Major General Nathanael Greene, (sculpture).

Major General Nathanael Greene, (sculpture).

Brown, Henry Kirke, 1814-1886, sculptor.

Robert Wood & Company, founder.

Major General Nathanael Greene, (sculpture).

Major General Nathaniel Greene, (sculpture).

Installed 1877.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: granite.

Sculpture: approx. H. 11 ft. W. 15 ft.; Base: approx. 14 x 17 x 8 ft.

SCULP H.K.BROWN / R. WOOD AND CO. (Base, south side:) SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF NATHANAEL GREENE, ESQUIRE/A NATIVE OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND/WHO DIED ON THE 19TH OF JUNE 1786/LATE MAJOR GENERAL IN THE SERVICE OF THE U.S./AND COMMANDER OF THEIR ARMY IN THE SOUTHERN DEPARTMENT (Base, north side:) THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS ASSEMBLED/IN HONOR OF HIS PATRIOTISM,/VALOR,AND ABILITY HAVE ERECTED THIS MONUMENT signed Founder's mark appears.

General Greene is depicted riding his horse as he leads his troops into battle. He is dressed in his military uniform and a three-cornered hat. He points to something in the distance with his proper right hand and he holds the horses reins in his proper left hand. He looks off to his proper left. His sword hangs down at his proper left side. The horse is caught in mid-stride. The sculpture rests on a tall oval-shaped base.

Portrait male -- Greene, Nathanael

Occupation -- Military -- Major General

History -- United States -- Revolution

Animal -- Horse

Outdoor Sculpture -- District of Columbia -- Washington

Administered by United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, District of Columbia

Located Stanton Square, Massachusetts & Maryland Avenues, N.E., Washington, District of Columbia

General Nathanael Greene (1742-1786) helped organized Rhode Island's militia, the Kentish Guards, during the Revolutionary War although he did not enlist as an officer due to a physical injury. However he shortly became a brigadier general and later became quartermaster general. According to the Goode publication, a windstorm knocked the statue off its base in 1930, but the sculpture was not damaged. A derrick was used to lift the sculpture back up on its base. The 1974 Goode publication includes an image of the statue when it was knocked off of its base. The sculpture was erected through an Act of Congress on June 23, 1874, with an appropriation of $40,000 in Oct. 1875, and later an addtional $10,000 appropriation for the base.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, District of Columbia survey, 1994.

Michael Richman, SAAM curatorial assistant, 1967-1969.

Goode, James M., "Washington Sculpture: A Cultural History of Outdoor Sculpture in the Nation's Capitol," Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, no. 1.36.

Moore, Merl M., Jr., 1994.

Daily Evening Transcript (Boston), Feb. 9, 1877, 3:6

Goode, James M., "The Outdoor Sculpture of Washington, D.C., A Comprehensive Historical Guide," Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974, pg. A-35.

Goode, James M., "Washington Sculpture: A Cultural History of Outdoor Sculpture in the Nation's Capitol," Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, no. 1.36.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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