National War Memorial Registry, War Memorial Catalog Of United States

SERGEANT JASPER AND SERGEANT NEWTON IN 1779, EFFECTED THEIR HEROIC RESCUE OF A NUMBER OF AMERICAN PATRIOTS WHO WERE BEING TAKEN TO SAVANNAH FOR MILITARY TRIAL, THESE PRISONERS WERE UNDER A GUARD OF TEN BRITISH SOLDIERS. SARGENTS JASPER AND NEWTON HAD FOLLOWED THEM FOR MANY MILES ALMOST WITHIN SIGHT OF THE BRITISH FORTIFICATIONS, THE ESCORT HERE STACKED ARMS . TWO SOLDIERS GUARDED THE PRISONERS WHILE THE OTHERS REFRESHED THEMSELVES AT THE SPRING. RUSHING FROM THEIR CONCEALMENT IN THE HEAVY UNDERBRUSH, THE GALLANT AMERICANS SHOT DOWN THE TWO GUARDS, SEIZED THE GUNS, DISABLED TWO OTHER OF THE ENEMY AND MADE THE REMAINDER PRISONERS. THE RESCUED PATRIOTS WERE RELEASED AND ARMED WITH THE CAPTURED GUNS, THE BRITISH PRISONERS WERE THEN MARCHED TO THE AMERICAN CAMP IN SOUTH CAROLINA. SARGENT WILLIAM JASPER WAS ENLISTED IN ST. GEORGE'S PARISH, NOW BURKE COUNTY, GEORGIA, JULY SEVENTH, 1775, AND SERVED CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL HE RECEIVED A MORTAL WOUND, A FEW HUNDRED YARDS EAST OF THIS SPOT, ON OCTOBER 9, 1779, WHILE PLACING HIS REGIMENTAL FLAG ON THE BRITISH EARTHWORKS IN THE ASSAULT BY THE AMERICAN AND FRENCH ALLIED FORCES ON SAVANNAH. SARGENT JOHN NEWTON, TAKEN PRISONER ON THE SURRENDER OF CHARLESTON IN 1780, DIED SOON AFTER ON A BRITISH PRISON SHIP. SEE ALSO-SERGEANT WILLIAM JASPER AND SERGEANT JOHN NEWTON WAR MEMORIAL