The Adventures of a Revolutionary Soldier

“The horrors of battle then presented themselves to my mind in all their hideousness; I must come to it now, thought I…”

From a sedate life upon his grandfather’s farm, unconcerned with the brewing revolution engulfing the great United States, Martin could never have supposed where fate may lead him – “venture my carcass where bullets fly! That will never do for me.”

However, anxious patriotism and an urge for adventure quelled his misgivings and before long Martin was marching into a land littered with bodies to face the fire and sword of the mighty British army.

In the years that followed Martin was on the frontline at some of the most climactic battles of the revolution and here he provides a lucid and engaging account of his adventures, dangers and sufferings during these campaigns, not from the lofty view of an officer, but from the personal and humble eyes of one of the lowest stations in an army: A private soldier.

From his own stories, the words of his companions, the poems, prose and proverbs which engendered the revolutionary fever of the time, Martin paints one of the clearest pictures of the founding era of modern America, and one of the most intimate portrayals of life as a soldier.

Some anecdotes are humourous, some tales are brutal, yet all of these observations are widespread and crafted with wit, detail and honesty.

Joseph Plumb Martin (November 21, 1760 – May 2, 1850), born in Massachusetts, was a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Martin participated in the Battle of Brooklyn, the Battle of White Plains, the siege on Fort Mifflin and the Battle of Monmouth. He witnessed John Andre being escorted to his execution and the climactic Siege of Yorktown. Martin was discharged in 1783. He subsequently taught in New York for a year before settling in Maine, becoming one of the founders of the town of Prospect. In 1836, a platoon of US Light Infantry marching though Prospect stopped outside of his house and fired a salute in honour of the Revolutionary War Hero. Joseph Martin died on May 2, 1850, at the age of 89.