R.L. Bullock: Nathanael Greene the unsung general of the American Revolution

Without the efforts of General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island in the American Revolution, we might all be paying homage to the Queen of England today. As we prepared for the Christmas festivities in his beautifully preserved 1770 Coventry homestead, which Nathanael built to be near his father’s iron foundry, it seemed sad that he only spent a few years in it himself.

The General was a blacksmith and brought up a Quaker. He was allowed to learn only enough reading, writing and arithmetic to balance the books at the foundry and read the Bible. He rejected that attitude and eventually started one of the first schools for children in the area in his own home. Children came to learn spelling and other academics, which is why his house is called “Spell Hall” to this day. He had one of the most extensive book collections in New England and even taught himself Latin and Greek so he could read the classics.

He was one of the founders of the “Kentish Guards” of East Greenwich, the sixth oldest military organization in the country. He was assisted by future General James Mitchell Varnum of East Greenwich and a British deserter Greene had talked into helping to train the men. He married a distant cousin, Catharine Littlefield of Block Island in 1774, and although they were thirteen years apart in age, their marriage turned out to be a romance for all time. She was the hostess for all of the parties he had to throw to help the “cause” and even followed him into the field, staying for the entire horrible winter of 1777 at snow-bound Valley Forge.

Nathanael marched off to war in 1775 to Cambridge, Mass.; the once Kentish Guard private promoted overnight to commanding general of the Rhode Island Army of Observation. It wasn’t before long that he made a favorable impression on George Washington, becoming his most trusted general and eventual second in command. Due to his great business savvy, Greene was appointed Quartermaster General and divided his time between fighting the British and nagging the American Congress for more money to pursue the war, all while wishing to be returned to a full field command. He ultimately financed many of the supplies out of his own pocket, exhausting the fortune he had amassed at the foundry and putting himself in debt.

In time, Washington chose him to command the Southern Campaign following catastrophic losses by other American generals. He spent several years fighting a guerilla war against British General Lord Cornwallis until his defeat by troops led by Washington at Yorktown, Va., in 1782. Not present at Cornwallis’ defeat, Greene stayed in the field for another year, driving the remaining British from the South. He briefly returned to Spell Hall in 1783, signing over the property to his brother Jacob to spare him from his war debts.

Nathanael moved his family to Mulberry Grove Plantation in Savannah, Ga. in 1785, where he cultivated rice. He also acquired land on Cumberland Island, Ga. These places were gifted to Nathanael and Catharine by the South in deep appreciation for saving them from British rule. It is no wonder that our southern brethren still refuse to give us his bones. Nathanael Greene died of heat stroke in 1786 at the age of 44. It is said that he looked like a worn out man past his sixties. He and his oldest son, George Washington Greene, who tragically drowned in 1792, are interred beneath a beautiful marble monument in Savannah's pristine Jackson Square and that is where they will surely stay.

After Nathanael’s death, Catharine sold her jewelry and many possessions to settle some of the general’s war debts. With the help of President Washington and Alexander Hamilton, Catharine was finally able to successfully petition Congress to pay off the debts. She eventually remarried and, among her accomplishments, she assisted Eli Whitney, who invented the cotton gin. She died in 1814 at the age of 59 and is buried with her second husband, Phineas Miller, on Cumberland Island.

Spell Hall is now a National Historic Landmark and non-profit museum and the Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene Homestead Association has launched a fundraising effort to improve the grounds and to build a replica of General Greene’s barn on the property. The organization hopes to raise $75,000 to fund the improvements. The barn will be used as classroom space for visiting school groups and youth organizations, as well as a lecture hall, returning the property to one of Nathanael’s original wishes for its use: to educate the youth of Coventry and of Rhode Island.

For more information visit www.nathanaelgreenehomestead.org or www.gofundme.com/nathanael-greene-barn.

R.L. Bullock is a member of the Board of Trustees and a docent of the Major General Nathanael Greene Homestead Association and a member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati.