1936 1c Generals Washington & Nathan Greene, Mt Vernon, Green

U.S. #785
1936 1¢ Washington & Greene
Army and Navy
Issue Date: December 15, 1936
First City: Washington, DC
Quantity Issued: 105,196,150

First in a five-stamp series honoring Army heroes. Pictured are Revolutionary War Generals George Washington and Nathanael Greene, plus Mount Vernon.

Army & Navy Issue

On December 15, 1936, the first of 10 stamps in the Army/Navy Set was issued.

The idea for a set of stamps honoring America’s military heroes wasn’t a new one. Years earlier, President Theodore Roosevelt had suggested such a series of stamps, but nothing was done during his term.

Franklin Roosevelt, an avid stamp collector, pushed for the creation of the Army and Navy Commemorative Series. It honors military leaders from the Revolutionary War through the Spanish-American War.

This stamp was issued in December 1936 as the first in a five stamp series honoring notable figures from the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The series paired George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army and later the nation's first president, with other prominent generals from that era, beginning here with Nathanael Greene, one of Washington's most trusted and capable officers throughout the war.

Greene rose from relatively humble beginnings as a Rhode Island businessman to become one of the most effective military strategists on the American side, eventually taking command of the Continental Army's southern campaign late in the war. His use of calculated retreats and attrition tactics against British forces in the Carolinas helped wear down enemy strength and set the stage for the eventual American victory at Yorktown, earning him a reputation as one of the war's most skillful commanders despite never winning a decisive battle outright.

Mount Vernon, shown alongside the two generals, was Washington's Virginia plantation home along the Potomac River, a property his family had held since the late seventeenth century and one he expanded significantly after taking ownership in 1761.