Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/140

Rh enthusiasm to aid and encourage him in his ambition and efforts for the success of the patriots. When the army before Boston was inoculated with smallpox, she voluntarily gave up her beautiful house for a hospital.

When the army went into winter quarters, she always set out to rejoin her husband, sharing cheerfully the narrow quarters and hard fare of a camp, bearing heroically her part in the privations of the dreary winter at Valley Forge, in that "darkest hour of the Revolution." It appears that there, as at home, her gay spirit shed light around her even in such scenes, softening and enlivening the gloom which might have weighed many a bold heart into despondency. There are extant some interesting little notes of Kosciuszko, in very imperfect English, which show her kindness to her husband's friends, and the pleasure she took in alleviating their sufferings.

Mrs. Greene joined her husband in the South after the close of the active campaign of 1781, and remained with him till the end of the war, residing on the islands during the heat of summer, and the rest of the time at headquarters. In the spring of 1783, she returned North, where she resided till the General completed his arrangements for removing to the South. They then established themselves at Mulberry Cove, on a plantation presented to General Greene by the state of Georgia. Mrs. Greene's first impression of southern life and manners are painted in lively colors in her letters to northern friends. The following passage is from one to Miss Flagg: "If you expect to be an inhabitant of this country, you must not think to sit down with your netting pins; but on the contrary, employ half your time at the toilet, one quarter to paying and receiving visits, the other quarter to scolding servants, with a hard thump every now and then over the head, or singing, dancing, reading, writing or saying your prayers."

After the death of General Greene, she removed with her