military officer Soldier civil engineer
Greene was born on May 6, 1801, in Apponaug, Rhode Island, the son of Caleb Greene and his wife Sarah Robinson, daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Wickes) Greene, was descended from John Greene, who came to America in 1635, was one of the founders of Warwick, Rhode Island, and established a notable family. Caleb Greene was a shipowner, whose once prosperous business was ruined by the Embargo and the war.
It was intended that Greene should enter Brown University, but lack of money made this impossible, and instead he went to New York where he found work.
Greene was appointed a cadet at West Point in 1819, graduated in 1823, and was commissioned in the artillery. Returning to the Military Academy immediately, to teach mathematics, he remained there for nearly four years, except for a few months when he was teaching at the Artillery School at Fort Monroe. Leaving West Point finally in 1827, he served for several years at various artillery posts in New England. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1829. Resigning from the army, June 30, 1836, he took up engineering as a profession, engaging particularly in railroad construction. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was engineer in charge of the Croton water-works extension and the Croton Reservoir in Central Park, New York. He was appointed colonel of the 60th New York, January 18, 1862, and served with his regiment in the neighborhood of Washington until appointed brigadier-general of volunteers, April 28, 1862. He was then assigned to a brigade under Gen. Banks, in the Shenandoah Valley, and commanded it in action for the first time at Cedar Mountain in August. At Antietam, by virtue of seniority, he commanded a division, and then resumed command of his brigade, which was reorganized in April 1863 so as to be composed entirely of New York regiments. He fought at Chancellorsville, and with great distinction at Gettysburg. With the XII Corps he arrived on the battlefield at Gettysburg late in the afternoon of the first day's fighting, was posted at Culp's Hill, on the extreme right of the Union line, and helped to resist the Confederate attacks of the second day. That evening the entire corps, with the exception of Greene's brigade, was withdrawn in order to strengthen the Union left, and for a time this brigade bore the whole brunt of the renewed attacks of the Confederates, who could have placed themselves across the Union line of communications if the Culp's Hill position were carried. The safety of the army, therefore, depended upon Greene's brigade, until, little by little, it was strengthened by troops sent from other commands. It was again in action on the third day of the battle. In September, the XII Corps was transferred to Tennessee and Greene served with it in the early part of the Chattanooga campaign. He was severely wounded, however, at Wauhatchie, October 28, 1863, being shot through the face, and saw no further field service until 1865. His wound made necessary a difficult operation in May 1864, and when he had recovered sufficiently to be fit for duty of any kind he was employed on courts martial. He commanded a brigade in the North Carolina campaign of March and April 1865, and marched in the great review at Washington. After being mustered out of the volunteer service, April 30, 1866, he resumed the practice of his profession in New York, where he did extensive work in connection with the water supply, the elevated railways, and the laying out of new streets. He was engaged on important engineering operations elsewhere, also, notably the planning of the sewerage system of Washington and the construction or extension of water-supply systems in Detroit, Troy, and Yonkers. His interests were not confined to professional matters. He collected the bulk of the material for a genealogical account of the Greene family, which was completed and published after his death, and he was deeply interested in the affairs of the United States Military Academy, of which he became the "oldest living graduate, " a distinction in which he took the keenest delight. In 1894, by virtue of a special act of Congress, he returned to the regular army as a first lieutenant, the rank which he held at the time of his resignation in 1836, and was placed on the retired list. Greene died at Morristown, New Jersey on January 28, 1899, where he had resided since 1883, and was buried at Warwick, Rhode Island.
Greene was part of the Greene family of Rhode Island, which had a record of distinguished military service to the United States. As a civilian, he is remembered as a founder of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects. He was also responsible for numerous railroads and aqueduct construction projects in the northeastern United States.
President of the American Society of Civil Engineers (1875-1877), president of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
Harsh in manner and a strict disciplinarian, Greene was not a man to win immediate affection, but those under him soon learned to appreciate his ability and his rigid sense of justice.
On July 14, 1828, Greene was married, at Pomfret, Connecticut, to Elizabeth Vinton, who died in 1832. On February 21, 1837, he married Martha Barrett Dana, daughter of Hon. Samuel Dana. Two of his sons, George Sears and Francis Vinton Greene, attained distinction in their father's profession, and a third son, Samuel Dana Greene, as executive officer of the Monitor in her fight with the Merrimac.
He was a lieutenant on his father's staff at Culp's Hill.
He was a United States Army officer who fought in the Spanish-American War.
He was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War, mostly noted for his service aboard the USS Monitor during the Battle of Hampton Roads.
