The American Revolutionary War - Essay Example

Ordinary Courage: A Review of the Literature The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) is also known as the American War of Independence, and it was the military component to the American Revolution. Fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen British colonies in North America, the war began largely as a colonial revolt against the economic policies of the British Empire, and eventually widened far beyond North America, with France, Spain, and the Netherlands entering the war against Great Britain. The Continental Army was the unified command structure of the thirteen colonies fighting Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. The army was originally created on June 14, 1775, and most of the Continental Army was disbanded on November 3, 1783 after the treaty of Paris. A small residual force continued at West Point and some other frontier outposts, until Congress created the United States Army by their resolution of June 3, 1784. Joseph Plumb Martin truly and personally understood how difficult the soldier’s life was. After joining the militia himself in 1776 at 16 years old Joseph Plumb Martin served in the Continental Army, and in 1830 wrote a memoir which presented a truthful portrait of war, about the traversing of the mid-Atlantic colonies, from Connecticut over to Pennsylvania and down through Delaware with his compatriots, and describing what the war was like from the point of view of an ordinary person. Joseph Plumb Martin (1760-1850), it should be noted, was a mere Private in the army, and his account does not involve the usual heroes of the Revolution. Joseph Plumb Martin’s opinion of the leadership of the Continental Army is somewhat negative, in that he did not feel the leaders held very idealistic concepts concerning the war. However he tells that he respected them in that he found them to be brave and courageous, as he thought everyone who had participation in (that) war was; that it was their strength and perseverance which held the men strong. So although he did believe they were a quintessential part in the leading, fighting, and success of the war, I believe that he also somewhat felt negatively towards them. Martin felt that they were “…very austere…and kept us constantly employed day and night; there was no chance of escaping from…their…vigilance.” (p.24). Martin describes of the suffering that was experienced by himself and his fellow men, as he names ‘Fatigue, hunger, and cold’ as constant companions to these raggedy soldiers. He also recalls that whenever the leaves and ground were wet it was impossible to light a fire to keep warm, that he was often times hungry enough to eat his meat raw, and of being so thirsty that he once spent “every cent of property (he) could then call his own” on a “draught of water.” It is made clear that Martin feels strongly that the leaders – such as officers and generals – simply could not have won the war without the help of the enlisted men, and yet they never seemed to appreciate that fact. “So every private soldier in an army thinks his particular services as essential to carry on the war he is engaged in, as the services of the most influential general; and why not? What could officers do without such men? Nothing at all. Alexander never could have conquered the world without private soldiers.” (p.2). The differences which existed between the attitudes of the officers and the enlisted men were made incredibly obvious in this book. One significant difference was that it seemed as though the officers in the war were fighting in it for a combative purpose, and treated it as though it were like any other job in the regular American world. In other words, the officers felt they were there to do their job; to command what needed to be done, and follow through. “In the night there came, what in military phrase is called the visiting rounds, which is, an officer attended by a small escort, to inspect the conditions of the guards, and see that they do their duty.” (p.55). “I arrived at camp the second day after leaving the baggage. My officers inquired of me why I had returned? – if I was able to do hard duty, they said they were glad that I had joined the company again; if not, they were sorry.” (p.62). The enlisted men, on the other hand, throughout the entire manuscript are shown as having only one explanation for being there, and that was to take care of their families back home. They were there to fight and win in order to keep their families safe, and this war was simply a means which they would have to conquer in order to do so. In this book Joseph Plumb Martin also significantly points out the differences between the colonists. For example, in the book, he retells about the time when he was imprisoned by “half New Englanders and half Pennsylvanians” (p.27), and that he “would rather be combating with a tribe of Indians than with the Southerners” (p.25). He had many obvious reasons not to like them, and he portrays the war and the birth of the nation in an intensely realistic and profound manner, clearly avoiding any form of romantic or idealistic concepts in doing so. Martin refers sarcastically to the generosities of Congress and the country when one Thanksgiving during the war each soldier received “half a gill of rice and a tablespoonful of vinegar.” The enlisted men were also never adequately garbed, and as he describes it, the soldiers were “not only shirtless and barefoot but destitute of all other clothing, especially blankets.” The men were forced to walk barefoot almost the entire time, even during the winter on the rough frozen ground. Yet even in this severely weakened state, ill-fed and ill-equipped, the army continued to fight courageously and robustly. In Martin’s account, he attempted to struggle through the stereotype that a “mere private” was less important than anyone higher in ranking than himself, and through the tales of his struggle he wanted to express that he felt what he had to say should be just as important as what a general might write. This personal feeling can be especially detected in Selection 16 when an apprentice shaves a British soldier and expects to be paid the same as if his master had done the work. This is a prime example of the showing of how Martin felt; he felt that the privates in the army – himself and the other enlisted men – were just as significantly important – if not perhaps even more so – than the actual ‘leaders’ in the war. Martin attempts to show the idea of hardships of war through the eyes of an average soldier who fought in that particular war, and he goes on throughout the entire book giving a detailed description of everything from the war events, to the officer’s courage and bravery. “Here ends the account of as hard and fatiguing a job, for the time it lasted, as occurred during the Revolutionary War.” (p.82). Works Cited Martin, James Plumb. Ordinary Courage. Ed. James K. Martin. New York: Brandywine Press, 1999. Read More