American soldier, born in Apponaug, Warwick, RI, on the 6th of May 1801; lineal descendant of the John Greene who came from England and settled in Warwick, RI, in 1645; graduated second in his class at West Point, and entered the artillery in 1823. After occupying various positions, among them that of professor of mathematics at West Point, he resigned from the army in 1836 to follow civil-engineering. He took charge of various public works until he was appointed engineer of the Croton water-works, supplying New York City, in 1857. On the outbreak of the Civil War he was appointed colonel of the Sixtieth New York Volunteers, and in 1862 brigadier-general; participated in the battles of Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg; severely wounded and disabled at Wauhatchie (1863); later joined General Sherman’s army, and finally was mustered out in 1866, being brevetted major-general of volunteers. After leaving the service he resumed his work on the Croton aqueduct and other important public works; and was president American Society of Civil Engineers in 1875–77.
