spected, and hurrying impetuously into the field of battle, his tide of popularity ebbed as fast at Camden as it had flowed at Saratoga.* ever, was so ably and candidly discussed by General Washington, as to cover his adversary with shame and humiliation. It was thought inexcusable in Gates, that he neglected to communicate to the commanderin-chief an account of so important an event as the capture of the British army at Saratoga, but left his Excel-proportion of his force consisted of iency to obtain the information by common report. Dr. Thacher, in his Military Journal, relates the following anecdote; -"Mr. T, an ensign in our regiment, has, for some time, discovered symptoms of mental derangement. Yesterday he intruded himself at Gen. Gates's head-quarters, and after some amusing conversation, he put himself in the attitude of devotion, and prayed that God would pardon Gen. Gates forendeavouring to supersede that godlike man, Washington. The general appeared to be much disturbed, and directed Mr. Pierce, his aid-de-camp, to take him away." On the 13th of June, 1780, Gen. Gates was appointed to the chief command of the southern army. Rich in fame from the fields of Saratoga, he hastened to execute the high and important trust; and the arrival of an officer so exalted in reputation, had an immediate and happy effect on the spirits of the soldiery and the hopes of the people. It was anticipated that he who had humbled Great Britain on the heights of the Hudson, and liberated NewYork from a formidable invasion, would prove no less successful in the south, and become the deliverer of Carolina and Georgia from lawless rapine and military rule. But anticipations were vain, and the best founded hopes were blighted! In the first and only encounter which he had with Lord Cornwallis, at Camden, Aug. 15th, he suffered a total defeat, and was obliged to fly from the enemy for personal safety: Proudly calculating on the weight of his name, and too confident in his own superiority, he slighted the counsel which he ought to have re It would be great injustice, however, to attribute the misfortune altogether to the commander, under his peculiar circumstances. A large raw militia, who were panic-struck, was But from the moment Gen. Gates assumed the command in the south, his former judgment and fortune seemed to forsake him. He was anxious to come to action immediately, and to terminate the war by a few bold and energetic measures; and two days after his arri val in camp, he began his march to meet the enemy, without properly estimating his force. The active spirits of the place being roused and encouraged, by the presence of a considerable army, and daily flocking to the standard of their country, General Gates, by a delay of action, had much to gain in point of numbers. To the prospects of the enemy, on the contrary, delav would have been ruinous. To them there was no alternative but immediate battle and victory, or immedi Gates to the chief command of the *When the appointment of Gen. southern Army was announced, Gen. Lee remarked, that "his northern laurels would soon be exchanged for southern willows." ate retreat. Such, however, was the nature of the country, and the distance and relative position of the two armies, that to compel the Americans to action was impossible. The imprudence of the American general in hazarding an engagement, at this time, is further manifested by the fact, that in troops, on whose firmness he could safely rely, he was greatly inferior to his foe, they amounting to sixteen hundred veteran and highly disciplined regulars, and he having less than a thousand continentals. Gen. Gates having retreated to Salisbury, and thence to Hillsborough, he there succeeded in collecting around him the fragments of an army. Being soon after reinforced by several small bodies of regulars and militia, he again advanced towards the south, and took post in Charlotte. Here he continued in command until the 5th day of October, fifty days after his defeat at Camden, when Congress passed a resolution requiring the commander in chief to order a court of inquiry on his conduct, as commander of the southern army, and to appoint some other officer to that command. The inquiry resulted in his acquittal; and it was the general opinion that he was not treated by congress with that delicacy, or indeed gratitude, that was due to an officer of his acknowledged merit. He, however, received the order of his supersedure and suspension, and resigned the command to Gen. Greene with becoming dignity, as is manifested, much to his credit, in the following order : of the southern army, all orders will, for the future, issue from him, and all reports are to be made to | him. General Gates returns his sincere and grateful thanks to the southern army for their perseverance, fortitude, and patient endurance of all the hardships and sufferings they have undergone while under his command. He anxiously hopes their misfortunes will cease therewith, and that victory, and the glorious advantages of it, may be the future portion of the southern army." General Greene had already been, and continued to be, the firm advo cate of the reputation of General Gates, particularly if he heard it assailed with asperity; and still believed and asserted, that if there was any mistake in the conduct of Gates, it was in hazarding an action at all against such superior force; and when informed of his appointment to supersede him, declared his confidence in his military talents, and his willingness "to serve under him." General Gates was reinstated in his militrary command in the main army, in 1782; but the great scenes of war were now passed, and he could only participate in the painful scene of a final separation. In the midst of his misfortune, General Gates was called to mourn the afflictive dispensation of Providence, in the death of his only son. Major Garden, in his excellent publication, has recorded the following affecting anecdote, which he received from Dr. William Reed : "Having occasion to call on General Gates, relative to the business of the department under my immediate charge, I found him traversing the apartment which he occupied, under the influence of high excitement; his agitation was excessiveevery feature of his countenance, every gesture betrayed it. Official despatches informing him that he was superseded, and that the com and of the southern army had leen transferred to General Greene, ad just been received and perused y him. His countenance, however, betrayed no expression of irritation r resentment: it was sensibility alone that caused his emotion. An open letter, which he held in his land, was often raised to his lips, and kissed with devotion, while the exclamation repeatedly escaped them -"Great man! Noble, generous procedure!" When the tumult of is mind had subsided, and his thoughts found utterance, he, with strong expression of feeling, exlaimed-"I have received this day 1 communication from the commander-in-chief, which has conveyed more consolation to my bosom, more ineffable delight to my heart, than I had believed it possible for it ever to have felt again. With affectionate tenderness he sympathizes with me in my domestic misfortunes, and condoles with me on the loss I have sustained by the recent death of an only son: and then with peculiar delicacy, lamenting my misfortune in battle, assures me, that his confidence in my zeal and capacity is so little impaired, that the command of the right wing of the army will be bestowed on me so soon as I can make it convenient to join him." After the peace, he retired to his farm in Berkley county, Va. where he remained until the year 1790, when he went to reside in NewYork, having first emancipated his slaves, and made a pecuniary provision for such as were not able to provide for themselves. Some of them would not leave him, but continued in his family. On his arrival at New-York, the freedom of the city was presented to him. In 1800 he accepted a seat in the legislature, but he retained it no longer than he conceived his services might be useful to the cause of liberty, which he never abandoned." His political opinions did not separate him from many respectable citizens, whose views differed widely from his own. He had a handsome person, and was gentlemanly in his manners, remarkably courteous to all, and gave indisputable marks of a social, amiable, and benevolent disposition. A few weeks before his death, he closed a letter to a friend in the following words :-"I am very weak, and have evident signs of an approaching dissolution. But I have lived long enough, since I have to see a mighty people animated with a spirit to be free, and governed by transcendent abilities and honour." He died without posterity, at his abode near New-York, on the 10th day of April, 1806, aged 78 years. NATHANIEL GREENE, Major-General in the American Army, GENERAL GREENE, although descended from ancestors of elevated standing, was not indebted to the condition of his family, for any part of the real lustre and reputation he possessed. He was literally the founder of his own fortune, and the author of his own fame. He was the second son of Nathaniel Greene, a member of the society of Friends, an anchor smith. He was born in the year 1741, in the town of Warwick, and County of Kent, in the province of Rhode Island. Being intended by his father for the business which he himself pursued, young Greene received at school, nothing but the elements of a common English education. But to him, an education so limited, was unsatisfactory. With such funds as he was able to raise, he purchased a small, but well selected library, and spent his evenings, and all the time he could redeem from his father's business, in regular study. At a period of life, unusually early, Greene was elevated, by a very flattering suffrage, to a seat in the legislature of his native colony. This was the commencement of a public career, which, heightening as it advanced, and flourishing in the midst of difficulties, closed with a lustre that was peculiarly dazzling. Thus introduced into the councils of his country, at a time when the rights of the subject, and the powers of the ruler, were beginning to be topics of liberal discussion, he felt it his duty to avow his sentiments on the momentous question. Nor did he pause or waver, as to the principles he should adopt, and the decision he should form. He was inflexibly opposed to tyranny and oppression in every shape, and manfully avowed it. But his character, although forming, was not completely developed until the commencement of the troubles which terminated in our independence. It was then that he aspired to a head in the public councils; and throwing from him, as unsuitable to the times, the peaceful habits in which he had been educated, sternly declared for a redress of grievances, or open resistance. This open departure from the sectarian principles in which he had been educated, was followed, of course, by his immediate dismission from the society of Friends. James M. Varnum, afterward bri gadier-general. But Rhode Island having in the month of May, 1775, raised three regiments of militia, she placed them under the command of Greene, who without loss of time conducted them to head-quarters, in the village of Cambridge. On the 2d of July, 1775, General Washington, invested by congress with the command in chief of the armies of his country, arrived at Boston. Greene availed himself of an early opportunity amid the public demonstration of joy, to welcome the commander in chief, in a personal address, in which, with much warmth of feeling, and kindness of expression, he avowed his attachment to his person, and the high gratification he derived from the prospect of being associated with him in arms, and serving under him in defence of the violated rights of his country. This was a happy prelude to a friendship between these two great and illustrious officers, which death, alone, had the power to dissolve. It is a fact of notoriety, that when time and acquaintance had made him thoroughly acquainted with the character and merits of General Greene, Washington entertained, and frequently expressed an anxious wish, that, in case of his death he might be appointed his successor to the supreme command. During the investment of Boston, by the American forces, a state of things, which lasted for months, The sword was earliest unsheathno opportunity presented itself to ed in the colony of Massachusetts; Greene, to acquire distinction by and on the plains of Lexington and personal exploit. But his love of Concord, the blood of British sol- action, and spirit of adventure, were diers,and American subjects, mingled strongly manifested; for he was first in hostile strife. Nor was Rhode one of the few officers of rank, Island, after that sanguinary affair, who concurred with General Waskbehind her sister colonies, in gallant-ington, in the propriety of attemptry of spirit, and promptitude of preparation. Greene commenced his military pupilage in the capacity of a private soldier, in Oct. 1774, in a military association, commanded by ing to carry the town by assault. On the evacuation of Boston by the British, the American troops were permitted to repose from their toils, and to exchange for a time, the hardships and privations of feld encampment, for the enjoyment | associate in achieving its execution. In both these brilliant actions, his gallantry, prudence, and skill being alike conspicuous, he received the applauses of his commander. He continued the associate and most confidential counsellor of Washington through the gloomy and ominous period that followed. In In the obstinate and bloody battle of Brandywine, General Greene, by his distinguished conduet, added greatly to his former renown. the course of it, a detachment of American troops, commanded by General Sullivan, being unexpectedly attacked by the enemy, retreat of plenty, in comfortable barracks. During this period of relaxation, Greene continued with unabating industry his military studies, and as far as opportunity served, his attention to the practical duties of the field. This course, steadily pursued, under the immediate supervision of Washington, could scarcely fail to procure rank, and lead to eminence. Accordingly, on the 26th of August, 1776, he was promoted by congress to the rank of major-general in the regular army. A crisis, most glowing, and portentous to the cause of freedom, had now arrived. In the retreated in disorder. General Greene, which now commenced, through New-Jersey, General Washington wasaccompanied by General Greene, and received from him all the aid, that, under circumstances so dark and unpromising, talents, devotion, and firmness could afford. Possess ed alike of an ardent temperament, hearts that neither danger nor mis fortune could appal, and an inspiring trust in the righteousness of their cause, it belonged to the character of these two great and illustrious commanders, never for a moment to despair of their country. Hope and confidence, even now, beamed from their countenances, and they encouraged their followers, and supported them under the pressure of defeat and misfortune. at the head of Weedon's Virginia brigade flew to their support. On approaching, he found the defeat of General Sullivan a perfect rout. Not a moment was to be lost. Throwing himself into the rear of his flying countrymen, and retreating slowly, he kept up, especially from his cannon, so destructive a fire, as greatly to retard the advance of the enemy. Aiming at length at a narrow defile, secured on the right and left by thick woods, he halted, sent forward his cannon, that they might be out of danger, in case of his being compelled to a hasty retreat, and formed his troops, determined to dispute the pass with his small arms. This he effected with complete success, notwithstanding the vast superiority of the assailants; until after a conflict of more than an hour and a half, night came on, and brought it to a close. But for this quick-sighted interposition, Sulli, van's detachment must have been nearly annihilated. Greene was one of the council of Washington, who resolved on the enterprise of the 26th of December, 1776, against the post of the enemy at Trenton. The issue is known, and is glorious in our history. About one thousand Hessians, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, with their arms, field equipage, and artillery, were the trophies of that glorious morning, which opened on the friends of American freedom, with the day-general orders, after the battle, the star of hope. He was again of the council of the commander in chief, in planning the daring attack of the 2d of January, 1777, on the British garrison at Princeton, as well his On this occasion, only, did the slightest misunderstanding ever oc cur, between General Greene and the commander-in-chief. In his latter neglected to bestow any spe cial applause on Weedon's brigade Against this, General Greene re monstrated in person. General Washingion replied, "You, |