Forging the Vision : Nathanael Green
could to try to maintain their property . Greene ’ s solution for this was to offer no receipts or any repayments for items taken that were found in hiding .
There was also the problem of locals supplying the British . For those caught doing so , Greene ordered them publically whipped . Greene believed this lesson was not only necessary for the perpetrators , but for his subordinate officers as well . Greene lamented the tactics he felt he had to employ . However , he believed he had to harden not only his own heart but also the hearts of his subordinate officers so that they could fulfill their mission . He made it known that he would inflict the severest of punishment for the minutest neglect to maintain the order and discipline necessary to accomplish this difficult , necessary , yet ethically questionable task . 34 Forage was another issue that he
encountered around Valley Forge . The amount of forage required to sustain the army wreaked havoc on the surrounding landscape . Greene instructed the Commissary-General to forage the country bare , which caused the subsequent problem of starving out the local animals . However , Greene was a problem-solver and , to mitigate civilian complaints about forage shortages , ordered his troops to confiscate all animals that were fit for either military service or slaughter to ease their burden . 35
The army still needed a longterm solution for keeping the troops supplied . Greene ’ s command of this mission proved to Washington that he was a capable leader with a keen sense of logistics and an aptitude for problem solving . The army was in such need of transport equipment and animals that many units were reduced to building makeshift wagons that the soldiers , themselves , were yoked to or they simply carried the cargo on their backs . 36
Although Greene did not desire to be “ taken out of the Line of splendor ,” Washington impressed to him the importance of the Quartermaster General . While Greene felt this responsibility was in line with his previous experiences , he believed a position of this magnitude was greater than his abilities . Nonetheless , he accepted the position and was appointed as Quartermaster General on March 24 , 1778 . Five months passed between the exodus of Quartermaster General , Thomas Mifflin , and the appointment of Nathanael Greene , which only served to intensify the supply crisis .
Greene went to work procuring the supplies necessary for the army to survive the winter and to fight when spring came . Greene was told by Washington to spare no expense to outfit the army , and he did so much to Congress ’ s dismay . The military spending by the Quartermaster and Commissary Departments ballooned from between $ 5.4 and $ 9.2 million under Mifflin from 1776 to 1777 , to an astounding $ 37 million in 1778 under Greene . 37
Inflation , supply , and demand issues increased the cost of goods ; however , these facts seemed to elude Congress . The Continentals were also competing with the British for resources from the local economies and the
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