As a general Nathanael Greene ranks next to Washington in the esteem of the American people. His father was a Quaker clergyman who lived in Rhode Island. Nathanael as a boy worked on the farm, at the blacksmith’s forge, and in a grist mill. He generally had a book at hand and spent his leisure minutes in study; by his own exertions, without ever having much schooling, he became a well-educated man. No one would have imagined that this hard-working young Quaker, in his drab clothes and broad-brimmed hat, was to become a fearless leader of the patriot bands. He was a young man when the Revolution began. He became convinced that the battle-field must decide the cause of the colonists, and, despite the Quaker views in which he had been trained, he wished to join the fight for freedom. As soon as he heard of the battles of Lexington and Concord, he started to Boston to take the part of his oppressed countrymen. When the Continental army was organized, Rhode Island voted to raise sixteen hundred men to be commanded by Greene. For four years he served in the north, winning the esteem and confidence of Washington. He was with Washington in the retreat through New Jersey and aided in the brilliant attacks at Trenton and Princeton. In the battle of Brandywine he saved the day. His troops were stationed in the rear; as the retreating forces fell back, at Greene’s command the ranks opened and let them pass, then closed again. Thus he kept his troops formed in line of battle and held the British army in check, till night came; then he withdrew to the main army. In the battle of Germantown, too, Greene bore a brave part, and by his courage and endurance he cheered Washington during the dark days at Valley Forge. During the first years of the war the north was the battle field. The south was almost unmolested except for the attack in 1776 on Fort Moultrie which was gallantly defended. In December, 1778, however, General Clinton sent thirty-five hundred men by sea from New York; these troops easily captured Savannah which was defended by only six hundred men. The British forces made themselves masters of the country defended only by scattered bands of patriots. In the spring of 1780, Clinton himself with eight thousand men went by sea to Charleston and captured the city. Leaving Cornwallis to complete the conquest of the South, Clinton returned to the north. It seemed as if the southern colonies were to be torn from the patriots.