Greene, Nathanael

(1742–1786) was a major general in the Continental Army. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible. He emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington’s most gifted and dependable officer. Effectively he became second in command in 1880, when he was appointed as the commander of the southern army that had previously been defeated regularly by the British. From that moment, the tide turned.