The Quaker and the Gamecock: Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter, and the Revolutionary War for the Soul of the South by Andrew Waters

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Quaker and the Gamecock: Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter, and the Revolutionary War for the Soul of the South by Andrew Waters Max Carter The Quaker and the Gamecock: Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter, and the Revolutionary War for the Soul of the South. By Andrew Waters. Havertown, Pa.: Casemate, 2019. xiii + 222 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, and index. $34.95. It was probably a mistake to read The Quaker and the Gamecock during the impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump. While the book is full of the intrigue of military strategy, the personalities of leaders in war, and the rivalries among legendary figures Nathanael Greene, Thomas Sumter, and Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion, my attention was drawn to intriguing similarities between the social situation of the Revolutionary War period in the South and the "battles" of contemporary U.S. politics and social unrest. The author, a graduate student at South Carolina's Clemson University, draws extensively from primary and secondary sources to outline how different the South was from the North during the Revolutionary War. More a "civil war" between Loyalists and Rebels in the Carolinas, there was also the social difference between the Scots-Irish of the "back-country" and the "coastal elites." Waters acknowledges early on that the rivalry between the Quaker-born Northerner Greene and the Carolina "Gamecock" is analogous to the divide between rural populism and urban egalitarian federalism today and goes on to say, "Like Trump, [End Page 67] Sumter recognized backcountry folk preferred action over prudence and sound policy." Insights into the intransigence of contemporary political "camps" aside, this book offers the reader an important understanding of the brutality of war and the reasons for the veneration of both Greene and Sumter in the South—although both were on the short end of their won-lost record against the British in battles. Sobering statistics of the dead and wounded, the plundering of the countryside to feed starving troops, and the bartering of enslaved persons permeate the book. Analysis of how losing battles led to winning the war helps explain the naming of multiple cities after Greene and a town, university mascot, and famous fort after Sumter. For the Quaker reader, there is more. The author cites military writers in arguing that "lingering influence of devout Quaker upbringing" helped shape Greene's leadership, discernment, and pragmatic moderation, even though he had been disowned in 1773 for frequenting a tavern. Although Greene preferred a trained army rather than the militias of the Carolina backcountry, he came to understand the different nature of war in the South, a willingness attributed to his Quaker heritage and ability to re-evaluate and adjust based on "the individual's centered search for truth." What is missing for the curious Quaker reader, though, is a definitive answer to the question of whether George Washington dispatched Greene to command the war in the South owing to the significant Quaker settlements there and the possibility of using his Quaker connections for provisioning his troops. It is known that Greene sought to exploit that connection, but Waters doesn't address it. Nor does he make any comment about Quaker response to the Battles of New Garden and Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina and the fighting around the Bush River Quaker settlement in South Carolina. Waters' book ends with the sad tale of Greene's bankruptcy and early death, his widow's struggles, and Sumter's much longer life, political successes, and revenge sought against Greene while a member of Congress. It also closes with a postmortem on Greene's military genius, although in the South his record in battles was 0-4. His "genius," the author argues, is in "adapting to circumstances." Possibly another Quaker attribute: a record of losses, but continual adaptation! [End Page 68] Max Carter Guilford College Copyright © 2020 Friends Historical Association