Yamacraw Village in Savannah in Chatham County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)
Richard Wall
1754 - 1842
Photographed By Mike Stroud, 2013
1. Richard Wall Marker
Born in County Limerick, Ireland, he served as a Cadet of Marines under Captain John Paul Jones on the 'Bonhomme Richard' in 1779. While pursuing deserters near Ireland he was captured and sent to England's Forton Prison and was released after three years. As a Midshipman on the frigate 'South Carolina' he was again captured and later exchanged.
Erected by Stone Placed by DeSoto Hilton Hotel.
Topics. This memorial is listed in this topic list: War, US Revolutionary. A significant historical year for this entry is 1779.
Location. 32° 4.555′ N, 81° 6.036′ W. Marker is in Savannah, Georgia, in Chatham County. It is in Yamacraw Village. Memorial can be reached from Martin Luther King Boulevard (West Broad Street). Located between Louisville Road and West Harris Street (Between Savannah Visitor Center and Savannah Roundhouse Museum, in the Battlefield Memorial Park). Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Savannah GA 31401, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Isidore De Lynch (here, next to this marker); Colonel Mordecai Sheftall (here, next to this marker); Mills Murphree (here, next to this marker); Peter Tondee (here, next to this marker); Major General Israel Putnam (here,
this page online
Additional commentary.
1. Pension Application of Richard Wall: S22032
Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris
The State of South Carolina }
District of Charleston }
On this Nineteenth day of December Anno Domini One thousand Eight hundred and thirty two
personally appeared before the Honorable Thomas Lee Judge of the United States of America for the District of South Carolina Richard Wall a resident of the City of Charleston in the State aforesaid aged Seventy eight years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress passed June 7 1832. That in the year of our Lord 1779 he entered on board the Frigate Bon Homme Richard, commanded by Captain John Paul Jones as a volunteer in the Marine Department, in the port of L’Orient (Lorient) in France. That some time previous to the
Photographed By Mike Stroud, February 16, 2008
2. Richard Wall Marker at the Memorial To The American Revolution
ordered to go in pursuit of the deserters and whilst engaged in performing this duty was
captured by boats sent from the land to take them after in vain endeavouring to escape. The said Richard Wall was taken to Ireland from thence sent to England and then detained in Forton Prison near Portsmouth until the autumn of the year 1782, exposed to more than the usual hardships and privations a prisoner of war is usually compelled to submit to, being put on very short allowance and daily threatened with execution as a rebel and traitor to the British Government. After his discharge from prison the said Richard Wall entered on board the frigate South Carolina and served in the capacity of Midshipman – until she was captured (see note below). And the said Richard Wall declares that as Cadet aforesaid of Marine, he had the rank of a midshipman. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or an annuity except the present and he declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency in any State. (signed) Rich’d. Wall
NOTES:
On 4 Feb 1779 John Paul Jones took command of the Duc de Duras, renamed Bonhomme
Richard in honor of Benjamin Franklin, and spent the next six months in France arming her. His famous engagement with the Serapis occurred 23 Sep 1779, after Wall was captured. The frigate South Carolina was captured off New Providence, Bahama Islands, on 8 May 1782, before Wall stated he was released from prison.
— Submitted April 6, 2013, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.
Credits. This page was last revised on February 8, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 6, 2013, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 843 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on April 6, 2013, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. 2. submitted on March 26, 2009, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.
