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Caty: A Biography of Catharine Littlefield Greene
Throughout her life, Catharine Littlefield Greene struggled to clear her own place as an individual within a society that was itself fighting for its place as an independent nation. In Caty , John and Janet Stegeman follow the life of a woman whose spirit and determination led her far beyond the domestic concerns of most women of her day.
The wife of Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene, Caty was a close friend of George and Martha Washington, a business partner of Eli Whitney, and mistress of two Georgia plantations. As a voracious reader who preferred the company of men to that of women, Caty courted gossip and near scandal as she, unlike most of the women of her time, maintained friendships with men, most of whom were friends of her husband. Indeed, Nathanael Greene encouraged Caty to join in the political discussions he and his friends enjoyed, and at such gatherings Caty found herself at the center of the tumultuous activity of the Revolution.
Caty also came to know firsthand the effects of the political discussions. As a devoted wife and the mother of five children, Caty faced the challenges of trying to maintain a semblance of normal family life in the cruel circumstances of war, of shouldering in the absence of her husband the financial responsibilities and burdens usually reserved for men.
Although many of Caty’s concerns reflected those of other women of her time, her story, Harvey Jackson suggests in his forward, has importance even beyond the study of women in the years surrounding the Revolution. Caty witnessed and at times participated in some of the most crucial events in the history of the new nation, and her story adds an additional degree of definition to our knowledge of our national origins.
The wife of Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene, Caty was a close friend of George and Martha Washington, a business partner of Eli Whitney, and mistress of two Georgia plantations. As a voracious reader who preferred the company of men to that of women, Caty courted gossip and near scandal as she, unlike most of the women of her time, maintained friendships with men, most of whom were friends of her husband. Indeed, Nathanael Greene encouraged Caty to join in the political discussions he and his friends enjoyed, and at such gatherings Caty found herself at the center of the tumultuous activity of the Revolution.
Caty also came to know firsthand the effects of the political discussions. As a devoted wife and the mother of five children, Caty faced the challenges of trying to maintain a semblance of normal family life in the cruel circumstances of war, of shouldering in the absence of her husband the financial responsibilities and burdens usually reserved for men.
Although many of Caty’s concerns reflected those of other women of her time, her story, Harvey Jackson suggests in his forward, has importance even beyond the study of women in the years surrounding the Revolution. Caty witnessed and at times participated in some of the most crucial events in the history of the new nation, and her story adds an additional degree of definition to our knowledge of our national origins.
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 15, 2020
This is an interesting biography of the lady who came to prominence during the American War of Independence as the wife of General Nathanael Greene and rose to new heights in her own independent character after his death in 1786. She had a hard life, most of it through ill-fortune, though some of the hardships were created by her own flirtatiousness, an insistence on spending money she didn't really have, and a love for involvement in high society.
Living the life of a general's wife was not easy, especially as Nathanael seems to have been quite a fecund chap while home on leave. In the course of the war Caty travelled widely to be with him, including time spent at the winter camp of Valley Forge and eventually in South Carolina and Georgia. The war left Nathanael and Caty close to financial bankruptcy. While Nathanael was a national hero and was gifted many acres of land in a variety of states, land was a cheap alternative to providing him with the substantial pensions he had no doubt been hoping for. Land rich but cash poor, that was Caty's predicament after Nathanael died in Georgia when he was only 44.
She picked herself up and set about creating a life for herself on the Mulberry Grove rice-growing slave plantation not far from Savannah. Life included miscarriages, the accidental drowning of her eldest son, affairs with General Anthony Wayne, Eli Whitney and several others, failed investments (the Yazoo Scheme and the cotton gin), debt after debt after continuous litigation, the forced sale of Mulberry Grove and a move to another of Nathanael's old land grants on Cumberland Island. It would have driven many a person to despair, yet Caty kept fighting back until eventually the United States Government agreed to reimburse her the money her late husband had been forced to borrow to keep his troops fed and clothed during the war. She died in 1814, more or less in peace with her increasingly avaricious family and her creditors, after a short illness.
The biography's style suffers a little from the authors using their own imaginations and emotions in place of evidence to provide Caty with thoughts and reasons for her actions. This describes her view of the wife and daughter of Lord Stirling (an American general) at Valley Forge: “She was uncomfortable with them and on her guard not to appear less than they were. She was secretly pricked by little darts of jealousy and she did not like it.” How do we know that? The authors do not provide a clue.
The book's ending is unusually abrupt. The final paragraph reads (in full): “On September 2, 1814, near the end of her sixtieth year, her long, racking fever finally broke, and Caty drifted off peacefully into a deep and endless sleep.” What happened afterwards? Did her adult children grieve inconsolably or did they fight to get their hands on the money and property before Caty's creditors could move for it? Did her life leave a legacy: charitable donations perhaps; or, was she remembered as a playful flirt, careless with money and reputation? It would have been nice to have a little more research to round off the story.
Living the life of a general's wife was not easy, especially as Nathanael seems to have been quite a fecund chap while home on leave. In the course of the war Caty travelled widely to be with him, including time spent at the winter camp of Valley Forge and eventually in South Carolina and Georgia. The war left Nathanael and Caty close to financial bankruptcy. While Nathanael was a national hero and was gifted many acres of land in a variety of states, land was a cheap alternative to providing him with the substantial pensions he had no doubt been hoping for. Land rich but cash poor, that was Caty's predicament after Nathanael died in Georgia when he was only 44.
She picked herself up and set about creating a life for herself on the Mulberry Grove rice-growing slave plantation not far from Savannah. Life included miscarriages, the accidental drowning of her eldest son, affairs with General Anthony Wayne, Eli Whitney and several others, failed investments (the Yazoo Scheme and the cotton gin), debt after debt after continuous litigation, the forced sale of Mulberry Grove and a move to another of Nathanael's old land grants on Cumberland Island. It would have driven many a person to despair, yet Caty kept fighting back until eventually the United States Government agreed to reimburse her the money her late husband had been forced to borrow to keep his troops fed and clothed during the war. She died in 1814, more or less in peace with her increasingly avaricious family and her creditors, after a short illness.
The biography's style suffers a little from the authors using their own imaginations and emotions in place of evidence to provide Caty with thoughts and reasons for her actions. This describes her view of the wife and daughter of Lord Stirling (an American general) at Valley Forge: “She was uncomfortable with them and on her guard not to appear less than they were. She was secretly pricked by little darts of jealousy and she did not like it.” How do we know that? The authors do not provide a clue.
The book's ending is unusually abrupt. The final paragraph reads (in full): “On September 2, 1814, near the end of her sixtieth year, her long, racking fever finally broke, and Caty drifted off peacefully into a deep and endless sleep.” What happened afterwards? Did her adult children grieve inconsolably or did they fight to get their hands on the money and property before Caty's creditors could move for it? Did her life leave a legacy: charitable donations perhaps; or, was she remembered as a playful flirt, careless with money and reputation? It would have been nice to have a little more research to round off the story.
June 6, 2020
An interesting look at colonial life through the life of Caty Greene. Her husband was a revolutionary general and her plantation was where the cotton gin was invented. The story has her interacting with many of the early leaders of the United States.
My only complaint is many times I wanted more information about the people and events.
My only complaint is many times I wanted more information about the people and events.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews