Ordinary Courage

This remarkable memoir is one of the most celebrated documents to emerge from the tumult of America’s Revolutionary War. The ordinary and yet exceptional experiences of a young soldier in Washington’s army are given a new life in this fourth edition, sensitively edited for a modern readership.

• Classic primary source on the Revolutionary War
• Edited by a leading US authority on the period
• Now with extra maps and a more extensive bibliography
• Includes a new Afterword by Karen Guenther on film portrayals of the continental soldier

Introductory Comments ix

Overview Maps of Joseph Plumb Martin's Adventures, 1776–1783 xxiii–iv

Martin's Narrative of Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings xxv

Preface 1

Chapter I: Introductory 3

Chapter II: Campaign of 1776 11

Chapter III: Campaign of 1777 39

Chapter IV: Campaign of 1778 70

Chapter V: Campaign of 1779 98

Chapter VI: Campaign of 1780 111

Chapter VII: Campaign of 1781 132

Chapter VIII: Campaign of 1782 158

Chapter IX: Campaign of 1783 168

The Revolutionary War Soldier on Film 183
Karen Guenther

Suggestions for Additional Reading 188

Index 195

James Kirby Martin is the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen University Professor of History at the University of Houston. He is the award-winning author of 12 books, including Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered (1997), and Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians and the American Revolution (with Joseph T. Glatthaar, 2006). First published in 1830, this classic memoir of the American Revolutionary War relates events from the perspective of patriots who endured the hardships of long-term service in Washington's army during the period 1776-1783. Martin himself joined the continental army in 1776 at the age of 15 and endured all the horrors of war, including killer diseases, starvation, brutal weather, and bloody combat. This updated fourth edition has once more been overseen by the celebrated scholar of US history, James Kirby Martin, who has trimmed the repetitions of the original, updated spelling and punctuation, added explanatory notes and augmented the bibliography. The book now also includes a new Afterword by Karen Guenther on movie portrayals of revolutionary-era soldiers.

Martin’s memoir clearly demonstrates that the history made and recorded by ordinary people is just as compelling as that of the few famous leaders who traditionally dominate the historical limelight. Told with humor, frankness, and pathos, the work is a key primary document of the period and makes thought-provoking reading for today's college students. “If I had to rely on a single book to convey the full experience of the Revolutionary War, it would certainly be Joseph Plumb Martin's Narrative. Martin personalizes the experience of a common solider with the freshness of youth and the wisdom of age – a truly remarkable feat. Like All Quiet on the Western Front, it's a must read classic.” – Ray Raphael, author of A People’s History of the American Revolution

“No soldier in Washington's Continental Army ever inscribed a more trenchant and vivid account of the hopes, fears, frustrations, and sufferings of the common volunteer than Joseph Plumb Martin. In this new edition of Private Martin's account, James Kirby Martin has amplified the footnotes and bibliography to breathe new life into this remarkable reminiscence. This is indispensable reading for anyone interested in the American Revolution from the inside out.” – Gary B. Nash, University of California, Los Angeles

Praise from the previous edition:

“Ordinary Courage is a classic in American military history. James Kirby Martin has expertly edited the original version. It is wonderful to have such an excellent volume, so skillfully introduced and edited, available for students and the general readership.” – Joseph T. Glatthaar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill