Washington's General : Nathanael Greene And The Triumph Of The American Revolution

At last! A much needed biography of an indispensable and almost forgotten American hero...and Terry Golway, like his subject, has risen to the occasion. Absolutely first rate.

The overlooked Quaker from Rhode Island who won the Revolutionary War's crucial southern campaign and helped to set up the final victory of American independence at Yorktown

Nathanael Greene is a revolutionary hero who has been lost to history. Although places named in his honor dot city and country, few people know his quintessentially American story as a self-made, self-educated military genius who renounced his Quaker upbringing-horrifying his large family-to take up arms against the British. Untrained in military matters when he joined the Rhode Island militia in 1774, he quickly rose to become Washington's right-hand man and heir apparent. After many daring exploits during the war's first four years (and brilliant service as the army's quartermaster), he was chosen in 1780 by Washington to replace the routed Horatio Gates in South Carolina.

Greene's southern campaign, which combined the forces of regular troops with bands of irregulars, broke all the rules of eighteenth-century warfare and foreshadowed the guerrilla wars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His opponent in the south, Lord Cornwallis, wrote, "Greene is as dangerous as Washington. I never feel secure when I am encamped in his neighborhood. He is vigilant, enterprising, and full of resources." Greene's ingenious tactics sapped the British of their strength and resolve even as they "won" nearly every battle. Terry Golway argues that Greene's appointment as commander of the American Southern Army was the war's decisive moment, and this bold new book returns Greene to his proper place in the Revolutionary era's pantheon.

Terry Golway, longtime student of eighteenth-century American history, is a frequent contributor to American Heritage, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times. His previous books include So Others Might Live, The Irish in America, For the Cause of Liberty, and Irish Rebel. He is a columnist and city editor of the New York Observer, and lives in Maplewood, New Jersey.

He was an unlikely warrior, even in an army of inexperienced officers and citizen soldiers. The Quaker with a pronounced limp, Nathanael Greene surprised fellow patriots by rising quickly to become George Washington's favorite soldier and heir apparent. Other generals could claim a deeper knowledge of strategy and tactics, but none possessed his foresight and ingenuity or his organizational skills.

Unjustly humiliated for the loss of New York early in the war, Greene demonstrated the ability to turn defeat into victory in countless engagements. Yet it wasn't until he replaced Horatio Gates, the failed commander of the southern army, and formulated an unconventional campaign employing hit-and-run guerrilla tactics that his true military genius became apparent. Gates—a traditional general of the old school—had spent the two years since Saratoga basking in the glow of that famous victory. In the meantime, he had stumbled into a series of catastrophes until finally his entire army—1,500 Continentals and 2,000 militia patriots—was annihilated at Camden, South Carolina, in the summer of 1780. Benedict Arnold's stunning treason followed a month later to deliver a near-fatal blow to the rebel cause.

Greene knew that the lessons learned under Washington on the battlefields of New Jersey and Pennsylvania would not apply in the South. Instead of risking conventional battles with Cornwallis's superior army, Greene kept his smaller field forces of Continentals and militia, cavalry and lightly outfitted infantry in constant motion.

His was a partisan campaign, and its success depended upon local support. His unorthodox strategy was to win by surprise attacks and hasty retreats, which cut the enemy's supply lines until the British leaders tired of hunger and bloody sacrifices.

In one of the most audacious decisions of the war, Greene divided his army, separating Daniel Morgan's nimble troops from his own by 120 miles, with Cornwallis's army between them. The gamble paid off handsomely: the victory that followed not only stunned the British, it gave heart to southern patriots. Conscious of doubts among many southerners about the 0Revolution, Greene believed civilians would be more inclined to join the Continentals if the cause did not seem unwinnable. Greene's unconventional campaign sealed the bargain, and the way was prepared for the final victory at Yorktown less than a year later.

Terry Golway's bold new book, drawn from field documents, letters, diaries, and other sources, takes full account of the scope of Nathanael Greene's remarkable accomplishments, returning the forgotten patriot to his proper place in American history.

"If George Washington was the one indispensable man in our Revolution, Nathanael Greene was surely Washington's one indispensable general. In a spirited, wholly engrossing narrative, Terry Golway summons this underappreciated figure back from the mists and puts the living man before us with all his crotchets, self-pity, self-doubt—and the tenacious, high-hearted optimism that more than once saved his infant republic."—Richard F. Snow, editor in chief, American Heritage

"Washington's General does justice to this remarkable man. It is both informative and entertaining, and written in a lively style that reflects the best characteristics of history for the educated layman. Golway clearly admires his subject, but he doesn't overlook Greene's flaws."—Mackubin T. Owens, New York Post

"While researching and writing a book about George Washington, I concluded that Nathanael Greene was the most underappreciated great man in the War for Independence, and that he deserved a modern biography that told his incredible story. Now here it is. Washington once said that if he went down in battle, Greene was his choice to succeed him. Read this book and you will understand why."—Joseph J. Ellis, author of His Excellency: George Washington

"[An] elegant new biography."—Carl Rollyson, The New York Sun

 

"New York Observer columnist and editor Golway rescues a Revolutionary War hero from oblivion, and deservedly so. Nathanael Greene was a Rhode Islander who mysteriously earned a promotion from private to general of militia almost overnight, and who otherwise embodied a bundle of contradictions: he was a nominal pacifist who excelled at warfare, a pious man who was fond of a visit to the alehouse, 'a walking incongruity: a self-taught child of the Enlightenment, dressed in the unadorned black garb of a Quaker.' When textbooks mention him at all, they tend to cast Greene in a saintly light, whereas Golway accords him all the usual human failings. Among other things, the man wasn't above politics; he grumbled about George Washington's failings as a commander and lobbied hard for position, especially against rival general Horatio Gates, though he skillfully depicted himself as being the unwilling recipient of rank and honor. And he was also, Golway hints, not above earning a dollar here and there by helping mercantile relatives f0gain access to lucrative army contracts. Greene also had positive qualities, however, that more than matched his shortcomings, one being sheer bravery; he uncomplainingly turned up in the thick of important battles, such as the Continental victory at Trenton and defeat at Germantown, and at the end of the war his mere appearance on the battlefield, apparently, was enough to send his British foes into flight. Greene had a simple view of the war: 'We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.' That persistence wore down royal forces in the South, with the last b

“While researching and writing a book about George Washington, I concluded that Nathanael Greene was the most under appreciated great man in the War for Independence, and that he deserved a modern biography that told his incredible story. Now, here it is. Washington once said that, if he went down in battle, Greene was his choice to succeed him. Read this book and you will understand why.”
—Joseph J. Ellis, author of His Excellency: George Washington

“Terry Golway has done a magnificent job of capturing the personal and professional Nathanael Greene and portraying him as a living, vibrant, exceptionally competent general whose significance has not been widely appreciated until now. The depth and breadth of research are outstanding, and the prose a joy to read. This should be regarded as the definitive biography for years to come.”
—Robert M. Utley, author of The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull

“Terry Golway has written a remarkable book that brings the American Revolution alive for the 21st century reader in a new way. He gives us a Nathanael Greene that we can all understand: a modern man, ambitious but unsure of himself and the new political world he was creating, deeply in love but uncertain about his fidelity to his beautiful wife, not terribly fussy about the ethics of making money. Yet this Rhode Island Quaker risked his life and reputation to rescue the faltering Revolution in the South and incidentally proved himself a brilliant general. This is the American Revolution for adults.”
—Thomas Fleming, author of Liberty! The American Revolution

“If George Washington was the one indispensable man in our Revolution, Nathanael Greene was surely Washington’s one indispensable general. In a spirited, wholly engrossing narrative, Terry Golway summons this underappreciated figure back from the mists and puts the living man before us with all his crochets, self-pity, self-doubt—and the tenacious, high-hearted optimism that, along with a wholly self-taught military master, more than once saved his infant republic. This fine biography includes among its pleasures a love story (with its share of thorns amid the roses), a loquacious subject whose letters, for all their quaint spelling, are full of the eloquently-expressed passions of a gifted, beleaguered man, and perhaps most important of all, a wonderfully vivid reminder of what a reckless, audacious, almost miraculous adventure we Americans embarked upon when we decided we needed a nation of our own.”
—Richard F. Snow, Editor-In-Chief, American Heritage

“Nathanael Greene lost every major battle he fought, and then he died young. Yet he was one of the greatest military geniuses America ever produced. Terry Golway triumphantly resurrects the pugnacious, self-taught optimist who helped Washington win the American Revolution.”
—Richard Brookhiser, author of Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington

Terry Golway, columnist and city editor of The New York Observer, is a frequent contributor to American Heritage, The Boston Globe, and The New York Times. His previous books include So That Others Might Live, The Irish in America, For the Cause of Liberty, and Irish Rebel. He lives in Maplewood, New Jersey.

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Imprint: Henry Holt and Co.
Distributor: MPS
Publication Date: 01-10-2005
Pages: 368
Measurements: 9.25in X 6.13in X 1.25in