Major General Nathanael Greene

Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) was a Rhode Island Quaker who overcame a severe childhood limp and pacifist upbringing to become George Washington's most trusted general and the supreme strategist of the American Revolutionary War. Beginning the war as a private in a local militia, Greene's exceptional self-taught mastery of military logistics and theory led to his appointment as youngest brigadier general in the Continental Army.

Appointed commander of the shattered Southern Army in 1780 following the disaster at Camden, Greene executed a brilliant Fabian campaign across the Carolinas. In the famous 'Race to the Dan', he lured Cornwallis hundreds of miles away from British supply bases. Though technically losing tactical field engagements at Guilford Court House and Eutaw Springs, Greene bled the British army white, famously writing: 'We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.' By 1782, he had cleared the British from all southern territory except Charleston and Savannah.