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Andre De Coppet Collection 1566-1942 (mostly 1770-1865)
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Download PDF Greene, Nathanael (1742-1786)
2 boxes
This collection is stored at Firestone Library and Firestone Library.
This collection is stored onsite at Firestone Library. Boxes 18-19, 21-22, 36-38, and 47 are stored in special vault facilities.
Requests will be delivered to Manuscripts Division, RBSC Reading Room .
Collection Creator: De Coppet, Andre, 1892-1953..
Dates: 1775-1785.
Extent: 2 boxes
Languages: English.
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research use. Researchers may be required to use surrogates of collection items stored in special vault facilities.
Description
Nathanael Greene served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. This series, dating from 1775-1785, consists of personal and professional correspondence from the last decade of his life and includes letters both to and from Greene. Many of the letters are directly related to his service in the Revolutionary War, including the difficulties he experienced while serving as Quartermaster General from March to August 1778. After resigning that post, Greene proved himself a leader on the battlefield as evidenced by his many communications with Commander in Chief George Washington. His letters to Washington and other army officers communicate troop locations and various successes and failures of the war. In addition, they highlight the difficult conditions experienced by many Continental soldiers who lacked appropriate shoes, clothing, and food. Personal correspondence between Nathanael and his wife, brothers, and cousin reveal the family's investment in multiple privateering ventures, as well as a family ironworks, which was occasionally commissioned to make weapons for the war.
The series is arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent. Many of the letters have been published in a multi-volume series devoted to Greene: The Papers of General Nathanael Greene (Chapel Hill : Published for the Rhode Island Historical Society [by] University of North Carolina Press, 1976-2005). Letters in this collection that are published in this series contain a bracketed notation in the item description citing the volume and page numbers. In some instances, the letters may not be published in full but merely summarized; in such cases the volume and page number are still provided as the editors often provide helpful footnotes and context for researchers.
Preferred Citation
Greene, Nathanael (1742-1786); 1775-1785; Andre De Coppet Collection, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.