GREENE COUNTY. 293 



memoir. On the 27th day of May, 1742, at Warwick, in Rhode 

 Island, Major General Nathaniel Greene was born. His 

 father was a Quaker, and carefully educated his sons in the 

 principles of that sect. No education beyond the simplest 

 rudiments was bestowed upon his children. In constant 

 employment at his father's business, Greene had few opportu- 

 nities for improving his mind, and it was not until he was 14 

 years old, that he began to feel the importance of so doing. 

 The forming of an acquaintance with a young collegian in- 

 duced him to turn his attention to intellectual pursuits, which 

 he did with extraordinary perseverance amidst great disadvan- 

 tages. The acquaintance he accidentally formed with the cele- 

 brated President Styles, of Yale College, and Lindley Murray, 

 author of a Grammar, was of much advantage to him. Their 

 conversation — their advice as to what books he should read, 

 contributed much to his improvement. When the famous 

 Stamp Act had produced among the colonies a determined spirit 

 of resistance, Greene caught the spirit of the times, became 

 fully convinced of the injustice of the act, and at once resolved 

 that he would join the ranks of freedom. He first became a 

 soldier in the Kentish Guards. After the battle of Lexington, 

 Rhode Island embodied three regiments of militia, and placed 

 them under the command of Greene as Brigadier General. In 

 1775 he took his command before Boston, and formed an ac- 

 quaintance with General Washington, which at length ripened 

 into a friendship which continued to the end of his life. Soldiers 

 of distinction, on his first appearance in the camp at Cam- 

 bridge, from the ardour of his zeal, unremitted activity, and 

 strict attention to every duty, pronounced him a man of real 

 military genius. Gen. Greene was immediately employed in 

 active service. In the memorable retreat of the army through 

 the Jerseys, he was the firm supporter of Washington. On 

 the 25th of Dec, 177G, he crossed the Delaware in command 

 of the left wing of the army, which in the surprise at Trenton 

 cut off the retreat of the enemy to Princeton. All the hard- 

 ships and sufferings of this gloomy winter, when despondency 

 began to sit upon the bravest, were borne cheerfully by him. 

 At the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, he 

 displayed every quality of a soldier. The retreat through 



