Greene Monument, (sculpture).

Greene Monument, (sculpture).

Packer, Francis Herman, 1873-1957, sculptor.

Roman Bronze Works, founder.

North Carolina Granite Corporation, fabricator.

Greene Monument, (sculpture).

Nathanael Greene Monument, (sculpture).

Modeled 1913. 1914. Dedicated July 3, 1915.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: Mt. Airy granite and brick.

Overall: approx. H. 27 ft. 9 in.; Base: approx. 31 ft. x 42 ft.

(Allegorical figure, proper right:) F.H.PACKER.SC (Allegorical figure, proper left:) CAST.BY.ROMAN BRONZE/WORKS N.Y

(Plaque on base of allegorical figure:) MARCH XV MDCCLXXXI/IN THE MANOEUVERING (sic) THAT PRECEDED IT, IN THE STRATEGY/THAT COMPELLED IT, IN THE HEROISM THAT SIGNALED IT, AND/IN THE RESULTS THAT FLOWED FROM IT, THE BATTLE OF GUILFORD/COURTHOUSE IS SECOND TO NO BATTLE FOUGHT ON AMERICAN/SOIL, OVER THE BRAVE MEN WHO FELL HERE THEIR COMRADES/MARCHED TO ULTIMATE VICTORY AT YORKTOWN, AND THE CAUSE/OF CONSTITUTIONAL SELF GOVERNMENT TO ASSURED TRIUMPH/AT PHILADELPHIA, TO OFFICER AND PRIVATE, TO CONTINENTAL/SOLDIER AND VOLUNTEER MILITIAMAN, HONOR AND AWARD/ARE ALIKE DUE. THEY NEITHER NEED DEFENSE NOR EULOGY/BUT ONLY JUST RECOGNITION. A GRATEFUL NATION ERECTS/THIS MONUMENT, THEREFORE, AS AN EXPRESSION OF ITS SOLEMN/PRIDE IN THE MEN WHO FOUGHT HERE, OF ITS IMPERISHABLE/DEVOTION TO THEIR MEMORY, AND OF ITS UNALTERABLE/CONFIDENCE IN THE PERMANENCE OF THEIR PRINCIPLES WHICH/THEIR EXAMPLE VINDICATED AND THEIR BLOOD CONSECRATED.

(On front of oval base of Nathanael Greene, in raised letters:) NATHANAEL GREENE/APPOINTED MAJOR GENERAL IN/COMMAND OF THE SOUTHERN ARMY/OCTOBER 14, 1780/BORN IN RHODE ISLAND, AUGUST 7, 1742/DIED IN GEORGIA JUNE 19, 1786 (One left side of oval base:) HARLEM HEIGHTS/TRENTON/PRINCETON/BRANDYWINE/GERMANTOWN/MONMOUTH (On right side of oval base:) GUILFORD/COURTHOUSE/NINETY-SIX/EUTAW SPRINGS (On left side of low wall flanking oval base:) GREENE IS AS DANGEROUS AS WASHINGTON/I NEVER FEEL SECURE WHEN ENCAMPED/IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD./-CORNWALLIS (On right side of low wall flaking oval base:) IT IS WITH A PLEASURE WHICH FRIENDSHIP ALONE IS SUSCEPTIBLE/OF THAT I CONGRATULATE YOU ON THE GLORIOUS END YOU/HAVE PUT TO HOSTILITIES IN THE SOUTHERN STATES./-WASHINGTON signed Founder's mark appears.

An equestrian portrait of Nathanael Greene depicted in uniform, wearing a tricornered hat. The bronze sculpture is mounted on an oval granite base at the back of a small granite and brick esplanade. The oval base is flanked by a low wall that runs along the back of the esplanade. At the front of the esplanade is a bronze allegorical sculpture of a Greek Goddess, or Liberty, standing with a bald eagle shield on her proper right and a leaf on her proper left. Originally there were two 12-pounder, Civil War Napoleon cannon barrels on each corner of the back wall, but they are now missing.

Portrait male -- Greene, Nathanael -- Full length

Occupation -- Military -- Major General

Mythology -- Classical -- Goddess

Allegory -- Civic -- Liberty

Animal -- Bird -- Eagle

Outdoor Sculpture -- North Carolina -- Greensboro

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

Located Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, 2332 New Garden Road, Greensboro, North Carolina 27410

Nathanael Greene (1742-1783) was a military strategist during the American Revolution, rising through the ranks to become a Major General in the Continental Army. He became George Washington's most trusted subordinate and became Quartermaster General at Valley Forge. Taking command of the army at Charlotte, North Carolina in December 1780, Greene conducted the campaign that broke the back of the British war effort in America, commanding at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, March 15, 1781.

Shortly after Greene's death, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution directing that a memorial to him be built at the nation's capitol, but it was never erected. In 1857 the Greene Monument Association was organized with $600 raised by January 1860, but the efforts were discontinued by the Civil War, and the money was lost. In 1911, both Houses of Congress appropriated $30,000 for the monument (which cost $28,052.60) and a contract was issued on Sept. 16, 1912. A $25 prize was offered for an appropriate inscription for the plaque on the base of the allegorical figure, and it was won by Dr. D. Alphonso Smith, a Greensboro native and professor of English at the University of Virginia.

The esplanade was resurfaced in 1957. In 1962, the two Civil War cannons were removed. The monument was vandalized on July 4, 1989, and a fund was created by the Greater Greensboro Foundation to extensively restore it and five other monuments in the park. $150,000 was raised for the project, and restoration occurred in January 1990. During the restoration, the bronze figures were removed from the monument; the damaged steps around the base were dismantled; the low wall flanking base of Greene figure was dismantled. About one-third of the damaged or missing bronze letters of the inscriptions were recast. Replacement stones were supplied from North Carolina Granite Company from the original quarry in Mount Airy, North Carolina.

IAS files contain: correspondence dated Nov. 4, 1991, from the National Park Service, Guilford Courthouse National Military Park; and an excerpt Thomas E. Baker's "The Monuments at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, North Carolina," pg. 22-27.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, North Carolina survey, 1994.

Baker, Thomas E., "The Monuments at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, North Carolina," n.d., pg. 26.

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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