Joseph Plumb Martin, Biography - 808 Words

Born in western Massachusetts in 1760, Joseph Plumb Martin was the son of a pastor; at the age of seven, he began living with his affluent grandfather. Almost as soon as the Revolutionary War broke out in the spring of 1775, young Joseph was eager to lend his efforts to the patriotic cause. In June 1776, at the tender age of 15, Martin enlisted for a six-month stint in the Connecticut state militia. By the end of the year, Martin had served at the Battles of Brooklyn, Kip’s Bay and White Plains in New York. Though Martin declined to reenlist when his six-month stint ended in December 1776, he later changed his mind, and on April 12, 1777 he enlisted in the 8th Connecticut division of General George Washington’s Continental Army, led by†¦show more content†¦On arriving at Valley Forge at the start of that famously long winter, Martin wrote: â€Å"Our prospect was indeed dreary. In our miserable condition, to go into the wild woods and build us habitations to st ay (not to live) in, in such a weak, starved and naked condition, was appalling in the highest degree†¦.But dispersion, I believe, was not thought of, at least, I did not think of it. We had engaged in the defense of our injured country and were willing, nay, we were determined to persevere as long as such hardships were not altogether intolerable†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Road to Yorktown In 1778, Private Martin was transferred to the light infantry for a brief period, during which his unit operated against Tory sympathizers in the Hudson Highlands region. He saw little action for the next year, and in December 1778 began a winter encampment with his regiment at Morristown, New Jersey. This difficult period saw the army’s first mutiny of the war, as Martin wrote: â€Å"We had borne as long as human nature could endure, and to bear longer we considered folly.† But Martin persevered, and in the summer of 1780 he was recommended for appointment as a sergeant in the new engineer corps, the Sappers and Miners. Among the corps’ principal duties were working with mines and with saps, as the approach trenches to enemy works were called. In the summer of 1781, Martin was called upon to perform his newShow MoreRelatedRevisiting, Revising, and Reviving Americas Founding Era6252 Words   |  26 Pagesand Alexander Hamilton: in the popular mind this band of worthies, more marble monuments than mere mortals, guides America towards its grand destiny with a sure and steady hand. [F]or the vast majority of contemporary Americans, writes historian Joseph Ellis, the birth of this nation is shrouded by a golden haze or halo.(1) So easy, so tame, so much a land of foregone conclusions does Americas Revolution appear that we tend to honor and ignore it rather than study it. In 1976, the 200th birthday