Nathanael Greene (1742-1786) was raised in New England in a Quaker family, but helped organize local Rhode Island militia when the revolution approached, and in 1775 was appointed the commander of a regiment besieging British troops in Boston. Promoted to be a Major General in the Continental Army in 1776, Greene was with Washington at the battles of Trenton and Valley Forge, and became Quarter-Master General in 1778. After the disastrous surrender of Gates at Camden (see Battle Of Camden Map), Washington appointed Greene the commander of the Southern army. As he marched south, Greene recruited supplies and militia support, and used tact and ability in handling the brilliant but independent commanders in Carolina such as Thomas Sumter, Daniel Morgan, and Francis Marion. It was his leadership that helped reverse American fortunes in the South, ending with the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and Greene's siege of Charleston, which resulted in British withdrawal in December of 1782. Engraved by J.B. Longacre from a drawing by H. Bounetheau.
Courtesy of the Thomas Cooper Library, Rare Books and Special Collections, University of South Carolina.
