John Letton Jones (January 20, 1749 – October 9, 1779) was a major in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. He was aide-de-camp to general William Howe and brigadier general

Lachlan McIntosh Lachlan McIntosh (March 17, 1725 – February 20, 1806) was a Scottish American military and political leader during the American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in whic ...

. He was killed in the 1779

siege of Savannah The siege of Savannah or the second battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutena ...

. Jones Street, in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, is now named for him.

Early life

Jones was born to Joseph Lewis Jones and Mary Taliaferro in Charleston,

Province of South Carolina The Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of the Kingdom of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the Thirteen Colonies i ...

, in 1749.

Personal life

He married Mary Sharpe, daughter of James Sharpe and Mary Newton, on December 28, 1769. The couple had five children: Mary (1770), John (1772), Millicent (1774), Hannah (1778) and Joseph (1779). One of his posthumous grandchildren was

Charles Colcock Jones Charles Colcock Jones Sr. (December 20, 1804 – March 16, 1863) was an American Presbyterian clergyman, educator, and planter of Liberty County, Georgia. He was both a slave owner and a fervent missionary to slaves. Early life The son of Joh ...

, son of John. Jones moved to coastal

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

in the 1770s, purchasing a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

in St. John's Parish.

Death

Jones was killed on October 9, 1779, in

, during the city's siege. He was reportedly cut in two by a cannon shot during the assault on Spring Hill Redoubt (in today's Yamacraw Village). Aged 30, he was interred in Midway Cemetery in

Midway, Georgia Midway is a city in Liberty County, Georgia, United States. It is a part of the Hinesville-Fort Stewart metropolitan statistical area. The population was 2,141 in 2020. Midway has several museums, including the Midway Museum and the Dorchest ...

, around thirty miles southwest of Savannah. He had been living in nearby Sunbury. His wife remarried, to major Philip Low.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, John 1749 births 1779 deaths United States military personnel killed in the American Revolutionary War People from Charleston, South Carolina Military personnel from Savannah, Georgia