War! War with England, the Mother Country. After the fatal confrontation between British soldiers and New England Patriots in Lexington on April 19, 1775, the original thirteen colonies embarked on an eight year journey, fighting against incredible odds to secure their independence from the world's strongest empire.
Whenever you think of the Revolutionary War, what faces and names come to mind? George Washington? Benjamin Franklin? Thomas Jefferson? Our textbooks tell us of the brave and daring deeds of these great men: of the important documents they wrote, the delicate negotiations they accomplished, the battles they won. We read of the Continental Army as one large mass of volunteers led by famous and infamous generals. We remember the generals, but what about the men they led to defeat or victory? What of their stories?
Probably unknown by name to the average person, Joseph Plumb Martin is one of those people who fought for our liberties. He was only fifteen years old when he signed up to fight the Redcoats in 1776. He grew up in the Continental army, serving his country until the war ended in 1783. This Connecticut Yankee experienced the terror of battle and the boredom of camp life. Martin froze and starved at Valley Forge and witnessed the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He died in Maine in 1850, but he left to posterity an invaluable account of his service in the Continental Army.
His autobiography, published in 1830, was originally 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 Observation." Rather a mouthful, isn't it? I have never read the original; instead, I have read an edited version of Martin's remarkable story. "Yankee Doodle Boy" was edited by George F. Scheer in 1964. It is an excellent story, well edited by Mr. Scheer. The story of Joseph Plumb Martin takes us behind the scenes of the War for Independence, reminding us that, powdered wigs aside, these colonials were very much like you and me.
As time passes, dulling our senses as it is prone to do, it is vital that we refresh our frail memories and recall the story of the birth of our nation and men and women and their ideals and beliefs that shaped our country - people like Joseph Plumb Martin.
God bless the U. S. A.
Information about this edition and Joseph Plumb Martin was paraphrased from this source:
Scheer, George F. Yankee Doodle Boy. Ed. George F. Scheer. New York: William R. Scott, Inc., 1964. Paperback
Whenever you think of the Revolutionary War, what faces and names come to mind? George Washington? Benjamin Franklin? Thomas Jefferson? Our textbooks tell us of the brave and daring deeds of these great men: of the important documents they wrote, the delicate negotiations they accomplished, the battles they won. We read of the Continental Army as one large mass of volunteers led by famous and infamous generals. We remember the generals, but what about the men they led to defeat or victory? What of their stories?
Probably unknown by name to the average person, Joseph Plumb Martin is one of those people who fought for our liberties. He was only fifteen years old when he signed up to fight the Redcoats in 1776. He grew up in the Continental army, serving his country until the war ended in 1783. This Connecticut Yankee experienced the terror of battle and the boredom of camp life. Martin froze and starved at Valley Forge and witnessed the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He died in Maine in 1850, but he left to posterity an invaluable account of his service in the Continental Army.
His autobiography, published in 1830, was originally 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 Observation." Rather a mouthful, isn't it? I have never read the original; instead, I have read an edited version of Martin's remarkable story. "Yankee Doodle Boy" was edited by George F. Scheer in 1964. It is an excellent story, well edited by Mr. Scheer. The story of Joseph Plumb Martin takes us behind the scenes of the War for Independence, reminding us that, powdered wigs aside, these colonials were very much like you and me.
As time passes, dulling our senses as it is prone to do, it is vital that we refresh our frail memories and recall the story of the birth of our nation and men and women and their ideals and beliefs that shaped our country - people like Joseph Plumb Martin.
God bless the U. S. A.
Information about this edition and Joseph Plumb Martin was paraphrased from this source:
Scheer, George F. Yankee Doodle Boy. Ed. George F. Scheer. New York: William R. Scott, Inc., 1964. Paperback
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