16 Facts About William Jasper

William Jasper was a sergeant in the 2nd South Carolina Regiment.

In 1779, Sergeant William Jasper participated in the Siege of Savannah, led by General Lincoln, which failed to recapture Savannah, Georgia, from the British.

William Jasper was mortally wounded during an assault on the British forces there.

Traditionally, William Jasper has been identified of being of Irish descent born in the colonies.

However, according to one account, William Jasper came to America in 1767 on the ship Minerva.

William Jasper was 16 at the time, but he had decided that whatever the new land held, he would accept it with open arms.

William Jasper arrived in Philadelphia in the fall and was fed some warm soup and then put in a line to take an oath of allegiance and sign his name.

When it was his turn, though, William Jasper did not know how to read or write, so he could not even write his name on the list.

William Jasper had to just put an X down where he should have put his name and next to it the colonist who had signed him in wrote John William Jasper.

William Jasper then completed a few years of indentured servitude and moved south to find some land of his own.

William Jasper was motivated when he settled down in the South; he had left his girlfriend in Pennsylvania.

William Jasper was called to Sullivan's Island to help protect Charles Towne Harbor.

William Jasper's officers were sent to local plantations to borrow their slaves to help with the creation of the fort.

William Jasper did not accept the offer to become an officer, saying that he would only be an embarrassment since he could neither read nor write.

William Jasper was presented with two silk flags by Mrs Susannah Elliott.

William Jasper's hold never relaxed, and he bore the colors to a place of safety before he died.