Choosing a Leader: Learning from George Washington's Choice of General Nathanel Greene

It took the Continental Congress three times, but they finally got it right. After appointing Benjamin Lincoln and Horatio Gates to lead George Washington's southern campaign to no success, they finally allowed George Washington to choose his own general. Washington made an excellent choice in appointing Nathanael Greene after serving alongside him in battle and knowing his passion, strength, intelligence and endurance.  Lesson one- it is wise to give the experts in the best position to make the choice the power to do so. Greene was victorious in the Southern campaign driving the British from the Carolinas.  So wise that he kept on fighting until legally not allowed to do. He was right. The British came back for round two in the Battle of 1812.  Lesson two- a leader must have good judgment in people. Greene never trusted General Charles Lee or General James Wilkinson. Although he never lived to see the proof of his distrust, hundreds of years later have revealed that Charles Lee gave plans to the British on how they could capture the American army while he was a "prisoner" of war in South Carolina and recent documents have unearthed that James Wilkinson was a double spy in the pay of  the Spanish government.   Greene noted that when Lee was traded for another prisoner and released, he came back not rejoicing as one would  expect. Lee even spent his first night back at Washington's camp sleeping in the quarters behind Martha Washington's camp living arrangements with the wife of a British officer. Lesson three- a leader must be brave and wiling to personally sacrifice. Whereas Horatio Gates' soldiers' nicknamed him "Granny Gates"for his lack of zeal in battle, Green had a reputation for being brave despite the odds. Greene even successfully employed the "divide to survive"  strategy  (controversial compared to accepted practices of warfare at the time) before Napoleon coined it.  When the virtually penniless Continental Congress could not pay to clothe Greene's men and neither could the provincial South Carolina government, Greene signed on as creditor to pay for uniforms for the entire Southern army (he was not a wealthy man). Not only did he care for his men, he knew they could not fight in their naked condition and many would desert. After winning the war, the American government never paid Greene back and he was besought with creditors when he died a few years later much distressed at the age of 44.  He was also a peacemaker. When General Sullivan upset the French Admiral Charles D' Estaing, it was Greene that placated and kept the peace. Had this not been done, Washington would not have had the French navy which was necessary to assist in trapping the British at the victorious battle of Yorktown. Nathanael Greene sacrificed everything for our country. True heroes do. George Washington made an excellent choice which proved essential to the formation of this country, when he chose Nathanael Greene to be his right hand man. Great leaders choose great leaders.