Joseph Plumb Martin had a little fun in my latest reading from Memoir of a Revolutionary Soldier. He and his buddies collected "a number of bombshells and some old damaged wagon wheels lying near the barracks". They began their shenanigans by filling the shells with water and throwing them in the fire. When the water heated and expanded, the shells "would force the plug out with a report as loud as that of a pistol"
 | When they became bored with that activity, they rolled the wagon wheels "about thirty or forty rods up the mountain" and released them to roll back down. Before they knew it a wheel was headed for the camp buildings. The men became scared that the wheel would soon break through a thin, wood wall, creating damage and trouble, not to mention seriously injuring someone. Just before their fears were realized, the wheel struck something and became airborne, jumping "twenty or thirty feet into the air, and passed over the barracks and several rods beyond them before it struck the ground again. One is reminded that during the down time of the Revolutionary War, the soldiers could get bored and needed things to do. |
