SECOND CAROLINA’S COLORS
A poem of Francis Marion, Sergeant William Jasper, the Second South Carolina Regiment, and the Colors that led them into battle.
A fleet of British Men O' War assaulted Charleston's port;
Francis Marion's men defended, from a half-completed fort.
And the people on the mainland knew their city would be saved,
As long as Second Carolina's Colors o'er Sullivan's Island waved.
Then a chance shot hit the flagstaff, and the flag began to fall;
William Jasper saw it, and to Captain Marion called,
"I'll get them, Captain; cover me," he yelled o'er the battle’s sound;
"Second Carolina's Colors must not lie upon the ground."
He climbed upon the parapet and scrambled down its length;
Then lifted up the flagpole using all his strength;
And tied the colors to a sponge staff and lifted them up high;
And Second Carolina's Colors, waved proudly ‘gainst the sky.
He tipped his hat in mock salute, as he turned to face the ships;
"Hip, Hip, Huzzah," thrice repeated, roared from Jasper's lips;
Then he dropped behind the ramparts, to fire a round or two;
As o'er the fort, for all to see, Second Carolina's Colors flew.
The British ships came sailing by, firing broadsides stem to stern,
But each was receiving fire, from Sullivan's Island in return;
And when the Brits had turned to run, and sail for friendlier seas,
Second Carolina's Colors still flew defiantly in the breeze.
A hundred battles later, and a hundred miles away;
Marion’s men were near Savannah, come to save the day;
General Lincoln gave the briefing; attack Spring Hill Redoubt;
Five columns in assault; Second Carolina's Colors leading out.
Now Marion didn't like it; He could see a trap was laid;
But he'd obey his orders, though a price in blood be paid;
And his men would follow Marion, wherever he would lead,
And tales of Second Carolina's Colors could never match the deeds.
Spring Hill was thrice defended, because their plan had been betrayed;
Still, this was Second Carolina and the sacrifice was made;
They broke the British line, with a fearsome battle shout,
And planted Second Carolina's Colors on Spring Hill Redoubt.
Just when it seemed they had the vict'ry; Brit defenses had been quelled;
Came Maitland's Seventy-first Highlanders, sounding pipes from hell;
Fresh British reinforcements, attacking men half dead;
Second Carolina's Colors stood in puddles, of blood already shed.
The attack was truly hopeless, and Marion had to call retreat;
His men were dead and dying but would ne'er admit defeat;
"You save the men; I'll get the Colors." Jasper's final words and final hope;
As Second Carolina's Colors were made Holy, by blood spilt on Spring Hill's slope.
Like a body in a casket, is not the person that we knew;
So the cloth held in England's trophy room, is not the flag we flew;
And as Jasper's spirit soared to heaven, for he'd earned the martyr's fate;
He bore Second Carolina's Colors to fly o'er the Pearly Gates.
