General nathanael greene revolutionary war
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Who Served Here?
Nathanael Greene
Charles efternamn Peale, 1783
Nathanael Greene was born August 7, 1742 in Warwick, Rhode Island. The Greene family was among the earliest settlers in Rhode Island and had helped establish the colony in the 1630s. The Greenes were devout Quakers and his ancestor, John Greene Sr., settled in Rhode Island after conflict with the Puritans drove him from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Greene was an avid reader, eventually acquiring a large library. His father purchased a mill in Coventry for Nathanael to manage. He took an active part in community affairs and helped establish the first public school in Coventry. He also added books on military science to his library which he studied diligently.
This passion eventually drew disapproval from the uncompromisingly pacifistic Quaker church. When Greene attended a military parade and showed support for armed rebellion against England, he was expelled from his church. Greene remained a devout Quaker for t
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Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene
Major General
United States Army
August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786
Portrait of General Nathanael Greene by Valentine Green, executed by J. Brown after Charles Willson Peale, 1785. National Archives
Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene rose to become one of the most celebrated American officers in the Revolutionary War. Best known for his clever campaign against the British army in the Southern states, Greene also fought in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Monmouth Courthouse. However, his reputation as one of Washington’s most trusted generals may not seem likely at first glance.
Greene was born in 1742 to a prominent Quaker family in Warwick, Rhode Island. As a boy, he was markedly curious about the world. Despite the Quaker belief against early education, Greene convinced his father to hire a tutor to teach him philosophy, religion, literature, and mathematics. After his father’s death in 1770, young Greene moved to Cove
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Nathanael Greene was born in Rhode Island in 1742 to Quaker parents. His education, though not formal, revealed that he was a good student. He possessed a keen mind, excelled in mathematics and spent many hours reading in Greek and Roman classics. His family business—iron forging for ships—became his trade. After the Gaspee Affair in 1772, in which his family was accused of involvement in burning a British revenue ship, Greene began to take an interest in the growing discontent in the colonies. It was this interest that led him to the military, a choice that was in conflict with his religious upbringing.
At the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, Greene helped raise a company of militia called the “Kentish Guards.” Greene joined as a private armed with a musket bought from a British deserter. A childhood affliction forced him to limp, a disqualification for a soldier in the ranks, but his abilities as a leader were quickly recognized. In May 1775, Greene was commissioned a