Some dissatisfaction was felt among the officers, on account of the changes in rank, but Greene found that he had no cause for complaint at being required to exchange the rank of major-general to brigadier, which was offered him in the name of Congress.
Shortly after the arrival of General Washington, the command of the left wing had been given to Major-General Lee, and Greene with his brigade placed under him. Nearly a year passed away without any decisive movements on either side, although both Washington and Greene were anxious to make the trial. “Out of an army of twenty thousand men,” says Greene, “it will be hard if we cannot find eight thousand who will do their duty.” But many of the officers were of a different opinion, and to their decision he was obliged to acquiesce. At this time serious apprehensions were entertained of the small-pox, which was known to be raging in Boston, and against which few were guarded by inoculation.
By Greene’s advice, a hospital was established at Coventry, for the inoculation of the officers; and sending his family into hired lodgings, he gave up his own house for the purpose.
During the excitement which this disease caused among both officers and men, Greene was seized with a severe attack of jaundice, the first illness he ever had, probably the consequence of this new mode of life; and this, too, at a time when many officers and men were down with the small-pox, and strong reasons for supposing that an attack would at length be made upon Boston. “Sick or well,” says he, “I intend to be there, if I am able to sit on my horse.” But the attempt was not made; and when, a month after, positive preparations were making for an assault by water, to support the movements at Dorchester, a brigade of four thousand picked men was entrusted to his command.
A sudden tempest frustrated the plans of the British commander, compelling him to put off the assault which he had meditated upon the right wing of the American army; and when the storm ceased, it was too late to attempt it with any chance of success. He, hastily embarking his troops, evacuated Boston.
Washington now ordered the forces to withdraw with all speed to New York, where he next expected to meet the enemy. Greene was ordered to march with all haste, and take up his quarters at Brooklyn. He had not reached his destination when he was seized with a bilious fever, which brought him to the brink of the grave. This was in the month of August, and during this severe attack, the battle of Long Island was fought; when the news reached him and he was hardly able to raise his head from his pillow, he exclaimed, “Gracious God! to be confined at such a time!” From his bed he heard the sound of the cannon, and received with the keenest anxiety the reports which were brought to him every half hour of the progress of the battle. When he was told of the havoc that had been made in Smallwood’s gallant band, his favorite regiment, he could no longer restrain his feelings, but burst into an agony of tears, accompanied by such severe spasms as to alarm the attendants who were near him. Well might he mourn over such a misfortune, for it was very generally believed, that had he been permitted to have been present, the reverses of that memorable day would have been changed. As soon as he was able to mount his horse, he was again at his post, the duties of which had been much enlarged by his promotion to the rank of major-general. The fate of New York was the question which was now in suspense; and Greene being stationed at Hærlem, took part in his first battle; for he had hitherto seen nothing but distant cannonades and slight skirmishes; in his journal he speaks of it as one in which he had “fought hard.”
No sooner had this battle taken place than new difficulties appeared before him; the terms of service of a large portion of the troops was about to expire, and no measures taken to supply their places. The only resource that remained was the militia, and very many of them had refused to serve, alledging as an excuse the assurances of peace, liberty and safety which had been given them by the British. This was a moment of conflict, and he found that the strong hand of the soldier must be used to enforce the injunctions of the law. He instantly ordered down a detachment of his regulars, to check it in its bud, threatening them, at the same time, with the rigors of garrison duty in Fort Lee, as a punishment for their cowardice.
Early on the morning of the 18th of November, Lord Cornwallis crossed the Hudson with a strong body of the British and Hessians, intending an attack upon Fort Lee. Greene had four miles to march before he could reach the river, and Cornwallis but one and a half. Without losing an instant, he pushed forward with all his forces to the head of the stream, and drawing them up in front of Cornwallis, contrived to hold them at bay until Washington, to whom a courier had been dispatched, could come up. Then, leaving them under the guidance of the commander-in-chief, he hastened back to the fort, and collecting the stragglers and others, nearly three hundred in all, conveyed them in safety across the Hackensack River. This manœuvre was his first encounter with Cornwallis. Now began the memorable retreat through the Jerseys.
During the whole of this trying period Greene was by the side of his commander, partaking his cares and anxieties, and sharing with him that firm and unbending trust in the ultimate triumph of their cause, which forms one of the sublimest traits in the character of Washington.
By rapid and exhausting marches, in a few days, the hostile armies were ranged, front to front along the banks of the Delaware.