Visit the magnificent and historical Madison Square in Savannah Georgia.
Madison Square Plaques and Monuments
This square was named to honor President James Madison and laid out in 1837.
History abounds all over Madison Square. Visit Sherman's headquarters at the Green-Medrim Mansion. This square is surrounded by magnificent historic homes and buildings.
Plaque reads:
Madison Square was laid out in 1893 and is named for the fourth president of the United States. Around the Square stand noable examples of the Greek Revival, Gothic, and Romanesque architecture characteristics of nineteenth century Savannah.
To the west are St. John's Church (Episcopal), 1853, and the Green-Meldrim mansion, 1861, (Gen. W. T. Sherman's headquarters).
To the north is the Francis Sorrel residence, 1840, which was visited by Gen. Robert E. Lee in 1862 when he commanded the Confederate coast defenses in this area. To the east is the Jewett house, erected 1842. The DeSoto Hotel and the Savannah Volunteer Guards' Amory, of the later period, are in the Romanesque style typical of their designer, William G. Preston, of Boston.
The central bronze monument commemorates the heroism of Sergeat William Jasper (2nd Continental Reg. of South Carolina) who was mortally wounded October 9, 1779, a short distance north-west of this marker. In the unsuccessful assault by the American and French forces upon the British lines, which ran immediately to the north of this Square.
The Jasper Monument in Madison Square
The Jasper Monument is located in the center of Madison Square. The monument, erected in 1888, is fifteen and one-half feet high and consists of a heroic scale bronze statue of wounded Sgt. Jasper, with sword in hand, raising the flag aloft; the bronze is mounted on a granite stepped pedestal. It has four bas relief bronze plaques. The entire monument is elevated on an earthwork of unknown composition which is surrounded by benches. The monument is in memory of Sergeant William Jasper of the Second South Carolina Regiment, who was killed at the Siege of Savannah on 9 October 1779.
Sergeant William Jasper was memorialized for three acts of heroism during the American Revolution. In 1767, Jasper emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania. He married Mary Wheatley, a woman from Pennsylvania. Together, they settled on Sullivan Island near Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina, where they had three children. In July of 1775, Jasper enlisted in the Continental Army. His first memorialized act occurred on the 28th of June 1776, when he rescued the flag of his regiment while defending Fort Moultrie. For this act of bravery, Governor Rutledge of South Carolina (later, a signer of the United States Constitutiion), offered Jasper a commission.
Jasper, feeling he was unworthy of such an honor due to his illiteracy, instead, accepted a sword from the Governor. Soon after this event, Jasper's second memorialized act occurred. At a site now known as Jasper Springs, Jasper and John Newton valiantly rescued twelve American prisoners from British soldiers. The third and final act Jasper has been
memoialized for occurred during the Siege of Savannah on the 9th of October. On this day, Jasper was mortally wounded while rescuing his regimental flag from a dying lieutenant. This siege, where General Count Casimir Pulaski was also mortally wounded, was a painfully unsuccessful attempt to seize Savannah back from the British.
Inscription. General William Tecumseh Sherman used this house as headquarters from Dec. 22, 1864, until Feb. 1, 1865. Charles Green offered the use of his home to General Sherman and his staff. Sherman's chaplain conducted the Christmas services in St. John's Church.
The house was built for Green, a British subject residing in Savannah prior to 1854. The architect was John S. Norris of New York.The house is notable as one of the country's finest
In 1892 it was acquired from the Green family as a residence by Judge Peter W. Meldrim, distinguished Georgia jurist and President of the American Bar Association (1912-1913)
St. John's Episcopal Church acquired the house from the Meldrim heirs in 1943 for use as a parish house and rectory. The house was purchased partly through public subscription by the citizens of Savannah. the house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Erected 1980 by Georgia Historic Marker. (Marker Number 025-5.)
It is on Bull Street with Harris and Charlton providing boundaries. On the West side of the square there is St. John's Episcopal Church and its parish house, the Green-Meldrim House which is open to the public. On the corner of Charlton and Bull, there is the Scottish Rite Temple designed by Hyman Witcover who was also the architect for the present Savannah City Hall. Across from that is the Savannah Volunteer Guards Armory, now one of the Savannah College of Art and Design's buildings. The DeSoto Hilton Hotel, on the Northeast corner, was built in the 1960s after the orginial DeSoto was torn down
Sergeant William Jasper was memorialized for three acts of heroism during the American Revolution. In 1767, Jasper emigrated from Germany to Pennsylvania. He married Mary Wheatley, a woman from Pennsylvania. Together, they settled on Sullivan Island near Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina, where they had three children. In July of 1775, Jasper enlisted in the Continental Army. His first memorialized act occurred on the 28th of June 1776, when he rescued the flag of his regiment while defending Fort Moultrie. For this act of bravery, Governor Rutledge of South Carolina (later, a signer of the United States Constitutiion), offered Jasper a commission. 
The house was built for Green, a British subject residing in Savannah prior to 1854. The architect was John S. Norris of New York.The house is notable as one of the country's finest 