolution / Gregg A. Mierka. p. cm. — (Forgotten heroes of the American Revolution) 6 “We Fight, Get Beat, Rise Summary: "A biography of the general whose successful campaign in the South, in what seemed an impossible situation, turned the tide of the American Revolution and Fight Again”...... 54 and led to a Patriot victory"—Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-59556-012-4 (hc) 7 A Life Cut Short ...... 74 ISBN-10: 1-59556-012-2 (hc) ISBN-13: 978-1-59556-017-9 (pb) ISBN-10: 1-59556-017-3 (pb) Chronology ...... 79 1. Greene, Nathanael, 1742-1786—Juvenile literature. 2. Generals—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. United States. Continental Glossary...... 82 Army—Biography—Juvenile literature. 4. —United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 5. United States—History—Revolution, Further Reading...... 83 1775-1783—Juvenile literature. I. Title.

E207.G9M54 2007 Internet Resources...... 84 973.3'3092—dc22 [B] Index ...... 85

2006021044 Publisher’s Note: All quotations in this book come from original sources, and contain the spelling and grammatical inconsistencies of the original text. 5 “Greene literally appeared out of nowhere to become in the words of one soldier ‘the Why Nathanael Greene Should greatest military genius’ of the war for independence.” —Theodore Thayer, in ’s Generals and Opponents: Their Be Remembered Exploits and Leadership, edited by George Athan Billias (1994)

“Nathanael Greene has long been regarded by students of the War of the Revolution as “Greene is as dangerous as Washington. I never feel secure when I am encamped in his second only to Washington, and the great Virginian considered him his successor if he neighborhood. He is vigilant, enterprising, and full of resources.” should be struck down. . . . He was a superb field commander, saw much action, and —General Charles Cornwallis, 1781 often risked his life in battle. . . . He made his mark as a brilliant strategist. . . . He was also a military craftsman whose mastery of geography, supply, and transport was unmatched by his contemporaries.” “It is with a pleasure, which friendship only is susceptible of, that I congratulate you —John Buchanan, in The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American on the glorious end you have put to hostilities in the Southern States; the honour and Revolution in the Carolinas (1999) advantage of it, I hope, and trust, you will live long to enjoy.” —George Washington, letter to Nathanael Greene, February 6, 1783 “In becoming one of the ’s greatest soldiers, Nathanael Greene per- sonified the power and potential of the new American idea—especially its rejection of “What was to be hoped from a general without troops, without magazines, without the Old World’s aristocratic governments and equally aristocratic military comman- money? A man of less depth of penetration or force of soul than Greene, would have ders, and its embrace of merit and virtue as society’s ultimate arbiters.” recoiled at the prospect [of assuming command of the Southern Department of the —Terry Golway, in Washington’s General (2005) Continental Army]; but he, far from desponding, undertook the arduous task with firmness. . . . He knew how much was to be expected from the efforts of men con- tending for the rights of man. He knew how much was to be performed by capacity, “Greene was no ordinary man. He had a quick, inquiring mind and uncommon resolve. courage, and perseverance.” He was extremely hardworking, forthright, good-natured, and a born leader. His com- —, eulogy to Nathanael Greene, delivered before mitment to the Glorious Cause of America, as it was called, was total. . . . Washing- the Society of the Cincinnati, July 4, 1789 ton had quickly judged Nathanael Greene to be ‘an object of confidence.’ ” —David McCullough, in 1776 (2005) “But Greene was second to no one in enterprise, in resource, in sound judgment, promptitude of decision, and every other military talent.” —, letter to , October 27, 1822

“The great and good man to whose memory we are paying a tribute of respect, affec- tion, and regret, has acted in our revolutionary contest a part so glorious and so impor- tant that in the very name of Greene are remembered all the virtues and talents which can illustrate the patriot, the statesman, and the military leader. . . .” —Marquis de Lafayette, remarks at the dedication of a monument to Greene in Savannah, , March 21, 1825

6 7 This monument to Nathanael Greene stands at Guilford Courthouse Nation- al Military Park in . Although Greene never won a clear victory in battle against the British, his strategy in the South enabled the Americans to win the Revolution. 1 t is said that, after the Revolutionary War, a distraught King “A G R E AT & George III wished to study the faces of the Americans who I had defeated him. His advisers brought portraits of only two GOOD MAN men: George Washington and Nathanael Greene. More than 220 years have passed since the United States won its independence from Great Britain, and the name of Nathanael INDEED” Greene has largely been forgotten. Yet this Rhode Islander’s contri- butions to the success of the American cause rank with those of the

9 10 Nathanael Greene: The General Who Saved the Revolution

best-remembered heroes of the Revolution: Washington, , Thomas Jefferson, . During his time, Patriots readily acknowledged the extraordinary debt their country owed to Nathanael Greene. And they felt keenly the nation’s loss when, just three years after the end of the Revolutionary War, Greene died at the age of 44. “He was great as a soldier, greater as a citizen, immaculate as a friend,” noted General , who had served under Greene’s command. “The honors, the greatest honors of war, are due to his memory.” “How hard is the fate of the United States to lose such a man in the middle of life!” lamented Lieutenant Colonel Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Greene’s cavalry comman- der, in a letter to George Washington. But perhaps it was Washington himself who best summed up the life of his friend, adviser, and most trusted general. Of the late Nathanael Greene, the future first pres- ident of the United States said simply, “He was a great & good man indeed.” Index

Adams, John, 10 Franklin, Benjamin, 10 American Revolution , 14 end of the, 74–75 start of the, 22–23 Gaspee (British ship), 17–19, 20 See also Continental Army; individual Gates, Horatio, 44, 57–59, 60 battle names George III (King), 9, 14 Army of Observation, 23–24 Georgia, 21, 5 5, 56, 76–77 Arnold, Benedict, 57, 61 Gibbons, William, 77 Golway, Terry, 7 , 4 1, 42 Great Britain , 25–27 army of, in New York, 40–41 , 58–59 and the Battle of Bunker Hill, 25–27 , 43–44 and battles in the South, 5 5, 56–73 Battle of Guilford Courthouse, 65–71 and the Tea Party, 19 , 33 and the Fort Washington battle, 34 Battle of , 29–32 and the , 19–21 , 51–52 occupation of by, 42–44, 51 , 15, 1 6 taxes and import duties of, 14–19 , 19 withdrawal of, 74 Buchanan, John, 7 Greene, Benjamin (stepbrother), 11 Burgoyne, John (“Gentleman Johnny”), Greene, Catharine (Mrs. Nathanael Greene), 40–41, 44 21, 40, 53, 74, 77 Greene, Christopher (brother), 11 Carleton, Guy, 74 Greene, Elihue (brother), 11 Chew, Benjamin, 4 3 Greene, George Washington (son), 40 Clinton, Henry, 41, 51, 5 5, 56–57, 74 Greene, Jacob (brother), 11, 17–18, 32, 76 Continental Army Greene, Martha Washington (daughter), 40 and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Greene, Mary Mott (mother), 11 65–71 Greene, Nathanael, 9–10, 30, 36, 3 7 and the , 29–32 at the Battle of Brandywine, 41, 42 creation of the, 27 at the Battle of Germantown, 43–44 at Morristown, N.J., 38–40, 55 at the Battle of Monmouth, 51–52 retreat of, into , 35–36 birth of, 11 and the , 28 childhood and early life, 11–14 supplies for the, 45–50, 54–55, 62 as commander in the South, 59–75 at Trenton and Princeton, 36–38 death of, 10, 77–78 at , 44–48 family life and marriage, 21, 40, 53, von Steuben’s training of, 50–51 76–77 , 20–21, 30 and the Fort Washington battle, 32–34 Cornwallis, Charles, 6, 37–38, 42, 51–52, is commissioned a brigadier general, 27 57–59, 62–67, 6 8, 69–71, 73, 7 5 letters of, 13, 15, 19, 26, 32, 38, 40, 49, Coventry, R.I., 16–17, 1 8 59–60, 70 in New York City, 29–31 Dudingston, William, 17–19 nickname of, 27 political opinions of, 15–19, 21 Ferguson, Patrick (“Bull Dog”), 61 as quartermaster general, 48–50 “Fighting Quaker of .” See return of, to Rhode Island, 52–53 Greene, Nathanael as Rhode Island brigade commanding Fort Lee, 33–34, 35 general, 2 3, 24–25, 27–28 Fort Washington, 32–34 and the Rhode Island militia (Kentish Fortune (American merchant vessel), 17–18 Guard), 21, 24 , 14, 51, 53, 73 in Rhode Island’s colonial legislature, 17

Numbers in bold italics refer to captions. 85 Index

strategy of, 26–27, 60–63 Putnam, Israel, 31, 34 at Valley Forge, 45–48 Greene, Nathanael, Sr. (father), 11, 12 Quakers, 12–13 Greene, Perry (brother), 11 Greene, Thomas (stepbrother), 11 Reed, Joseph, 49 Guilford Courthouse, 9, 65–71 Rhode Island brigade, 2 3, 24–25, 27–28 Rhode Island Colony, 13–14, 23, 52–53 Hamilton, Alexander, 6 Rhode Island militia (Kentish Guard), 21, Hannah (American merchant vessel), 19 23–24 Hessians, 30, 31, 36–37, 41, 5 2 Rochambeau, comte de (Jean Baptiste Dona- Howe, William, 28, 30, 32, 37, 41–43 tien de Vimeur), 73

Intolerable Acts, 19–21 South Carolina, 56–59, 62–65, 72–73 See also Great Britain Spell Hall, 17, 1 8, 21, 53, 76 Stamp Act of 1765, 14 Jefferson, Thomas, 6, 10 of 1764, 14 Sullivan, John, 52–53 Kentish Guard (Rhode Island militia), 21, Sumter, Thomas, 61 23–24 Knox, Henry, 28, 2 9, 36 Tarleton, Banastre, 57, 63–64 taxes, 14–15 Lafayette, Marquis de, 6 , 19 Lee, Henry (“Light Horse Harry”), 10, 65, Thayer, Theodore, 7 72 , 14 Lexington and Concord (battles at), 22–23 Lincoln, Benjamin, 56–57 Valley Forge, 44–48 Littlefield, Catharine (Mrs. Nathanael Vimeur, Jean Baptiste Donatien de. See Greene), 21, 40, 53, 74, 77 Rochambeau, comte de Loyalists, 51, 56, 61 von Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm, 50–51

maps, 39, 72 Wanton, Joseph, 23–24 Marion, Francis, 61, 66–67, 72 “War of the Posts,” 71–73 McCullough, David, 7 Ward, Samuel, Jr., 13, 15 McDougall, Alexander, 49 Washington, George, 9–10, 29–30, 42, 4 9, Mercer, Hugh, 34 52, 59, 70–71, 75, 77–78 Monmouth Court House, 51–52 chosen as leader of Continental Army, Morgan, Daniel, 63–65 27–28 Morristown, N.J., 38–40, 55 and the Fort Washington battle, 34 at Trenton and Princeton, 36–38 New York, 40–41 at Valley Forge, 44–48 New York City, N.Y., 29–32, 3 3, 54 Washington, William, 69 Wayne, Anthony, 10, 48 Old Forge Homestead, 1 3 Webster, James, 69 Williams, Otho, 66 Pickens, Andrew, 61

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