Tag: Joseph Plumb Martin

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Cato: A Tragedy: The Enduring Theatrical Mystery at Valley Forge

The Valley Forge winter of 1777-78 is an integral part of America’s national narrative.[1] For many citizens, the name “Valley Forge” relates both a physical and intellectual landscape, specific spatial geography in Pennsylvania and a certain emotional acreage representative of the enduring suffering many Americans embraced during the revolution. At the end of that challenging […]

by Shawn David McGhee
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Thomas Knowlton’s Revolution

The story of Thomas Knowlton in the American Revolution is brief but meaningful. He was only thirty-five at his death, arguably a full-fledged hero in what George Washington termed “the “glorious Cause”[1] of American independence. The Connecticut colonel remains largely obscure in our collective historical consciousness but has been long recognized by serious students of […]

by David Price
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“The Predicament We Are In”: How Paperwork Saved the Continental Army

“Few people know the predicament we are in,” wrote George Washington, while he expressed the Continental army’s dire circumstances.[1] By January 1776, just six months into the Revolutionary War, the Continental army faced a crisis outside Boston. This particular crisis, not caused by a British attack, was a personnel issue. “Search the volumes of history through,” […]

by Mike Matheny
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Joseph Plumb Martin, Soldier-Author

Glazier, Masters & Co.[1] of Hallowell, Maine, in 1830 published A narrative of some of the adventures, dangers and sufferings of a Revolutionary soldier; interspersed with anecdotes of incidents that occurred within his own observation.  Written by himself.  Authored anonymously by an impoverished Maine farmer and relic of the Revolution, its author has since been […]

by Robert Carver Brooks
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The Long Shot of September 1776

In September 1776[1] there occurred an incident of long distance marksmanship, or luck, that deserves a close look.  The eyewitness, Private Joseph Plumb Martin[2] of the Continental Army, describes the scene.  Martin was on the east shore of Manhattan Island marching north with the East River on his right.  He wrote that: “…here I saw […]

by Hugh T. Harrington
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Mrs. Middleton Takes Prisoners

Questions about the validity of the Molly Pitcher legend bring up a broader gap in our understanding of military affairs during the era of the American Revolution: we have anecdotal evidence that soldiers’ wives were sometimes on the battlefield, but we don’t really know if this was common or rare, accepted or anomalous, sanctioned or […]

by Don N. Hagist
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Young People at War

In 1775, almost all Americans could read. This enabled young people to follow the political argument that preceded the shooting war. They were enthusiastic independence men and women even though they were too young to vote or fight. Few young men were a better example of this enthusiasm than fourteen year old Joseph Plumb Martin […]

by Thomas Fleming
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Unleashing the Dogs of War

Nearly everyone loves a dog.  This is especially true of soldiers to whom a dog is a friendly reminder of home, a companion and distraction from the day to day life.  Regrettably, these furry friends have been lost in the mists of time.  A few however can still be glimpsed, although dimly, doing what dogs […]

by Hugh T. Harrington