Had they known of their future, they could have
prepared in no better way than by taking their faithful part in the work
and honest sport of each day as it came.
Greene, being ten years younger than Washington, was about thirty-two
years old when the Boston Tea Party and those other exciting events of
that time occurred.
[Illustration: The War in the South.]
Although news did not travel so rapidly then as now, Greene was soon aware
that war was likely to break out at any time, and he took an active part
in preparing for it. He helped to organize a company of soldiers who
should be ready to fight for the American cause, and made the trip from
Rhode Island to Boston to get a musket for himself. In Boston he watched
with much interest the British regulars taking their drill, and brought
back with him not only a musket, hidden under some straw in his wagon, but
also a runaway British soldier, who was to drill his company.
When news of the battle of Bunker Hill passed swiftly over the country,
proving that the war had actually begun, Rhode Island raised three
regiments of troops and placed Greene at their head as general. He marched
at once to Boston, and when Washington arrived to take command of the
American troops, it was General Greene who had the honor of welcoming him
in the name of the army.
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