Americans are familiar with the heroes of the Revolutionary War. People like Washington, Knox, Lafayette, and Hamilton are well known, but they all were officers. Few people have heard of the most famous common soldier of the war. Joseph Plumb Martin was born in Massachusetts on November 21, 1760. His father was a pastor who had gone to Yale. Joseph was well-educated. When he heard about Lexington and Concord, he enlisted in the Connecticut militia at age 15. He participated in the defense of New York City. He fought in the battles of Brooklyn, Kip’s Bay, Harlem Heights, and White Plains. He then went home after this enlistment expired, but soon after he enlisted in the Continental Army and served for the duration. He was in Fort Mifflin for the failed bombardment, fought at Germantown, and then endured the winter Valley Forge. He was also in winter quarters at Morristown. He fought in the Battle of Monmouth. In 1780, he was promoted to a sergeant in the Sappers and Miners unit. At Yorktown, he helped Alexander Hamilton’s assault on a British redoubt by clearing the abatis. He mustered out when the war ended in 1783. In 1830, he published his memoir entitled “A Narrative of Some of the adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier, Interspersed With Anecdotes of Incidents That Occurred Within His Own Observations.” It was based on his diaries. The book did not sell well and disappeared for over a century. It was discovered in the 1950s and published as “Private Yankee Doodle.” It became the best source for the hardships the common soldiers went through. Martin writes about food shortages, long periods away from home, and low morale. Here is an excerpt about the attack on the redoubt at Yorktown.
“At dark the detachment was formed and advanced beyond the trenches and lay down on the ground to await the signal for advancing to the attack. Our watchword was “Rochambeau,” the commander of the French forces’ name, a good watchword, for being pronounced Ro-sham-bow, it sounded, when pronounced quick, like rush-on-boys. We had not lain here long before the expected signal was given, for us and the French, who were to storm the other redoubt,. The word up, up, was then reiterated through the detachment. We immediately moved silently on toward the redoubt we were to attack, with unloaded muskets. Just as we arrived at the abatis, the enemy discovered us and directly opened a sharp fire upon us. We were now at a place where many of our large shells had burst in the ground, making holes sufficient to bury an ox in. The men, having their eyes fixed upon what was transacting before them, were every now and then falling into these holes. I thought the British were killing us off at a great rate. At length, one of the holes happening to pick me up, I found out the mystery of the huge slaughter.
As soon as the firing began, our people began to cry, “The fort’s our own!” and it was “Rush on boys.” The Sappers and Miners soon cleared a passage for the infantry, who entered it rapidly. Our Miners were ordered not to enter the fort, but there was no stopping them. “We will go,” said they. “Then go to the d ——— ,” said the commanding officer of our corps, “if you will.” I could not pass at the entrance we had made, it was so crowded. I therefore forced a passage at a place where I saw our shot had cut away some of the abatis; several others entered at the same place. While passing, a man at my side received a ball in his head and fell under my feet, crying out bitterly. While crossing the trench, the enemy threw hand grenades (small shells) into it. They were so thick that I at first thought them cartridge papers on fire, but was soon undeceived by their cracking. The fort was taken and all quiet in a very short time.”
https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/joseph-plumb-martin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Plumb_Martin
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/joseph-plumb-martin
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