Author: James Kirby Martin

James Kirby Martin is a nationally recognized scholar of the American Revolution, well known for his writings on various aspects of American military and social history. He is the award-winning author and editor of numerous articles and books, including Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians and the American Revolution (Hill and Wang, 2006) with J. T. Glatthaar; Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered (New York University Press, 1997); and A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763-1789 (3rd edition, Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) with M. E. Lender. He received his B.A. degree from Hiram College (summa cum laude) and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Martin was Professor of History at Rutgers University before moving in 1980 to the University of Houston, where he served as the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor of History until his retirement.

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Review: Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution

Noble Volunteers: The British Soldiers Who Fought the American Revolution by Don Hagist. Foreword by Rick Atkinson. (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2020) Back in the 1950s, respected military commentator Walter Millis (1899-1968) stated that British soldiers at the time of the American Revolution represented “a class apart.” They were, “generally speaking, from the least productive elements […]

by James Kirby Martin
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Benedict Arnold: Natural Born Military Genius

Denouncing the reputation of Benedict Arnold began immediately after he fled West Point and returned his allegiance to the British empire on September 25, 1780.  Without hesitation, contemporaries denounced him as a nefarious human being, a devious villain suddenly well-known to everyone for his “barbarity,” “avarice,” “ingratitude,” and “hypocrisy,” in sum nothing more than “a […]

by James Kirby Martin