At thirty-four, Nathanael Greene was the youngest flag officer in Washington’s command in this theater. His going to Hempstead was a serious problem. He had been in command in Brooklyn for several months and knew the terrain well, but fell ill on August 15th with “camp fever” as typhus was then called. This happened just as the British had completed their massing of troops on Staten Island. Greene’s command was transferred to General Sullivan on August 20th. While Washington viewed Sullivan as a capable officer, he lacked complete confidence in him, noting: “… [he] has his wants, and he has his foibles…a little tincture of vanity and…an over-desire of being popular, which now and then leads him into some embarrassments.”

Four days before the battle, on the 24th, Sullivan was ordered to relinquish the major part of his command to his senior, General Israel Putnam, who at fifty-eight was the oldest of Washington’s generals at Brooklyn. The lines of command under this new arrangement were not made clear and added to the confusion among subordinate commanders and in the ranks. Putnam was the senior commander and, by and large, in charge. His charismatic outward qualities, hi blindness to personal safety, his outstanding valor, his general picturesqueness- he looked the epitome of military effectiveness- endeared him to his men and civilians alike. Stories of his exploits in the French and Indian War and around Boston gave him an almost legendary persona. (JJG)

For more information, please visit: "Greene, Nathanael."Encyclopedia Britannica. 2007.