(1780), they captured General Lincoln and all his force at Charleston, and
in the following August badly defeated General Gates, at Camden, South
Carolina, where with a new army he was now commanding in General Lincoln's
place.

The outlook for the patriot cause was discouraging. One thing was certain.
A skilful general must take charge of the American forces in the south, or
the British would soon have everything in their own hands. Washington had
great faith in General Greene, and did not hesitate to appoint him for
this hard task. Let us see what led the commander-in-chief to choose this
New England man for duty in a post so far away.

Nathanael Greene was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1742. His father,
who on week-days was a blacksmith and miller, on Sundays was a Quaker
preacher. Nathanael was trained to work at the forge and in the mill and
in the fields as well. He was robust and active and, like young George
Washington, a leader in outdoor sports. But with all his other activities
he was also, like young Samuel Adams, a good student of books.

We like to think of these colonial boys going to school and playing at
games just as boys do now, quite unaware of the great things waiting for
them to do in the world. Had they known of their future, they could have
prepared in no better way than by taking their faithful part in the work
and honest sport of each day as it came.

Greene, being ten years younger than Washington, was about thirty-two
years old when the Boston Tea Party and those other exciting events of
that time occurred.

[Illustration: The War in the South.]

Although news did not travel so rapidly then as now, Greene was soon aware
that war was likely to break out at any time, and he took an active part
in preparing for it. He helped to organize a company of soldiers who
should be ready to fight for the American cause, and made the trip from
Rhode Island to Boston to get a musket for himself. In Boston he watched
with much interest the British regulars taking their drill, and brought
back with him not only a musket, hidden under some straw in his wagon, but
also a runaway British soldier, who was to drill his company.

When news of the battle of Bunker Hill passed swiftly over the country,
proving that the war had actually begun, Rhode Island raised three
regiments of troops and placed Greene at their head as general. He marched
at once to Boston, and when Washington arrived to take command of