Liberty Tree dedicated in honor of county namesake, Sgt. William Jasper

Sgt. William Jasper

Kavan Stull provides this history of Sgt. William Jasper:

In 1767, at the age of only 16, Johann Willhelm Gasper (with a G) emigrated with a group from Germany landing in Philadelphia, Pa.

As was the custom after a long sea journey, he was fed a hot meal and then told to take an oath of allegiance and sign his name. He was illiterate and signed with an X. The man recording the oath and his name for the puplic record was not German and inscriped his name to be John William Jasper, which he accepted.

To pay his dedt to the ship company he worked as an indentured servant. After completing his obligation he moved to Georgia to work, leaving his fiancee, Elizabeth, back in Pennsylvania. When the revolutionary war broke out in 1775, he joined the militia to get enough money to bring her to Georgia and they were married.

During his time in the military, he displayed leadership skills and was assigned to the 2nd South Carolina infantry regiment and promoted to sergeant.

In January of 1776, the South Carolina Committee On Public Safety decided to strengthen the defense of the Charlston harbor against an attack from British war ships. Since brick and stone were in short supply, logs were cut from palmetto trees to build a fortress on Sullivan Island. The outer wall was 10 feet high with 10 feet of sand filled in between it and the inner wall. Local towns people and slaves from near-by plantations were conscripted to help build the fortress.

In March 1776, Col. William Multrie assumed command of the fort with 31 cannons to block the approach to the harbor. On the thesouth east corner of the fort a flag was placed that he designed. It hadd a crescent moon on a field of blue with the word “Liberty’’ inscribed on it. Todays South Carolina flag has both the cresent moon and a palmetto tree displayued on the same field of blue.

On June 28th 1776, nine British war ships with a combined total of 300 cannons attacked the fort. 12,000 shots were fired that day, but the wall remained intact.

Early in the battle, a cannon shot hit the flag-staff, knocking the flag to the ground outside the outer wall. Sgt. Jasper reportly said, “Shall we fight without a flag” and then leaped down to the beach and retrieved the flag. He returned to the fort, took a cannon sponge cleaning rod and tied the flag on it with a rope. He then mounted the wall and walked across the entire rampart and tied the new piece to the former broken staff in the midst of the barrage of british naval fire. The attack failed and the British left the harbor.

Sgt. Jasper was honored by Gov. John Rutledge with the gift of his personal sword and a commission as a lieutenant. He declined the officer rank, saying he was illiterate and would embarrass the army with his ignorance.

Col. Multrie appointed him as a leader of six men that Jasper could appoint of his own choosing for scouting missions when neededby the army.

His legend grew when he and a close friend, John Newton, surprised two British captains and 10 soldiers conveying a party of American captives, including a woman and a small child. The engagement ended when the officers and six remaining British soldiers surrending to Sgt. Jasper And John Newton. The woman later wrote about the battle refering to her rescurers as two young Samsons.

Sgt. Jasper died on Oct. 9, 1779, during an ill-fated assault to retake Savannah, Ga., from British control. He was moratally wounded while trying to rescue a fallen flag during the battle.

Today on Aug. 23, 2024, we the Sons Of The American Revolution are proud to honor his memory and service to our nation with the dedication of this Liberty Tree in Jasper County, Missouri.