The American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of

Independence; was a war between Britain and the thirteen colonies

who wanted independence from Great Britain. This war was a result of
many events, some of those including the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and
the Coercive Act. Britain kept harassing the colonists with these Acts,
which caused the colonies to slowly grow closer together until the point
in which they decided they had, had enough and wanted independence
from Great Britain. Joseph P. Martin was born in November in the year
1760. Although he was young and did not understand everything that
was going on around him at the time, he was still able to witness some
of the events leading up to the war, such as the Stamp Act (4). Despite
Joseph Martin promising to himself that he would have no hand in the
war growing up, certain circumstance occurred resulting in him wanting
to join the Continental Army in 1776, reenlist in 1777, and continue to
serve in the army despite all the hardships he endured.
Joseph P. Martin, at the age of 15 was motivated to join the Continental
Army in the year 1776. When Joseph was around the ages of 13 or 14
he finally began to realize and better understand the conflicts between
the colonists and Britain (4). During this time he continually promised,
and created excuses for himself as to why he would never join the
army; that mindset, however, changed toward the end of April.
Around April 21 Joseph was working for his grandsire on the farm when
he heard bells and gunfire began to ring out from the village. His
grandsire and the team working for him quickly made their way back to
the village. Joseph was curious as to what was going on down at the
village, so he ventured down there to see what was happening. There
was a big group on people gathered around in a group, the majority of
them being men. As he got closer, he observed money being taken
quickly by a man followed by him being ordered to equip his self. The
sight of the money being offered was the beginning motivation that
urged Joseph to want to join the Continental Army. Joseph began to
gain courage and if it wasn’t for his fear of him being rejected to join the
army due to his age, he states that he would have gained a dollar that
day (6). Some of the troops lodging were located on Joseph’s
grandsire’s property. Joseph observed these men, and it seemed to
him that everyone wanted to be a solider, which solidified that his
inclination of him wanting to be a solider was true(6). Finally, on June
25, in 1776 Joseph sent out his enlistment papers to join the army for a
six month long service period.
On April 12, 1777 Joseph decided to reenlist in the army, instead of
staying home. When the spring came back around, one of Joseph’s
friends that he grew close to while in the army decided to reenlist as a
sergeant. The friend having enlisting orders begged Joseph continually
to reenlist in the army. Joseph had served six months in the army and
when his deployment ended, he had no intentions of ever reenlisting.
Finally, Joseph gave in to his friends plead and agreed to reenlisted.
However, that only lasted a day, as Joseph spent time alone pondering
the decision he decided that he did not want to serve again so he
backed out of the agreement with his friend (40-41).
The town in which Joseph lived in was separated into squads; these
squads were grouped together depending on the families’ wealth. Each
squad was to produce a man for the army, who was to serve for three
years, or the remainder of the war. The man selected for war could be
done so by either, someone volunteering, or the squad hiring someone.
If the squad failed to produce a man for war, the threat of having one of
their own drafted emerged (40).
All these squads began to search for men to hire to send to the army
as a representative of their squad. Joseph had this “relative” that was a
lieutenant in the Continental army. This man informed one of these
squads about Joseph, acknowledging them that Joseph might be a
candidate for hire. The squad then began to hackle Joseph
persistently, attempting to persuade him to be hired as their
representative. Joseph offered a fee to that squad, one that they
accepted.
As result of consistent pressure around him, presumably a large sum of
money, and his inability to say no, Joseph agreed and signed his
enlistment indenture for the last time (40-41).
Despite the defeats, and terrible sufferings Joseph Martin continued to
serve in the army until it ended in 1783. Joseph experienced blazing
hot summers, and freezing cold summers but continued to fight for
independence. Several factors could have been motivation for Martin to
stay in the army, such as being highly respected by his superiors, or
being promoted to a corporal (125-127). However, looking at the bigger
picture I think that he continued to serve because he not only was a
true patriot to his country, but because he shared the same values as
Job and was portrayed patience to endure the suffering until the end
(181). Joseph grew close to and created an inseparably bond between
him and his fellow soldiers. They were like family; they endured
sufferings, dangers, victories, and defeats together. I think that what
kept Joseph motivated the most was to continue to stay faithful to his
fellow soldiers, whether they were dead or alive, and continue to fight
as hard as he could for them even with the absence of support from his
own country (172).
In conclusion, as a result of the constant mistreatment of the colonist by
their motherland, they grew close enough together to all fight for one
common goal; independence from Britain. Joseph P. Martin who was
young man in the beginning didn’t quite understand the aspects behind
the war. However, he was persuaded by money and constant pressure
by fellow men, to not only join the army, but later reenlist. He then
continued to serve his country diligently until the end.