Sally St. Clair (or St. Clare) was an American woman who disguised herself as a man and joined the Continental Army, as a South Carolina Regiment member. She marched and fought alongside men, and most likely also learnt to use a variety of different weapons such as muskets, pistols and cannons to name a few. She was believed to have fought as a gunner during her final battle.
According to various accounts and sources, Sally was reported to have joined the army to be with her lover, a sergeant at the time. Some reports believe it to be Sergeant William Jasper from Francis Marion’s Brigade, however, this has never been confirmed. Several sources also claim that Sally was killed saving her lover’s life during the Siege of Savannah in 1782, with her true identity only being discovered after her death when her body was being prepared for burial.
George Pope Morris describes Sally to be a Creole woman (a woman of African and French descent), and while Sally was not the only woman of colour or of African descent to fight in the American Revolutionary War, her name is the only one believed to have been recorded.