“Not the Most Unhappy of All Creation”
Towards the end of the American War for Independence, Catharine Littlefield Greene takes one more trip to accompany her husband to the front lines of war. Destined for the Continental Army’s camp above the Ashley River, just outside Charleston, Caty makes her way South with one of Nathanael Greene’s letters to her in hand. She had always thought of the war as an exciting adventure, a time of great peril and separation, but also of opportunity and education. She knows her place and her duties as a mother and as an officer’s wife, and she has been known to push the envelope on what is considered “socially acceptable” public behavior. As the war drags on, Catharine grows older, and wiser. Still, despite his best efforts to forewarn her, Nathanael is unsuccessful in preparing his wife for the desolation and destruction she will see – the worst yet – as the war comes to its conclusion. The year is 1782, Caty is headed to an exhausted, sick army encampment with a new wardrobe and a military escort – and she’s worried about exactly what she will find…