Catherine Littlefield Greene

Catharine "Caty" Littlefield Greene (February 17, 1755 – September 2, 1814) was an American patriot who traveled to her husband, Continental Army General Nathanael Greene's, encampments during the American Revolutionary War. She entertained and comforted the soldiers, officers, and officer's wives. During that time she had four children and a fifth after the end of the war. Greene followed her husband, regardless of cold weather or illness in the camps, notably spending the winter at Valley Forge.

During the war, Nathanael signed promissory notes for clothing and food for his soldiers in South Carolina. He was not repaid during his lifetime and through a chain of events the debt-ridden Greenes moved to Georgia to operate a rice plantation, relying on enslaved workers. They moved from the north to the plantation with Phineas Miller, the children's tutor. After Nathanael's death in 1786, Miller, successfully ran the plantation for a time. With the help of her friend Alexander Hamilton, arrangements were made with the federal government to repay the money that Nathanael spent to take care of his troops. Greene married Miller at the home of her friends, George and Martha Washington, in Philadelphia, in 1796.

She was a noted supporter of the inventor Eli Whitney. Her "extraordinary activity of mind, and tact in seizing on points, so as to apprehend almost intuitively, distinguished her through life. It enabled her, without apparent mental effort, to apply the instruction conveyed in the books she read, to the practical affairs of life".

Early life Catharine ("Caty") Littlefield was born on February 17, 1755, (Ellet and Stegeman state that Greene was born in 1753, Catharine was the second of five children born to John and Phebe (née Ray) Littlefield.)

Catharine spent her early childhood years with her family on Block Island, where she learned to ride a horse at a young age. There were no conveniences of villages or small towns, no schools or stores. The only public building was a meetinghouse. Her mother Phebe died on April 30, 1761. She was buried in the Block Island Old Burial Ground in May. He was a merchant and a foundry worker. Against her husband's wishes, Greene stayed near his headquarters and encampments as much as she could after she had their first child in 1776.

When Nathanael was encamped at Morristown, New Jersey, Greene stayed a year with the family of William Alexander, Lord Stirling, on their estate in Basking Ridge.

Newport, Rhode Island Greene was in Newport, Rhode Island in 1780 and 1781, where the French General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, his officers, and troops were stationed. In December 1781, Greene visited George and Martha Washington in Philadelphia, before meeting up with her husband in the south in April 1782.

War in the south During Nathanael's command in the South, he faced harsh conditions without sufficient supplies and money. in Potowamut (Nathanael's hometown). Greene, ill with pneumonia, was delayed several months in meeting up with Nathanael in New Jersey. Greene and her two children traveled over very difficult roads for four days to avoid the British and Tories. They ultimately made it to Abraham Lott's estate, Beaverwyck, in New Jersey, where she met up with Nathanael. Greene remained in Basking Ridge, staying on the estate of William Alexander, Lord Stirling for a year. Cornelia Lott was born in 1779 when Nathanael and his troops where camped out at their house and grounds in Coventry. Nathanael, concerned about Greene's health, received approval for a leave from Washington so that he could attend to his wife while his troops marched to New York. Cornelia was born fragile and sickly, and it was not clear that she was going to live. When she began getting stronger, Nathanael returned to his soldiers. Nathanael "Nat" Ray was born in January 1780 at her husband's encampment at Morristown, New Jersey. A few weeks before her due date she traveled through a frigid snowstorm with her son George, but she left the girls behind. Patty was on Block Island with Greene's father and Cornelia was with Nathanael's family in Potowamut. Greene gathered her three children and the new baby to Coventry in the summer of 1780. Louisa was born about March 1784 in Newport. Nathanael, with his family after the end of the war, sent their children to visit relatives for the birth of the baby. Catharine was born in Newport, after Louisa and by August 1785. A few of the children had whooping cough, but they survived. Baby Catharine had it too. Her throat closed up and she died. Greene became despondent, ill, and pregnant again by the fall of 1785. Realizing she was pregnant again, Greene collapsed and required nursing care. A baby girl was born early April 1786 at Mulberry Plantation after Greene had an accidental fall. The premature baby died shortly after it was born.

Green was a strict parent, and "none of her children ever thought of disobeying her". She also enjoyed playing with them. Greene considered him a mechanical genius. Gage provided no source for this claim, and to date there has been no independent verification of Greene's role in the invention of the gin. Her daughter Cornelia Greene Skipwith Littlefield describes her mother's role in "perfecting" the cotton gin with Eli Whitney in a Century magazine article written by her granddaughter. The article also mentioned that she suggested using a brush to separate the seeds from the cotton.

Second marriage and later years The Nathanael Greene Cottage, or Tabby House at Dungeness estate on Cumberland Island, southeast Georgia. Historic American Buildings Survey of Georgia. Greene married Miller at the home of President and Martha Washington. After selling Mulberry Grove in 1798, Greene and Miller lived at Dungeness plantation on the southern end of Cumberland Island, on land that Nathanael was awarded. Miller died in 1803.

Aaron Burr showed up at the plantation after killing Green's friend, Alexander Hamilton, in the Burr–Hamilton duel (July 11, 1804). Unable to entertain the killer of her friend, she let him enter her home and she left. Greene returned when Burr was gone.

Greene died of malaria at the plantation on September 2, 1814, and she was buried there in the family cemetery.