Washington’s Right-Hand Man – Book Review of The Line of Splendor

The Line of Splendor: A Novel of Nathanael Greene and the American Revolutionby Salina B. BakerCulper PressOctober 2023622 pages.One of the great tragedies of the American educational system currently is how little high school students know about the founding of their country. They are taught much about slavery in the thirteen colonies at the time of the Revolution as well as the fact that women were not allowed to vote. They are also taught a great deal about the depredations by European colonizers against Native Americans. But their lack of knowledge about the heroes of the American Revolution who founded this remarkable and great country is lamentable..Thankfully, Salina Baker has written an outstanding book to rectify this gap in public knowledge about the Revolution and one of its greatest heroes – Nathanael Greene. The Line of Splendor chronicles the life of Nathanael Greene from Lexington and Concord in April 1775 in the earliest days of the War for Independence until the final peace treaty with Britain in 1783. Greene took part in most of the most consequential events of the war and became George Washington's most trusted general..While describing the life of Greene, Baker also traces the American Revolution. In this excellent historical novel, we hear the voices not only of Greene but of his beautiful and vivacious wife Caty, George Washington, Henry Knox, Baron Friedrich von Steuben, and dozens of other characters who helped America win independence from Great Britain, which, at the time, had the most powerful army and navy in the world..Born into a Quaker family in 1742, Greene, at the age of thirty, was directed by his father to take charge of the family's iron forge alongside the Pawtuxet River in Coventry, Rhode Island. The Greene family was well off, and Nathanael was a well-respected businessman in this small colony. Importantly, a year before Lexington and Concord, Greene married a pretty and charming nineteen-year-old girl named Catherine (Caty) Littlefield. Their marriage was happy, full of love and affection, and it provided Greene with a foundation of stability and strength which helped him meet with confidence the many challenges and trials that he would encounter in the coming decade..Following "the shot heard 'round the world" in April 1775, the Rhode Island provincial legislature raised a militia 1,500 strong called the Army of Observation. The legislature asked Nathanael Greene to take command of the army, assigning him the rank of Brigadier General. In assuming this responsibility, Greene knew that he would be effectively excommunicated from his Quaker denomination, which had pacifist principles, but his love of country came first for him. In May 1775, Brigadier General Greene brought his Rhode Island troops to the outskirts of Boston, where he reported to General Artemas Ward, of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, the commander-in-chief of the American forces. (The Continental Army didn't exist yet; George Washington took command only after he arrived in Cambridge in early July 1775, a couple of weeks after the Battle of Bunker Hill.).During the nine months between Washington's arrival in Massachusetts and the British Army's evacuation of Boston in March 1776, Washington came to appreciate Greene's patriotism, good judgment, and strong character. By the time Washington led the Continental Army to New York City during the summer of 1776, he considered Greene one of the best of the dozen generals reporting to him..1776 was a year of decision and celebration with the signing and proclamation of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on July 4th. But it was also a year which saw the catastrophic defeat of the Continental Army in the battle of New York in late August. Well over 25,000 British troops defeated Washington's army in the largest battle on North American continent until the Civil War. The British troops overpowered the Americans first on Long Island and then on Brooklyn Heights in savage fighting, during which many of the Continentals were bayoneted to death. It was only a thick fog one night in late August that providentially allowed the defeated Continental Army to retreat across the East River in boats to Manhattan (led by Marblehead resident Colonel John Glover) to Manhattan. Then the British chased the Continental Army north the whole length of Manhattan, finally capturing Fort Washington on the banks of the Hudson, a debacle which led to the surrender of ninety officers and 2,800 Americans..During much of the Battle of New York, General Greene was so sick that the doctors sent for his next of kin, as they thought him close to death. After recovering, Greene advised that the Continental Army defend Fort Washington, their last outpost on Manhattan, rather than retreat across the Hudson River to New Jersey. This proved to be poor advice; the British captured more than 2,800 Americans after taking the fort as well as valuable supplies. Thus, neither Washington nor Greene emerged from the battle of New York City untarnished..Greene was severely criticized for his decision to defend Fort Washington, but Washington would brook no criticism of Greene, trusting his courage, judgment, and character. In fact, earlier that summer, Washington had recommended to Congress that Greene be promoted to major general, which Congress approved. Following the capture of Fort Washington, the British Army crossed the Hudson, too, and chased Washington's dwindling army across New Jersey, forcing the Continental troops to retreat across the Delaware to Pennsylvania..That early winter in eastern Pennsylvania was the low point of the Revolution. Yet it was from there on Christmas Night that Washington ordered the Continental Army to cross the Delaware in an audacious and desperate attack on Trenton. The Hessian troops under Colonel Johann Rall were taken by surprise and overwhelmed. The Americans captured almost 1,000 prisoners and killed or wounded another 100, yet lost only two men (from exposure) with another five wounded. The victory at Trenton and follow-up victory at Princeton, at which Greene played a leading role, did much to strengthen both Washington's and Greene's reputations in Congress..The following year, 1777, saw the British Army's victories at Brandywine and Paoli in late summer, and then a sharp engagement at the battle of Germantown, which took place in thick fog, with neither side prevailing. General Greene's leadership and military savvy in these battles helped to confirm Washinton's good opinion of him, and Washington made it known that should he be killed in battle, Greene was the general who should succeed him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army..Meanwhile, the British Army occupied Philadelphia during the fall of 1777 and the brutal winter that followed, causing Washington to position his army outside the city at Valley Forge. The Continental Army lived in hastily constructed huts in Valley Forge and was in desperate shape. The troops were without winter clothing, shelter, adequate food, and fodder for their horses. The only thing that mattered was survival, and not a few good men perished..During the winter, Washington came to Greene with an urgent request: he told Greene that both he and Congress wanted him to give up his field command and become the Quartermaster General of the Continental Army. Washington was joined by three prominent members of Congress. They all knew that without a highly competent Quartermaster General to supply the Army, the war would be lost. And they believed that Greene, who had been an accomplished businessman in Rhode Island before the war, would fit the bill..Greene was conflicted. As he saw it, he would be giving up his role "in the Line of Splendor," as he called his field command, to be a supply master. It took him two weeks of anxious reflection, but on March 2, 1778, Greene accepted..In June 1778, the Continental Army broke camp and marched out of Valley Forge in better shape than it had gone in – thanks to the disciplined drilling and training of Baron von Steuben and Greene's success in supplying the troops. Greene continued to do a splendid job as Quartermaster General, although he longed for another field position, leading an army in battle. Two years he got his wish. In November 1780, Congress approved Washington's request that Major General Greene replace the bumbling General Horatio Gates as commander of the entire Southern Army..Under Gates, the Americans' Southern Army had suffered a succession of defeats, thanks in large part to Gates's poor military skills and leadership. In a major American defeat, British General Henry Clinton succeeded in capturing Charleston, South Carolina in May 1780. And then, three months later, in August, in perhaps the worst American defeat of the war, General Charles Cornwallis with 2,000 troops triumphed over General Gates's army of 4,000 at the Battle of Camden. Following this defeat, Gates left his army and retreated 200 miles, covering this distance on horseback in three days. The collapse of the American war effort in the South spurred Congress to appoint Greene to take command of the Southern Army in hopes of turning the situation around..Greene arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina to take command of the army on December 2, 1780, and found it in shambles. The final 300 pages of 600-page In the Line of Splendor tells the story of the Greene's brilliant campaign to counter the British and Loyalist forces in the Southern theatre of the war until the British defeat at Yorktown in October 1781 and then Greene's maneuvering of his troops to maintain the upper hand until the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War in September 1783. He showed military genius in knitting together the disparate American forces to stymie the British, who (unlike in other parts of the country) fought side by side with Loyalist militia..While Yorktown ended major fighting, it didn't end hostilities. The British continued to occupy the seaports of Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah for two years, until peace came with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. During this two-year period, there were also frequent attacks and skirmishes in the Southern theatre between Loyalists and Americans which involved attacks on plantations and small outposts. It was a much different war from the one in the Northern colonies..During that period, Greene needed to keep his army well supplied and in good condition to take on the British. But there were no government funds available, so Greene arranged for food and supplies for his troops by personally guaranteeing a promissory note for 30,000 pounds, which he believed that Congress would reimburse him for. Alas, no such luck! So he was saddled with crushing debt incurred by taking care of his troops..However, North Carolina was so grateful to General Greene that the state gifted him 25,000 acres of land along the Cumberland River. Not to be outdone, Georgia gave him a plantation called Mulberry Grove on the Savannah River, and South Carolina also gifted him land called Boone's Barony. Accordingly, Greene was land-rich but cash-poor. And the only means to meet his debt was to operate these plantations with slaves, which was anathema to his Quaker principles..Over the next two years, Caty Greene moved south with their children, and the family moved into Mulberry Gove, a fine home formerly owned by a Loyalist. The plantation cultivated rice as its cash crop. Beset by creditors, Greene was determined to pay off his debts – even if it meant selling off some of the lands which had been gifted to him, as well as using slaves on his plantation to grow and harvest his crops for sale..In June 1796, Greene went for a walk on a neighbor's property to learn more about the proper cultivation of his crops, and he walked without a hat for some hours under the hot sun. That evening, he complained of headaches and later severe pains in his head. Despite physicians doing everything they could to save him, he died of sunstroke at the age of 43..A remarkable footnote to the saga of Nathanael and Caty Greene: Before Nathanael's death, he had invited a young Yale graduate, Phineas Miller, to come to live at Mulberry Grove to tutor their children. After Greene's death, Phineas, who was ten years younger than Caty, fell in love with her, as so many young officers had during the war (although she loved Nathanael dearly and was never unfaithful to him). Another Yale graduate, Eli Whitney, came to Georgia, and Caty invited him to live at her home, read law, and work on his cotton gin invention. Phineas and Eli formed a partnership to produce the new invention, and Caty was a silent partner. But they ran out of money so Caty never reaped any monetary rewards from her investment. Ultimately Phineas married Caty, to Eli's chagrin, as he, too, was in love with her. Caty was obviously a charming woman!.Salina Baker has written a marvelous historical novel. In the Line of Splendor not only tells the compelling story of one of the great unsung heroes of the American Revolution but also chronicles the key events of the American Revolution. And she creates highly realistic interaction and dialogue between the main players of the great drama of the founding of our country. Every student of American history should read it..Robert H. Bradley is Chairman of Bradley, Foster & Sargent Inc., a $7.25 billion wealth management firm with offices in Hartford, Connecticut; Wellesley, Massachusetts; and four other locations. He is a direct descendant of Nathanael Greene on his mother's side. Read other articles by him here..New to NewBostonPost? Discover the difference with content that goes beyond the typical Massachusetts news outlets. Stay informed with news and commentary rooted in conservative values—for just $1 a week. Cancel anytime. Don’t wait—join now and see what you’ve been missing!

Washington’s Right-Hand Man – Book Review of The Line of Splendor

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