Description

The Memoirs of a Revolutionary Soldier offers a rare enlisted man's view of the War for Independence. In plain, vividly observational prose, Martin records marches, hunger, foraging, fatigue duty, and the craft of siege work, alongside skirmishes and campaigns from New York and New Jersey to the final operations at Yorktown. Wry humor and an unsentimental eye strip away heroic varnish, foregrounding material hardship, camp politics, and the moral economy of pay, rations, and broken promises. Born in 1760 and raised in New England, Joseph Plumb Martin enlisted as a teenager and served until 1783, rising from private to a noncommissioned rank and later joining the Corps of Sappers and Miners. Decades later, as a farmer and schoolteacher in Maine, he published the memoir anonymously (1830) to preserve the common soldier's memory and tally the costs—and unpaid obligations—of the struggle. For historians, students, and curious readers, this is an indispensable primary source—candid, often mordantly funny, and unillusioned. It complements official correspondence and generals' memoirs, restoring the Revolution's ground-level textures and the voices of those who bore its burdens.

Quickie Classics summarizes timeless works with precision, preserving the author's voice and keeping the prose clear, fast, and readable—distilled, never diluted. Enriched Edition extras: Introduction · Synopsis · Historical Context · Brief Analysis · 4 Reflection Q&As · Editorial Footnotes.