A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier

Joseph Plumb Martin was born on November 1760 in western Massachusetts. He wrote a book in which he described the life of an ordinary soldier during the American Revolution.”A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier” not only informed about the poor conditions in which the troops lived but also is one of the few soldier's accounts of the Revolution in general. Martin grow up in his Connecticut grandparent's house. He noted since 1774 that a war with Great Britain was coming,so he promise himself to have nothing to do with it. A military representative were taking everyone they could. They were taking even boys under sixteen which were the easiest to train and without any family responsibilities. Some of the new soldiers stayed at Martin's grandparents house before they start to fight in Boston. Interested by the conversations he heard and the possibility to earn some money,Martin changed his mind and decided to became s soldiers. At the age of sixteen,Martin enlisted in the army as a private in the Connecticut state troop. When the cold weather came in, the author observed how his troop did not have much food,buttes,guns,gunpowder ,clothes and other basic objects. He claimed that because of the little provisions they had,they would either steal items and guns from dead or when they win a battle they would took all the provision of the troop they beat. During the freezing winter,Martin and the rest of the American's soldiers had a few warm clothes and firewood to keep them warm. Some of the men used sheets of plastic and covered themselves to keep warm.”It was quite a cool night in the month of October;the water which spattered on to our clothes ,froze as we passed the river. Many of the young and small soldiers fell while in the water ,and were completely drenched”(p.66). Another of the many problems facing American soldiers was the size of the British army against the American's army. Their army was around three times the size of American's. Martin