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Warwick, Rhode Island

Warwick, Rhode Island

Warwick is a city located in Kent County, Rhode Island. Founded by Samuel Gorton in 1642, Warwick has witnessed the major events of American history. Warwick was decimated during King Philip's War (1675-76) and was the site of the first shot fired of the American Revolution against the British schooner Gaspée. Warwick is also the home of revolutionary war general Nathaniel Greene, George Washington's second-in-command, and the Civil War hero of the battle of Gettysburg, General George S. Greene. Warwick has an airport called T. F. Green Airport, which serves much of Rhode Island, including Providence. The airport also functions as a reliever for Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.

Early History

Warwick was founded in 1642 by Samuel Gorton when Narragansett Indian Chief Sachem Miantonomi agreed to accept 144 fathoms of Wampumpeague for what was known as "The Shawhomett Purchase". This included the present day towns of Coventry and West Warwick. In 1648, Gorton was granted a Charter by Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick. Because of this, the name of the settlement was changed from Shawomett to Warwick. In 1772, Warwick was the scene for the first violent act against the Crown when, in what was to be called the Gaspée Affair, local patriots boarded the British HMS Gaspée, a revenue cutter charged with enforcing the Stamp Act 1765 and Townshend Acts in an area where smuggling was common, the Narragansett Bay. It was here that the first blood of the American Revolution was spilled when the commanding officer of the Gaspée, Lt. Duddingston, was shot while resisting the taking of his ship. The Gaspée was stripped of all cannon and arms before being torched. During the Revolution, Warwick Militiamen participated in the battles of Montreal, Quebec, Saratoga, Monmouth, Trenton, Rhode Island, and were present for the surrender at Yorktown. After the war, Warwick and the rest of Rhode Island voted against ratification of the Constitution as it lacked a "Bill of Rights" as was found in Rhode Island's State Constitution. Thus, when the newly inaugurated President George Washington left New York City to travel to Boston, he was required to detour around "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations" as it was an "Independent and Sovereign Republic".

Geography

Warwick is located at 41°43'5" North, 71°24'55" West (41.718114, -71.415227). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 128.5 km² (49.6 mi²). 91.9 km² (35.5 mi²) of it is land and 36.6 km² (14.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 28.46% water. The following villages are located in Warwick:
- Hillborough
- Norwood
- Warwick Neck
- Conimicut
- Cowesett
- Hoxsie
- Apponoag
- Oakland Beach
- Gaspee
- Pilgrim
- Buttonwoods
- Potowomut
- Greenwood
- Pontiac (also in Cranston)
- Lakewood
- Pawtuxet (also in Cranston)
- Wildes Corner
- Nausauket

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 85,808 people, 35,517 households, and 22,979 families residing in the city. The population density is 933.3/km² (2,417.2/mi²). There are 37,085 housing units at an average density of 403.3/km² (1,044.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 95.21% White, 1.16% African American, 0.25% Native American, 1.49% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. 1.60% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 35,517 households out of which 27.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% are married couples living together, 10.2% have a female householder with no husband present, and 35.3% are non-families. 29.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 13.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.39 and the average family size is 2.99. In the city the population is spread out with 21.9% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 30.1% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100 females there are 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.2 males. The median income for a household in the city is $46,483, and the median income for a family is $56,225. Males have a median income of $39,455 versus $28,946 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,410. 5.9% of the population and 4.2% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 6.4% of those under the age of 18 and 7.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

External links

- [http://www.warwickri.gov/ City of Warwick, Rhode Island Website]
- [http://www.warwickri.gov/heritage/generalhistory.htm]
- [http://www.warwickri.gov/gaspee.htm More in-depth account of the Gaspee Incident]
- [http://www.generalatomic.com/AmericanHistory/gaspee.html Affair of the Gaspee]
- [http://www.visitwarwickri.com/ Warwick's Dept. of Tourism]
- [http://www.quahog.org/ Quahog.org] This site is a guide, with a strong emphasis on history, to travel within the Ocean State. Very cool site, with information on such sights as the [http://www.quahog.org/attractions/index.php?id=53 Condom Hut], [http://www.quahog.org/attractions/index.php?id=59 Florence Nightingale's Nursing Cap], and the famous [http://www.quahog.org/attractions/index.php?id=58 Nibbles Woodaway], the Big Blue Bug Category:Cities in Rhode Island Category:Kent County, Rhode Island

Kent County, Rhode Island

Image:Map of Rhode Island highlighting Kent County.png

Kent County is a county located in the state of Rhode Island. As of 2000, the population is 167,090.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 487 km² (188 mi²). 441 km² (170 mi²) of it is land and 46 km² (18 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 9.53% water.

Adjacent counties

- Providence County, Rhode Island - north
- Bristol County, Rhode Island - east
- Washington County, Rhode Island - south
- New London County, Connecticut - west
- Windham County, Connecticut - west

Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there are 167,090 people, 67,320 households, and 44,969 families residing in the county. The population density is 379/km² (982/mi²). There are 70,365 housing units at an average density of 160/km² (414/mi²). The racial makeup of the county is 95.54% White, 0.93% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 1.34% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.65% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. 1.69% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 67,320 households out of which 29.90% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% are married couples living together, 10.50% have a female householder with no husband present, and 33.20% are non-families. 27.60% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.40% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.45 and the average family size is 3.02. In the county, the population is spread out with 23.20% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 30.50% from 25 to 44, 24.20% from 45 to 64, and 15.10% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 39 years. For every 100 females there are 92.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 88.70 males. The median income for a household in the county is $47,617, and the median income for a family is $57,491. Males have a median income of $40,052 versus $29,130 for females. The per capita income for the county is $23,833. 6.60% of the population and 4.80% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 7.90% of those under the age of 18 and 8.10% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Cities and towns

- Coventry
- East Greenwich
- Warwick
- West Greenwich
- West Warwick

External link

- [http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/RI/Kent/districts.html National Register of Historic Places listing for Kent Co., Rhode Island] Category:Rhode Island counties ja:ケント郡 (ロードアイランド州)

Samuel Gorton

Samuel Gorton (1592-1677), English sectary and founder of the American sect of Gortonites, was born in 1592 at Gorton, Lancashire. He was first apprenticed to a clothier in London, but, fearing persecution for his religious convictions, he sailed for Boston, Massachusetts, in 1636. Constantly involved in religious disputes, he fled in turn to Plymouth, and (in 1637-1638) to Aquidneck Island (Newport), where he was publicly whipped for insulting the clergy and magistrates. In 1643 he bought land from the Narraganset people at Shawomet--now Warwick--where he was joined by a number of his followers; but he quarrelled with the Native Americans and the authorities at Boston sent soldiers to arrest Gorton and six of his companions. He served a term of imprisonment for heresy at Charlestown, after which he was ejected from the colony. In England in 1646 he published the curious tract Simplicities Defence against Seven Headed Policy (reprinted in 1835), giving an account of his grievances against the Massachusetts government. In 1648 he returned to New England with a letter of protection from the earl of Warwick, and joining his former companions at Shawomet, which he named Warwick, in honour of the earl, he remained there till his death. He is chiefly remembered as the founder of a small sect called the Gortonites, which survived till the end of the 18th century. They had a great contempt for the regular clergy and for all outward forms of religion, holding that the true believers partook of the perfection of God. Among his quaint writings are:
- An Incorruptible Key composed of the CX. Psalms wherewith you may open the rest of the Scriptures (1647)
- Saltmarsh returned from the Dead, with its sequel, An Antidote against the Common Plague of the World (1657) See LG Jones, Samuel Gorton: a forgotten Founder of our Liberties (Providence, 1896). ---- Gorton, Samuel Gorton, Samuel

King Philip's War

King Philip's War was a general Indian uprising in 1675–1676 to resist continued expansion of the English colonies throughout the New England region. It was the bloodiest of the Indian Wars in terms of relative casualties, and several tribes were virtually or totally eliminated. The war proved a critical turning point by destroying the interdependent world constructed jointly by white colonists and Native Americans and replacing it with a new culture in which native peoples were marginalized and the white settlers were dominant. Six hundred colonists were killed, which included about one-fifth of all the men fit for military service. Philip was the Christian name assigned to Metacomet, the sachem of the Wampanoag Indians. Massachusetts colonial settlers frequently referred to the Native chiefs as Kings.

Background

Tensions between the European settlers and American natives ebbed and rose, but were constantly present. All the Indians in the area were trapped in a decreasing area between the expanding colonies along the coasts and the even more hostile Iroquois and Mohican tribes to the west. The smallpox epidemics and Pequot War of the 1630s had reduced native population and brought 40 years of relative peace. Philip had become chief in 1662 and he increased the contact between the Wampanoag and the colonists. By 1670 the entire area from the Atlantic west to the Connecticut River Valley was still partially wilderness, but had 40 or 50 colonial towns and villages scattered through it. These were matched by a similar number of interspersed Indian settlements, sometimes side by side. After several incidents, the court in Plymouth forced Philip's band to turn over many of their firearms to the colony in 1671. But this only increased tensions. Also, as this involved the Puritan colony of Massachusetts, attempted conversion of the natives was a source of tension. Many settlers were attempting, and sometimes succeeding, to convert the Indians to Puritanism. Those who were converted were called "praying Indians". Some natives were killed when they attempted to resist the conversion. The spark that started the war was a report from a "praying Indian" named John Sassamon of an Indian conspiracy to attack the European settlements. Before the charges could be investigated, John Sassamon was found murdered in a pond, allegedly by Wampanoag angry at his betrayal. The settlers arrested three Indians from the area, convicted them of his murder, and hanged them on June 8, 1675 at Plymouth. The Wampanoag believed the trial and sentencing was an insult, and the incident inflamed tempers further. In response to the previous incident, a band of Pokanoket, probably without Philip's approval, looted several homes at Swansea on June 20. After a siege of 5 days, the town was destroyed. The colonists from Plymouth and Boston were quick to respond, and on June 28 they sent an expedition that destroyed the Wampanoag town at Mount Hope (modern Bristol, Rhode Island).

The war

Early engagements

Bristol, Rhode Island The war quickly spread, and soon involved the Podunk and Nipmuck tribes. During the summer of 1675 the Indians attacked at Mendon (July 14), Brookfield (August 2), and Lancaster (August 9). In early September they attacked Deerfield, Hadley, and Northfield. The New England Confederation declared war on the Indians on September 9, 1675. The next colonial expedition was soundly defeated in the battle of Bloody Brook (near Hadley) on September 18. The attacks on frontier settlements continued at Springfield (October 5) and Hatfield (October 16). The next expansion to the war came from the colonists. On November 2, Josiah Winslow led a force from Plymouth to attack the Narragansett tribe. The Narragansetts had not yet been involved in the war, but they occupied desirable land throughout the colonies, and the colonial view was that any Indian was an enemy. Several Indian towns were burned, and in December the Narrargansett stronghold near modern South Kingstown, Rhode Island was taken. About 300 Indians were killed and winter stores destroyed, but most of the warriors escaped into the swamp. Facing a winter without food and shelter, the Narragansett joined the uprising.

The Indian victories

Throughout the winter of 1675–1676 more frontier settlements were destroyed by the Indians. Attacks came at Andover, Bridgewater, Chelmsford, Groton, Lancaster, Marlborough, Medfield, Medford, Portland, Providence, Rehoboth, Scituate, Seekonk, Sudbury, Warwick, Weymouth, and Wrentham. The high-water mark for the combined tribes came in the spring of 1676. They reached and attacked Plymouth Plantation itself on March 12. Even though the town withstood the assault, they had shown that they could attack anywhere. All but five of the outlying settlements were deserted, and the colonists were thrown back on the seacoast. In May a militia force of 200, led by William Turner, set out from Springfield to destroy a camp of the Indians who had raided Hatfield. At dawn on May 14 they attacked the sleeping camp, and killed about 200 Indians. But they hadn't considered their withdrawal. Surrounding camps closed in, and half the force, including Captain Turner, never made it home. To compound this, some braves got into Springfield and burned substantial parts of the town while the militia was away.

The Colonial Tide

---- May 14 But now the tide of war began to turn. This had become a war of attrition, and both sides were determined to eliminate the other. The Indians had nearly succeeded in driving their enemy into the sea, but their supplies were running out. The colonists continued to be supplied by sea, and although the war ultimately cost them over £100,000, they would emerge victorious. The Indian hopes for supplies from the French were not met, except for some ammunition in Maine. The colonists now allied themselves with the Mohican tribe to the west, and King Philip found his forces surrounded. With the help of the Mohicans, the colonists won at Hadley on June 12, and scattered the survivors into the wilds of New Hampshire. Later that month, a force of 250 Indians was routed near Marlboro. The colonial militia had asked for aid from Britain. Britain went to protect its colony and investment. Philip's allies began to desert him. By early July, over 400 had surrendered to the colonists, and Philip himself had taken refuge in the Assowamset Swamp, below Providence, Rhode Island. He was ultimately defeated when he was tracked down by Rangers lead by Captain Benjamin Church at Mt. Hope where he was shot and killed by an Indian member of the group named John Alderman August 12.

Aftermath

With Metacomet's death, the war in the south was largely ended. Over 600 colonists and 3,000 Indians had been killed. Several hundred more natives who had surrendered or been captured were sold as slaves in the Caribbean. Members of the sachem's extended family were placed for safekeeping among colonists in Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut. In Stonington, Connecticut, selectman John Starkweather married his Christianized captive. Other survivors were forced to join more western tribes, mainly as captives. The Narragansett, Wampanoag, Podunk, Nipmuck, and several smaller bands were virtually eliminated, while the Mohicans were greatly weakened. Sporadic raids continued on the far northern frontier in Maine and New Hampshire. These were finally ended when Sir Edmund Andros negotiated a treaty with the northern bands on April 12, 1678. After the war, the British soldiers were retained throughout New England, due to the cost of shipping the soldiers back home. Thus, the salutary neglect of enforcement of the Navigation Acts decreased. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island were now fully open to European colonization, although western settlements would face raids until the American Revolution.

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known, especially internationally, as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen British colonies in North America. The war began largely as a colonial revolt against the economic policies of the British Empire, and eventually widened far beyond British North America, with France, Spain, and the Netherlands entering the war against Great Britain. Additionally, many American Indians fought on both sides of the conflict. Throughout the war, the British were able to use their naval superiority to capture colonial coastal cities, but control of the countryside largely eluded them. French involvement proved decisive, with a naval victory in the Chesapeake leading to the surrender of a British army at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 recognized the independence of the United States of America. Because a great number of colonists fled the thirteen colonies and settled in the north, the war also paved the way for the eventual creation of what would become Canada. The terms American Revolutionary War and American Revolution are often used interchangeably, though the American Revolution included political and social developments before and after the war itself. This article refers solely to the military campaign; for a broader perspective, including the origins and aftermath of the war, see the American Revolution.

Combatants

Colonists

Colonists were divided over which side to support in the war. About 40 to 45 percent of the colonial population supported the struggle for independence, and were known as "Patriots" (or "Whigs"). About 15 to 20 percent supported the British Crown during the war, and were known as "Loyalists" (or "Tories"). Loyalists fielded perhaps 50,000 men during the war years in support of the British Empire. In some areas, the American Revolutionary War was a civil war. When the war began, the American revolutionaries did not have a professional army (also known as a "regular" or "standing" army). Each colony had traditionally provided for its own defenses through the use of local militia. Militiamen served for only a few weeks or months at a time, were generally reluctant to go very far from home, and would often come and go as they saw fit. Militia typically lacked the training and discipline of regular troops, but could be effective when led by talented officers. Seeking to coordinate military efforts, the Continental Congress established (on paper) a regular army—the Continental Army—in June of 1775, and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief. The development of the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington reluctantly augmented the regular troops with militia throughout the war. Although as many as 250,000 Patriots may have served as regulars or militiamen in the eight years of the war, there were never more than 90,000 total men under arms for the revolutionaries in any given year. Armies in North America were small by European standards of the era; the greatest number of men that Washington personally commanded in the field at any one time was fewer than 17,000.

European nations

commander-in-chief Early in 1775, the British army consisted of about 36,000 men worldwide, but wartime recruitment steadily increased this number. Additionally, over the course of the war the British hired about 30,000 German mercenaries, popularly known in the colonies as "Hessians" because many of them came from Hesse. Germans would make up about one-third of the British troop strength in North America. By 1779, the number of British and German troops stationed in North America was over 60,000, though these were spread from Canada to Florida. France, the Netherlands and Spain entered the war against Great Britain in an attempt to dilute Britain's emerging superpower status. Early on, all three countries quietly provided financial assistance to the American rebels. France officially entered the war in 1778 and soon sent troops, ships, and military equipment to fight against the British for the remainder of the war. Spain entered the war in 1779, officially as an ally of France, not the United States—Spain was not keen on encouraging similar rebellions in her own empire. The Netherlands entered the war late in 1780, but was soon overwhelmed by the British.

Blacks and Native Americans

African-Americans, slaves and free blacks, served on both sides during the war. Black soldiers served in northern militias from the outset, but this was forbidden in the South, where slaveowners feared arming slaves. Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, issued an emancipation proclamation in November 1775, promising freedom to runaway slaves who fought for the British, and Sir Henry Clinton issued a similar edict in New York in 1779. Tens of thousands of slaves escaped to the British lines, although possibly as few as 1,000 served under arms. Many of the rest served as orderlies, mechanics, laborers, servants, scouts and guides, although more than half died in smallpox epidemics that swept the British forces, and a number were driven out of the British lines when food ran low. Despite Dunmore's promises, the majority were not given their freedom. In response, and because of manpower shortages, Washington lifted the ban on black enlistment in the Continental Army in January 1776. All-black units were formed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts; many were slaves promised freedom for serving in lieu of their masters; another all-black unit came from Haiti with French forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought as Patriots. Most American Indian communities east of the Mississippi River were affected by the war, many divided over the question of which side to support. Most Native Americans who joined the fight fought against the United States, since native lands were threatened by ever expanding Anglo-American settlement. An estimated 13,000 warriors fought on the British side; the largest group, the Iroquois Confederacy, fielded about 1,500 warriors against the Patriots.

War in the North

Massachusetts, 1774 to 1776

Iroquois Confederacy In 1774, the British parliament effectively abolished the provincial government of Massachusetts. Lieutenant General Thomas Gage, already the commander-in-chief of British troops in North America, was also appointed governor of Massachusetts and was instructed by King George's government to enforce royal authority in the troublesome colony. However, popular resistance compelled the newly appointed royal officials in Massachusetts to resign or to seek refuge in Boston. Gage commanded four regiments of British regulars (about 4,000 men) from his headquarters in Boston, but the countryside was in the hands of the Patriots. On the night of 18 April 1775, General Gage sent 900 men to seize munitions stored by the colonial militia at Concord, Massachusetts. Several Patriot riders — including Paul Revere — alerted the countryside, and when the British troops entered Lexington on the morning of 19 April, they found 75 minutemen formed up on the village common. Shots were exchanged, and the British moved on to Concord, where there was more fighting. By the time the "redcoats" (as the British soldiers were called) began the return march, several thousand militiamen had gathered along the road. A running fight ensued, and the British detachment suffered heavily. With the Battle of Lexington and Concord — the "Shot heard 'round the world" — the war had begun. Afterwards, thousands of Patriot militiamen converged on Boston, bottling up the British in the city. Late in May, Gage received by sea about 4,500 reinforcements and a trio of generals who would play a vital role in the war: William Howe, John Burgoyne, and Henry Clinton. They formulated a plan to break out of the city. On June 17, 1775, British forces under General Howe seized the Charlestown peninsula at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The battle was technically a British victory, but losses were so heavy that the attack was not followed up. Thus the siege was not broken, and General Gage was soon replaced by Howe as commander-in-chief for the British. In July of 1775, newly appointed General Washington arrived outside Boston to take charge of the colonial forces. The standoff continued throughout the fall and winter. In early March of 1776, heavy cannons that had been captured by Patriots at Fort Ticonderoga were moved to Boston, a difficult feat engineered by Henry Knox. When the guns were placed upon Dorchester Heights, overlooking the British positions, Howe's situation became untenable. The British evacuated the city on March 17, 1776 and sailed for temporary refuge in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The colonial militia dispersed, and in April Washington took most of the Continental Army to fortify New York City.

Canada, 1775 to 1776

During the long standoff at Boston, the Continental Congress sought a way to seize the initiative elsewhere. Congress had initially invited French-Canadians to join them as the fourteenth colony, but when that failed to happen, an invasion of Canada was authorized in an attempt to drive the British from the Canadian provinces. Two expeditions were undertaken. On September 16, 1775, Brigadier General Richard Montgomery marched north from Fort Ticonderoga with about 1,700 militiamen, capturing Montreal on November 13. General Guy Carleton, the governor of Canada, escaped to Quebec. The second expedition, led by Colonel Benedict Arnold, set out from Fort Western (present day Maine) on September 25. The expedition was a logistical nightmare, and many men succumbed to smallpox. By the time Arnold reached Quebec in early November, he had but 600 of his original 1,100 men. Nevertheless, Arnold demanded the surrender of the city, to no avail. Montgomery joined Arnold, and they attacked Quebec on December 31, but were soundly defeated by Carleton. Montgomery was killed, Arnold was wounded, and many men were taken prisoner. The Patriots held on outside Quebec until the spring of 1776, and then withdrew. Another attempt was made by the Patriots to push back towards Quebec, but failed at Trois-Rivières on June 8, 1776. Carleton then launched his own invasion, and defeated Arnold in a naval battle on Lake Champlain (the Battle of Valcour Island) in October. Arnold fell back to Fort Ticonderoga, where the invasion of Canada had begun. The invasion of Canada ended as an embarrassing disaster for the Patriots, but Arnold's improvised navy on Lake Champlain managed to delay the fateful British counter thrust (the Saratoga Campaign) until 1777.

New York and New Jersey, 1776 to 1777

Having withdrawn from Boston, the British now focused on capturing New York City. General Howe, with the services of his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, began amassing troops on Staten Island in July of 1776. General Washington, with a smaller army of about 20,000 men, unwittingly violated a cardinal rule of warfare, and divided his troops about equally between Long Island and Manhattan, thus allowing the Howes to engage only one half of the Continental Army at a time. In late August, the Howes transported about 22,000 men (including 9,000 "Hessians") to Long Island. In the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776, the British expertly executed a surprise flanking maneuver, driving the Patriots back to the Brooklyn Heights fortifications. General Howe then laid siege to the works, but Washington skillfully managed a nighttime evacuation to Manhattan. Having taken Long Island, the Howes moved to seize Manhattan. On September 15, General Howe landed about 12,000 men on lower Manhattan, quickly taking control of New York City. The Patriots withdrew to Harlem Heights, where they skirmished the next day, but held their ground. When Howe moved to encircle Washington's army in October, the Patriots again fell back, and a battle at White Plains was fought on October 28, 1776. Once more Washington retreated, but Howe, instead of aggressively pursuing the withdrawal, returned to Manhattan and captured Fort Washington in mid November, taking almost 3,000 prisoners. Four days later, Fort Lee, across the Hudson River from Fort Washington, was also taken. Hudson River is an iconic image of American history.]] General Lord Cornwallis continued to chase Washington's army through New Jersey, until the Patriots withdrew across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania in early December. With the campaign at an apparent conclusion for the season, the British entered winter quarters. Although Howe had missed several opportunities to crush the diminishing Patriot army, he had killed or captured over 5,000 of the rebels. He controlled much of New York and New Jersey, and was in a good position to resume operations in the spring, with the rebel capital of Philadelphia in striking distance. The outlook of the Continental Army — and thus the revolution itself — was bleak. "These are the times that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine, who was with the army on the retreat. The army had dwindled to fewer than 5,000 men fit for duty, and would be reduced to 1,400 after enlistments expired at the end of the year. Spirits were low, popular support was wavering, and Congress had abandoned Philadelphia in despair. Washington reacted by taking the offensive, stealthily crossing the Delaware on Christmas night and capturing nearly 1,000 Hessians at the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776. Cornwallis marched to retake Trenton, but was outmaneuvered by Washington, who successfully attacked the British rearguard at Princeton on January 3, 1777. Washington then entered winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, having retaken much of New Jersey, and having secured two bold, morale-boosting victories in quick succession to reinvigorate the flagging revolution.

Saratoga Campaign, 1777

In the summer of 1777, the British launched a new expedition from Canada. Led by General Burgoyne, the intention was to seize the Lake Champlain and Hudson River corridor, effectively isolating New England from the rest of the American colonies. Burgoyne's invasion had two components: he would lead about 10,000 men along Lake Champlain towards Albany, New York, while a second column of about 2,000 men, led by Barry St. Leger, would move down the Mohawk River valley and link up with Burgoyne in Albany. Burgoyne set off in early July, recapturing Fort Ticonderoga from the retreating Patriots without firing a shot. He then proceeded overland towards Albany, but Patriots slowed his progress through the wilderness by destroying bridges and felling trees in his path. Running short on supplies, in August Burgoyne sent a detachment to raid nearby Bennington, Vermont. The raiders were decisively defeated by local Patriot militia, depriving Burgoyne of nearly 1,000 men and the much-needed supplies. decisively defeated commanded both American Indians and white Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War.]] Meanwhile, St. Leger—half of his force American Indians led by Joseph Brant—had laid siege to Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk River. About 800 Patriot militiamen and their Indian allies marched to relieve the siege, but were ambushed and scattered by British and Indians on August 6 at the Battle of Oriskany. Iroquois warriors fought on both sides of the battle, marking the beginning of a civil war within the Six Nations. When a second relief expedition approached, this time led by Benedict Arnold, the siege was lifted, and St. Leger's expedition returned to Canada. Burgoyne was on his own. Burgoyne pushed on towards Albany, his forces now reduced to about 6,000 men. A Patriot army of about 8,000 men, commanded by the newly arrived General Horatio Gates, had entrenched about 10 miles (16 km) south of Saratoga, New York. Burgoyne sent 2,000 men to outflank the Patriot position, but was checked by Generals Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan in the first battle of Saratoga on September 19, 1777. After the battle, the two armies dug in. Burgoyne was in trouble now, but he hoped that help from the south might be on the way. All along, Burgoyne had suggested that his invasion from Canada might be supported by a British offensive up the Hudson River from Howe's location in New York City. However, British war planners did not coordinate their efforts. General Howe had instead sailed away from New York on an expedition to capture Philadelphia (see next section). British General Henry Clinton, left in command at New York, did indeed sail up the Hudson in October, capturing several forts and burning Kingston (at the time the Patriot capital of New York), but his efforts were not enough to affect the events at Saratoga. Patriot militiamen, many of them outraged by the reported murder of an American woman at the hands of Burgoyne's Indian allies, flocked to Gates's army, swelling his force to 11,000 by the beginning of October. Burgoyne, his position becoming desperate, launched a new offensive, the second battle of Saratoga on October 7. The attack was repelled, and General Arnold, though relieved of command by Gates, rushed to the battle and led a decisive counterattack. Badly beaten, Burgoyne surrendered on October 17. Saratoga was the turning point of the war. Patriot confidence and determination, suffering from Howe's successful occupation of Philadelphia, was renewed. Even more importantly, the victory encouraged France to enter the war against Great Britain. Spain and the Netherlands soon did the same. For the British, the war had now become much more complicated.

Philadelphia Campaign, 1777 to 1778

Having secured New York City in his 1776 campaign, in 1777 General Howe concentrated on capturing the capital of Philadelphia. He moved slowly, landing 15,000 troops in late August at the northern end of Chesapeake Bay, about 55 miles (90 km) southwest of Philadelphia. Washington positioned his 11,000 men between Howe and Philadelphia, but was outflanked and driven back at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777. The Continental Congress once again abandoned the city. British and Patriot forces maneuvered around each other for the next several days, clashing in minor encounters such as the so-called "Paoli Massacre." On September 26, Howe finally outmaneuvered Washington, and marched into Philadelphia unopposed. After taking the city, the British garrisoned about 9,000 troops in Germantown, five miles (8 km) above Philadelphia. Washington unsuccessfully attacked Germantown in early October, and then retreated to watch and wait. Meanwhile, the British secured the Delaware River by taking (with difficulty) forts Mifflin and Mercer in November. General Washington's problems at this time were not just with the British. In the so-called Conway Cabal, some politicians and officers unhappy with Washington's recent performance as commander-in-chief secretively discussed his removal. Washington, offended by the behind-the-scenes maneuvering, laid the whole matter openly before Congress. His supporters rallied behind him, and the episode abated. Washington and his army encamped at Valley Forge in December of 1777, about 20 miles (32 km) from Philadelphia, where they would stay for the next six months. Over the winter, 2,500 men (out of 10,000) died from disease and exposure. However, the army eventually emerged from Valley Forge in good order, thanks in part to a training program supervised by Baron von Steuben. Meanwhile, there was a shakeup in the British command, with General Clinton replacing Howe as commander-in-chief. French entry into the war had changed British war strategy, and Clinton was ordered by the government to go on the defensive in the North. He abandoned Philadelphia and marched back towards New York City. Washington's army shadowed Clinton on his withdrawal, and forced a battle at Monmouth on June 28, 1778, the last major battle in the North. Washington's second-in-command, General Charles Lee, ordered a controversial retreat during the battle, angering Washington and allowing Clinton's army to escape. By July, Clinton was in New York City, and Washington was again at White Plains. Both armies were back where they had been two years earlier. With the exception of scattered minor actions in the North, like the Battle of Stony Point, the focus of the war now shifted elsewhere.

War in the West

Main article: Frontier warfare during the American Revolution Frontier warfare during the American Revolution in the dead of winter led to the capture of General Henry Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor of Canada.]] West of the Appalachian Mountains, the American Revolutionary War was an "Indian War." The British and the Continental Congress both courted American Indians as allies (or urged them to remain neutral), and many Native American communities became divided over what path to take. Like the Iroquois Confederacy, tribes such as the Cherokees and the Shawnees split into factions. Delawares under White Eyes signed the first Indian treaty with the United States, but other Delawares joined the British. The British supplied their Indian allies from forts along the Great Lakes, and tribesmen staged raids on Patriot settlements in New York, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Joint Iroquois-Loyalist attacks in the Wyoming Valley and at Cherry Valley in 1778 helped provoke the scorched earth Sullivan Expedition into western New York during the summer of 1779. On the brutal western front, every man, woman, and child — regardless of race — was a potential casualty. In the Ohio Country, the Virginia frontiersman George Rogers Clark attempted to neutralize British influence among the Ohio tribes by capturing the outposts of Kaskaskia and Vincennes in the summer of 1778. When General Henry Hamilton, the British commander at Detroit, retook Vincennes, Clark returned in a surprise march in February of 1779 and captured Hamilton himself. However, a decisive victory in the West eluded the United States even as their fortunes had risen in the East. The low point on the frontier came in 1782 with the Gnadenhütten massacre, when Pennsylvania militiamen, unable to track down enemy warriors, executed nearly 100 Christian Delaware noncombatants, mostly women and children. Later that year, in the last major encounter of the war, a party of Kentuckians was soundly defeated by a superior force of British regulars and Native Americans. For generations in the United States, the exploits of George Rogers Clark were practically the only stories told about the Revolution in the West; other parts of the tale were apparently best left unremembered.

War in the South

During the first three years of the American Revolutionary War, the primary military encounters were in the North. One notable exception was in June of 1776, when General Henry Clinton sailed south to attack Charleston, South Carolina. This ended in humiliating defeat for the British, and the revolutionaries remained in control of the southern colonies for the next three years. Starting in 1778, the British once again turned their attention to the colonies of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, where they hoped to regain control with the assistance of southern Loyalists. On December 29, 1778, an expeditionary corps of 3,500 men from Clinton's army in New York captured Savannah, Georgia. A joint Franco-Patriot attempt to retake Savannah failed on October 9, 1779. In this assault Count Casimir Pulaski, the Polish commander of Patriot cavalry, was mortally wounded. With Savannah secured, Clinton could now launch a new assault on Charleston, South Carolina, where he had failed so miserably in 1776.

Carolinas, 1780 to 1781

cavalry in 1782.]] Clinton finally moved against Charleston in 1780, blockading the harbor in March, and building up about 10,000 troops in the area. Inside the city, General Benjamin Lincoln commanded about 2,650 Continentals and 2,500 militiamen. When British Colonel Banastre Tarleton cut off the city's supply lines in victories at Monck’s Corner in April and Lenud’s Ferry in early May, Charleston was surrounded. The besiegers dug trenches closer and closer to the city until, on May 12, 1780, General Lincoln surrendered his 5,000 men—the largest surrender of U.S. troops until the American Civil War. With relatively few casualties, Clinton had seized the South’s biggest city and seaport, winning perhaps the greatest British victory of the war, and paving the way for what seemed like certain conquest of the South. The regiment of the southern Continental Army on their way to aid Charleston turned back after to North Carolina after their destination city fell. Colonel Tarleton pursued them and caught up to them on May 29, 1780. The affair that followed is the subject of much debate. Tarleton claims to have soundly defeated the Americans, but the common American verision says that Tarleton's forces either ignored the American attempt to surrender or fired upon them as they were in the process of doing so. The event became known as the Waxhaw massacre. The American verision of the story quickly spread through the colonies. “Bloody Tarleton” became a hated name among the rebels, and “Tarleton’s quarter”—referring to his reputed lack of mercy (or “quarter”)—soon became a Patriot rallying cry. With these events, organized Patriot resistance in the South had collapsed, though the war was carried on by partisans such as Francis Marion. General Clinton turned over British operations in the South to Lord Cornwallis. The Continental Congress dispatched the "hero of Saratoga," General Horatio Gates, to the rescue with a new army. But Gates promptly suffered one of the worst defeats in U.S. military history at the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780, setting the stage for Cornwallis to invade North Carolina. The tables were quickly turned on Cornwallis, however. One wing of his army was utterly defeated at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780, delaying his move into North Carolina. Kings Mountain was noteworthy because it was not a battle between British redcoats and Patriot troops: It was a battle between American Loyalists and American Patriots. The Revolutionary War was in many ways a civil war; this was especially true in the South. Gates was replaced by George Washington's most dependable subordinate, General Nathanael Greene. Greene assigned about 1,000 men to General Daniel Morgan, a superb tactician who crushed Tarleton’s troops at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781. Greene proceeded to wear down his opponents in a series of battles (Guilford Court House, Hobkirk's Hill, Ninety Six and Eutaw Springs), each of them tactically a victory for the British, but giving no strategic advantage to the victors. Greene summed up his approach in a motto that would become famous: "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again." Unable to capture or destroy Greene's army, Cornwallis turned his attention to Virginia.

Virginia, 1775 to 1781

Virginia had been under revolutionary control since Loyalist forces (including runaway slaves) under Governor Dunmore had been defeated at the Battle of Great Bridge on December 9, 1775. After the defeat Dunmore and his troops took refuge on British ships off of Norfolk, which Dunmore bombarded and burned on January 1, 1776. He was driven from an island in Chesapeake Bay that summer, never to return. British forces raided Virginia sporadically during the war. In January 1781, the rebel capital of Richmond was put to the torch by none other than Benedict Arnold, who had sold his services to the other side and was now a British general. In March 1781, General Washington dispatched Lafayette to defend Virginia. The young Frenchman had 3,200 men at his command, but British troops in the colony, now reinforced and commanded by Cornwallis, totaled 7,200. Lafayette skirmished with Cornwallis, avoiding a decisive battle while gathering reinforcements. "The boy cannot escape me," Cornwallis is supposed to have said. However, Cornwallis was unable to trap Lafayette, and so he moved his forces to Yorktown, Virginia in July in order to link up with the British navy. As fate would have it, the navy that eventually met Cornwallis at Yorktown was not British.

War at sea

Main article: Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War Meanwhile the co-operation of the French became active. In July Count Rochambeau arrived at Newport, Rhode Island. That place had been occupied by the British from 1776 to the close of 1779. An unsuccessful attempt was made to drive them out in 1778 by the Patriots assisted by the French admiral d'Estaing and a French corps.
- First Battle of Ushant - July 27, 1778
- John Paul Jones
- Continental Navy
- Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780)
- Second Battle of Ushant - December 12, 1781

Gulf Coast

After Spain declared war against Great Britain in June of 1779, Count Bernardo de Gálvez, the governor of Louisiana, seized three British Mississippi River outposts: Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez. Gálvez then captured Mobile on March 14, 1780, and in May of 1781 forced the surrender of the British outpost at Pensacola, Florida. On May 8, 1782, Gálvez captured the British naval base at New Providence in the Bahamas.

Caribbean

- Battle of the Saintes

India

The Franco-British war spilled over into India in 1780, in the form of the Second Anglo-Mysore War. The two chief combatants were Tipu Sultan, ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore and a key French ally, and the British government of Madras. The Anglo-Mysore conflict was bloody but inconclusive, and ended in a draw at the Treaty of Mangalore in 1784.

Netherlands

Also in 1780, the British struck against the United Provinces of the Netherlands in the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War to preempt Dutch involvement in the League of Armed Neutrality, directed primarily against the British Navy during the war. Agitation by Dutch radicals, and a friendly attitude towards the United States by the Dutch government, influenced by the American Revolution also encouraged the British to attack. The war lasted into 1784 and was disastrous to the Dutch mercantile economy.

Mediterranean

On 5 February 1782 Spanish and French forces captured Minorca, which had been under British control since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. A further Franco-Spanish effort to recover Gibraltar was unsuccessful. Minorca was ceded to Spain in the peace treaty.

Whitehaven

An interesting footnote to this war was the actual landing on Britain itself by a ship from the Continental Navy. This occurred in 1778 when the port of Whitehaven in Cumberland was raided by John Paul Jones. The landing was a surprise attack, taken as an action of revenge by Jones, and was never intended as an invasion. Nevertheless, it caused hysteria in England, with the attack showing a weakness that could be exploited by other states such as France or Spain. Its result was an intense period of fortification in British ports.

War's end

The northern, southern, and naval theaters of the war converged at Yorktown in 1781. On September 5, 1781, French naval forces defeated the British Royal Navy at the Battle of the Chesapeake, cutting off Cornwallis's supplies and transport. Washington hurriedly moved his troops from New York, and a combined Franco-American force of 17,000 troops commenced the Battle of Yorktown on October 6, 1781. Cornwallis's position quickly became untenable, and on October 19 his army surrendered. The war was all but over. October 19 is on horseback in the right background; because the British commander was absent, military protocol dictated that Washington have a subordinate—in this case Benjamin Lincoln—accept the surrender.]] British Prime Minister Lord North resigned soon after hearing the news from Yorktown. In April 1782, the British House of Commons voted to end the war with the Patriots. On November 30, 1782 preliminary peace articles were signed in Paris; the formal end of the war did not occur until the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783 and the United States Congress ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784. The last British troops left New York City on November 25, 1783. The reasons for Great Britain's misfortunes and defeat may be summarized as follows: Misconception by the home government of the temper and reserve strength of her colonists; disbelief at the outset in the probability of a protracted struggle covering the immense territory in America; consequent failure of the British to use their more efficient military strength effectively; the safe and Fabian generalship of Washington; and perhaps most significantly, the French alliance and European combinations by which at the close of the conflict left Great Britain without a friend or ally on the continent. Decisive victory eluded the United States on the western frontier. However, Great Britain negotiated the Paris peace treaty without consulting her Indian allies, and ceded much American Indian territory to the United States. Full of resentment, Native Americans reluctantly confirmed these land cessions with the United States in a series of treaties, but the result was essentially an armed truce—the fighting would be renewed in conflicts along the frontier, the largest being the Northwest Indian War.

Casualties

The total loss of life resulting from the American Revolutionary War is unknown. As was typical in the wars of the era, disease claimed more lives than battle. It is often overlooked that the war took place in the context of a massive smallpox epidemic in North America that probably killed more than 130,000 people. Historian Joseph J. Ellis suggests that Washington's decision to have his troops inoculated may have been the commander-in-chief's most important strategic decision. Casualty figures for the Patriots have varied over the years; a recent scholarly estimate lists 6,824 killed and 8,445 wounded in action. The number of Patriot troop deaths from disease and other non-combat causes is estimated at about 18,500. Approximately 1,200 Germans were killed in action and 6,354 died from illness or accident. About 16,000 of the remaining German troops returned home, but roughly 5,500 remained in the United States after the war for various reasons, many becoming American citizens. No reliable statistics exist for the number of casualties among other groups, including American Loyalists, British regulars, American Indians, French and Spanish troops, and civilians.

Notes

# Percentage of Loyalists and Patriots: Robert M. Calhoon, "Loyalism and Neutrality" in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, p. 247; number of Loyalist troops: Boatner, p. 663. # Size of Patriot armies: Boatner, p. 264. # British troop strength: Black, pp. 27-29. Number of Germans hired: Boatner, pp. 424-26. # British usage of escaped slaves: Kaplan & Kaplan, pp. 71-89. # Patriot all-black units: Kaplan & Kaplan, pp. 64-69. # Total number of warriors: James H. Merrell, "Indians and the new republic" in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution, p. 393. Number of Iroquois warriors: Boatner, p. 545. # Smallpox epidemic: Fenn, p. 275. A great number of these smallpox deaths occurred outside the theater of war — in Mexico or among American Indians west of the Mississippi River. Washington and inoculation: Ellis, p. 87. # Patriot dead and wounded: Chambers, p. 849.

References

- Black, Jeremy. War for America: The Fight for Independence, 1775-1783. St. Martin's Press (New York) and Sutton Publishing (UK), 1991. ISBN 0312067135 (1991), ISBN 0312123469 (1994 paperback), ISBN 0750928085 (2001 paperpack).
- Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. New York: McKay, 1966; revised 1974. ISBN 0811705781.
- Chambers, John Whiteclay II, ed. in chief. The Oxford Companion to American Military History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0195071980.
- Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Knopf, 2004. ISBN 1400040310.
- Fenn, Elizabeth Anne. Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001. ISBN 0809078201.
- Greene, Jack P. and J.R. Pole, eds. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1991; reprint 1999. ISBN 1557865477.
- Kaplan, Sidney and Emma Nogrady Kaplan. The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution. Amherst, Massachusetts: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1989. ISBN 0870236636.
- Wood, W. J. Battles of the Revolutionary War, 1775-1781. Originally published Chapel Hill, N.C.: Algonquin, 1990; reprinted by Da Capo Press, 1995. ISBN 0306806177 (paperback); ISBN 0306813297 (2003 paperback reprint).

External links

- [http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/atlases/american%20revolution/american%20revolution%20index.htm Battlefield atlas of the American Revolution]
- [http://users.snowcrest.net/jmike/amrevmil.html American Revolutionary War History Resources]
- [http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/revbib/revwar.htm Entry to US Army Center for Military History, a huge bibliography]
- [http://www.americanrevolution.org/hispanic.html Spain's role in the American Revolution from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean]
- [http://www.americanrevolution.com/AfricanAmericansInTheRevolution.htm African-American soldiers in the Revolution]
- [http://www.besthistorysites.net/USHistory_Independence.shtml American Revolution & Independence] Category:American Revolutionary War Category:Rebellion Category:National liberation movements ko:미국 독립전쟁 ja:アメリカ独立戦争

Nathaniel Greene

, which was then copied several times by C.W. Peale and his son, Rembrandt Peale.]] Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 (N.S.) – June 19, 1786), was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer.

Before the war

The son of a Quaker farmer and smith, he was born at Potowomut in the township of Warwick, Rhode Island, on July 27, 1742 (old style)/August 7, 1742 new style. Though his father's sect discouraged "literary accomplishments," Greene educated himself, with a special study of mathematics, history of military tactics and law. The Rev. Ezra Stiles, later president of Yale University, was a strong influence in the young Nathanael's life. In 1770, Greene moved to Coventry, R.I., to take charge of the family-owned forge, shortly prior to his father's death. There, he was the first to urge the establishment of a public school and in the same year he was chosen a member of the legislature of Rhode Island, to which he was re-elected in 1771, 1772 and 1775. He sympathized strongly with the "Whig," or Patriot, element among the colonists. In 1774, he married Catherine Littlefield Greene. Catherine had been living in East Greenwich with her aunt and uncle since her mother died when she was ten years old. Her uncle was a Whig Party leader and governor of Rhode Island. Her aunt and namesake, Catherine, was a close friend and correspondent of Benjamin Franklin from 1751-1784. In August 1774, Greene organized a local militia, chartered as the Kentish Guards in October. At this time he began to acquire many expensive volumes on military tactics, and began to teach himself the art of war. In December 1774 he was on a committee appointed by the assembly to revise the militia laws. His zeal in attending to military duty led to his expulsion from the Quakers also known as the Society of Friends.

Early years of the war

In 1775, Greene helped raise a contingent of men to join the American forces around Boston. Due to a bad limp, he was passed over for an officer's commission. Committed to the cause, he took up a musket and became a private. On May 8, he was promoted from private to Brigadier General of the Rhode Island Army of Observation formed in response to the seige of Boston. He was appointed a brigadier of the Continental Army by Congress on June 22. To him Washington assigned the command of the city of Boston after it was evacuated by Howe in March 1776. Greene's letters of October 1775 and January 1776 to Samuel Ward, then a delegate from Rhode Island to the Continental Congress, favored a declaration of independence. On August 9, 1776, he was promoted to be one of the four new major generals and was put in command of the Continental troops on Long Island; he chose the place for fortifications, and built the redoubts and entrenchments of Fort Greene on Brooklyn Heights. Severe illness prevented him from taking part in the Battle of Long Island. Greene was prominent among those who advised a retreat from New York and the burning of the city so that the British might not use it. He was placed in command of Fort Lee, and on October 25, 1776, succeeded General Israel Putnam in command of Fort Washington. He received orders from Washington to defend Fort Washington to the last extremity, and on October 11, 1776, Congress passed a resolution to the same effect; but later Washington wrote to him to use his own discretion. Greene ordered Colonel Magaw, who was in immediate command, to defend the place until he should hear from him again, and reinforced it to meet General Howe's attack. Nevertheless, the blame for the losses of Forts Washington and Lee was put upon Greene, but apparently without him losing the confidence of Washington, who himself assumed the responsibility. At Trenton, Greene commanded one of the two American columns. After the victory there, he urged Washington to push on immediately to Princeton, but was overruled by a council of war. At the Brandywine, Greene commanded the reserve. At Germantown, Greene's command, having a greater distance to march than the right wing under Sullivan, failed to arrive in good time: a failure which Greene himself thought would cost him Washington's trust. But when they arrived at length, Greene and his troops distinguished themselves. At the urgent request of Washington on March 2, 1778, at Valley Forge, he accepted the office of Quartermaster general. His conduct in this difficult office, of which Washington heartily approved, has been characterized as "as good as was possible under the circumstances of that fluctuating uncertain force." However, he had become Quartermaster General on the understanding that he should retain the right to command troops in the field. Thus we find him at the head of the right wing at Monmouth on June 28, 1778. In August, Greene and Lafayette commanded the land forces sent to Rhode Island to co-operate with the French admiral d'Estaing, in an expedition which proved abortive. In June 1780, Greene was in command at the Battle of Springfield. In August, he resigned the office of Quartermaster general after a long and bitter struggle with Congress over the interference in army administration by the Treasury Board and by commissions appointed by Congress. Before his resignation became effective, it fell to him to preside over the court which, on September 29, 1780, condemned Major John André to death.

Command in the South

John André On October 14, 1780, he succeeded General Gates as Commander-in-Chief of the Southern army, and took command at Charlotte, N.C. on December 2. The army was weak and badly equipped and was opposed by a superior force under Cornwallis. Greene decided to divide his own troops, thus forcing the division of the British as well, and creating the possibility of a strategic interplay of forces. This strategy led to General Daniel Morgan's victory of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, and to the battle at Guilford Court House, N.C. (March 15), in which after having weakened the British troops by continual movements, and drawn in reinforcements for his own army, Greene was defeated, but inflicted a great loss of men to Cornwallis. Three days after this battle, Cornwallis withdrew toward Wilmington. Greene's generalship and judgment were again conspicuously illustrated in the next few weeks, in which he allowed Cornwallis to march north to Virginia and himself turned swiftly to the reconquest of the inner country of South Carolina. This he achieved by the end of June, in spite of a reverse sustained at Lord Rawdon's hands at Hobkirk's Hill (2 miles north of Camden) on April 25. This action forced the British to the coast. Greene then gave his forces a six weeks' rest on the High Hills of the Santee River, and on September 8, with 2,600 men, engaged the British under Lieutenant Colonel James Stuart at Eutaw Springs. Americans who fell in this battle were immortalized by American author Philip Freneau in his 1781 poem "To the Memory of Brave Americans." The battle, although tactically a draw, so weakened the British that they withdrew to Charleston, where Greene penned them during the remaining months of the war. Greene's Southern campaign showed remarkable strategic features. He excelled in dividing, eluding and tiring his opponent by long marches, and in actual conflict forcing him to pay heavily for a temporary advantage a price that he could not afford. He was greatly assisted by able subordinates, including the Polish engineer, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, the brilliant cavalry captains, Henry ("Light-Horse Harry") Lee and William Washington, and the partisan leaders, Thomas Sumter and Francis Marion. South Carolina and Georgia voted Greene liberal grants of lands and money, including an estate, Boone's Barony, south of Edisto in Bamberg County. This he sold to meet bills for the rations of his Southern army. On his Georgia estate, Mulberry Grove, 14 miles above Savannah, he settled in 1785, after twice refusing the post of Secretary of War. He died there on June 19, 1786 of sunstroke. Greene was a singularly able, and like other prominent generals on the American side, a self-trained soldier. He was second only to Washington among the officers of the American army in military ability, and the only general, other than Washington, to serve the entire eight years of the war. Like Washington, he had the great gift of using small means to the utmost advantage. His attitude towards the British was humane and even kindly: he even generously defended Gates, who had repeatedly intrigued against him, when Gates's conduct of the campaign in the South was criticized. 1786

Quotations

- "I am determined to defend my rights and maintain my freedom or sell my life in the attempt."
- "It had been happy for me if I could have lived a private life in peace and plenty, enjoying all the happiness that results from a well-tempered society founded on mutual esteem. But the injury done my country, and the chains of slavery forging for all posterity, calls me forth to defend our common rights, and repel the bold invaders of the sons of freedom." Nathanael Greene to his wife, Catherine Littlefield Greene.

Memorials

Two ships in the United States Navy were named General Greene for him. There is a monument to Greene in Savannah (1829). His statue, with that of Roger Williams, represents the state of Rhode Island in the National Hall of Statuary in the Capitol at Washington; in the same city there is a bronze equestrian statue of him by H. K. Brown. He is also memorialized at the site of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse near what is now Greensboro, North Carolina, the city named after him.
- See also:List of places named for Nathanael Greene

References and further reading

- The Papers of General Nathanael Greene. [http://uncpress.unc.edu/FMPro University of North Carolina Press] Vol. I: December 1766 to December 1776. ISBN 0-8078-1285-4. Vol. II: January 1777 to 16 October 1778. ISBN 0-807801384-2. Vol. III: 18 October 1778 to 10 May 1779. ISBN 0-8078-1557-8. Vol. IV: 11 May 1779 to 31 October 1779. ISBN 0-8078-1668-X. Vol. V: 1 November 1779 to 31 May 1780. ISBN 0-8078-1817-8. Vol. VI: 1 June 1780 to 25 December 1780. ISBN 0-8078-1993-X. Vol. VII: 26 December 1780 to 29 March 1781. ISBN 0-8078-2094-6. Vol. VIII: 30 March 1781 to 10 July 1781. ISBN 0-8078-2212-4. Vol. IX: 11 July 1781 to 2 December 1781. ISBN 0-8078-2310-4. Vol. X: 3 December 1781 to 6 April 1782. ISBN 0-8078-2419-4. Vol. XI: 7 April 1782 to 30 September 1782. ISBN 0-8078-2551-4. Vol. XII: 1 October 1782 1783 to 21 May 1783. ISBN 0-8078-2713-4. Vol. XIII: 22 May 1783 to 13 June 1786. ISBN 0-8078-2943-9.
- Golway, Terry. Washington's General: Nathanael Greene and the Triumph of the American Revolution. New York: Holt, 2005. ISBN 0-8050-7066-4.
- Greene, George W. The Life of Nathanael Greene, Major-General in the Army of the Revolution. 3 vols. New York: Putnam, 1867-1871. Reprinted Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1972. ISBN 0-836969-10-3.
- McCullough, David. 1776. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-2671-2. See David McCullough. Greene, Nathanael Greene, Nathanael Greene, Nathanael Greene, Nathanael

Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the largest battle ever fought in North America, and is generally considered to be the turning point of the American Civil War.

Background and movement to battle

Shortly after Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia won a decisive victory over the Federal Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville (May 1–3, 1863), Lee decided upon a second invasion of the North. Such a move would upset Federal plans for the summer campaigning season and possibly relieve the besieged Confederate garrison at Vicksburg, and it would allow the Confederates to live off the bounty of the rich Northern farms while giving war-ravaged Virginia a much needed rest. Also Lee's 75,000-man army could threaten Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington and give voice to the growing peace movement in the North. Thus, on June 3 Lee's army began to shift northward from Fredericksburg, Virginia. In order to attain more efficiency in his commands, Lee had reorganized his two large corps into three new corps. James Longstreet retained command of his First Corps. However, the old corps of Lieutenant General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was divided into two, with the Second Corps going to Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell and the new Third Corps commanded by Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill. The Gettysburg Confederate Order of Battle lists the units and commanders of the Army of Northern Virginia. The Federal Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, consisted of seven infantry corps, a cavalry corps, and an Artillery Reserve, for a combined strength of more than 90,000 men. However, Abraham Lincoln would soon replace Hooker with Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, due to Hooker's defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville and his timid response to Lee's second invasion north of the Potomac. The Gettysburg Union Order of Battle lists the units and commanders of the Army of the Potomac after Meade assumed command. The first major action of the campaign took place on June 9 between the opposing cavalry forces at Brandy Station, near Culpeper, Virginia. The Confederate cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart was nearly bested by the Federal horsemen, but Stuart eventually prevailed. However, this battle, the largest cavalry engagement of the war, proved that for the first time, the Union horse soldier was equal to his Southern counterpart. By mid-June, the Army of Northern Virginia was poised to cross the Potomac River and enter Maryland. After defeating the Federal garrisons at Winchester and Martinsburg, Ewell's Second Corps began crossing the river on June 15. Hill's and Longstreet's corps followed on June 24–25. Hooker's army pursued, keeping between the U.S. Capital and Lee's army. The Federals crossed the Potomac on June 25–27. Meanwhile, in a controversial move, Lee allowed J.E.B. Stuart to take a portion of the army's cavalry and ride around the Union army. However, Lee's orders gave Stuart much latitude, and both generals are to blame for the long absence of Stuart's cavalry, as well as for the failure to assign a more active role to the cavalry left with the army. Stuart and his three best brigades were absent from the army during the crucial phase of the approach to Gettysburg and the first two days of battle. By June 29, Lee's army was strung out in an arc from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 28 miles (45 km) northwest of Gettysburg, to Carlisle, 30 miles (48 km) north of Gettysburg, to near Harrisburg and Wrightsville on the Susquehanna River. In a dispute over the use of the forces defending the Harpers Ferry garrison, Hooker offered his resignation, and Abraham Lincoln and General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, who were looking for an excuse to get rid of Hooker, immediately accepted the resignation. They replaced him on June 27–28 with Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade, commander of the V Corps. When, on June 29, Lee learned that the Army of the Potomac had crossed its namesake river, he ordered a concentration of his forces around Cashtown, located at the eastern base of South Mountain and eight miles (13 km) west of Gettysburg. On June 30, while part of Hill's Corps was in Cashtown, one of Hill's brigades, North Carolinians under J. Johnston Pettigrew, ventured toward Gettysburg. The memoirs of Maj. Gen. Henry Heth, Pettigrew's division commander, claimed that Pettigrew was in search of a large supply of shoes in town, but this explanation has been largely discounted by historians. When Pettigrew's troops approached Gettysburg on June 30, they noticed Federal cavalry under Brig. Gen. John Buford west of town, and Pettigrew returned to Cashtown without engaging them. When Pettigrew told Hill and Henry Heth about what he had seen, neither general believed that there was a substantial Federal force in or near the town, suspecting that it had been only Pennsylvania militia. Despite General Lee's order to avoid a general engagement until his entire army was concentrated, Hill decided to mount a significant reconnaissance in force the following morning to determine the size and strength of the enemy force in his front. Around 5 a.m. on Wednesday, July 1, Heth's division advanced to Gettysburg. The terrain of Gettysburg and vicinity is described in Gettysburg Battlefield.

First day of battle

Gettysburg Battlefield General Buford realized the importance of the high ground directly to the south of Gettysburg, knowing that if the Confederates could gain control of the heights, Meade's army would have a hard time dislodging them. He decided to utilize three ridges west of Gettysburg: Herr Ridge, McPherson Ridge, and Seminary Ridge (proceeding west to east toward the town). These were appropriate terrain for a delaying action by his small division against superior Confederate forces, meant to buy time awaiting the arrival of infantrymen who could occupy the superior defensive positions south of town, Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Culp's Hill. Heth's division advanced with two brigades forward, commanded by Brig. Gens. James Archer and Joseph R. Davis. They proceeded easterly in columns along the Chambersburg Pike. Three miles (5 km) west of town, about 7:30 a.m. on July 1, Heth's two brigades met light resistance from cavalry vedettes and deployed into line. Eventually, they reached dismounted troopers from Col. William Gamble's cavalry brigade, who mounted determined resistance and delaying tactics from behind fence posts with rapid fire from their Sharps carbines. By 10:20 a.m., the Confederates had pushed the Union cavalrymen east to McPherson Ridge, when the vanguard of the I Corps (Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds) finally arrived. North of the Pike, Davis gained a temporary success against Brig. Gen. Lysander Cutler's brigade, but was repu