Washington's General (48 page)

“They promise me”:
PNG,
6:478-79.

236    “Our prospects with respect to supplies”: Ibid., 6:485-87.

237    “I cannot contemplate”: Ibid., 6:488-89.

237    “My only consolation”: Ibid.

238    Greene dispatched men: Ibid., 6:512-14.

239    “Your Services in the lower Part of South Carolina”: Ibid., 6:519-22.

In describing the “condition of this army”: Ibid., 6:542-45.

He sent the governor a blistering letter: Ibid., 6:530-31.

240    “[While the] subject you write upon”: Ibid., 6:596-97.

Within a few months: Ibid., 7:5-6.

Greene told Samuel Huntington: Ibid., 7:7-10.

“The Gentleman”: Ibid., 6:516.

242    They were too weak: Ibid., 7:18-19.

“There is not a single fruit-tree”: Stegeman and Stegeman,
Caty,
85.

“If you will entrust your letters”: Ibid.

“I will not be so impolite”: Ibid., 87-88.

243    “I am posted”:
PNG,
7:16.

Falling back on his youthful study: Ibid., 7:22.

“When I left”: Ibid., 7:17-18.

244    “attempt any thing”: Cornwallis to Rawdon, Dec. 28, 1780, PLC.

244    He would later write: Bobrick,
Angel in the Whirlwind,
428.

He assured Cornwallis: Rawdon to Cornwallis, Jan. 11,1781,PLC.

245    “Amidst the complicated dangers”: Freeman,
George Washington,
5:261.

In fact, Cornwallis encouraged his subordinate: Cornwallis to Tarleton, Jan. 2, 1781, PLC.

“Col. Tarlton is said to be on his way”:
PNG,
7:106.

246    “Just hold up your heads”: Morrill,
Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution,
127-28.

247    “The Troops I had the Honor to command”:
PNG,
7:152-55.

Greene told his friend James Varnum: Ibid., 7:187-88.

248    “Then he is ours!”: Leckie,
George Washington's War,
606.

He was alarmed:
PNG,
7:192.

“The people have been so harrassed”: Ibid., 7:225-26.

249    “Neither will you”: Leckie,
George Washington's War,
606.

“What! Alone, general?”: Ibid., 608. Thayer's comments on this anecdote are in his biography of Nathanael Greene, 313.

250    “His pen never rested”: Thayer,
Nathanael Greene,
314.

“badly armed”:
PNG,
7:261-62.

251    “[It] was determined”: Ibid.

“We have no provisions”: Ibid., 7:267-69.

252    “All our troops are over”: Leckie,
George Washington's War,
611.

“To have effected a retreat”: Commager and Morris,
The Spirit of Seventy-six,
1160.

Tarleton would later write: Scheer and Rankin,
Rebels and Redcoats,
440.

“ill-suited to enter”: Conrad, “Nathanael Greene and the Southern Campaigns,” 140.

253. Cornwallis explained to London:
PNG,
7:416.

In Late February: Ibid., 369-70.

But, Henry Lee later recalled: Lee,
The Revolutionary War Memoirs of General Henry Lee,
264.

254    “I have been obliged”:
PNG,
7:419-20.

He kept Washington informed: Ibid., 7:422-23.

254    “Good heavens, Colonel”: Greene, Life, 3:186-87.

“violent inflamation:”
PNG,
7:395.

255    Not surprisingly, he told Lee: Ibid.

As Greene told Jefferson: Ibid., 7:419-20.

“I expect Lord Cornwallis”: Ibid., 7:324-25.

257    “Three rounds”: Scheer and Rankin,
Rebels and Redcoats,
445-46.

260    “Our Men”:
PNG,
7:433-35.

“Like Peter the Great”: Lewis Jr. to Lewis Sr., Dec. 29, 1780, Morris,
Letters of Lewis Morris.

“Another such victory”: Commager and Morris,
The Spirit of Seventy-six,
1160.

“some consolation”:
PNG,
7:446.

“I had not the honor”: Ibid., 7:446-47.

“I was born”: Ibid., 7:469-70.

261    “It is my intention”: Ibid., 7:461.

“In this critical and distressing situation”: Ibid., 7:481.

262    “I am quite tired”: Commager and Morris,
The Spirit of Seventy-six,
1168.

Victory

264    “Don't be surprised”:
PNG,
8:xi.

Greene told Baron von Steuben: Ibid., 8:22-23.

“If I can get supplies”: Ibid.

“I have been anxiously waiting”: Ibid., 8:129-32.

“[On] this our whole operation will depend”: Ibid., 8:12.

Although Sumter assured Greene: Ibid., 8:66.

265    “I ... regard your affairs”: Washington to Greene, Apr. 19, 1781, PGW.

“We are at the end”: Flexner,
George Washington in the American Revolution,
409.

Greene told a sympathetic Jefferson:
PNG,
8:165-67.

266    The Crown's men: Thayer,
Nathanael Greene,
335.

“My greatest dependence”:
PNG,
8:118.

Greene inspected Rawdon's defenses: Ibid., 8:135.

268    One of Greene's aides: Ibid., 8:159fn.

269    Bitterly, Greene lashed out: Ibid., 9:134-36.

He confessed to Reed: Ibid.

“You write as if you thought”: Ibid., 8:173-74.

To Washington, Greene confessed: Ibid., 8:185-86.

269    “It is true”: Ibid., 8:230-31.

270    “Congress [seems] to have lost sight”: Ibid., 8:225-27.

Feeling very sorry for himself: Ibid., 8:227-29.

271    The general greeted Dudley: Dann,
The Revolution Remembered,
224.

“We fight”:
PNG,
8:167-68.

272    “I depend upon your pushing matters”: Ibid., 8:249.

“The brilliant repeated successes”: Thayer,
Nathanael Greene,
353.

He told John Rutledge:
PNG,
8:256.

273    “The Idea of exterminating the Tories”: Ibid., 8:349-50.

In an open letter: Ibid., 8:349.

274    “[The] fortifications are so strong”: Ibid., 8:299-300.

275    “It is mortifying”: Ibid., 8:419-22.

“Had we not moved this way”: Ibid.

276    “The difficulties which you daily encounter”: Washington to Greene, June 1, 1781, PGW.

“Our army has been frequently beaten”:
PNG,
9:41-42.

277    “I hope I have convinced the world”: Ibid.

277    “Your popularity”: Ibid., 8:494-98.

“would require a guard”: Ibid., 9:35-37.

278    Lafayette made it clear: Ibid., 9:172-74.

279    And he stayed in constant touch: Ibid., 8:446.

280    Stewart later noted: Ibid., 9:334.

281    A “most tremendous fire”: Ibid., 9:328-34.

As Greene monitored: Ibid.

284    He stated that . . . he had “left on the field of action”: Ibid.

It was ... “a most bloody battle”: Ibid., 9:358.

A British officer: Conrad, “Nathanael Greene and the Southern Campaigns,” 256.

285    Even before Eutaw Springs:
PNG,
9:323.

“How happy I am”: Ibid., 9:429.

Congress . . . awarded him a gold medal”: Ibid., 9:520-21.

286    A congressional resolution: Lee,
The Revolutionary War Memoirs of General Henry Lee,
474.

“How you have contrived”:
PNG,
9:317-18.

“[Without] an army”: Thayer,
Nathanael Greene, 381.

287    “This failure”:
PNG,
9:408-10.

His friend James Varnum: Ibid., 9:501.

“I beg leave”: Ibid., 9:519.

288    “It was a happy fight”:Ibid., 9:507-9.

Forging a Nation

289    “Oh, God!”: Commager and Morris,
The Spirit of Seventy-six,
1244.

290 “Numbers of brave fellows”:
PNG,
9:482-83.

Steuben, writing from Virginia: Ibid., 9:532-34.

The system worked: Ibid., 9:316.

These measures won the attention: Ibid.

“We are in the greatest distress”:Ibid., 9:606-7.

291    Greene asked North Carolina: Ibid., 9:559-61.

Among those advocating for Greene: Ibid., 9:313-15.

“The more I am in the Army”: Ibid., 9:559-601.

293    While patriots had “good reason to be offended”: Ibid., 9:452-54.

Greene recommended: Ibid., 9:456-58.

Although he held little regard: Ibid.

“We Military men:” Ibid.

294    “I am apprehensive”: Ibid., 10:61-62.

Washington was in Philadelphia: Ibid.

When Caty finally left Philadelphia: Ibid., 10:63.

295    “They . . . disgraced themselves”: Ibid., 9:649.

296    “I have the pleasure”: Ibid., 10:17.

“The natural strength of this country”: Ibid., 10:21-22.

297    Of a population: Boatner,
Encyclopedia of the American Revolution,
883.

Greene proposed that slaves:
PNG,
10:21-23.

In a letter to Lighthorse Harry Lee: Ibid., 10:12-13.

The northern states: Ibid., 10:228-29.

298    Although Rutledge was a friend and ally: Conrad, “Nathanael Greene and the Southern Campaigns,” 308.

In the middle:
PNG,
10:230fn.

“The northern people”: Ibid.

299    “This Country affords”: Ibid., 11:58.

300    “After almost two years absence”: Ibid., 11:60-61.

Greene blamed this injustice: Ibid.

“I act with decision”: Ibid., 11:100-1.

301    “The general has observed”: Ibid., 11:576.

Although she was not as desperately sick: Ibid., 11:577.

“We are very much indebted”: Ibid., 11:627-28.

302    But, he wrote: Ibid., 11:682-84.

In late September: Ibid., 11:709.

303    “It is with pleasure”: Ibid., 12:419-20.

“Every ear feels”: Ibid., 12:626-27.

304    “We have trod”: I am grateful to Elizabeth Stevens of the RIHS, an assistant editor of the Nathanael Greene Papers, who found this letter and shared it with me.

Unfinished Business

308    “He was our boon companion”: Stegeman and Stegeman,
Caty,
10.

He told the governor:
PNG,
12:379-82.

He told Washington: Greene to Washington, Aug. 29, 1784, PGW.

309    “I tremble at my own situation”: Stegeman and Stegeman,
Caty,
115.

309    He told an audience: Thayer,
Nathanael Greene,
422.

310    He told the Speaker:
PNG,
12:478-79.

Greene told Robert Morris: Greene to Morris, Jan. 9, 1784, Nathanael Greene Papers, WCL.

He betrayed no sense: Greene,
Life,
3:520.

In March 1784: Mifflin to Indian Commissioners, Mar. 6, 1784, Journals of the Continental Congress, Library of Congress.

311    The society was made up of former officers: Boatner,
Encyclopedia of the American Revolution,
229.

Washington fairly begged Greene: Washington to Greene, Mar. 20, 1784, PGW.

Greene did not let down: Thayer,
Nathanael Greene,
433.

He informed his lawyer: Greene to Robert Forsyth, Oct. 2, 1784, Nathanael Greene Papers, WCL.

his “honor and reputation”: Washington to Greene, May 20, 1785, PGW.

“The prospect is delightful”: Francis Vinton Greene,
General Greene,
311.

312    “It is a busy time”: Thayer,
Nathanael Greene,
441-42.

313    “I am overwhelmed”: Greene to Knox, Mar. 12, 1786, Henry Knox Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

314    “My dear General Greene”: Thayer,
Nathanael Greene,
445.

314    “Your friend and second” : Francis Vinton Greene,
General Greene,
313.

He told Jeremiah Wadsworth: Washington to Wadsworth, Oct. 22,1786, PGW.

“The sudden termination”: Francis Vinton Greene,
General Greene,
315-16.

“As I am convinced”: Nathanael Greene papers, RIHS, ms. 985.

Manuscript Collections

Abeel, James. Papers. New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, N.J.

Bancroft Collection. Includes the papers of Francis Marion, Anthony Wayne, and documents relative to Rhode Island. New York Public Library, New York.

Continental Congress. Journals. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Cornwallis, Lord Charles. Papers. University of Virginia, Charlottesville.

Friends minutes, 1751-1806. Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence.

Gates, Horatio. Papers. New-York Historical Society, New York.

Greene, Nathanael. Papers. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia; Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence; New York Public Library, New York; and William Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Jefferson, Thomas. Papers. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Kentish Guard Papers. Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence.

Knox, Henry. Papers. Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, Mass.

Quartermaster Papers. David Library of the American Revolution, Washington's Crossing, Pa. Washington, George. Papers. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Published Primary Sources

Bartlett, John R.
Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England.
10 vols. Providence, 1856-65.

Greene, Nathanael.
The Papers of Nathanael Greene.
Edited by Richard K. Showman and Dennis M. Conrad. 12 vols. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1976-2002.