Sergeant William Jasper

Sergeant William Jasper. Revolutionary War Hero. , Sergeant William Jasper was a soldier, hero, scout and namesake of Jasper, Alabama. During the June 28, 1776 defense of Charleston against the Royal Navy, Sergeant Jasper courageously retrieved the fallen standard of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment after a British cannon severed the flag staff. Under intense fire, Jasper leapt from the parapet wall of Fort Sullivan (now Fort Moultrie) and recovered the flag and attached it to a cannon sponge staff and remounted the flag on the fortress wall. In recognition of his bravery, Sergeant Jasper was presented with a sword from his commanding officer and offered a commission as a Lieutenant, to which he refused., The victory at Fort Sullivan in the defense of Charleston served to be vitally important to the Patriot cause. The colonial win was the first significant victory since the skirmish with the British at Concord on April 19, 1775. For the following years of the war, William Jasper served in the command of the "Swamp Fox," Francis Marion, during the struggle against the British and Southern Tories. Sergeant Jasper was killed in action in 1779 during the Patriot attempt to regain Savannah, Georgia from the British.