•.^'^^ 
 
 CONSUI, WILSHIRE BUTTERFIELD. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/historyofgeorger01butt 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 Ge.ree Rogers Clark's 
 
 Conquest of the Illinois and the 
 Wabash Towns 1778 and 1779 
 
 By 
 CONSUL WILSHIRE BUTTERFIELD 
 
 Author of the "History of the Discovery of the Northwest by 
 John Nicolet, in 1634;" "History of the Girtys;" 
 "History of Brule's Discoveries and Explora- 
 tions, 1610-1626;" and Other Works. 
 
 Published Under the Auspices of The Ohio State 
 Archaeological and Historical Society 
 
 C O L U MB US, OHIO 
 PRESS OF F. J. HEER 
 Nineteen Hundred and Four 
 

 LIBRARY nf CONGRESS 
 Two Cooies Recetved 
 
 JUN 17 1904 
 
 R Copyrteht Entry 
 
 CLASS ^ XXc. Na 
 
 1 1 h> f 1- 
 ' COPY B 
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress 
 in the year 1904 
 
 r,Y FRED J. HEER 
 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress 
 at Washington. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The heroic band which, under Lieutenant-Coloael 
 George Rogers Clark, in 1778 reduced the Illinois, and 
 early in 1779 captured Lieutenant-Governor Henry Hamil- 
 ton and his force at Vincennes upon the Wabash, was the 
 Western Advance-Guard of the Revolution. Its successes 
 were the most important of any gained by the Americans 
 over the British and Indians northwest of the Ohio during 
 the war. 
 
 It may be said that, although some feeble attempts had 
 previously been made on part of the American borderers to 
 punish the savages of the West for their bloodthirsty ma- 
 rauds into their settlements, it was not until a military force, 
 respectable in numbers for that day and region, had as- 
 sembled west of the Alleghany mountaine to move down 
 the Ohio for the purpose of capturing Kaskaskia, in the Illi- 
 nois, from the enemy, that any systematic effort was put forth 
 by Americans, acting on the offensive. The undertaking, 
 therefore, on part of Virginia (which State was its only pro- 
 motor), was an earnest that she dared to meet the British 
 and, if need be, her Indian allies upon their own ground — 
 or at least upon the soil over which England exercised 
 both military and, to a limited extent, civil jurisdiction. 
 The circumstances attending the commencement of the cam- 
 paign, the unusual secrecy, intrepidity and courage with 
 which it was conducted in the face of almost insurmountable 
 obstacles, are, it is believed, events having few parallels in 
 our history. 
 
 It is clear that, to give a correct recital of the con- 
 quest of the Illinois and of the Wabash posts, relying solely 
 upon American accounts, even though they are contempo- 
 raneous, or nearly so, is impossible. Great pains have there- 
 fore been taken to gather all incidents that are attainable 
 fiom British archives and kindred sources, and to secure 
 all such manuscript letters and statements (or copies of 
 
 (v) 
 
vi Preface. 
 
 them) as are extant, written at or near the time of the ex- 
 pedition, which are elsewhere to be found, and which have 
 a bearing directly or remotely upon the movement. It is 
 thus that both sides, in this narrative, have, what is of vital 
 importance — an impartial hearing, and that the author is 
 enabled to bring forward not only many events hitherto 
 unknown, but to correct numerous errors which have found 
 a foothold in Western annals. 
 
 In explanation of the value to be attached to most of 
 the British documents bearing upon the principal subject 
 under discussion, it may be said that, in June, 1778, General 
 Frederick Haldimand succeeded Sir Henry Carleton as gov- 
 ernor and commander-in-chief of the Province of Quebec, 
 which then included not only Canada, as understood by the 
 Americans, but the whole of the West to the Ohio River 
 and the Mississippi; in brief, all of what is now known 
 as the "Historic Northwest;" — that is, what after the Revo- 
 lution, was generally spoken of as the "Northwest Territory." 
 
 Gen. Haldimand held the position until November, 1784. 
 Every event of importance which came to the knowledge 
 of his subordinates was reported by them and came sooner 
 or later to him at his headquarters. These .reports were 
 sent mostly from Detroit, Michilimackinac, Kaskaskid and 
 Vincennes, or from dependences of these posts, so that the 
 General was always in receipt of current news from the 
 "Upper Country," as the West was then termed by residents 
 upon the St. Lawrence. The whole of this correspondence 
 has been preserved and is now in the British Museum (copies 
 of which are to be found in the public archives in Ottawa, 
 Canada). As it covers the period of the expeditions under- 
 taken and carried forward to completion by Clark in 1778 
 and 1779, the information which it imparts is indispensable 
 to our narrative. 
 
 It may be added that the Haldimand collection also in- 
 cludes the correspondence of Carleton, which was turned 
 over to his successor upon the latter assuming the duties 
 and responsibilities of the office previously held by Sir Guy. 
 Valuable manuscripts were likewise added which would 
 not have been obtained but for the fact that British and 
 Indian successes in the West sometimes resulted in the 
 capturing of letters and documents written by Americans 
 
Preface. vii 
 
 relative to the war. Of these, some are of especial worth 
 in elucidation of events transpiring during the conquest of 
 the Illinois and of the Wabash towns. 
 
 But of more consequence to the subjects treated of in the 
 following pages is the knowledge to be derived exclusively 
 from American sources. The accounts believed reliable, 
 whether in manuscript or print, have been collected, many of 
 them, only after patient research, as they were widely scat- 
 tered. The extent of investigations made will be readily 
 comprehended by observing the books and pamphlets, the 
 manuscript letters and documents, that are cited upon nu- 
 merous pages of the work. To name, in particular, in this 
 connection, such as are of paramount significance is be- 
 lieved to be unnecessary, as their importance is sufficiently 
 disclosed in the references made to them. 
 
 South Omaha, Neb., 
 
 ^ o , 189... 
 
Preface. ix 
 
 CONSUL WILSHIRE BUTTERFIELD — 
 HISTORIAN. 
 
 BY W. H. HUNTER, CHILLICOTHE, OHIO. 
 1902. 
 
 Consul Wilshire Butterfield, the famous Historian, was 
 born near the village of Colosse, Oswego County, New York, 
 July 28, 1824. He was of Knickerbocker stock, his father's 
 people, coming to America in 1634. His parents, Amroy But- 
 terfield and Mary Lamb Butterfield, immigrated from Brattle- 
 boro, Vermont, to the State of New York. 
 
 Consul Wilshire Butterfield died at his home in South 
 Omaha, Nebraska, on Monday, September 25, 1899. At noon 
 Mr. Butterfield appeared to be in usual exuberant spirits and 
 was apparently in good health. Shortly after two o'clock he 
 decided to visit his near neighbor, Mr. O'Connor, and while' 
 he was ascending the steps to the O'Connor residence was 
 stricken with a sinking spell, from which he never rallied. 
 When it was known that Mr. Butterfield was seriously ill, 
 neighbors conveyed him to his home and summoned a phy- 
 sician, who pronounced life extinct on his arrival. 
 
 Ripe in years he passed to his reward; and thus ended the 
 earthly career of a man whose achievements marked him as a 
 genius and his memory will be cherished as long as letters are 
 a factor of progress. When he died a noble spirit took its 
 "earthless flight;" a lovable husband was taken from a happy 
 home ; a kind father was separated from a daughter who cher- 
 ished every fiber of his being. 
 
 Mr. Butterfield lived a long and busy life. He was even 
 at work when came the summons that called his spirit hence. 
 
 While Mr. Butterfield stood alone as writer of American 
 history that has relation to the American Indian and the Pio- 
 neer, he was the most modest of men. He never sought re- 
 nown. He loved his fellows, and his work was his pleasure. 
 In a letter to the writer he said his whole ambition was to 
 record the truth ; to this end his life was consecrated, and 
 his many historical works, all recognized as authorities and 
 to which all other writers must go for information, attest the 
 sincerity of his statement. 
 
X Preface. 
 
 While not so graphic in style as Parkman, he was always 
 accurate. He never printed as a fact in history any incident 
 or statement until he had examined every authority to ascer- 
 tain the truth. His style was direct ; he never employed a 
 superfluous word and his work was always comprehensive. 
 
 A profound historical scholar, an indefatigable worker, he 
 left as his monument numerous books invaluable to the stu- 
 dent and the reader. Mr, Butterfield was a genius ; he never 
 worked for money. The word money seldom came to his 
 mind; his achievement was not the accumulation of wealth. 
 His masterful efforts directed along other lines of human en- 
 deavor would have procured a fortune, as the world under- 
 stands fortune. But he wrote history as a patriot performs 
 a service for his country, without pay, as the world under- 
 stands pay. He devoted his life to work that few men could 
 perform. Working night and day, he accomplished much, and 
 the world of letters is richer because he lived. He was one 
 of those sweet souls whose devotion to patriotic duty was a 
 sacrifice of pleasure, as the world knows pleasure. He never 
 made money, for his works were not of the popular-novel 
 character demanded by the mass of those who read history. 
 Indeed it took much of his time to correct the errors set 
 forth by men who wrote history for the money results. 
 
 Writers of Butterfield's bent and attainments are so rare 
 that, when discovered, the state should possess their talents 
 and thus give the people the benefit of all their time, for it 
 is too valuable to be given up to bread- winning;; and men who 
 write history, as Mr. Butterfield wrote history, cannot make 
 money selling books. 
 
 The production of one of his works is an achievement 
 greater than coining wealth; while thousands can coin money, 
 only one could do the work Butterfield did. But Butterfield 
 never received the one-thousandth part of the wealth that other 
 men receive for like expenditure of nerve-force in other lines 
 of labor. While rich men spend millions to establish libraries 
 which reduce the sale of books such as he wrote, there are 
 men writing books at their own expense, we might say, to fill 
 the shelves of these libraries, who scarcely afford a roof they 
 can call their own. There should be equity in philanthropy: 
 It is easier for an iron king to put up library buildings than 
 it is for men like Butterfield to fill their shelves. 
 
Preface. xi 
 
 Mr. Butterfield was admired not only for his great ability 
 manifest in his literary achievements, but for his generous, 
 kindly spirit and his sincerity as a friend. His was an un- 
 selfish life; his time was given for the benefit of others. It 
 was always a pleasure to him to aid the student of history, 
 and in response to a mere suggestion he wrote a chapter on 
 Fort Laurens for the Pathfinders of Jefferson cou^ity, although 
 at the time he was ill and was engaged on important work of 
 his own; and this chapter was the labor of several days. He 
 loved his friends of whom he must have had many, for no 
 one of his great ability and kindly nature could pass in and 
 out among the activities of life without gaining the apprecia- 
 tion of his fellowmen. He always spoke kindly of friends. 
 The writer of this cherishes more than all else the kind words 
 written of him to a mutual friend, and ever will be green the 
 writer's memory of this man who is at rest. 
 
 Mr. Butterfield was always particularly fond of music and 
 poetry, of children and of all kinds of pets. He considered 
 Shakespeare the one great genius, but the poets he studied 
 and most admired were Milton, and our own Bryant. In a 
 letter to the writer after his death, Alice Butterfield said of 
 her father : "Though not a church member, his faith in the 
 immortality of the soul was strong, as evidenced by a great 
 many little things easy to perceive, but hard to write about." 
 
 His home-life was quiet and uneventful. He loved his 
 family, and his wife and daughter were devoted to him, and 
 all were happy in their little circle. 
 
 Order v/as the keynote of his method of labor. He did 
 not await the moving influence of the spirit, but wrote regu- 
 larly a certain length of time, (preferably the morning hours) 
 each day, much as any one would go about a business enter- 
 prise. At times, though, when becoming much engrossed in 
 his subject he would keep right on until compelled to quit 
 from sheer exhaustion. 
 
 Mr. Butterfield's writing was always done at his home. 
 His desk was in the sitting-room, and he was not easily dis- 
 turbed. His daughter, in answer to inquiry, wrote : "As to 
 how father would corne to select a certain subject upon which 
 to write a book, I do not know; but imagine he would be- 
 come interested in a particular historical character or event 
 from general reading and then if he considered it inadequately 
 
xii Preface. 
 
 represented he would determine to elaborate upon the subject 
 himself." 
 
 A correspondent writing to Mr. Butterfield, expressed sur- 
 prise that any one living in South Omaha, in far away Ne- 
 braska, could write a book showing so much research as 
 Brule; but accepted it as a possibility if Mr. Butterfield had an 
 extensive private library. Mr. Butterfield, in speaking of this, 
 quoted "extensive private library" as a jest; for it is a fact, 
 fifty to one hundred books would be the size of his library at 
 any one time, though he was constantly changing it and a 
 large number of books passed through his hands. In speak- 
 ing of this incident Miss Butterfield said : "I remember hav- 
 ing remarked at the time that there was not so much in hav- 
 ing a lot of information at one's elbow as there was in know- 
 ing how to get what one wanted, and father responded, 
 'That's just it exactly;' and it seems to me that to this ability 
 to get the information he wanted his merit as a historian is 
 largely due." Mrs. Butterfield was his proof-reader, she be- 
 ing a person of literary attainments. 
 
 In 1834 Mr. Butterfield's father's family removed from 
 New York to Melmore, Seneca County, Ohio. At the age of 
 eighteen Butterfi.eld commenced teaching a district school in 
 Omar, Chautauqua County, N. Y. He afterward attended 
 the Normal School in Albany for two terms, but his health 
 failing, he left the school to take a trip to Europe. He re- 
 turned in 1846 coming to Seneca County, Ohio, where his 
 parents had located in 1834. 
 
 The next year he wrote a history of Seneca County which 
 was published in 1848. In 1847 he was elected Superintend- 
 ent of the Seneca County schools. Early in 1849 he resigned 
 this position to make an overland trip to California. The next 
 year he was an independent candidate in that state for Super- 
 intendent of Public Instruction, but was defeated by a few 
 votes. He returned to Ohio in 1851 and finished a course in 
 law which he had commenced in San Francisco, and in 1855 
 he entered upon the practice of his profession in Bucyrus, 
 Crawford County, relinquishing it in 1875. 
 
 In 1854 he served as Secretary of the Ohio and Indiana 
 Railroad Company, and -while engaged in this occupation 
 found time to write "A Comprehensive System of Grammat- 
 ical and Rhetorical Punctuation," which was printed, but 
 
Preface. xiii 
 
 afterward suppressed. An abridgement of the book was pub- 
 lished in 1878, this pubHcation becoming a very popular work 
 and was introduced into many schools. 
 
 After quitting the practice of law he devoted his time to 
 literary pursuits, having, however, previously written "An 
 Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky, under 
 Col. WilHam Crawford, in 1782." This book written in Bucy- 
 rus, Ohio, was issued from the press of Robert Clarke & Co., 
 Cincinnati. The work gave the story of one of the most 
 thrilling expeditions of the Revolutionary War, the death of 
 Col. Crawford at the stake being perhaps the most tragic of 
 all the incidents of border warfare during the struggle for 
 American Independence. The story is told in Mr. Butter- 
 field's direct style and is so thrilling of itself that the narrative 
 needs no elaboration to interest the reader. 
 
 In 1875 he wrote, at Madison, Wis., where he had moved, 
 in that year, a work jointly with Lyman C. Draper, a gentle- 
 man who had gathered many manuscripts and information 
 of pioneer history, which he afterward presented to the Li- 
 brary of the Wisconsin Historical Society, on "Border Forays, 
 Conflicts and Incidents;" but this book was never printed on 
 account of some disagreement between the two authors ; and 
 the evidence as to this does not lay the least blame upon Mr. 
 Butterfield. In the spring of 1877 was published "The Wash- 
 ington-Crawford Letters" edited by Mr. Butterfield, and issued 
 from the press of Robert Clarke & Co., which is invaluable 
 to the historical writer, for it contains information not to be 
 found elsewhere, and like all of Butterfield's works must be 
 read to find authority for many historical statements of fact. 
 In it is given an idea of Washington's interest in the West 
 and the immense tracts of land he secured for his mihtary 
 services as a Virginia officer during the French and Indian 
 wars. 
 
 In the fall of 1875 Mr. Butterfield completed for an "His- 
 torical Atlas of Wisconsin," (which was published the next 
 year) a "History of Wisconsin," assisting also in the prepara- 
 tion of the county histories and biographical sketches found 
 in that atlas. 
 
 The "History of the University of Wisconsin" was writ- 
 ten by him and published in 1879. His next work was one 
 of the most important of all his books, being "Discovery of 
 
xiv Preface. 
 
 the Northwest in 1634 by John Nicolet," which also contained 
 a sketch of Nicolet's Hfe. This is a remarkable book, but Mr, 
 Biitterfield, after his work on Brule was published, insisted 
 that the latter should be read first by the student of the French 
 discoveries in America. The production of Nicolet gave evi- 
 dence of Butterfield's complete knowledge of French, of his 
 painstaking and wide research as well as his marked literary 
 ability. It is a record of the indomitable perseverance and 
 heroic bravery of John Nicolet in an exploration which re- 
 sulted in his being the first of civilized men to set foot upon 
 any portion of the Northwest, which is to say, any part of the 
 territory- now constituting the States of Ohio. Indiana. Illi- 
 nois, IMichigan and Wisconsin. It is also shown how he 
 brought to the knowledge of the world the existence of a 
 fresh-water sea — Lake Michigan. It was always j\Ir. But- 
 terfield's intention to rewrite this very remarkable work and 
 make it more popular by eliminating the many French pas- 
 sages which were introduced for the purpose of adding to its 
 interest by employing the language of the early French writers 
 and explorers, but this he never found time to accomplish. 
 
 In 1882 he edited and published the "Washington-Irvine 
 Correspondence," the work to which all historians must go for 
 authority on the West in the Revolution. This work was pub- 
 lished through the generosity of George Plumer Smith of 
 Philadelphia who not only subscribed for nimierous copies 
 before it was printed, but furnished the maps in the book. 
 This work, as its title indicates, consists of the official letters 
 which passed between Washington and Brig.-Gen. Wm. Ir- 
 vine and between Irvine and others concerning military 
 affairs in the West from 1781 to 1783; these letters being ar- 
 ranged and annotated with an introduction containing an out- 
 line of events occurring previously in the Trans-Allegheny 
 country. No other work has ever been published containing 
 so miKh information of value to the student of Western his- 
 tory, and today no American library is considered complete 
 without it. In speaking of Mr. Smith's part in the publica- 
 tion of this book, Mr. Butterfield wrote the writer of this in 
 Jime, 1898, the writer having conveyed to him information 
 of Mr. Smith's death : 'T was pained to hear that George 
 Plumer Smith was no more. I saw him last in Omaha some 
 three or four years ago. He and I corresponded for a long 
 
Preface. x\ 
 
 time. But for him, the 'Washington-Irvine Correspondence,' 
 would, probably, not have been published. He subscribed for 
 fifty copies and afterward purchased as many more, always 
 insisting on paying for each copy, catalogue price. He also 
 paid for the maps which you will notice in the book. I return 
 you the letters written by him. How familiar is his hand- 
 writing to our whole household!" The "Washington-Irvine 
 Correspondence" was revised by Mr. Butterfield and after his 
 death the MS. was sent to the Chicago Historical Society 
 Library in accordance with his desire. 
 
 l\\ 1883 he edited a "Short Biography of John Leeth," fol- 
 lowed by the "Journal of Capt. Jonathan Heart," published 
 in 1885: this work being an account of the march to the West 
 of the first troops under the government of the New RepubHc. 
 
 Meanwhile he wrote with Frank A. Fowler a series of 
 biographical sketches entitled "The Giants of the West;" but 
 the book was never given to the public. 
 
 While residing in Wisconsin he wrote, in chief, histories 
 of the Counties of Rock, Fond-du-Lac, Columbia, 'Dane, Ver- 
 non, Crawford and Greene of that state. For the last three 
 mentioned he furnished a "General History of Wisconsin," 
 which was published as an introduction to those works; his 
 previous "History of Wisconsin," published in the "Historical 
 Atlas" already mentioned, appearing as introductory to all 
 the other Wisconsin County Histories. 
 
 He was on the editorial staff of the "Northwest Review" 
 for March and April, 1883, assistant editor of "Descriptive 
 America" from December, 1884, to February, 1885, inclusive; 
 and on the first day of January, 1886, he began editorial work 
 on the "Magazine of Western History," afterward writing a 
 large number of special articles for that magazine, principally 
 historical and biographical. He severed his connection with 
 that periodical in 1889. 
 
 Having removed to South Omaha, Nebraska, in 1888, he 
 there finished the "History of the Girtys," for which he had 
 gathered much material while a resident of Wisconsin. This 
 work was published by Robert Clarke & Co. in 1891, and is, 
 perhaps, the most important of ]\Ir. Butterfield's later works. 
 It contains a vast amount of information as to the border 
 warfare of the Trans-Allegheny country with the three Girtys 
 — Simon, James and George — as the central figures. The 
 
xvi Preface. 
 
 work, as ]Mr. Butterfield has written to the writer of this and 
 as well has printed in the preface of the book, was undertaken 
 because of the notoriety they had obtained, and likewise be- 
 cause there was an apparent necessity for our Western an- 
 nals to be freed, as near as possibk. from error, everywhere 
 permeating as to the part actually taken by these brothers — 
 particularly Simon — in many of the important events which 
 make up the history of the region immediately west of the 
 Alleghenies. It had become the rule to give Simon Girty 
 all the odiimi that came of diabolism practiced by American 
 renegades eiuployed by the British for this purpose, and while 
 Mr. Butterfield does not relieve Siiuon of his proper place, 
 he shows that he was not always responsible — not even 
 always present, when atrocious acts credited to him by most 
 of the writers of romance called history, were committed. 
 In this work, as in all of his productions. Mr. Butterfield 
 kept constantly in mind one object paramount to all others — 
 the statement of facts, as he understood them, and the truth 
 was reached after research that encompassed everything bear- 
 ing on the subject. The reader must be impressed with the 
 large numbers of documents and authorities quoted in the His- 
 tory of the Girtys: in fact nothing seems to be omitted that 
 would aid in clearing up many of the mysteries of the border 
 contlicts during and after the Revolutionary War which 
 opened in the West in 1774 and continued until Wayne's Vic- 
 tory at Fallen Timbers twenty years after. He takes up mat- 
 ters published as fact by other writers and in a few words 
 shows them to be only romance without foundation in history. 
 He particularly takes Theodore Roosevelt to task for print- 
 ing in his ''Winning of the West" stories absolutely absurd, 
 as history, Avhen he might have printed truth. In this work 
 some attention is given to the whole Girty family, the father, 
 mother, and Simon's brothers, including Thomas, and a half- 
 brother, John Turner, in whom interest is awakened because 
 of the bearing their lives had upon the most notorious of their 
 relatives. In all. the student of Trans- Allegheny history is 
 lacking in information if he has not used the History of the 
 Girtys as a text book. In it will bo found all of interest in 
 the Western country previous to, during and after the Revo- 
 lutionary War. AitQT reading this work one must be im- 
 pressed with the fact that history is filled with statements 
 
Preface. xvii 
 
 made without truth as basis. This work was revised before 
 Mr. Butterfield's death, and the MS. complete throughout, 
 when examined by his daughter was found to contain on the 
 title page a note giving the manuscript to the Western Re- 
 serve Historical Society, to be held by it until the copyright 
 of the first edition shall have expired, and then to be the ab- 
 solute property of the Society. This MS. is now in the West- 
 ern Reserve Library at Cleveland. 
 
 Brule has already been mentioned in this sketch. This 
 was the last work of Mr. Butterfield, published. The manu- 
 script was presented to the Western Reserve Historical Soci- 
 ety in 1897 and published by this Society the following year. 
 Brule is a narrative of the discovery by Stephen Brule of 
 Lakes Huron, Ontario and Superior, and of his explorations, 
 the first by civilized man, of Pennsylvania, Western New 
 York, and of the Province of Ontario, Canada. It is a most 
 thrilling story and it reads like a novel. In the preface the 
 author truthfully says, "Few, if any, of the early events prop- 
 erly belonging to the pages of American history are of more 
 interest and importance after the discovery of the New World, 
 than are those relating to the journeyings of Stephen Brule." 
 The achievements of this daring Frenchman (Norman) in the 
 northern part of this country and the southern part of Canada, 
 have not heretofore been given in detail, and it was well that 
 the story remained for Butterfield to tell, for he has left no 
 leaf unturned and no musty document unexamined that gave 
 information on the exploits of Champlain's first interpreter, 
 who came to America a mere boy to live among the Indians 
 with the view of learning their language. He came to Amer- 
 ica at a very early period — he had discovered Lake Huron 
 before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. All his work 
 is followed closely and detailed in attractive historic style up 
 to the hour Brule was killed and eaten by the Hurons. Brule 
 is the most important work of recent years, and must attract 
 the mind of the pupil who would know the early history of 
 his country. There are copious notes and an extended ap- 
 pendix, all of the greatest value. Butterfield himself, as did 
 his intimate friends, considered Brule his best effort from a 
 literary point of view, and the letters written to him in regard 
 to this work and the reviews of it in the papers gave him 
 great pleasure. He was so grateful for kindly mention of his 
 
xviii Preface. 
 
 work that he frequently expressed his thanks, and this was 
 the key to his whole life, ever considerate, ever generous. 
 
 In 189-2 and 1893 he wrote a "History of South Omaha" 
 which was printed in the last-named year as an annex to a 
 "History of Omaha." Nearly all the biographical sketches 
 appearing in the Omaha history were prepared by him. 
 
 Mr. Butterfield left several important works in manu- 
 script, among them "History of Col. David Williamson's Ex- 
 pedition to the Tuscarawas River in 1782," this being a cor- 
 rect story of the massacre of the Moravian Indians, and is a 
 most valuable contribution to the history of the West. It 
 was left to the Western Reserve Historical Society Library 
 which Society will no doubt have it published. But the most 
 important of these works is the "History of Lieut. Col. George 
 Rogers Clark's Conquest of the Illinois and the Wabash 
 Towns from the British in 1778 and 1779." Mr. Butterfield 
 had this book ready for publication in 1896, but as another 
 work came out that year on the same subject, he concluded 
 not to publish it, and he worked on it almost to the day of 
 his death. In correspondence with the writer of this, Mr. 
 Butterfield said that it was his intention to present it to the 
 Chicago Historical Society; but when advised by the writer 
 to give the manuscript to Washington and Lee University 
 of Virginia on the ground that the supporters of the Uni- 
 versity were, many of them, descended from Clark's soldiers, 
 he hesitated ; but after his death his daughter gave the man- 
 uscript to the writer who was expected to have it published 
 by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, and 
 if this society does not give it to the public, the manuscript 
 will be sent to the Washington and Lee University. His note 
 book used in gathering material for his Crawford's Sandusky 
 Expedition was also presented to the writer. 
 
 He a,lso left the manuscript, but incomplete, of "The West 
 in the Revolution," which has been presented to the Chicago 
 Historical Society. This book ought to be published, for it 
 will fill the one vacant place in American literature. 
 
 He left several other manuscripts which he had designed 
 publishing in pamphlet form, and these are still in possession 
 of his family. 
 
 In speaking of her father's death, his daughter writes : "I 
 never saw an old person in death look so 'like one who lies 
 
Preface. xix 
 
 down to pleasant dreams.' . . . The children in the neigh- 
 borhood all came in to see and seemed startled. One little 
 miss of six or seven, whom I did not know, came to the door 
 all alone and asked, 'Please might I see Mr. Butterfield?' 
 She looked earnestly quite a while and then smiled and said, 
 That looks just like Mr. Butterfield.' " 
 
 Mr. Butterfield was twice married. His first wife was 
 Elmira, daughter of John Scroggs of Bucyrus, Crawford 
 County, Ohio, the marriage being May 8, 1854. She died May 
 15, 1857. He was again married March 30, 1858, to Letta 
 Merriman, widow of James H. Reicheneker. Of this union 
 four children were born : Minnie Bell, who died September 
 22, 1859, aged six months; a son and daughter both of whom 
 died in infancy ; and Alice,, who now resides with her widowed 
 mother, and who was a strong right arm to her father during 
 his later years. 
 
 Of his father's family, a sister, Mme. Hyacinthe Loysen, 
 of Paris, France; and Mrs. Cylvia Barry are still living. An 
 adopted daughter, Mrs. W. J. White, is the wife of Major 
 White, Chief Quartermaster in the army at Havana, Cuba. 
 
LIHUTENAXT-COLONEL GEORGK ROGERS CLARK. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 TO resist the tyranical acts of the Mother coun- 
 try was the firm determination of a large por- 
 tion of the people living upon the waters of 
 the Ohio when the all-absorbing questions so deeply 
 agitating the Colonies generally, were, early in 1775, 
 fairly understood. 
 
 Swiftly traveled the news to Philadelphia and then 
 to the westward in the latter days of April, that the 
 controversy had, upon the soil of Massachusetts, 
 ripened into actual war. It flew along Forbes's road 
 — the main thoroughfare in Pennsylvania over the 
 mountains west at that period — as if upon the wings 
 of the wind, and was heard in Hannastown, county 
 seat of Westmoreland county, that State, in breath- 
 less astonishment; so, too, the next day at Pittsburgh. 
 Then Pennsylvanians in Westmoreland county, and 
 Virginians and Pennsylvanians in Augusta county 
 (Virginia, as claimed by the former) took counsel to- 
 gether. Meetings were called for the sixteenth of 
 May. Invitations were sent into all the trans-Alle- 
 ghany settlements ; and, on that day, there gathered 
 together borderers from far and near to give their 
 views concerning British aggressio'us, and to concert 
 measures such as the crisis seemed tO' demand. Neigh- 
 boring discords caused by an unrun boundary line 
 between the two Provinces, ceased. Patriotism very 
 generally obliterated partisan hatred ; for the liberties 
 of the whole people were alike threatened. 
 
 As early as the fall of the year 1774, a number of 
 North Carolinians, afterward known as the Transyl- 
 vania Company, began arrangements which ended in 
 
2 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 the following ^larch in their purchasing from the 
 Overhill Cherokee Indians, among other lands, the 
 whole territory south of the Kentucky river, included 
 within the present limits of the State of Kentucky. 
 
 The Company, of whom Richard Henderson was 
 the head, proceeded immediately to make extensive 
 preparations for the settlement of their Kentucky 
 domain, resulting in the commencement of Boones- 
 borough, at the mouth of Otter creek, on the south 
 side of the Kentucky river, about one hundred and 
 fifty miles up that stream, on the first day of April 
 1775. A few days previous, Harrodsburg, now 
 county-seat of ]\Iercer county. Kentucky, had been 
 started independent of the claim of Henderson and 
 Company. 
 
 But there was an Indian population (very thinly 
 scattered it is true) northwest of the Ohio, which, if 
 it became hostile, it was quickly seen, would be to the 
 border settlements more terrible than a civilized army. 
 An Indian war the year previous ended in a treaty 
 not yet fully ratified, and there were just apprehen- 
 sions of renewed hostilities; but prompt action on part 
 of Virginia and the holding of a council in Pittsburgh, 
 in October, 1775. with ^lingoes. Shawanese. Wyan- 
 dots, Ottawas and ^lunceys. averted the threatened 
 storm. ^leanwhile. Congress, in order to preserve 
 peace and friendship with the savages generally, 
 created three Indian Departments — the Northern, 
 ^liddle and Southern. The West was included in the 
 Middle Department. 
 
 Settlements down the Ohio in the Kentucky coun- 
 try — Harrordsburg (first laiown as "Harrodstown"), 
 Boonesborough and other stations — were growing 
 apace. Brave men and true were James Harrod^ 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 3 
 
 Daniel Boone, and many more, thus to make this 
 (then) distant and wilderness region their homes. 
 And there was one . among them transiently, and to 
 most unknown, who, of all others, for some years 
 thereafter, in that country, occupied the largest part 
 of public attention. To him is now to be given that 
 consideration which the annals of the West seem to 
 demand. 
 
 George Rogers Clark was born the nineteenth 
 of Xovember, 1752, near Monticello, Albermarle 
 county, Virginia, where he was a neighbor and favor- 
 ite of Thomas Jefferson. He enjoyed some educa- 
 tional advantages from a noted Scotch teacher, Donald 
 Robertson, in King and Queen county, among whose 
 pupils was James ]\Iadison. He fitted himself for a 
 surveyor, and, at the age of twenty, practiced for a 
 short time his profession on the upper Ohio, though 
 really more fond of roving than surveying, he having, 
 in 1772, in the summer, gone on a journey "towards 
 Kentucky.'' He was spoken of by the one with whom 
 he traveled on that occasion, as "a young gentleman 
 from Mrginia. who inclined to make a tour in this 
 new world." 
 
 In April, 1774, a party of eighty or ninety Virgin- 
 ians made a rendezvous at the mouth of the Little 
 Kanawha, with the intention of descending the Ohio 
 and beginning a settlement in Kentucky. Clark was 
 one of the party. Reports of Indian hostilities broke 
 up the meeting. Finally, actual war was brought on 
 the events leading to which were afterward set forth 
 by Clark (as he understood them) in a letter to one 
 of the professors of Transylvania Universitv.* 
 
 '^ This letter was published in The Hesperian (Columbus, 
 O. : 1839), vol. II, p. 309; also in Jacob's Life of Cresap 
 
4 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Clark took part in this conflict of arms, and was 
 commissioned a captain. His company belonged to 
 the right wing of the army co'mmanded by Lord Dun- 
 more, Governor of Virginia, in person. He was en- 
 gaged in little if any actual fighting, and at the close 
 of the war was oilered by Dunmore a commission in 
 the English service ; but the political troubles, already 
 become very serious, induced him to decline the offer. 
 "Lord Dunmore's War," as this contest is termed, was 
 carried on between Virginia on the one side, and the 
 Shawanese and Mingoes, principally, on the other. 
 It terminated in favor of Virginia after a hard-won 
 victory at Point Pleasant, where the Great Kanawha 
 empties into the Ohio. 
 
 In the spring after the Virginia governor had dicta- 
 ted the terms of peace to the Shawanese and Mingoes 
 beyond the Ohio, Clark again turned his thoughts to 
 the resiion down that river and to the south of it, as 
 one inviting — if not to the adventurer, at least to the 
 surveyor ; so it was that he journied to the Kentucky 
 woods to practice for interested parties the art he had 
 chosen as his calling for life. He remained in the 
 wilderness until fall when for the first time he visited 
 the incipient Kentucky settlements. 
 
 Many are the errors perpetuated hot only in tradi- 
 tion but in history concerning Clark while in the Ken- 
 tucky country in 1775. Prominent among these is 
 the statement that he was placed in command of the 
 militia there ; but the answer to this is, there was no 
 organization of militia in that co'untry until 1777. If 
 
 (Cincinnati Re-print: 1886), pp. 154-158; and in Mayer's 
 Logan and Crcsap, p. 449. It is printed nearly entire in 
 DeHass's History of the Indian Wars vf Western Virginia, 
 'pp. 147-149. 
 
HISTORY 6f CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 5 
 
 any men were previously embodied in a military way, 
 it was only for the time being and because of the pres- 
 ence (actual or reported) of ho'Stile savages. Then 
 a few settlers would volunteer for offensive or defens- 
 ive operations. But, in none of these undertakings 
 did he take part so far as known.'''' Again : it is often 
 repeated that he became at once the most prominent 
 man in the settlements. Documentary evidence con- 
 clusively sho'Vv^s the fallacy of this. As he left Ken- 
 tucky in the fall of 1775 and returned to his home, it 
 is altogether certain that little if any mention would 
 have been made of his visit in after years but for the 
 events which subsequently took place in the West in 
 which he was a prominent actor. 
 
 It was at this period and in the dense forests south 
 of the Ohio, that Clark first began to have some prac- 
 tical aspirations — some thoughts of paying attention 
 to the interests of the country in which were the few 
 infant settlements he vv^as visiting. He soon learned 
 that Henderson and Company were taking great pains 
 to ingratiate themselves in the favor of the people ; 
 but, too soon for their own interests, they began to 
 raise on their lands, which caused many to complain. 
 A few gentlemen made some attempts to persuade 
 the people to pay no attention to them. Clark was 
 not slow in perceiving that they would work their 
 own ruin ; as the greatest security they had for success 
 would be that of making it the interest of the people 
 to support their claim. f 
 
 * Appendix, Note 1. 
 
 '\ Memoir of General George Rogers Clark, Composed 
 by Himself at the United Desire of Presidents Jefferson and 
 Madison — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859)^ p. 115. That 
 Henderson and Company had raised on the price of their 
 
6 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. ' 
 
 A deep impression was doubtless made on Clark's 
 mind by the course which had been pursued during 
 the Spring by the Proprietors in attempting to form a 
 colonial government independent of Virginia — the 
 new colony to be known as Transylvania. Delegates 
 to a Convention were chosen — ''for the town of 
 Boonesborough, six members ; for Harrodsburg, four ; 
 for the Boiling Spring settlement, four ; for the town 
 of St. Asaph, four" — to meet on the twenty-third of 
 May. The "House," after passing several laws, ad- 
 journed to the first Tuesday of September. This 
 effort to establish a Proprietary government was de- 
 cidedly in opposition to the wishes of a portion of the 
 settlers ; and so rapidly did the disaffection increase 
 that no further attempt was made toward organiza- 
 tion. That Clark was one of the opposers when he 
 came to know what had been done, is certain. 
 
 Concerning Clark's return home from this his 
 first visit to the Kentucky country, no particulars have 
 been preserved. Reasons for his leaving have some- 
 times been given by writers, but these are wholly 
 conjectural. And, if true, that it was because of his 
 intention to join the patriot army,f would be nothing 
 to his discredit. 
 
 And now that the youthful Virginia surveyor and 
 wanderer has returned to his father's fireside to re- 
 count the wonders of Western wilds to (it may be 
 presumed) his interested parents, it is there we will 
 
 lands as stated by Clark, is confirmed by a letter of John 
 Williams to the Proprietors from Boonesborough, January 
 3, 1776. (Hall's Romance of Western History, p. 387.) 
 Concerning Clark's Memoir just cited, see Appendix to our 
 narrative, Note II. 
 
 ■\ Harper's Magasine, vol. XXII, pp. 785, 786. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 7 
 
 leave him for a season, to record events taking place 
 far from his home ; which occurrences, in the end, as 
 our narrative discloses, have a bearing upon those 
 hereafter to particularly engage our attention.. 
 
 The ending of Lord Dunmore's War had left a 
 zealous friend of the Royal Governor in command at 
 Fort Pitt — or as he would have it called, *'Fort Dun- 
 more" — formerly a British fortress at the junction of 
 the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, but, in 1775 
 mostly in ruins. Its site then joined the village of 
 Pittsburgh, but is now included within the city's limits. 
 The favorite spoken'of, of the Virginia Executive, was 
 John Connolly. He proved to be an arch tory and 
 laid extensive plans to assail the Trans-Alleghany 
 region in order to restore British authority by force. 
 He was commissio'Ued "a Lieutenant Colonel of the 
 Queen's Royal Rangers" and given full power to raise 
 a battalion and as many independent companies as he 
 could, to assist him in his projects. He had left Fort 
 Pitt to confer with Dunmore previous to this, and now 
 started for Detroit where he was to be greatly aided. 
 Captain Hugh Lord, in command of the Illinois coun- 
 try, which lay on the east bank of the Mississippi and 
 included Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, St. Philips 
 and Cahokia — towns occupied mostly by French Ca~ 
 nadians — was to join him from the village first men- 
 tioned ; however, the would-be Lieutenant-Colonel was 
 captured in Maryland, and his career of military glory 
 abruptly terminated. 
 
 . Soon after his confinement, he began to make him- 
 self busy in conjecturing what would be the probable 
 operations authorized by the American Congress, so 
 far as the war was concerned. He imagined a body 
 of men would be sent down the Ohio to capture the 
 
8 HISIORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 small garrison at Kaskaskia (principal town of the 
 Illinois), as he had information, which, however, was 
 erroneous, that there was a great want there of stores 
 and ordnance. He therefore wished very much to in- 
 form Captain Lord, commanding the post, of (this 
 was his firm belief) the imminent danger which threat- 
 ened him, and to advise him to quit the country. He 
 afterward contrived to write two letters to the Captain 
 and, putting them into the hands of John Sm}i;h, one 
 of his captured companions, found means to start the 
 latter for the Illinois ; but Smyth was retaken and the 
 communications fell into the hands of the Americans,"^ 
 who were not slow in publishing them, thereby calling 
 public attention to that remote region. 
 
 "You must, agreeable to General Gage's order and 
 Lord Dunmore's,'' were Connolly's words to the Illi- 
 nois commandant, "proceed down the IMississippi and 
 join Lord Dunmore at Norfolk, and the Fourteenth 
 [regiment] which is now there. Lose no time, for 
 fear the rebels should be upon you from Pittsburgh." 
 And in the other letter he wrote : "Though your remote 
 situation may have prevented you from hearing many 
 particulars relative to the state of the Colonies, you 
 yet must know enough to discover your own danger- 
 ous situation. You were to have joined me at Detroit, 
 by the Wabash communication, and it was expected, 
 by your advice and assistance, that we would have 
 been able to penetrate through the colony of Virginia, 
 and thus have divided the Southern from the North- 
 ern Governments. "t 
 
 * See Pciuisyk'LDiia Mdga.ciiic of History and Biography, 
 vol. XII, pp. 416, 417; also Smyth's Tour in the United 
 States of Anicrica, vol. II. p. 269. 
 
 t Connolly must have had discretionary orders as to Cap- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 9 
 
 ''I was made a prisoner," he says, in a letter which 
 he also sent by Smyth to Captain Richard Berringer 
 Loernoult, in command at Detroit, ''on my way through 
 the Government to your post, where I expected to 
 have afforded you some assistance, and to have ordered 
 Captain Lord, of the Eighteenth [regiment], to join 
 us there also, I am now to inform you that I much 
 fear his INIajesty's enemies may attack you early in the 
 Spring, and as Alontreal is in their hands, I dread the 
 consequences." "You were ordered," continues Con- 
 nolly, "to raise all the French you could, which I hope 
 you have done." "Take care," concludes the writer, 
 "that there is not an improper correspondence carried 
 on between your post and Pittsburgh." 
 
 Notwithstanding Captain Lord received no intima- 
 tions of Connolly's designs, or commands, it was soon 
 evident from advices at hand from Carleton, in whose 
 jurisdiction the Illinois then was (it being, as claimed 
 by Great Britain, a part of the Province of Quebec), 
 that the disasters to the royal arms upon the St. Law- 
 rence caused by the invasion of Colonial soldiers would 
 make it necessary to have the Fort in Kaskaskia — 
 Fort Gage, the British military post "upon the Missis- 
 sippi" — evacuated by the regular soldiers stationed 
 there; but, for the time, the Captain continued his 
 force in that country.* 
 
 tain Lord's retirement. In the first place it was his idea 
 to have that officer meet him with his command at Detroit; 
 but now that he (Connolly) was a prisoner, he would have 
 the Captain go down the Mississippi and take vessel to 
 Norfolk. 
 
 * See as to Fort Gaze, Appendix to our narrative, Note 
 XLVIII. 
 
10 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The War of the Revolution had but fairly com- 
 menced when the British Government turned its atten- 
 tion to the savage nations to the northward, westward 
 and southward, of the Colonies. In previous contests 
 between England and France in America the employ- 
 ment of Indians on either side as auxiliaries had been 
 customary; and- the idea of the British General, 
 Thomas Gage, Commander-in-chief in America, who, 
 writing to Sir Guy Carleton, just as the latter was to 
 arrive at Quebec as Governor of Canada, asking to 
 know what measures would be most efficacious to raise 
 a body of Canadians and Indians to form a junction 
 with the king's forces, was in accordance with these 
 precedents ; but it is clear that a remorseless savage 
 war was not what he intended to suggest. 
 
 On the ninth of June, 1775, Sir Guy proclaimed 
 the American borderers to be rebellious traitors. He 
 established martial law. He summoned the French 
 peasantry to serve under the old colonial nobility. 
 He would have the converted Indian tribes and the 
 savages of the Northwest take up the hatchet against 
 New York and New England. Still it is doubtful if 
 the Canadian governor contemplated in this anything 
 beyond the service of the savages with British troops 
 in legitimate warfare. La Corne Saint-Luc acted for 
 the government generally, while Jacques Duperon 
 Baby sent belts and strings of wampum to the various 
 tribes, to join the British army. In this, he was as- 
 sisted by Captain Lernoult, commanding the Detroit 
 garrison. The savages were visited by British emis- 
 saries or harrangued at British posts to the southward 
 and southwestward of Lake Erie and to the westward 
 and northward of Lake Huron, even to the waters of 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. H 
 
 Lakes Michigan and Superior. Thus the Indians of 
 the West began to hear of the trouble between Great 
 Britain and her American colonies; and they had it 
 made known to them that there was actual war exist- 
 ing in New England. But they were not urged to go 
 in war parties against the border settlements. 
 
 The office of Lieutenant Governor and Superin- 
 tendent of Indian Affairs had already been created for 
 some of the most distant posts in Canada. It was a 
 new office — unknown before in the West. It was 
 believed by the British ministry that the Indians could 
 by such offices, be made more powerful allies than by 
 those having immediate command of garrisons. 
 Henry Hamilton in April, of the year last mentioned, 
 was appointed for Detroit and its dependencies at a 
 salary of two hundred pounds sterling. The appoint- 
 ment was made by the Earl of Dartmouth as Colonial 
 Secretary (Secretary of State for the Colonies), who 
 was succeeded in that office by Lord George Germain 
 (George Sackville) the next November. The Lieu- 
 tenant Governor was to act under instructions from 
 Governor Carleton, the Commander-in-chief of the 
 Province of Quebec. The paramount idea was, that 
 the savages were to be worked upon by him in such 
 manner that they would be in readiness always to join 
 the armies of Great Britain ; his duties, however, being 
 soon extended to aiding the Indians in making war, 
 as will soon be seen, on the frontier settlements. 
 
 "At the time General Carleton thought proper to 
 send me up [to Detroit]," wrote Hamilton subse- 
 quently, *'the rebels had entered Canada, and I crossed 
 the island of Montreal in a Canadian dress, and got 
 the fourth day, in a wooden canoe, to Oswegatchie 
 
12 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 [now Ogdensburg] unprovided with (I may say) 
 everything."'''' 
 
 Hamilton arrived out on the ninth of November, 
 I775.t He was immediately importuned by the In- 
 dians in the vicinity of his post for his ''assent to their 
 making inroads upon the frontiers of Pennsylvania" ; 
 but this, he declares, he declined, giving as a reason 
 his "not having received orders on the subject. "J The 
 desire of the savages, however, conclusively shows that 
 their war-spirit had already been aroused against the 
 settlers of the Trans- Alleghany country. 
 
 Hamilton was under the necessity of acting dis- 
 cretionary for a time after his arrival, because inter- 
 course with the lower part of the Province of Quebec 
 had been cut off ''by the rebels possessing themselves 
 of Montreal," and he could not therefore confer with 
 Governor Carleton. He did not feel authorized to 
 advise the Indians (much less to assist them) to take 
 up the hatchet then against the "rebels." Still, his 
 talk was calculated (notwithstanding his counsel to 
 them was to sit still for the present) to promote their 
 thirst for war ; and there were some braves, whose 
 desire for plunder was so great that they marched to 
 Sandusky on their way to strike the settlements to the 
 eastward, but were turned back by the importunities 
 of John Dodge at that place.° 
 
 The Lieutenant Governor had had considerable ex- 
 perience in military matters. He had been a lieuten- 
 
 t Hamilton to the Earl of Dartmouth, Aug. 29 — Sept. 2, 
 1776. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 * Hamilton to the Earl of Dartmouth, Aug. 29— Sept. 2, 
 1776. — Haldimand MSS. (See Appendix, Note IH.) 
 
 X Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781, Germain MSS. 
 
 ° Dodge's Narrative Alman's Remembrances (1779), 
 vol. VIII. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note IV.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 13 
 
 ant in the Fifteenth Regiment of Foot, but had left 
 the army upon the conclusion of peace between France 
 and England, in 1763. Immediately on his arrival at 
 Detroit, he appointed as his secretary, Philip Dejean, 
 who was, besides, justice of the peace, judge, notary, 
 auctioneer, and receiver of public money. 
 
 As, under the Quebec Act of 1774 — the one organ- 
 izing the Province of Quebec, Canada — "all commis- 
 sions,, to judges and other offices were revoked, an- 
 nulled and made void, from and after the first day of 
 May, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five,"* 
 the acting as judge by Dejean after that date, even had 
 he previously sufficient warrant for officiating in that 
 capacity, was, notwithstanding the orders and approval 
 of Hamilton, clearly illegal. Nevertheless, he contin- 
 ued to act, — he having in December, after all com- 
 missions had been by the law abrogated, caused a man 
 to be apprehended for murder, sentenced him tO' death, 
 and carried the sentence into execution, — the Lieu- 
 tenant Governor aiding, by ordering out a guard of 
 soldiers upon the occasion. 
 
 Far to the northward where the waters of Lake 
 Michigan meet and mingle with those of the Huron 
 lake, situated on the south side of the straits, was the 
 post of Michilimackinac, in command of which, in the 
 Spring of 1775, was Captain Arent Schuyler De Pey- 
 ster, having a garrison composed of twO' companies of 
 the Eighth regiment. His duties were not onerous. 
 His time was divided between looking after the fur 
 traders, holding long "talks" with the savages, and 
 
 "^ British Statutes at Large (London, 1776), vol. XII, 
 pp. 1<S4-187, where the Quebec Act is printed in full. It 
 may be found also in the Collections of the State Historical 
 Society of Wisconsin, vol. XI, pp. 53-60. 
 
14 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 in "courting the muses" — he wrote some creditable 
 poetry."^ He had been advised of the appointment of 
 Patrick Sinclair as Lieutenant 'Governor and Superin- 
 tendent of Indian Affairs of his post and its depend- 
 encies. 
 
 But Sinclair, who was commissioned on the seventh 
 of April, upon arriving at New York, was taken pris- 
 oner and on the third of x\ugust following was sum- 
 moned before Congress on the charge of being com- 
 missioned to employ the Indians in the Northwest in 
 coercing the Colonies. He was sent to Long Island 
 as a paroled prisoner .and the next year allowed to 
 return to England. As no other person was appointed 
 in Sinclair's place, it was a necessity for De Peyster 
 to act as Superintendent of Indian x\ft'airs, the duties 
 of which office he had already attended to. 
 
 He was slow to enter upon the policy of arousing 
 the Indians and inflaming them on the British side as 
 against the Americans, being content at first to urge 
 them only to a close friendship with his Government. 
 His post and its dependencies were far removed from 
 the strife on the seaboard. The Pottowattomies were 
 scattered from near St. Joseph (formerly a French 
 post of some note a considerable distance up the river 
 of the same name emptying into Lake Michigan) to 
 the mouth of the stream on which it was located, thence 
 around Lake INIichigan to the site of the present city 
 of Chicago and to that of Milwaukee; and there had 
 as yet appeared no one from Michilimackinac or De- 
 troit with belts and wampum to excite them against 
 the "rebellious Colonies ;" so also the Winnebagoes 
 around Winnebago lake, and the Menomonees upon 
 
 * See his Miscellanies , pasgim, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 15 
 
 Green bay, had not been advised to hold themselves 
 in readiness to go to war against the Americans. But 
 the Chippewas were already aroused by the representa- 
 tives of La Corne Saint-Luc ; and the ''talks" of their 
 chiefs, with De Peyster during the n ~^. half of 1776, 
 
 served to increase among thent' c Igu" ' ' nations 
 
 the thirst for war ; for it had been determined to raise 
 warriors in that region to march to the St. Lawrence : 
 and soon a band was on the march thither. But these 
 savage allies were to aid the regular British forces ; 
 they were not to march against unprotected settlers. 
 
 On the same day of the appointment of Sinclair 
 as Lieutenant Governor and Superintendent of Mich- 
 ilimackinac and its dependencies. Captain Mathew 
 Johnson was named for a like office at the Illinois ; 
 but he was "never able to attend to his duty" there; 
 indeed he did not reach his post at all, — for reasons, 
 however, satisfactory to the British government, as he 
 continued to draw his salary (two hundred pounds 
 sterling) during the war.* 
 
 At the beginning of the Revolution, there were 
 British armed vessels — an incipient navy — upon 
 Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan, which materially 
 aided the military forces, gave efficiency to the labors 
 of Indian agents, and everywhere on those waters pro- 
 tected the fur-trade. On the lake first mentioned 
 were four armed schooners, built at Detroit, and four 
 sloops. There was also one sloop on Lake Huron and 
 one on Lake Michigan. 
 
 * Haldimand to Grey Cooper (Secretary of the Treasury) , 
 July 8 and the letter of the latter of May 8, 1781. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. The Receiver General's accounts, in May, 
 1782, also show a charge of £100, as "Lieutenant Governor gf 
 the Illinois" — being for 6 months salary. 
 
16 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The schooners on Lake Erie were the Gage, built 
 in 1772, mounting sixteen carriage-guns and six swiv- 
 els, requiring for her crew forty-eight men including 
 officers ; — the Dunmore, built the same year, carry- 
 ing twelve gu*^" and four swivels, requiring for her 
 complerp^''t of e. 'lirty-six, including officers; the 
 Hope, Duiit in I77;', and taken into the King's employ 
 on the twenty-fifth day of August, 1775, mounting 
 four four-pounders, and two two-pounders, requiring 
 a crew of eighteen men, including officers ; and the 
 Faith, built in 1774, carrying four swivels, and re- 
 quiring for her complement, ten men, including officers. 
 The sloops on that lake were the Chippezva, four swiv- 
 els ; the Angelica, six ; the Felicity] number unknown ; 
 the Adventure, four. The sloop on Lake Huron was 
 the Welcome ; on Lake Michigan, the Archangel. 
 
 Early in the year 1776, Congress, in hopes of keep- 
 ing quiet the various Indian nations of the West, 
 appointed George Morgan to be Indian Agent for the 
 Middle Department, Richard Butler having previously 
 acted in that capacity. 
 
 At Detroit, the opening of Spring was followed by 
 considerable activity. Hamilton busied himself in 
 sending to surrounding tribes invitations to a treaty, 
 accorded by De Peyster at Michilimack, who urged 
 those near him to attend. 
 
 It was late in August before the savages assembled 
 at Detroit at the Lieutenant Governor's call, deputies 
 being present from the Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyan- 
 dots, Shawanese, Senecas, Delawares, Cherokees and 
 Pottawattomies. Five days were consumed and many 
 speeches made. The conclusion of the Indians was 
 (they being of course guided in this by Hamilton) 
 that the "rebels" had imposed upon them by falsely 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 17 
 
 stating the cause of the dispute between them and the 
 British ; that they had misrepresented their own abihty 
 to cope with the mother country; and that they were 
 not really well-disposed towards the several nations 
 of savages, members of which were then deliberating. 
 The Lieutenant Governor told the Indians to content 
 themselves with watchfully observing the enemy's 
 motions ; that if the "Virginians" attacked them he 
 would give notice to all the tribes ; and that an attack 
 on one was to be followed by all uniting against them. 
 
 Morgan, at Pittsburgh, was early informed of 
 Hamilton's determination to assemble the Western 
 Indians in council at Detroit and he resolved to thwart 
 the Lieutenant Governor so far as lay in his power, 
 by visiting a number of the nations within reach. He 
 went as far beyond the Ohio as the Scioto and saw 
 chiefs of the Delawares and Shawanese. Early in 
 July, he left the lower Shawanese town on his way 
 back to Pittsburgh, Deputies from some of the most 
 friendly nations met commissioners at Fort Pitt, late 
 in October ; and the ''talks" to some extent neutralized 
 the efforts Hamilton had made with these Indians. 
 
 While at the lower Shawanese village, Morgan had 
 other plans revolving in his mind beside those relat- 
 ing to the Detroit council. He had friends in the 
 Illinois and he knew the previous condition of affairs 
 in that country ; besides, he had received a full account 
 of Connolly's letters to Captain Lord. He wrote to 
 two of his acquaintances at Kaskaskia, asking them as 
 to the "exact situation of affairs" in that country ; 
 "and what quantity of flour and beef" they "could 
 furnish a company or two of men with," on the twenty- 
 fifth of the next December. The letter he entrusted 
 
 2 
 
18 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 to an Indian who was known as "Silver Heels." Mor- 
 gan added that he would depend on his two friends 
 for the desired information by the return of Silver 
 Heels, "who ought to be at Pittsburgh as early in 
 September as possible, as there is a great treaty to be 
 held in that month with all the Western nations. If 
 one of you could come along with him, it may be 
 much to your advantage but you should be very secret 
 with respect to your business."* 
 
 It is doubtful if any man in the Trans-Alleghany 
 region was better qualified to lead "a company or two 
 of men" to the Illinois country than Morgan. His 
 long and intimate acquaintance there, and Ws knowl- 
 edge of the best method to adopt to have approached 
 undiscovered the different settlements, peculiarly fitted 
 him for successfully carrying forward an expedition 
 against the Illinois towns. And that he should have 
 planned such an undertaking clearly shows that he 
 had a full understanding of the defenceless condition 
 of those villages and the feasibility of their capture 
 with a comparatively small force. However, his letter 
 fell into unfriendly hands ; for at least one of the 
 parties addressed, was in sympathy with the Mother 
 country ; hence, no answer was received giving the 
 desired information as to supplies obtainable at Kas- 
 kaskia; and the undertaking was abandoned. 
 
 Captain Lord and his garrison, under orders from 
 Carleton, departed from Fort Gage on the first day of 
 
 * Morgan to Richard Winston and Patrick Kenedy, 
 July 6, . 1776. — Haldimand MSS. (Appendix, Note V.) 
 An interesting biographical sketch of Morgan may be found 
 in The Canonsburg (Pa.) Notes, of Dec. 19, 1891, by Julia 
 M. Harding. See also Hildreth's Pioneer History; Wash- 
 ington-Irvine Correspondence, History of the Girty's and 
 Mason's Early Chicago and Illinois. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 19 
 
 May, 1776, to join the British forces by way of Detroit 
 and the Lakes; but the fortification he did not dis- 
 mantle — the ordnance and munitions of war he left 
 behind. He had previously been instructed to intrust 
 the administration of affairs in the Illinois to such 
 person as he judged proper. He selected PhiHp 
 Rocheblave, as his successor, leaving his family in care 
 of the latter — a sufficient proof of his confidence in 
 the man.^'' 
 
 It was the opinion of Rocheblave that the reason 
 for the recall of Captain Lord from the Illinois was 
 because the condition of affairs upon the St. Lawrence 
 made it better to have him and his garrison nearer the 
 center of hostilities, serving as an "aid in gathering 
 together all his forces, which, as a skillful leader, he 
 considered to be too far distant. "f 
 
 "The unfortunate situation," afterwards wrote 
 Rocheblave, "in which his Excellency, Mr. Carleton, 
 found himself at the end of the year 1775, at the time 
 of the invasion of the Province of Quebec by the 
 Colonists, obliged him to recall the garrison of this 
 country [the Illinois] in order to fall back on Detroit 
 and Niagara. The General judged wisely that, under 
 the circumstances, it were better not to have the few 
 troops belonging to him widely dispersed, when, in 
 consolidating them, lay his only chance of accomplish- 
 ing anything. In consequence of his orders. Captain 
 Hugh Lord, who had governed this country with gen- 
 eral satisfaction, evacuated it, leaving me in charge 
 
 * See Mason's Early Chicago and Illinois, pp. 360-381, 
 for an interesting biographical sketch of Rocheblave. 
 
 t Rocheblave to Germain, Jan. 22, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
20 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 without troops, without money, without resources/'f 
 The explanation, however, for Captain Lord's depart- 
 ure as stated by Carleton was, "to avoid unnecessary 
 expense"4 It is probable, notwithstanding, that the 
 reasons given by Rocheblave were such as the Gover- 
 nor had mentioned to the Captain, in his orders to the 
 latter to leave the Illinois. 
 
 t Same to same, Feb. 28, 1778, in same. 
 
 J Carleton to Hamilton, September 15, 1777, in same. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 IT was in the Spring of 1776, that Clark, on foot and 
 alone, again went to Kentucky — a particular 
 
 scheme, in addition to his desire to continue his 
 surveying, having this time drawn him thither. 
 
 Tradition has this account of his arrival : He was 
 first met by a young lad who had gone a few miles 
 from Harrodsburg to turn some horses out on the 
 range. The boy had killed a duck and was roasting 
 it by a fire he had kindled, when he was surprised by 
 the near approach of a fine soldierly-looking man who 
 said : "How do you do my little fellow ? What is your 
 name? Are you not afraid of being in the woods by 
 yourself?" The stranger was evidently hungry; for, 
 on being invited tO' eat, he speedily finished the entire 
 duck ; and when the boy asked him his name his reply 
 was that it was Clark and that he had come out to see 
 what "you brave fellows in Kentucky are doing, and 
 to help you if there is need." * 
 
 But this story has evidently gathered unto itself 
 what at first was foreign to it. The "fine soldierly- 
 looking man" raises a suspicion of having been sup- 
 plied by the relator, to whom, in after years, Clark 
 became a hero; and, that he came out "to see what 
 the brave fellows in Kentucky were doing and to help 
 
 * Butler's Kentucky, p. 37.n., where it is printed for the 
 first time, and as taken from the lips of the boy that was - - 
 but then an old man. The story as related by Butler has, 
 with more or less variation, been frequently repeated. (See 
 Harper's Magazine, vol. XXII, p. 786; Collins's Kentucky 
 (ed. of 1877), p. 610; Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, 
 vol. I, p. 319.) 
 
22 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 them if there was need," would hardly have been 
 spoken to one so young; besides, these words induce 
 the belief of their having been added as the result of 
 knowing the visitor's subsequent career. 
 
 Clark was now greeted (if traditionary accounts 
 are to be taken as veritable), with considerable dis- 
 tinction. His appearance "was well calculated to 
 attract attention ; it was rendered particularly agree- 
 able by the manliness of his deportment, the intelli- 
 gence of his conversation ; but above all, by the 
 vivacity and boldness of his spirit for enterprise, and 
 the determination he expressed of becoming an inhab- 
 itant of the country. He fixed on no particular resi- 
 dence ; was much in the woods ; incidentally visiting 
 the forts and the ostensible camps ; he cultivated the 
 acquaintance of the people, and acquired an extensive 
 knowledge of the various objects presented to his 
 curiosity or to his inspection."''^ 
 
 A considerable number of the Kentucky settlers, 
 some of them of particular prominence, had already 
 petitioned the Convention of Virginia to take them 
 under their protection. "As we are anxious," they 
 said, "to concur in every respect with our brethren of 
 the United Colonies for our just rights and privileges 
 as far as our infant settlements and remote situation 
 will admit of, we humbly expect and implore to be 
 taken under the protection of the Honorable Con- 
 vention of the Colony of Virginia, of which we cannot 
 help thinking ourselves still a part, and request your 
 kind interposition in our behalf, that we may not suf- 
 fer under the rigorous demands and impositions of 
 the gentlemen styling themselves proprietors." At the 
 
 * Marshall's Kentucky, vol. I, p. 46. It is evident that 
 some of this is overdrawn. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 23 
 
 same time, these petitioners called in question the title 
 of Henderson and Company to the lands, which had 
 been purchased by them of the Cherokees.* 
 
 The petition was received by the Virginia Con- 
 vention ; and a counter petition was presented by Hen- 
 derson and his partners. That the Assembly recog- 
 nized the Kentucky settlements as being within the 
 Hmits of Virginia is evident from its action. Com- 
 missioners were appointed to take evidence on behalf 
 of the government against the several claimants under 
 Indian purchases; ,but, in the meantime, it was or- 
 dered that actual settlers should not be disturbed.f 
 
 The scheme of Clark, which was one of the causes 
 of his return to Kentucky, was (if his own words 
 subsequently published are to be relied on) a political 
 one. Having no faith in Henderson and Company's 
 claim, it was, but natural he should reflect upon the 
 condition of affairs in the new settlements so far as 
 their government was concerned. 'T left the country 
 (Kentucky)," he wrote years after, ''in the Fall of 
 1775, and returned in the Spring following. While in 
 Virginia, I found there were various opinions respect- 
 ing Henderson and Company's claim. Many thought 
 it was good ; others doubted whether or not Virginia 
 
 * 'The Petition of the Inhabitants and some of the 
 Intended Settlers of that Part of North America now 
 Denominated Transylvania to the Honorable, the Conven- 
 tion of Virginia." (Hall's Romance of Western History, 
 where, on pp. 381-385, the Petition is published in full; 
 also in Morehead's Address, pp. 159-161; and in other works.) 
 There were eighty-eight signers, headed by James Harrod 
 and Abm. Hite, Jun. The language of the petitioners was 
 unequivocal : they considered themselves Virginians and 
 asked the protection of the Colony of Virginia. 
 
 t Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. I, pp. 449, 450. 
 
24 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 could with propriety have any pretensions to the coun- 
 try. This was what I wanted to know. I immediately 
 fixed on my plans, viz. : that of assembling the people 
 — getting them to elect deputies, and send them to 
 treat with the Assembly of Virginia respecting the con- 
 dition of the country. If valuable conditions were 
 procured, we could declare ourselves citizens of the 
 State; otherwise, we might establish an independent 
 government, and, by giving away a great part of the 
 lands and disposing of the remainder, we would not 
 only gain great numbers of inhabitants, but in a good 
 measure protect them." * 
 
 Such was the visionary plan of young Clark, for- 
 mulated in his mind in ignorance of the claim of Vir- 
 ginia already put forth, and of the wishes of the set- 
 tlers in Kentucky — at least, of a large portion of 
 them — as clearly stated in their petition to the Vir- 
 ginia Convention. f 
 
 Besides, it is evident (if his statements just men- 
 tioned are to be taken as true) that his plan was deter- 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 115. The words used by Clark — "When I was in Virginia," 
 were intended by him to express only that he was then at 
 his home over the mountains and not in the Kentucky 
 country. 
 
 t "I told them [Jefferson and Wythe] that the Transyl- 
 vania Company, suspecting that they might be misrepresented, 
 had sent me to make known to the gentlemen of the Congress, 
 our friendly intentions towards the cause of liberty, etc. 
 
 etc They observed that our purchase was within 
 
 their [Virginia's] charter and gently hinted that, by virtue 
 of it, they might claim the whole." — James Hogg to the 
 Transylvania Company, January, 1776. (See Hall's Romance 
 of Western History, p. 394.) Then, too there was the action 
 taken by the Virginia Convention upon the receipt of the 
 petition of the Kentucky settlers, just mentioned. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 25 
 
 mined upon while knowing nothing of the hmits of 
 Fincastle country to the westward as previously de- 
 fined by Virginia. 
 
 In the scheme of Clark — idle and fanciful though 
 it was — there can be seen an ambition not wholly to 
 be despised. It was a conviction by no means of the 
 baser sort that could prompt him at once to determine 
 upon his plans and to return to Kentucky resolved, if 
 possible, to carry them out. Did he see political pre- 
 ferment in their consummation? It would not have 
 been surprising or disreputable if such were the fact, 
 as it is evident he had not fully considered that his 
 idea carried with it a menace which in the end surely 
 would have denied the Kentucky settlers a hearing in 
 the Virginia Convention. But, as will now be seen, 
 these Kentucky pioneers were true to the principle set 
 forth in the petition already sent forward to the Vir- 
 ginia authorities. 
 
 All that is known concerning the time of Clark's 
 return to Kentucky is, that it was in the Spring of 
 1776. His coming was a surprise, as it was supposed 
 he had left the country permanently. His designs, 
 crude as they were, he confided to no one. Tradition 
 says it was generally believed in the settlements that 
 love of adventure alone had brought him back. 
 
 He subsequently (in his declining years) put upon 
 record that, to carry his scheme into effect, he ap- 
 pointed a general meeting at Harrodsburg, for the 
 sixth of June, asserting, at the same time, that some- 
 thing would be proposed to the people that very much 
 concerned them. "The reason I had," are his words 
 in his narration of the steps taken by him, "for not 
 publishing what I wished to be done before the day 
 was, that the people should not get into parties on the 
 
26 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 subject; and as every one would wish to know what 
 was to be done, there would be a more general meeting. 
 But, unfortunately, it was late in the evening of that 
 day (sixth of June) before I could get to the place. 
 The people had been in some confusion, but at last con- 
 cluded that the whole design was to send delegates to 
 the Assembly of Virginia with a petition praying the 
 Assembly to accept them as such — to establish a new 
 county, etc. The polls were opened, and before I had 
 arrived they had far advanced in the election, and had 
 entered with such spirit into that I could not get 
 them to change the principles — that of delegates unth 
 a petition, to that of deputies under the authority of 
 the people. In short, I did not take much pains.'' * 
 
 Evidently Clark, in thus claiming the honor of hav- 
 ing called the Harrodsburg meeting, credited to him- 
 self what he was not entitled to.f "George Rogers 
 Clark," says a Kentucky historian, "came to Kentucky 
 for the first time in 1775. His second visit was in the 
 spring of 1776, when the minds of many of the inhab- 
 itants were agitated by the claim of the Transylvania 
 Company to the tract of country, over which . . . 
 they had attempted to establish a proprietary govern- 
 ment. Dissatisfaction had arisen from numerous 
 causes, which I need not pause to enumerate. They 
 will be found embodied in a petition of the inhabitants 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's I)idiaiia (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 115. lUl 
 
 t The short-comings of Clark in his Memoir have usually 
 been attributed to his age; but another cause hereafter to be 
 mentioned, had more to do with them than his 3^ears. It 
 becomes necessary to point out in this narrative many of 
 his questionable statements, because of their having been 
 so often relied upon as altogether truthful by writers of 
 Western histor3^ 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 27 
 
 and some of the intended settlers of that part of North 
 America, now denominated 'Transylvania' addressed 
 'to the Honorable Convention of Virginia.' The Vir- 
 ginia settlers in general, did not recognize the validity 
 of the Company's jurisdiction, and declined making in- 
 vestments in their land office. The emigrants from 
 North Carolina, many of whom were brought by Col. 
 Henderson to the country, were satisfied with the titles 
 derived from him, and made their purchases accord- 
 ingly. There were others, and a numerous class, with 
 a proper foresight .of results who preferred to take 
 possession of such lands as suited them, and await the 
 perfection of their claims, until the pending conflict 
 of opinion should be determined, and the rightful sov- 
 ereignty declared. On the 6th of June, 1776, a meet- 
 ing was held at Harrodsburg to take the subject into 
 consideration.'^ 
 
 Another Kentucky historian says that Clark, after 
 his arrival in the spring of 1776 in the Kentucky 
 country, "reflected deeply on its value to Virginia as 
 a frontier, as well as to the rest of the Confederacy. 
 The result of these meditations suggested to him the 
 importance of assembling the people of the country at 
 Harrod's Town, as it was then called, to devise a 
 plan for the public defense. "f Now, this declaration 
 of the Kentuckv author is based solely upon Clark's 
 scheme as already given. He overlooks the principal 
 idea, which related to the Transylvania Company's 
 claim, and sees only the one to protect the settlers 
 from savage aggression ; and he would have the plan 
 formulated by Clark after his arrival. 
 
 * James T. Morehead : see his Address, pp. 52, 53. (The 
 italicising in the extract is mine.) 
 
 t Mann Butler : History of Kentucky, p. 37. 
 
28 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Other writers have followed in the same strain, add- 
 ing somewhat to these declarations; as, for instance: 
 "His (Clark's) mind had been very early impressed 
 with the immense importance of this frontier country 
 (Kentucky) to the security of the parent State of Vir- 
 ginia, as well as to the whole Confederacy, and his 
 reflections on this subject led him to perceive the im- 
 portance of a more thorough, organized, and extensive 
 system of public defense, and a more regular plan of 
 military operations than the slender resources of the 
 Colonies had yet been able to effect."* 
 
 A recent writer suggests that Clark, in view of 
 the depredatitons which the Ohio Indians were com- 
 mitting on the settlements, called the Harrodsburg 
 meeting to devise a plan of defense ; and that his 
 "plan was, to appoint delegates who should proceed 
 to Williamsburg and petition the Assembly that Ken- 
 tucky be made a county of Virginia/'f The erection, 
 however, of a new county to include the Kentucky 
 settlements does not seem to have been any part of 
 Clark's plan. 
 
 The readiness with which Clark gave up his own 
 project for that adopted by the settlers, clearly evinces 
 a determination not very deeply rooted in his mind to 
 carry out his plan. But there was reason why, had he 
 been ever so determined before hand, he should now 
 be easily placated. The people had agreed to send 
 two delegates to take a petition to the Virginia Assem- 
 bly and were voting for Clark and John Gabriel Jones 
 for that duty. They were elected, it seems, without 
 opposition. 
 
 * Lewis Collins. (See his Kentucky (ed. of 1877), p. 133.) 
 tDr. William Frederick Poole, iti Winsor's Narrative 
 and Critical History of America, vol. VI, p. 716 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 29 
 
 The prime object in view was for these two to 
 endeavor, if possible, to have a new Virginia county 
 estabHshed, which should include all the Kentucky set- 
 tlements. It is plain that Clark equally with his asso- 
 ciate, soon entered spiritedly into the settlers' scheme. 
 Both accepted the position to which they had been 
 elected, hoping not only to reach Williamsburg before 
 the adjournment of the Convention, but that they 
 might be admitted to seats therein.* 
 
 Before the adjournment of the Harrodsburg meet- 
 ing, the credentials of the twO' delegates were made out 
 and handed them, and a committee was apopinted 
 to draft a petition to the Virginia Assembly" expres- 
 sive of the views of the settlers as to the impending 
 conflict and as to their desire for the formation of a 
 new county. The document was dated the twentieth 
 of June and was given to Jones and Clark to be pre- 
 sented to the Virginia Convention on their arrival at 
 Williamsburg. It announced that, if the Kentucky 
 county could be admitted as a separate and distinct 
 county of Virginia (such, at least, is the inference to 
 be drawn from the words used) the people would 
 willingly and cheerfully aid to the utmost of their 
 ability every measure to secure the public peace and 
 safety; particularly, they said, would it be impolitic 
 for "such a respectable body of prime riflemen to re- 
 main in a state of neutrality," while on the seaboard 
 there was going forward on part of the patriot Colo- 
 nists a desperate struggle for their liberties. f 
 
 * See Appendix, Note VI. 
 
 t Petition of the Committee of West Fincastle, June 20, 
 1776, printed in John Mason Brown's Oration — "Blue 
 Licks" pamphlet. I have not attempted to follow closely the 
 wording of the Petition. 
 
30 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 With their credentials as delegates and the peti- 
 tion of the West Fincastle committee, Clark and 
 Jones started for Williamsburg. "They selected the 
 route through the southern wilderness, as it has gen- 
 erally been called, lying between the settlements of 
 Kentucky and those of Virginia,, under most distres- 
 sing difhculties. Independent of losing one of their 
 horses, the extreme wetness of the season, and the 
 danger of kindling fires, amidst straggling parties of 
 Indians the traveling through the mud, and over the 
 mountains, brought on a most painful affliction, called 
 by the hunters, the scaldfeet. In this complaint, the 
 feet become useless from excessive tenderness, and 
 the skin decays ; so that the weight of the body be- 
 comes intolerable. While suffering in this manner, 
 'more torment than I ever experienced,' says Clark, 
 'before or since,' they found the old stations near the 
 Cumberland Gap and Martin's Fort, where they 
 fondly hoped to have found relief, both abandoned by 
 the inhabitants owing to fear of the Indians. At the 
 latter place, however, the desperate party determined 
 to stay until their feet were recovered ; when this was 
 accomplished, they again prosecuted their journey." * 
 
 The two delegates, had they, without any mishap, 
 made the quickest possible time upon their way out, 
 could not have reached Williamsburg before the break- 
 ing up of the Assembly. That body, meeting on the 
 sixth of May, 1776, was in session one day less 
 than two months, having adjourned on tlie fifth of 
 July, to meet again on the seventh of October follow- 
 ing, at the same place ; meanwhile the declaration of 
 independence had been made, a State constitution had 
 
 * Butler's Kentucky, p. 38. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 31 
 
 been adopted, and Patrick Henry elected governor. 
 There was, therefore, no other alternative ; the petition 
 of the West Fincastle pioneers must be held until the 
 Virginia Legislature should again convene. 
 
 Concerning the journey from Kentucky of himself 
 and Jones, Clark wrote, years after, in these words : 
 "In a few days (after his and Jones's election as dele- 
 gates), we set out for Williamsburg, in the hope of 
 arriving before the Assembly, then sitting, should 
 rise. . . . We proceeded on our journey as far as 
 Botetourt county, and there learned that we were too 
 late; for the Assembly had already risen. We were 
 now at a loss, for some time, to determine what to do; 
 but concluded we should wait until tne fall session — 
 in the meantime, I should go to Williamsburg and at- 
 tempt to procure some powder for the Kentuckians 
 and watch their interests. We parted. Mr. Jones re- 
 turned to Holston tO' join the forces that were raising, 
 in order to repel the Cherokee Indians (as they had 
 lately commenced hostilities) and myself proceeded to 
 the governor of Virginia." "^ 
 
 "Mr. Henry, the governor," are the further words 
 of Clark, "lay sick at his seat in Hanover, where I 
 waited on him, and produced my vouchers. He ap- 
 peared much disposed to favor the Kentuckians, and 
 wrote by me to the Council on the subject. I attended 
 them. My application was for five hundred pounds of 
 powder to be conveyed to Kentucky as an immediate 
 supply. After various questions and consultations, 
 the Council agreed to furnish the supply; but, as we 
 were a detached people, and not yet united to the State 
 of Virginia, and uncertain until the sitting of the As- 
 
 * Clark's M^woiV — DWXon'sK Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 116. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note VII.) 
 
32 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 sembly whether we should be, they would only lend us 
 the ammunition as friends in distress, but that I must 
 become answerable for it in case the Assembly should 
 not receive us as citizens of the State. I informed 
 them that it was out of my power to pay the expense 
 of carriage and guards necessary for those supplies — 
 that the British officers on our frontiers were making 
 use of every effort to^ engage the Indians in the war — 
 that the people might be destroyed for want of this 
 small supply — and that I was in hopes they would 
 consider these matters, and favor us by sending the 
 ammunition at public expense. They replied that they 
 were really disposed to do everything for us in their 
 power consistent with their office, which I believed. 
 After making use of many arguments to convince me 
 that even what they proposed was a stretch of power, 
 they informed me that 'they could venture no farther.' 
 An order was issued to the keeper of the magazine to 
 deliver me the ammunition. 
 
 "I had for twelve months past reflected so much 
 on the various situations of things respecting ourselves 
 and the Continent at large, that my resolution was 
 formed before I left the Council chamber. I resolved 
 to return the order I had received, and immediately 
 repair to Kentucky, knowing that the people would 
 readily fall into my first plan — as what had passed 
 had almost reduced it to a certainty of success. I 
 wrote to the Council and inclosed the order, informing 
 them that I had weighed the matter and found that it 
 was out of my power to convey those stores at my 
 own expense such a distance through an enemy's 
 country — that I was ^sorry to find we should have to 
 ■ seek protection elsewhere, which I did not doubt of 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 33 
 
 getting — that if a country was not worth protecting, 
 it was not worth claiming, etc. 
 
 "Wliat passed on the reception of this letter, I can 
 not tell. It was, I suppose, nothing more than what 
 might be expected by a set of gentlemen zealous in 
 the welfare of their country, and fully apprised of 
 what they might expect to take place in Kentucky. 
 I was sent for. Being a little prejudiced in favor of 
 my mother country, I was willing to meet half way." * 
 
 Clark then gives correctly the result. What was 
 done is shown by the record of the Council: 
 
 "In Council, Williamsburg, August 23d, 1776. 
 
 "Mr. George Rogers Clark having represented to 
 this Board the defenceless state of the inhabitants of 
 Kentucky ; and having requested, on their behalf, that 
 they should be supplied with five hundred weight of 
 gun-powder ; 
 
 "Ordered, therefore, that the said quantity of gun- 
 powder be forthwith sent to Pittsburgh, and delivered 
 to the commanding officer at that station, by him to be 
 safely kept, and delivered to the said George Rogers 
 Clark, or his order, for the use of the said inhabitants 
 of Kentucky. 
 
 John Page, Pres't. 
 
 "Test, Arch'd Blair, CI. Coun." f 
 
 Clark, it will be noticed, says he told the Council 
 that the British officers on the frontiers were making 
 use of every effort to engage the Indians in the war. 
 This, he hardly would have said, for the reason that, 
 
 * Clark's' Memoir — T>\\\on's, Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 116, 117. 
 
 .t Butler's Kentucky, ed. of 1834, p. 394; ed. of 1836, 
 p. 488. 
 3 
 
34 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 first, such was not the fact, and, second, he had not 
 been in a position to find it out even if true. But his 
 most absurd declaration is, that he at once resolved to 
 send back the order he had received, and immediately 
 return to Kentucky, knowing that the people would 
 readily fall into his first plan, "as what had passed had 
 almost reduced it to a certainty of success." He for- 
 gets that the people had not sent him to the Virginia 
 Council at all. He forgets that he had not been 
 requested by the Kentuckians to obtain powder in 
 any quantity. He forgets that he had agreed 
 with his associate Jones, to remain at Willliams- 
 burg until the Virginia Assembly had again met. 
 The statement, also, that the Council suggested to 
 Clark that the Kentuckians were a detached people 
 and not yet united to the State of Virginia, and it was 
 uncertain until the sitting of the Assembly whether 
 they would be so united, — w^ould hardly have been 
 made, in view of what had already taken place in the 
 Convention as to the determination of the w^estern lim- 
 its of Virginia in the constitution it had formed and 
 particularly in view of the action taken upon the peti- 
 tion sent in by the Kentuckians some time before. 
 
 That Clark applied for the powder and after some 
 trouble succeeded in getting it and also an order for 
 its transportation to Pittsburgh is certain: but that 
 the circumstances occurred in all the detail given by 
 him years after his success, is inadmissable. 
 
 It is probable, however, that since the middle of the 
 previous year, Clark had, as he asserts, reflected much 
 on the various situations of things respecting the Ken- 
 tucky settlements and ''the Continent at large." It 
 agrees with his previous declaration and with the 
 course pursued by him after his return from over the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 35 
 
 mountains. But that his reflections thus far had 
 mostly been confined to the carrying out of his plans 
 as developed at the Harrodsburg meeting is evident."^ 
 
 Upon assembling, in the fall, of the Virginia Leg- 
 islature, Clark and Jones laid before the members the 
 petition of the Kentucky settlers. "I waited until the 
 fall session," says Clark, ''when I was joined by my 
 colleague, Mr. Jones. We laid our papers before the 
 Assembly. They resolved that we could not take our 
 seats as members, but that our business should be at- 
 tended to. Colonel Henderson, one of the purchasers 
 of the Cherokees, being present, retarded our business. 
 Colonel Arthur Campbell, one of the members, being 
 also opposed to our having a new county, wished us 
 annexed to the county, on the frontiers of which we 
 lay, and which he represented. This caused it to be 
 late in the session (December 7, 1776) before we got 
 a complete establishment of a county by the name of 
 Kentucky." f 
 
 The boundaries of the new county corresponded 
 with those of the present State of Kentucky. 
 
 The marauds of the savages across the Ohio east 
 and south into the border settlements of Pennsylvania 
 and Virginia (including in the last-named State those 
 of Kentucky), are now to be noticed to the end that a 
 just idea may be formed of the danger, actual and im- 
 aginary, which, in 1776, threatened the settlers. 
 
 Two prisoners were captured in Kentucky by the 
 Mingoes and hurried across the Ohio — fortunately, 
 however, before Morgan had left the Scioto, and they 
 were rescued by him and brought safely to Pittsburg. 
 
 * See Appendix to our narrative, Note VIII. 
 t Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed^ of 1859), pp. 
 117, 118. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note IX.) 
 
36 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Then followed the killing, by a party of Shawanese, of 
 two persons near the Big Bone Lick and the taking of 
 a woman prisoner ; but the latter was rescued by a 
 pursuing party of borderers, who killed and scalped 
 two of the Shawanese. In September, it came to the 
 knowledge of Morgan, at Fort Pitt, that a number of 
 Wyandots, two Mingoes and one Ottawa were on the 
 war path down the Hockhocking river, intending to 
 strike the Virginians. The timely warning saved the 
 borderers ; for the proper precautions were at once 
 taken, which the savages discovering they returned 
 without striking a blow. 
 
 Notwithstanding the treaty at Fort Pitt with the 
 savages late in October, the borderers did not slacken 
 their efforts looking to protection against their inroads. 
 All along the Ohio, on its eastern side, from a consid- 
 erable distance below Wheeling to Pittsburgh, block- 
 houses were erected at intervals, and the militia 
 "scouted" in the woods in various directions. The 
 most fear was from a gang of Mingoes living at Plug- 
 gystown (now Delaware, Ohio), who had no repre- 
 sentation at the Fort Pitt treaty. Before the close of 
 the year, they had committed a number of depreda- 
 tions across the Ohio, killing and making prisoners of 
 the borderers without distinction of sex and regard- 
 less of age. Their depredations were at points as far 
 up the Ohio as Grave Creek and as far down that 
 stream as the mouth of the Great Kanawha. At Fort 
 Randolph, a Virginia post at the junction of the river 
 last named with the Ohio, Captain Matthew Arbuckle, 
 in command of its garrison, used his earnest endeavors 
 to keep the Shawafiese friendly; notwithsanding 
 which, some of these Indians, in December, went upon 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 37 
 
 a maraud into the Kentucky settlements, killing three 
 persons. 
 
 Such was the extent of the hostile acts of the In- 
 dians from the country northwest of the Ohio (among 
 whom as we have seen were "the Pluggystown savages, 
 who were a lawless band, without any tribal relation). 
 There was not yet ''open war" on the part of any of 
 the nations of that region against the border settle- 
 ments of the Americans ; that is, none of the nations,, 
 assembled in solemn council called by the British or 
 their own chiefs, had taken up the hatchet, as yet, to go 
 upon the warpath across the Ohio. 
 
 When Clark had finally succeeded not only in se- 
 curing the five hundred pounds of powder asked for, 
 but in getting it transported to Pittsburg at the expense 
 of Virginia, he wrote to Kentucky giving information 
 of what had been done and recommending that the 
 ammunition be sent for and conveyed to that country 
 by water ; but his letter was not received ; and, before 
 the two delegates got ready to start home, they 
 learned it had not left Pittsburgh ; so they resolved to 
 go that way on their return. They got the powder 
 and with it hurried down the Ohio until a point was 
 reached near where Maysville now stands, where their 
 cargo was secreted. They then proceeded on their 
 journey. At McClelland's Station, after their arrival 
 a party of ten men (including Jones, who went as 
 guide) under John Todd, all on horseback, set out to 
 bring in the powder, Clark meanwhile going on to 
 Harrodsburg. On the twenty-fifth of December they 
 were attacked on the waters of the Licking by Indians, 
 Jones and two others being killed,* and one taken 
 
 * See Clark's Diary printed in Morehead's Address, pp. 
 161-164. This Diary, in general, is very reliable; what few 
 
38 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 prisoner. The residue escaped. A second attempt was 
 more successful. On the second of January, 1777, 
 James Harrod raised a company of about thirty men 
 at Harrodsburg (where Clark had arrived some days 
 before) to go- after the hidden cargo. They returned 
 without accident with their valuable freight. f 
 
 errors occur are mostly inadvertencies — mere slip of the 
 pen. The entry concerning the disaster mentioned above 
 is as follows : "Dec. 25 — Ten men going to the Ohio for 
 powder — met on the waters of Licking Creek by Indians 
 and defeated — John G. Jones, William Graden and Josiah 
 Dixon were killed." (As to the injustice done the memory 
 of Jones by several writers of Western history, see Appendix 
 to our narrative, Note X.) 
 
 t Collin's Kentucky (ed. of 1877), pp. 466, 467, 552, 656. 
 (See Appendix to our narrative, Note XL) 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 SCARCELY had the year 1777 been ushered in 
 when Hamilton, at Detroit, bestirred himself to 
 keep awake the war-spirits of the savages. He 
 was soon written to by Carleton from Quebec : "I am 
 persuaded you will exert your best endeavors," said 
 the Governor, ''for the king's service. To your own 
 prudence and judgment, at this distance, much must 
 be left. The Legislative Council is met, but the times 
 will not at present admit of any regulations being 
 n.dde for distant or remote situatiois. While the com- 
 motions continued, the power of the sword is chiefly, 
 and indeed only to be trusted to. The keeping the 
 Indians firm in the king's interest ought to be your 
 first and great object." * 
 
 There were of the military force at Detroit, at this 
 date, under command of Captain Lernoult, four com- 
 panies of the Eighth (or King's) regiment, one com- 
 pany of the Forty-seventh, and two of Butler's Rang- 
 ers — in all about five hundred. The policy as to the 
 Rangers after Sir William Joh^.sor.'s time was, to 
 intermix them with the Indians when on service, and 
 to have them commanded, not by regulars, but by "In- 
 dian officers ;" that is, by officers from the Indian 
 Department. f At first, none but those acquainted 
 
 * Carleton to Hamilton, Feb. 2, 1777. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 t The Captains and Lieutenants in the Indian Depart- 
 ment were known as "Indian officers" to distinguish them 
 from officers in the regular service or in the militia. This 
 distinction was kept up in all the correspondence of the 
 commandants of the various' ports with their superior offi- 
 ces. But it is to be understood those "Indian officers" were 
 never Indians. 
 
40 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "with the Indians and their language were admitted to 
 the corps ; — afterward, this distinction was not made. 
 
 The arrival of several bands of savages at Detroit 
 from their "wintering," gave Hamilton the strongest 
 assurance that they would prove, in the end,, subser- 
 vient to his will. Their behavior was such as to com- 
 mend itself to the Lieutenant Governor, who had pre- 
 viously expressed his desire to meet them and other 
 Indian Deputies of the various nations, in council. 
 He was anxiously awainting orders from Carleton as 
 to what should be done in their management, and he 
 wrote the Governor that he would detain them from 
 the time of their assembling for a ''talk" until he got 
 advices from "below." "As some of the Delawares 
 appear wavering," said he, "I have given one of their 
 chiefs a belt with a present, to induce them to come 
 to the council, when I make no doubt they will be 
 influenced as I would wish." * 
 
 The "talk" with the savages, proposed by Hamil- 
 ton was necessarily delayed. By the middle of June, 
 he wrote Carleton that the Ottawas, Chippewas, Potta- 
 wattamies, Hurons (Wyandots), and Miamis had 
 arrived ; that there were also some Shawanese, Dela- 
 wares and Weas, but they were few in number. "I 
 shall keep them together," he said, "as long as pos- 
 sible, in expectation of your Excellency's orders. Al- 
 though the majority should return home, I make no 
 doubt of being* able to assemble a thousand warriors 
 in three weeks should your Excellency have occasion 
 for their services." * He did not know that "orders" 
 
 * Hamilton to Carleton, May 11, 1777. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 * Hamilton to Carlson, June 15, ,1777. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 41 
 
 from even a higher source were on their way authoriz- 
 ing him to employ the savages in the work of devasta- 
 tion and death; such, however, was the fact, as will 
 now be seen. 
 
 Before the ending of March, Lord George Ger- 
 main had written Carleton : ''In consideration," said 
 his lordship, ''of the measures proper to be pursued in 
 the next campaign, the making a diversion on the 
 frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania, by parties of 
 Indians conducted by proper leaders, as proposed by 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, has been maturely 
 weighed. That officer, in his letter to the Earl of 
 Dartmouth, dated at Detroit, the second of September 
 last, said that he had then with him Deputies from 
 the Ottawas, Chippewas, Wyandots, Shawanese, Se- 
 necas, Delawares, Cherokees and Pottawatamies that 
 their inclination was for war; and that it was with 
 much difficulty he had restrained them from hostilities, 
 which he thought it his duty to do, finding by a letter 
 from you dated the nineteenth of July, that you had 
 sent back some Ottawas who had offered their ser- 
 vices, desiring them to hold themselves in readiness 
 next spring. 
 
 "There can be little doubt that the Indians are 
 still in the same disposition and that they will readily 
 and eagerly engage in any enterprise in which it may 
 be thought fit to employ them under the direction of 
 the king's officers; and as it is his Majesty's resolu- 
 tion that the most vigorous efforts should be made, 
 every means employed that providence has put into 
 his Majesty's hands, for crushing the rebellion and 
 restoring the constitution, it is the king's command 
 that you should direct Lieutenant Governor Hamilton 
 to assemble as many of the Indians of his district as 
 
42 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 he conveniently can, and placing proper persons at 
 their head, to whom he is to make suitable allowances, 
 to conduct their parties, and restrain them from com- 
 mitting violence on the well affected and inoffensive 
 inhabitants, employ them in making a diversion and 
 exciting an alarm upon the frontiers of Virginia and 
 Pennsylvania. And as there is good ground to be- 
 lieve there are considerable numbers of loyal subjects 
 in those parts who would gladly embrace an oppor- 
 tunity of delivering themselves from the tyranny and 
 oppression of the rebel committees; it is his Majesty's 
 pleasure that you do authorize and direct Lieutenant 
 Governor Hamilton to invite all such loyal subjects 
 to join him and assure them of the same pay and al- 
 lowances as are given to his Majesty's corps raised 
 in America, and that such of them as shall continue 
 to serve his Majesty until the rebellion is suppressed 
 and peace restored shall each receive his Majesty's 
 bounty of 200 acres of land. 
 
 ''These offers it is hoped will induce many persons 
 to engage in the king's service; which may enable 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton to extend his opera- 
 tions, so as to divide the attention of the rebels, and 
 oblige them to collect a considerable force to oppose 
 him, which cannot fail of weakening their main army 
 and facilitating the operations directed to be carried 
 on against them in other quarters, and thus bring 
 the war to a more speedy issue and restore those de- 
 luded people to their former state of happiness and 
 prosperity, which are the favorite wishes of the royal 
 breast and the great object of all his Majesty's meas- 
 ures. 
 
 "A supply of presents for the Indians and other 
 necessaries will be wanted for this service, and you 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 43 
 
 will of course send Lieutenant Governor Hamilton 
 what is proper and sufficient. 
 
 ''Inclosed is a lot of names of several persons re- 
 siding on the frontiers of Virginia recommended by 
 Lord Dunmore for their loyalty and attachment to 
 Government and who, his Lordship thinks, will be 
 able to give great assistance to Lieutenant Governor 
 Hamilton through their extensive influence among the 
 inhabitants." '^ 
 
 This letter was sent by Carleton to Hamilton for 
 his "instruction and guidance." 'T have only to add," 
 says the Governor, "that Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger 
 has similar orders for the savages of the Five Nations 
 and others. You will, therefore, be careful not to at- 
 tempt to draw off any destined for his command, Let 
 me know what provisions you want ; in the meantime 
 some shall be sent you at a venture. "f 
 
 The time had now come when the cruel sugges- 
 tions of Hamilton to Germain — "the making a di- 
 version on the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsyl- 
 vania by parties of Indians conducted by proper lead- 
 ers" — was to be acted upon, — the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor being fully prepared to carry out his murderous 
 plan. It had been devised by the latter with a full 
 knowledge of what the awful consequences would be 
 if adopted by the British government. To him and to 
 him alone is to be charged the baleful proposal — de- 
 structive in its conception, and full of calamities and 
 most deadly sorrow and woe. 
 
 * Germain to Carleton, March 26, 1777. — Haldimand 
 MSS. (See as to the list of the names sent, of persons 
 supposed to be loyal, History of the Girty's, pp. 32, 33.) 
 
 t Carleton to Hamilton, May 21, 1777. — Haldimand 
 MSS. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note XXL) 
 
44 HISTORY OP CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The next day after the reception of Carleton's 
 orders, Hamihon caUed together the savages in coun- 
 cil and then dehvered to them a war hatchet, which 
 they accepted with a war dance. This was the real 
 beginning of the Western Border War — the letting 
 loose the "horrible hell-hounds of savage war" upon 
 the exposed frontiers. It was on the seventeenth of 
 June. On the eighteenth he read to the assembled 
 savages a proclamation intended for distribution upon 
 the border.* "By virtue," were its words, "of the 
 power and authority to me given by his Excellency, 
 Sir Guy Carleton, Knight of the Bath, Governor of 
 the Province of Quebec, General and Commander-in- 
 Chief, etc., etc., I assure all such as are inclined to 
 withdraw themselves from the tyranny and oppres- 
 sion of the rebel committees, and take refuge in this 
 settlement, or any of the posts commanded by his 
 Majesty's officers, that they shall be humanely treated ; 
 shall be lodged and victualed ; and such as are officers 
 in arms and shall use them in defense of his Majesty 
 against rebels and traitors till the extinction of this 
 rebellion, shall receive pay adequate to their former 
 stations in the rebel service; and all common men 
 who shall serve during that period shall receive his 
 Majesty's bounty of two hundred acres of land." f A 
 few of these proclamations, dated subsequently, found 
 
 * "Published [June 18th] the Proclamation encouraging 
 the Royalists, to the nations in the Council." — Hamilton's 
 "Journal" of June 16-July 3, 1777: Haldimand MSS. (The 
 "nations" he refers to were the several Indian nations assem- 
 bled at Detroit and then in council.) 
 
 '\ Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, Vol. V, p. 402. 
 From the wording of the proclamation, it is evident tha^ 
 Hamilton based it upon the "Instructions" of Germain as 
 given in his letter to Carleton of the twenty-sixth of March. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 45 
 
 their way across the border, bemg left where incursions 
 were made (and sometimes on the dead bodies of bor- 
 dermen) by the savages or by Rangers accompanying 
 them.* They were signed by Hamihon as ''Lieutenant 
 Governor and Superintendent;" and some were soon 
 read by indignant Whigs in the settlements on the 
 headwaters of the Ohio. 
 
 The Lieutenant Governor was not slow in his en- 
 deavors, by every means in his power, to engage the 
 savages and fit them out for the aggressive Indian 
 war against the "rebels" which had at his express 
 suggestion and desire, been authorized by Germain. 
 White officers were appointed to go with the warriors ; 
 and war-hatchets were sent to the various nations not 
 in the immediate vicinity of Detroit. To the savages 
 who accepted these, ammunicion was immediately sent. 
 Near the middle of July, Hamilton \/rote Germain : 
 "Parties are daily setting off for the frontiers, which 
 have with most of them interpreters and are furnished 
 with placards inviting the well-disposed to have re- 
 course to his Majesty's clemency; and towards the 
 last of the month he sent his Lordship, "an account 
 of Indians gone to war" from Detroit: 
 
 "Seven parties before the i8th of July. . 178 
 
 "Interpreters and Rangers 22 
 
 "From the 18th to the 27th [of July] 
 
 eight parties iii 
 
 "Indian officers and Rangers 8 
 
 "Total , 319 
 
 "I have no particular account of the distant nations 
 except the Miamis [at the head of the Maumee,] who, 
 
 ^Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, vol. V, p. 741. 
 Compare, in this connection, Farmer's History of Detroit 
 and Michigan, p. 249, 
 
46 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 I am told, are, most of them, preparing to set out with 
 some volunteer whites from their villages. 
 Parties are forming daily [at Detroit], and a perfect 
 cheerfulness and obedience has appeared hitherto." * 
 
 Hamilton sent Germain another letter, early in 
 September, wherein he said : "At the best computa- 
 tion which can be made eleven hundred and fifty 
 warriors are now dispersed over the frontiers. Seven 
 hundred are on the list who have had their equipment 
 or at least ammunition from this place [Detroit]" . 
 
 . . The officers [that is, white men — "Indian of- 
 ficers"] who have been appointed to the savages have 
 gone to war with them, and some of them acquitted 
 themselves well."f 
 
 Now that Hamilton might better confer with 
 Carleton concerning public affairs, he concluded to 
 make a flying visit to Montreal and Quebec. He left 
 Detroit in the early days of September, having been 
 preceded a considerable time by Captain Lernoult. 
 
 Because of the success of the "rebels" to the east- 
 ward, Carleton became alarmed lest the Western posts 
 
 * Hamilton to Germain, July 24 and 27, 1777. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. "Hamilton, the lieutenant-governor of Detroit, 
 in obedience to orders from the secretary of state [Lord 
 George Germain] sent out fifteen severcil parties, consisting 
 in the aggregate of two hundred and eighty-nine braves 
 with thirty white officers and rangers." [Bancroft — History 
 of the United States (ed. of 1885), vol. V, p. 168.] This, 
 it will be seen, is taken from the letter just cited; but, as 
 given by that historian, it is indefinite. "White officers" 
 might include Detroit militia or even regulars; whereas, as 
 the letter shows, the whites were interpreters, "Indian offi- 
 cers," and Rangers; the first and last mentioned may or may 
 not have been officers. 
 
 t Hamilton to Germain, Sept. 5, 1777. — Haldimand 
 MSS. . ^ 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 47 
 
 might be menaced ; so he sent orders on the twenty- 
 first to have Hamilton repair immediately to Detroit. 
 ''I shall order," said he, "Captain Lernoult there as 
 soon as possible which will settle all matters that have 
 been in dispute." "^ And three days after, he wrote 
 the Niagara commandant [Lieutenat Colonel Mason 
 Bolton] that he understood a disagreement had hap- 
 pened at Detroit, between the officer. Captain John 
 Mompesson, who had commanded there in the absence 
 of Captain Lernoult, and Hamilton, "which," said he, 
 "must be attended with bad consequences to the king's 
 service." "I am to desire," he continued, "you will 
 order Captain Lernoult to return and take the com- 
 mand of that post, on whose judgment and discretion 
 I can thoroughly rely to put an end to these animosi- 
 ties. I make no doubt he will be an aid and assistant 
 to Mr. Hamilton in all things in his department and 
 in forwarding everything else which may tend to the 
 public good." t 
 
 In the first half of October Hamilton returned to 
 Detroit, giving his whole time, immediately upon his 
 arrival, to public affairs. And not long thereafter 
 Captain Lernoult again was in comamnd of the Detroit 
 garrison. 
 
 * Carleton to Cramahe, Sept. 21, 1777. — Haldimand 
 MSS. Hamilton was then in Quebec. See a letter of that 
 date written there, but without signature (generally, although 
 erroneously, ascribed to John Dodge) , published in Almon's 
 Remembrances, vol. VI, and in the Virginia Gazette July 
 17, 1779, concerning Hamilton's official oppression at Detroit. 
 This letter is also printed in full in Farmer's History of 
 Detroit and Michigan, p. 173. 
 
 tSame to Col Bolton, Sept. 24, 1777, — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
48 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ^ ■ 
 
 Turning our attention from Detroit to the settle- 
 ments upon the upper waters of the Ohio, we shall see 
 that, early in 1777, small war parties of savages made 
 their appearance therein. However, these marauds 
 were only the casual droppings of the rain before the 
 . pitiless storm — Hamilton at Detroit, as already 
 shown, not having, until the beginning of summer, 
 sent his Indian allies, armed and equipped, against 
 the border settlements to kill and destroy. The most 
 serious trouble continued from the Pluggystown In- 
 dians. Preparations were set on foot to punish these 
 savages, by Virginia; but the undertaking was finally 
 laid aside for fear of offending the Delawares, upon 
 the Muskingum and the neutral Shawanese farther to 
 the westward. 
 
 As early as September, 1775, Virginia wisely 
 garrisoned the dilapidated Fort Pitt and held posses- 
 sion of it until the first day of June, 1777, when Gen- 
 eral Edward Hand of the Continental army arrived 
 and assumed the chief command of the Western De- 
 partment. In August following, Mingoes from the 
 Scioto, Wyandots from the Sandusky, with a few 
 Shawanese and Delawares crossed the Ohio tO' attack 
 Fort Henry (formerly Fort Fincastle) at Wheeling. 
 It was the first attempt by the Indians against the 
 frontier, in force, after Hamilton's virtual declaration 
 of war against the borderers. Fifteen Americans were 
 killed and five wounded. Soon after, at a distance be- 
 low the fort, the Wyandots attacked, on the east side 
 of the Ohio, a reconnoitering expedition sent out from 
 Wheeling, killing twenty-one, wounding several, and 
 capturing one. When, finally, the Shawanese all 
 joined the hostile nations, there could no longer be any 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 49 
 
 doubt but open war had been resolved upon all the 
 Ohio Indians (except the Delawares and possibly the 
 Wyandots, notwithstanding Morgan had made stren- 
 uous efforts to induce them to hold another council 
 with him at Pittsburgh. 
 
 At the date of Hamilton's being made Lieutenant 
 Governor of Detroit, David Abbott was appointed to 
 a like office for Vincennes ; but he did not reach his 
 post until the nineteenth of May, 1777. He met with 
 a cordial welcome from the inhabitants, mostly French 
 Canadians, whom he required to take an oath of 
 fidelity to his Government. He formed three com- 
 panies of militia ; but the savages of the Wabash gave 
 him considerable trouble. "The Indians are striving," 
 he wrote, "to set the French [meaning the Vincennes 
 people] against the English Government and have told 
 many of them I should not live long. I am endeavor- 
 ing to secure myself as well as I can, by stockading 
 the cabin I am in. I have likewise desired Monsieur 
 Rocheblave to send me four pieces of can-non from 
 the Illinois, which he writes he has done." * 
 
 Towards the close of the year Abbott wrote that his 
 stockade was half finished and would be completed in' 
 a fortnight.f It was named Fort Sackville.J 
 
 * Abbott to Carleton,. July 9, 1777. — Haldimand MSS.; 
 and Rocheblave to the former, June 1, 1777 — in same. The 
 cannon were iron and were sent on the second of June 
 
 t Abbott to Carleton, Nov. 23, 1777. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 X The old . cathedral at the end of Second street [in 
 Vincennes] marks the spot of the beginning of Caucasian 
 civilization in Indiana, while hard by it on the river bank 
 stood the first rude fort in Indiana, and a Httle later the 
 stronger Fort Sackville." (E. A. Bryan, in "Indiana's First 
 
 A 
 
During ihe next Jamtary he detemiineil k^ leave 
 his ixx^t and return to Detroit, His reasons were to 
 a\n>id the large expense for presents to the savages 
 (who were soon expected from their '^hunt*") which 
 he would be ci>ni|xilei.i to incur or exasperation on 
 their ixirt would follow. He starteil from \ inceimes 
 on the third day of Febniary, 1778, and after a jxtin- 
 fill iouniey through the woods arrivevl with his family 
 at DetrvMt on the seventh of March* — leaving J. M, 
 r LegTas in co^miiand of the militia upon his de- 
 jxirtim\ 
 
 While at \ incennes, Abbott useil every ettort to 
 keep the \V abash Indians tinn in their alliance with 
 his Goveniment. nevertheless, so much was he ham- 
 perevl with a scarcity of supplies that* in reality* as 
 his letters to his superiors show* his aid amounted to 
 little: hence it was that the savages near him were 
 inclined to listen to Sjxmish emissaries* and were at 
 times o|x^n in their declarations of friendship also for 
 the "Long Knives." The Wrvlerers in Kentucky, 
 therefore* (and Clark was of the number)* put too 
 much stress upon the help given the Indians at Via- 
 cennes. The Lieutenant Governor's policy had been 
 not to directly encounig'e the saN^ag^es to make w^r 
 upon the inolTensive settlers on the border of Mrg-inia : 
 however* though he deplored their marauds* his giv- 
 ing presents of ammunition and other warlike stores 
 K^ the Indians* helped them to carr>' on their murder- 
 ous \isitations, 
 
 Setdement'^' — J/ilg^mit^ of AmfHc^tt Hish^ry^ vol* XXI* 
 
 {K ^^^^'i It \Ya§* howte^ver, ?c>me \-t>ari5 after the al>andoi\- 
 ment of the Fretich fvM before Abbott erected Fort Sack- 
 ville* and the two evidemlv did not occupy the same grvxmd* 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 51 
 
 The policy inaugurated by Captain Lord at the 
 IlHnois and bequeathed by him, upon his retiring from 
 that command to Rocheblave, was not to excite the 
 savages to take up the hatchet against the Americans, 
 but to hold them in the interest of his Government 
 generally. Rocheblave continued to act upon it ; and 
 thus it was that no war-parties were sent out by him 
 against the Kentucky. settlements. Even had he been 
 otherwise inclined, he was without supplies or funds 
 to procure them to fit out Indians for war. To June, 
 1777, it had not been, as we have seen, the policy of 
 any one in command in the West to send warriors 
 against the American border across the Ohio; and 
 the most that Rocheblave had done was, to encourage 
 a war chief of the Kickapoos on the Illinois river, in 
 the late spring of the year last mentioned, to visit 
 Hamilton at Detroit. During the residue of the time 
 the Illinois commander held his office — only a twelve- 
 month — his hands were completely tied, so that at 
 the end he could only aver that the Indians were in 
 general well enough disposed toward the English, but 
 that it was difficult to control them with the small 
 militia force at his command ; and that all he could 
 do was to destroy the impressions made by the Spanish 
 and by emissaries of the Americans upon their minds.* 
 
 As the Spaniards occupied the west side of the 
 Mississippi at St. Louis and St. Genevieve, their prox- 
 imity and evident leaning toward the Americans made 
 them, particularly, objects of annoyance and alarm to 
 Rocheblave. The movement also of Captain James 
 Willing in an armed boat down the Ohio from Pitts- 
 burgh, on his way to attack the British planters be- 
 
 * Rocheblave to Carleton. — Haldimand MSS. (See 
 Mason's Early Chicago and Illinois, p. 417.) 
 
S2 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC 
 
 low> on the left side of the Mississippi, gave the IIH- 
 nois commandant mnch xmeasiness. He continued to 
 keep the > Governor of Canada well-informed of all 
 things which to his mind seemed of interest or im- 
 portance, dowTi to the fourth day of July, 177S. when 
 his letter- writing suddenly tem\inated. The "fraudu- 
 lent neutrality" he declared, on that day, of the Spani- 
 ards, was what gave him still the most concern. \\'hat 
 he denied above all thing-s was, that a body of troops 
 sliould be sent to the Illinois ; as he plainly saw there 
 was trouble ahead — "a numerous band of brigands'* 
 w^ould establish "a chain of communication,** not easily 
 to be broken, between the Colonists and the Span- 
 iards."^ Little did he imagine, however, that almost 
 within sight, marching down upon him, not wnth ban- 
 ners unfurleil nor with drums beating, was a "band.** 
 not of ''brig-ands*' but of patriots, who would, all too 
 soon for his quietude, fulfill his prophecy to the letter. 
 
 *Id, (The entire letter is tmnslateil into English, on 
 pp. 412-418. of the work last cited.) In speaking of Roche- 
 Wave's career, Mr. Mason says (p. -3t>8) : "His services 
 were especially valuable in regard to the Indians among whom 
 his military experience and long association with them as 
 a French partisan gave him influence, and he kept the tribes 
 in kis neigkb(>rh(?Oii qniet, and the routes of the Ohio and 
 Mississippi open for a considerable time by personal efforts 
 alone [the italicising is mine].** 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Now dial Virj^inia had erected west of llic lii^ 
 Saiid\' river aii<l (lie ("lunberhind mounlains, the 
 eoiinly ol" l\eiitneky, the next step was its or^'aniza- 
 (ion. This was elTeoted in tlie spring' of 1777 accord- 
 iiij4" to law and in the same manner as other connties 
 had ])een ori^anized. A connty seat — Harrodshnrj^-, 
 as it was ncvw g'encrally called — was established; jns- 
 tiees of the i)eace were appointed (who jointly con- 
 stituted a connty coml ) , also a sheriff and clerk. A 
 connty lientenant — J^>hn iiowman — was commis- 
 sioned, bnt did not reach Harrodsbnrg- nntil the sec- 
 ond of September. Clark was commisisoned major.* 
 By the tUth of March, he had the militia enrolled. 
 Owinj;- to theii- small nnmber (three companies: one 
 at Boonesboronf^h, nndcr Ca])tain Daniel Boone ; one 
 at Lo<2^an's Fort, nnder Ca])tain lienjamin Lop^an ; and 
 one at Harrodsbnr*^- nnder Ca])tain James Ilarrod) no 
 lieutenant colonel was appointed and no colonel. Be- 
 
 *"Tn this visit [to 'Harrods town,' in 1775], he [Clark] 
 either had a eominission of major, or was from his service 
 ill Dunniore's War and prominent talents, voluntarily placed 
 at the head of llie irregular troops, then in Kentucky. He 
 himself only speaks of settling in the fall of '77, the accounts 
 of the Keiitiieky mihlia vvhieh would confirm the idea of his 
 previous conimaiul, hesides heing known at that time as 
 Major Clark." — Butler's KrnfiicL'y, p. 37. It is certain, 
 however, that Clark had no commission whatever in Ken- 
 tucky until that of major was given him in the early part of 
 1777. It is probahle that his commission was dated before 
 the tenth of March, as, on that day, Governor Henry speaks 
 of a field officer of Kentucky militia see Henry's Patrick 
 Henry, vok HI, p. 44), in such was as to raise the pre- 
 sumption one had already been commissioned. 
 
54 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 sides the three captains, there were commisisoned the 
 usual officers under them. Finally, in order that the 
 county might be represented in the Virginia Legisla- 
 ture, two burgesses — John Dodd and Richard Calla- 
 way — were chosen on the nineteenth of April.* 
 They set off for Williamsburg on the twenty-third of 
 
 May.t 
 
 The first blow, in 1777, of the savages in the West, 
 fell upon the settlers of Kentucky county; but Clark 
 was Avide awake and used every exertion in his power 
 in defense of the settlements. Not having the Dela- 
 wares and those Shawanese who remained friendly to 
 the borders, to interpose a barrier between themselves 
 and the Indians already won over to British interests, 
 as had the frontier men, to a certain extent, upon the 
 upper waters of the Ohio, the inhabitants quickly felt 
 the effects of Hamilton's insiduous "talks," even be- 
 fore he had delivered the war-hatchet to his dusky 
 allies. Governor Henry was not asleep to the danger 
 threatening the Kentucky pioneers. He had reason 
 to believe that, with the return of Spring, savage 
 marauds across the Ohio would be frequent and he 
 feared, as a consequence the few stations would be en- 
 tirely broken up. However, he would avert the ca- 
 lamity if possible : 
 
 "You are to embody," he wrote the County Lieuten- 
 ant of ]Montgomery county on the tenth of March, 
 "fifty men of your militia under the usual officers, and 
 order them to Kentucky. In conjunction with fifty 
 others from Botetourt, they are to protect and defend 
 
 * Clark's Diary — INIorehead's Address, p. 162. 
 
 tCollins's Kentucky (.ed. of 1877), p. 615. But that 
 writer substitutes, doubtless inadvertently, Richmond for 
 Williamsburg. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 55 
 
 the settlers there 'til further orders. In case it shall 
 be judged impossible to hold the country with this 
 reinforcement joined to the inhabitants there, they are 
 to escort all the people with their effects to the nearest 
 place of safety, and then to disband, if no other orders 
 are given by me or by my direction. 
 
 "This detachment to Kentucky must be victualed 
 there as I understand provisions are plenty and cheap. 
 
 "The .great variety of war in which this State is 
 engaged, makes it impossible to spare such a number 
 of men for this expedition as I could wish ; and also 
 requires that you raise the men in the interior parts of 
 your count}^ least liable to invasion. 
 
 "You will give the officer you send orders con- 
 formable to the above. If a field officer of Kentucky 
 should be on the spot, he will take the command; if 
 not, the eldest captain that commands the reinforce- 
 ment." 
 
 The Governor added : "There is powder, I hear 
 arrived at Kentucky. Lead must be had with you. 
 An order accompanies this."* 
 
 To the officers who would command the force 
 marching to the help of Kentucky, the Virginia execu- 
 tive, on the twenty-ninth, gave explicit instructions: 
 "The quantity of provisions," said he, "and the num- 
 ber of pack-horses are great, but the service being 
 necessary, it must be done, though I hope it may be 
 conducted on the cheapest terms circumstances will 
 allow. I suppose the meat must be had in your parts, 
 but the flour had better be obtained out at the Great 
 Island, or purchased and taken with you and wagoned 
 to that place, where there are a number of public 
 
 * Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. Ill, p. 44. 
 
56 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXQUEST, ETC. 
 
 horses that may be taken to carry it to Kentucky. 
 Let the horses be brought immediately and left at such 
 place as Col. Shelby directs, as they may be wanted 
 again to visit the Cherokees ; and without them great 
 inconvenience may arise. The officer commanding 
 your militia must pass his receipt for all the public 
 property he receives. 
 
 "It is impossible to prescribe the time the rein- 
 forcements are to serve at Kentucky. They must stay 
 as long as the preservation of the lives of the people 
 make it absolutelv necessary and no longer. I ex- 
 pect you will employ proper persons to get the pro- 
 visions on the most frugal plan. Certainly some al- 
 lowance might be made for wild meat, and so some 
 abatement in the number of pack-horses and othei 
 charges. I need not tell you of the necessity of fru- 
 gality, arising from the great extent and variety of 
 military operations that altogether bring on monstrous 
 expense to the State. I would send up ammunition 
 but have no conveyance. If the quantity necessar\" 
 can be had your way, it shall be replaced from here 
 by the first wagon. ^lajor Bledsoe has orders to de- 
 liver the pack-horses necessary out of the public horses 
 near the Great Island. I hope less than you mention 
 will do."^ 
 
 Clark's daily record of events while acting as 
 major of the Kentucky militia is full of interest. 
 These are the incidents he notes from February to 
 (and including) the nineteenth of April following: he 
 was then at Harrodsburg : 
 
 "February. — Xothing remarkable done. 
 ="Id.. p. 53. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 67 
 
 ''March 5. — Militia of the county [Kentucky] em- 
 bodied. 
 
 March 6. — Thomas Shores and WilHam Ray killed 
 at the Shawanese Spring [by Indians]. 
 
 March 7. — The Indians attempted to cut off from 
 the fort [Harrodsburg] a small party of our men. A 
 skirmish ensued. We had four men wounded and 
 some cattle killed. We killed and scalped one Indian 
 and wounded several. 
 
 ''March 8. — Brought in corn from the different 
 cribs until the i8th day. 
 
 "March 9. — Express sent to the settlement [i. e., 
 over the mountains, probably to Williamsburg]. 
 Ebenezer Corn and company arrived from Captain 
 Linn on the Mississippi. 
 
 "March 18. — A small party of Indians killed and 
 scalped Hugh Wilson, about half a mile from the fort 
 [Harrodsburg], near night and escaped. 
 
 "March 19.— Archibald McNeal died of his 
 wounds received on the 7th inst. [in the skirmish at 
 Harrodsburg] . 
 
 "March 28. — A large party of Indians attacked 
 the stragglers about the fort [Harrodsburg], killed 
 and scalped Garret Pendergrast, — killed or took 
 prisoner Peter Flin. 
 
 "April 7. — Indians killed one man at Boonesbor- 
 ough, and wounded one. 
 
 "April 8. — Stoner arrived with news from the set- 
 tlement [east of the mountains]. 
 
 "April 16. — Doran Brown and company arrived 
 from the Cumberland river. 
 
58 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "April 19. — John Todd and Richard Callaway 
 elected burgesses. James Berry married to widow 
 Wilson."* 
 
 While over the mountains as a delegate to the Vir- 
 ginia Convention the year previous, Clark made him- 
 self well acquainted with the contents of the letter 
 captured in 1775, written by Connolly to Captain Lord 
 at Kaskaskia.f The information thus obtained was 
 not lost upon him. Besides, it is highly probable that 
 while he was at Pittsburg, on his return with his com- 
 panion Jones to Kentucky, he had a conference with 
 George Morgan concerning the feasibility of attack- 
 ing the British posts 'to the northwestward and west- 
 ward; and that Morgan laid before him his plan for 
 that purpose so far as the Illinois towns were con- 
 cerned, informing him also of his endeavors just be- 
 fore to obtain information of affairs there. It is not 
 at all surprising, therefore, that, while floating down 
 the Ohio with his cargo of powder, he should have 
 "brooded over the conquest of the land to the north of 
 that river." % Nor is it a matter of wonder that, in 
 Harrodsburg, in the Spring following, we find him, 
 notwithstanding his onerous duties in defending the 
 settlements, pondering over, so far as he understood 
 it, the true condition of the British posts on the fron- 
 tiers, which, "since the beginning of the war," he had 
 taken pains to make himself acquainted with. 
 
 * Clarke's Diary — Morehead's Address, p. 162. Com- 
 pare Collins's Kentucky (ed. of 1877), p. 615. 
 
 t Botta's istory of the War of Independence, vol. I, 
 p. 250. 
 
 I Bancroft's History of the United States (ed. of 1885), 
 vol. V, p. 310. "While floating down the Ohio in 1776, 
 being then twenty-four years of age, he [Clark] conceived 
 the conquest of the country beyond [that is, northwest of] 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 59 
 
 In his reflections upon the condition of the various 
 British posts northwest of the Ohio, Major Clark had 
 his attenion particularly called to Vincennes. This 
 was the nearest white settlement held by the British; 
 and it was his belief that numerous war parties were 
 there fitted out to go against the Americans. This 
 erroneous idea was the result of his knowing noth- 
 ing of the state of affairs there, and of his ignorance 
 of the temper of the Indians of the Wabash valley 
 generally. While many of these savages expressed 
 their interest in the^ new order of things, the war 
 hatchet sent by Hamilton was not accepted by any of 
 the nations on that river during the year 1777. 
 
 Clark soon made up his mind that the proximity 
 of the hostile nations of the Wabash valley (for, as we 
 have seen, he was fully persuaded of their evil intent 
 against the Kentucky settlements) would make any 
 undertaking against Vincennes extra hazardous. So 
 he banished all thought concerning that town from his 
 mind, giving his attention now to the Illinois. Evi- 
 dently, from what knowledge he had previously ob- 
 tained it seemed to him that that country might be 
 successfully invaded by the Americans ; and he would 
 know more of the condition of things there, if possi- 
 ble; so, on the twentieth of April he "sent express 
 to the Illinois" (as he says in his diary), two young 
 men of the militia of Harrodsburg — Benjamin Linn 
 and Samuel Moore, who went by canoe down the 
 Cumberland* probably to avoid the Indians. They 
 
 the river." — Hinsdale's The Old Northwest, p. 153. But 
 it is certain he laid no plans then and there to effect that 
 conquest. 
 
 * Collins's Kentucky (ed. of 1877) , p. 61.5. 
 
60 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 returned on the twenty-second of June,* giving Clark 
 late and valuable information. f 
 
 The Major was told by the two "spies," that the 
 people of the Illinois had but little expectation of a 
 visit from Americans, but that things were kept in 
 good order ; the militia trained that they might, should 
 they be attacked, be prepared, "that the greatest pains 
 were taken to inflame the minds of the French inhab- 
 itants against the Americans;" nevertheless, the two 
 visitors discovered traces of affection for them in some 
 of the inhabitants. They also reported that the In- 
 dians in that quarter were engaged in the war;| but 
 this declaration could not have applied to such as were 
 strictly Illinois savages : these had not taken up the 
 hatchet, as already shown. 
 
 The situation at Kaskaskia and throughout the 
 British Illinois, it is evident, had been intelligently ob- 
 served by Linn and Moore ; but there were several 
 items of information communicated by them to Clark 
 which the latter does not mention in his Memoir, but 
 which, nevertheless, became subsequently of great im- 
 portance to him. He was told, of course, that Roche- 
 blave commanded there ; that there were "many pieces 
 of cannon" in Fort Gage, with considerable amount of 
 military stores, and that the fort was occupied "by 
 
 * Clark makes these entries in his Diary as to Linn and 
 Moore: "April 'JO. — Ben. Linn and Samuel Moore went 
 express to the Illinois." .... 
 
 "June 22. — Ben. Linn and Samuel Moore arrived from 
 the Illinois." (See Morehead's Address, p. 162.) 
 
 t Appendix to our narrative, Note XIII. 
 
 J Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 118. 119. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 61 
 
 a very weak garrison."* Now, the two "spies" also re- 
 ported the good intentions of Rocheblave's neighbors 
 
 — the Spaniards -;— toward the Americans, which 
 Clark forgot to mention in his list, as also that the 
 Illinois commandant kept a close watch upon the Mis- 
 sissippi below, and also for some distance above the 
 mouth of the Ohio.f But it is certain that the two 
 men did not visit Vincennes on their trip, either in 
 going to Kaskaskia, or. on their return from that post. 
 It is clear from all the evidence extant that Clark be- 
 came more and more impressed as the months wore 
 away, with the feasibility of attacking the Illinois 
 towns — that they might be captured with a compar- 
 atively small force of Americans : it was an idea of 
 his ; and there can be no doubt it was ''locked up in his 
 own bosom ;" but it was only an idea — no movement 
 
 — no effort — no "overt act" — was there, on his part, 
 towards carrying this idea into execution while at- 
 tending to his duties as major in the Kentucky set- 
 tlements, unless, indeed, the sending of Linn and 
 Moore to the Illinois be considered such. 
 
 A Kentucky writer makes this showing as to Clark 
 being thoroughly awakened to the necessity of con- 
 quering the posts in possession of the British beyond 
 the Ohio: 
 
 "He [Clark] had, as an adventurer, visited Ken- 
 tucky in 1775. As her delegate, he had claimed her 
 
 * Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. I, pp. 584, 685. At the 
 very time of the departure of the two "spies" from the 
 Illinois, as we have already seen, Rocheblave sent some of 
 the cannon to Vincennes — leaving Fort Gage, June 2 (Roche- 
 blave to Abbott, June 1, 1777: Haldimand MSS. 
 
 t But, in other parts of his ^Memoir, Clark discloses the 
 fact that he had been put in possession of the two last items of 
 information mentioned above. 
 
62 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 recognition by the authorities of the parent State in 
 1776 — through his agency her institutions were es- 
 tabHshed. He had returned to the frontier to partic- 
 ipate in the struggles of the feeble stations for exist- 
 ence. The British government was then in posses- 
 sion of the military posts of Detroit, Vincennes and 
 Kaskaskia, and diffused an influence among the north- 
 western Indian tribes, which, if properly directed, 
 might have operated most prejudicially to the Amer- 
 ican cause. With characteristic forecast, Clark per- 
 ceived that, to these sources of influence, were mainly 
 attributed the habitually inflamed passions and unre- 
 mitted depredations of those savages, and especially 
 the determined and systematic onsets which, through- 
 out the year 1777, were made on the frontier stations. 
 The reduction of these posts became, therefore, in his 
 estimation, a cardinal object of his policy. He be- 
 lieved that upon their destruction the fate of the set- 
 tlements depended. He had moreover become ap- 
 prised that a plan had been conceived by the Gov- 
 ernor of Vincennes to be carried into execution on 
 the return of Spring, to combine a large British and 
 Indian force for oft'ensive operations against Kentucky, 
 the consequences of which, if successful, years of per- 
 severing effort might not retrieve.""^ 
 
 The unfairness, in this statement, of giving Clark 
 (the writer not once mentioning Jones) all the credit 
 for establishing Kentucky's institutions, is evident. 
 As to "systematic onsets" being made in 1777 by the 
 savages on the Kentucky settlements — they were 
 generally very far from it. Neither did the reduction 
 of the British military posts beyond the Ohio, be- 
 
 * Morehead's Address, p. 60. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 63 
 
 come in Clark's estimation, a cardinal object of policy, 
 nor did he believe that upon their destruction de- 
 pended the fate of- the settlements. There is no evi- 
 dence of a contemporaneous character that Clark had 
 been apprised of a combined movement from Vin- 
 cennes ; but, if he had really been so informed, it was 
 a false report. 
 
 Fully to make plain the labor and responsibility 
 resting upon Clark (finally shared by Colonel Bow- 
 man), it is necessary to record the principal events 
 occurring during the spring and summer, in the set- 
 tlements. Notwithstanding the fort at Harrodsburg, 
 on the thirteenth of January,*^ had been strengthened 
 by the refugees from McClelland's fort, it was attacked 
 (or working-parties or others near it were) by hostile 
 Shawanese three times during the month of March ; 
 also once in April, once in May, again in June, once 
 in August, and still another time in September.f But 
 none of these assaults can be considered, in any light, 
 as regular sieges. J In the last, if tradition is to be 
 realized upon, Clark was hotly engaged with the sav- 
 ages and killed one of their number. § 
 
 Boonsborough, on the twenty-fourth of April was 
 attacked by a considerable number of Indians, but be- 
 ing destitute of artillery and scaling ladders, they 
 could effect but little. Some of the settlers, however, 
 were killed and the corn and cattle in the vicinity par- 
 tially destroyed ; but the savages met with so spirited 
 a resistance as to compel them to retire with precip- 
 
 * Clark's Diary — Morehead's Address, p. 162. 
 t Id., pp. 162, 163. (See as to many particulars, Collins's 
 Kentucky (ed. of 1877), pp. 610-613.) 
 X See Appendix, Note XIV. 
 § Butler's Kentucky, p. 44 
 
64 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOUEST, ETC. 
 
 itation. The Indians made their appearance again on 
 the twenty-third of j\Iay. Of this visit, Clark wrote: 
 "A large party of Indians attacked Boonesborough 
 fort : kept a warm fire until 1 1 o'clock at night ; began 
 it next morning and kept a hot fire until midnight, at- 
 tempting several times to burn the fort ; three of our 
 men were wounded — not mortally ; the enemy suf- 
 fered considerably.''* This nearest resembles a siege 
 as carried on by civilized armies of any of the eflforts 
 of the savages against the stations during the year. 
 
 In June, a small party of Indians was pursued 
 from the fort to the Ohio river, and one of their num- 
 ber killed.f 
 
 Logan's fort was assailed by Indians on the thir- 
 tieth of ]\Iay. They killed and scalped William 
 Hudson and wounded Burr Harrison and John Ken- 
 nedy. Harrison died on the thirteenth of June. 
 But the fort was beset by the savages only on the day 
 first mentioned.! 
 
 In attending to his duties as major of the Ken- 
 tucky militia, Clark was constantly engaged until near 
 the close of September, the principal direction of af- 
 fairs having devolved upon him until the arrival, on 
 the first of August, at Boonesborough, of County- 
 Lieutenant John Bowman, who finally reached Har- 
 rodsburg, as before stated on the second of September. 
 
 * Clark's L>/arv — Morehead's Address p. 162. 
 
 tCollins's Kentucky (ed. of 1882). vol. II, p. 528. 
 
 J Clark's Diary — Morehead's Address, p. 162. It was 
 no siege, in the strict sense of the word, western historical 
 accounts to the contrary, notwithstanding. (See Appendix 
 to our narrative. Notes XIV and XV.) Some of the dates 
 in Boone's Xarrafiz'e (^^Titten by Filson) differ from those 
 given in Clark's Diary: but the latter authoritj^ is the most 
 reliable. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 65 
 
 Towards the middle of September, it began to look 
 as if there would soon be an end to all settlements in 
 the new Virginia county. Savage incursions, it was 
 plainly to be seen, were on the increase. It had al- 
 ready become evident that war-parties of Indians were 
 being fitted out by Hamilton at Detroit and sent 
 against the Kentucky stations. His proclamation, of 
 the month of June, mention of which has previously 
 been made, was found upon a borderer who had been 
 killed and scalped, placed there so as to be seen by the 
 settlers who might discaver the body.* 
 
 "Commencing," says a Kentucky author, ''with the 
 date of his (Clark's) return from Virginia to- 
 ward the close of the year 1776 [with his asso- 
 ciate, Jones], he embodied in a journal some hasty 
 memoranda of the principal occurrences of the year 
 1777, and the venerable relic has been kindly placed 
 into my hands. The information communicated by 
 it justifies me in repeating that the year 1777 was 
 one of severe trial to the emigrants. Scarcely a 
 day elapsed without bringing with it an attack 
 on some one of the stations, or a skirmish with 
 the savages, or the surprise of a hunting party — sel- 
 dom unaccompanied with loss of lives. Boonesbor- 
 
 * "During 1777, the war bands organized at Dtetroit 
 were sent against the country round Pittsburg; while the 
 feeble forts in the far western wilderness [Kentucky], were 
 only troubled by smaller war parties raised among the tribes 
 on their own account." (Roosevelt — The Winning of the 
 West, vol. 11, p. 11.) But it is certain that some of Ham- 
 ilton's war parties of 1777, went against Kentucky as well 
 as against the Virginia borderers farther up the Ohio and 
 the Pennsylvania frontier settlements. (Compare, in this 
 connection, Farmer's History of Detroit and Michigan, p. 249. 
 
 5 
 
66 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ough, Harrodsburg and Logan's fort — the three 
 prominent settlements — were successively besieged 
 with great obstinacy. During a period of more than 
 six weeks, the Indians seem never for a moment to 
 have abandoned the country. They hovered around 
 the stations — haunted the traces- that led to them — 
 skulked through the forests — concealed themselves in 
 canebrakes — always ready to avail themselves of 
 whatever advantages might occur. Yet the whole ef- 
 fective military force of the settlers consisted at this 
 time of about one hundred men : Boonesborough 
 contained twenty-two ; Harrodsburg, sixty-five ; Lo- 
 gan's fort, fifteen.""^ 
 
 But this account, strictly speaking, is overdrawn m 
 one particular : neither of the stations mentioned were, 
 as we have before stated, besieged ; although, as al- 
 ready shown, they several times suffered attacks — the 
 latter not being in any sense sieges as carried on by 
 civilized armies. 
 
 Additional conclusions may also be drawn from 
 Clark's diary as to his career while in command of the 
 Kentucky militia. It does not appear (and it is prob- 
 ably not the fact) that he engaged personally in many 
 of the conflicts with the savages ; his position did not 
 require it ; besides, as he had the general direction of 
 affairs so far as the militia was concerned, in the ab- 
 sence of Col. Bowman, the county lieutenant, not yet 
 arrived at Harrodsburg, it would have been out of 
 place for him to have constantly risked his life. His 
 activity was great, however, not only in directing par- 
 ties against the savages, but as we have before said 
 in sending expresses to- various parts. Doubtless the 
 
 * Morehead's Address, p. 58. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 67 
 
 one sent to Fort Pitt was for ammunition, as it was 
 supposed by him that a Virginian still commanded 
 there, he not knowing of the arrival of General Hand, 
 a Continental officer. As to one matter, tradition is 
 undoubtedly to be relied upon — that he enjoyed the 
 full confidence of the settlers and was highly esteemed 
 for his display of good judgment in the direction of 
 military affairs. By no means, however, was he a 
 hero — an idol — of the borderers, as enthusiastic and 
 credulous writers concerning his efforts during the 
 year 1777 in Kentucky, persistently declare. He 
 acted thoughtfully, discreetly, gallantly, but not more 
 heroically than others who fought in defense of the 
 settlements.* 
 
 And now, caused by the arrival, on the thirteenth 
 of September, of a company of forty-eight militia 
 from the east at Boonesborough, bringing intelligence 
 that one hundred and fifty more were on the way, 
 there began to be a return of confidence among the 
 borderers and a feeling of greater security in the set- 
 tlements, increased materially by the appearance of 
 Captain John Montgomery with thirty-eight militia at 
 Logan's fort on the second of October, and of Captain 
 Charles G. Watkins with fifty at Boonesborough a 
 few days thereafter. Meanwhile, however, a militia 
 company that had been sometime in the settlements 
 started on their return home.f Thence forward to 
 
 * See Appendix, Note XVI, of this narrative. 
 
 t Clark's Diary — Morehead's Address, p. 163. "In 
 October Clark, in his Diary, records meeting fifty men with 
 their families, (therefrom permanent settlers), on their way 
 to Boon [Boonesborough] , and thirty-eight men on their way 
 to Logan's." (Roosevelt — The Winning of the West, vol. 
 II, p. 18n.) But that writer wholly misconstrues Clark's 
 entries. 
 
68 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 the end of the year the appearance of savage war par- 
 ties was less frequent, and the few stations had 
 strengthened. 
 
 Sometime during the summer Clark had determined 
 to leave the Kentucky settlements. He had, as he de- 
 clares, just reasons known to few but himself that oc- 
 casioned him to resolve not to have any farther com- 
 mand whatever, unless he should find a very great call 
 for troops and his country in danger. In that event, he 
 was determined to give his life rather than the cause 
 should be lost. To carry out his newly-conceived 
 plans, whatever they were, he would first go to Wil- 
 liamsburg and settle his accounts with the State as an 
 officer of the militia of Kentucky county; and he 
 would go before winter set in. What plans he had 
 formulated in his mind for the future is not known. 
 It is certain, however, that they had no reference to 
 his holding any military office.* 
 
 Having arranged all miatters in which he was in- 
 terested, both of a public and private nature, Clark, 
 
 * Clark to George Mason, of Gunston Hall, Virginia, 
 from "Louisville, Falls of the Ohio, Nov'r 19, 1779." See 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, (Cincinnati: Robert Clark 
 & Co., 1869), pp. 21-23. I have not hesitated to follow this 
 letter (writtexi, as it was, so soon after the events which 
 it describes and to one to whom he would most likely write 
 with great care) with the greatest confidence in its truth- 
 fulness. It contains but very few errors and these only 
 slips of the memory, or of his pen, with here and there slight 
 exaggerations of facts. It is by far the most important of all 
 the American documents extant bearing upon our narrative. 
 It was written by Clark when at his best, and was wholly 
 unknown to early writers of Western historj^ (See Appendix 
 to our narrative. Note XVII.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 69 
 
 on the first day of October,* set out on horseback'f 
 from Harrodsburg, on his journey to Williamsburg by 
 way of the Wildernes-s Road, intending, after reaching 
 the settlements, to stop at his old home to visit his par- 
 ents and go thence to the Virginia capital. He started 
 with a company of twenty-two men ; all would have 
 been on the way two days previous but for the fact of 
 their horses having been lost in the woods. Clark 
 was leaving Kentucky not intending to return, as his 
 own statement clearly shows : "After disengaging 
 myself from Kentucky, I set out for Williamsburg."J 
 He celebrated the initiatory proceedings of bidding 
 farewell to the West by "swapping" horses. The 
 bold pioneers of the day had, many of them, a passion 
 for horse-trading, from which, it seems from his own 
 record, Clark himself was not exempt. § 
 
 On the third of October, there was a large addition 
 to Clark's company — of men, women and children 
 returning to their former homes, discouraged by the 
 hardships they had encountered and particularly dis- 
 heartened because of savage aggressions. On the 
 Wilderness Road, they made slow progress, averag- 
 
 * By a slip of his memory, Clark in his letter to Mason 
 of Nov. 19, 1779, gives the date as "in August, 1777" (see 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 21) ; but he had previously 
 written in his Diary the true date (compare Morehead's 
 Address, p. 163). And this is repeated in his Memoir — 
 Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859) , p. 119. 
 
 t Lyman C. Draper, in Appleton's Cyclopedia of American 
 Biography (art. "George Rogers Clark"), says the journey 
 was made on foot. This is a palpable error. 
 
 J Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 21. 
 
 § Clark's Dtary — Morehead's Address, p. 163. (See 
 Appendix to our narrative. Note XVIII.) 
 
70 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ing from fifteen to twenty miles a day only. For 
 food, their dependence was mostly on beeves, which 
 were driven along to be slaughtered as occasion might 
 require. At Rockcastle river, a buffalo was killed and 
 two at Cumberland ford. 
 
 But we will let Clark himself give the particulars 
 of his journey to the "ford :" 
 
 /'Wednesday, Oct. i. — I start for the settlement [i. 
 e., for Williamsburg] — 22 men ; got to Logan's 20 
 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 2. — Capttain [John] Montgomery arrived at 
 Logan's with 38 men, and says that Capt. [Charles 
 G.] Watkins would be in, in a day or two. 
 
 "Oct. 3. — Started on our journey ; Capt. Pawling 
 and company likewise — yG in all, besides women and 
 
 children, and took beeves from Whitley, of G ; 
 
 camped at Pettit's, 16 miles. 
 
 "Oct, 4. — Rain in the morning ; camped on 
 Skagg's creek^ 18 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 5. — Early start ; spies killed a buffalo ; 
 camped one-half mile from the Hazle Patch, 9 miles 
 cross Rockcastle river ; 20 miles — all safe. 
 
 "Oct. 6. — Early start ; camped on Laurel river -, 
 marched 14 miles ; killed a beef. 
 
 "Oct. 7. — ^^ Waited for Skaggs; — he not coming 
 to us, we killed a few deer. 
 
 "Oct. 8. — Skaggs came to us and went back for 
 his skins. 
 
 "Oct. 9. — Lost our beeves ; marched three miles ; 
 crossed Laurel river and camped on the bank. 
 
 "Oct. 10. — Early start ; camped on Richland creek, 
 17 miles, where we met Capt. Charles G. Watkins on 
 his march to Boone's with fifty men and [some] 
 families ; scarce of food. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 71 
 
 "Oct. II. — Marched to Cumberland ford, i8 miles ; 
 killed two buffaloes ; Indians about us."* 
 
 But Clark was not yet out of the interminable 
 woods. On the twelfth he makes this entry in his 
 diary : ''Crossed the R. and C. mountains ; encamped 
 in Powell's valley, 4 miles from, the [Cumberland] 
 Gap ; in the whole 19 miles. On the thirteenth he 
 writes : "Late start ; got to Martin's, 18 miles. "f 
 
 After getting fairly out of the wilderness, Clark no 
 longer traveled with the returning emigrants, but left 
 them on the sixteenth. Alone he pursued his journey 
 until meeting "Captain Campbell," with whom, for a 
 considerable distance, he kept company. He paid lit- 
 tle regard to houses of entertainment, — "taverns," as 
 they were called; "hotels" were unknown, — but "put 
 up" at any settler's house which might be near when 
 night came on. From Harrodsburg to his father's 
 residence was six hundred and twenty miles, by the 
 route he traveled. He was on the road a month be- 
 fore reaching the paternal roof. He had brought a 
 gun with him but had no use for it, now that he was 
 at his home; so he disposed of it for £15. 
 
 After one day's stay with his parents, he renewed 
 his journey, reaching Wililamsburg on the fifth of 
 November. Upon his arrival, he "lodged at Ander- 
 son's and had a confirmation of Burgoyne's sur- 
 render." The next day he bought a ticket in the State 
 lottery which cost him three pounds sterling. He 
 then called upon the Auditors of State to settle his 
 acocunts as to the Kentucky militia ; but, in doing this, 
 he was detained from the seventh to the eighteenth. 
 
 * Clark' s Diary — Morehead's Address, p. 163. 
 tibid. 
 
72 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The cause of the delay was this : When his pay rolls 
 were laid before those officers, although they were 
 properly authenticated, there were scruples in the 
 minds of these functionaries as to the issuing of war- 
 rants for payments of the militia, because, instead of 
 being on actual duty, they had been "obliged, for their 
 own personal safety, and the security of their wives 
 and children, to keep themselves in forts, and remain 
 on the defensive against parties of Indians continually 
 infesting that country, too numerous to permit the in- 
 habitants to return to their plantations." The Gov- 
 ernor was appealed to decide the matter and he at once 
 referred it to the House of Delegates,* — that body 
 ordering their payment, amounting to £ '/26.f 
 
 Again Clark went to his father's home, which he 
 reached on the twenty-second of November:!: — to 
 make a long visit during the winter, shall we say? 
 Thus to conclude would be natural enough, in view of 
 his recent journey through the almost interminable 
 woods of the West; but his (as will presently be seen) 
 was the spirit of unrest — of action — and there were 
 plans revolving in his mind that would necessarily call 
 him away; but "they were known only to a few." 
 That they were not in any way appertaining to public 
 affairs is all that is now to be learned of them. 
 
 * Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. Ill, p. 116. (See Appen- 
 dix to our narrative, Note XIX.) 
 
 t Appendix, Note XX. 
 
 X Id. There is no contemporaneous evidence — no de- 
 claration of Clark himself given at the time — that, in thus 
 returning to his father's house, it was "to get a glimpse 
 of his people before again plunging into the wilds," on 
 some daring expedition, as a recent writer informs his 
 readers (see Roosevelt, in The Winning of the West, vol. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 SCARCELY two weeks had elapsed after Clark's 
 leaving Williamsburg before he returned, to 
 make arrangements concerning some business 
 affairs wholly his own. "On my arrival in town," he 
 says, "I found, to appearance, friends in many gentle- 
 men af note, who offered their influence to me in case 
 I should apply for any post. Many were surprised 
 that I would not solicit for some berth. I must con- 
 fess that I think myself often to blame for not making 
 use of influence for my promotion, but to merit it first 
 is such a fixed principle with me that I never could, 
 and I hope never shall ask for a post of honor; as I 
 think the public ought to be the best judge whether 
 a person deserves it or not : if he does, he will certainly 
 be rewarded according to the worth he has."* 
 
 That Clark was not slow in learning the condition 
 of affairs concerning the war (so far as those best in- 
 formed at the capital of the State understood it) there 
 can be no doubt. ''Finding," says he, "that we were 
 in [an] alarming situation, the Indians desperate on 
 one side, the Britains on the other, immediately re- 
 solved to encourage an expedition to the Illinois. "f 
 
 II, p. 36.) Such an inference can only be drawn from 
 Clark's words written years subsequent to his return to his 
 home and which are not entitled to any evidence. (See the 
 following chapter.) 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 22. 
 
 flbid. (See concerning Clark's erroneous statements 
 made years subsequent to this as to his purpose in leaving 
 Kentucky and as to the reasons why he made known his 
 design against the Illinois, Appendix to our narrative, 
 Note XXI.) 
 
74 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The resolve of Clark to suggest the propriety of 
 an undertaking against the Illinois and to urge a 
 speedy movement looking to its organization, was a 
 determination of momentous import should the scheme 
 meet with approval and the undertaking he crowned 
 with success. But to make public the plan, would, in 
 the judgment of the projector of it, be almost certain 
 to defeat it, as word, doubtless, would reach the Illinois 
 in time to enable the making there of a proper defense. 
 Clark, therefore, very wisely confided his ideas, only 
 "to a few gentlemen" whom he could trust, and they 
 communicated them to Governor Henry.* ''At first, 
 he [the Governor] seemed to be fond of it," are the 
 words of Clark's Memoir, ''but, to detach a party at so 
 great a distance (although the service performed might 
 be of great utility), appeared daring and hazardous. 
 As nothing but secrecy could give success to the enter- 
 prise, to lay the matter before the x\ssembly, then sit- 
 ting, would be dangerous, as it soon would be known 
 throughout the frontiers ; and probably the first pris- 
 oner taken by the Indians would give the alarm, which 
 would end in the certain destruction of the party."t 
 
 One of Clark's suggestions (according to his 
 Memoir) that, in case of misfortune, there could be 
 a retreat from the Illinois towns across the Mississippi 
 
 * Clark to ]\Iason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 22. Three of the Virginia gentlemen spoken to by Clark 
 were George Wythe, George Mason, and Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 t Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 119. Dillon has evidently given the words a wrong punctu- 
 ation, which impairs Clark's meaning; I have, therefore, 
 changed the pointing somewhat, as otherwise, the whole 
 carries the idea that the scheme was not, in any manner, 
 laid before the Assembly — which is error; as will hereafter 
 be shown. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 75 
 
 into the Spanish territory, seemed to those with whom 
 he consulted as removing one of the principal objec- 
 tions to the enterprise. "After giving," says Clark, 
 in his letter to Mason, "the Council all the intelligence 
 I possibly could, I resolved to pursue my other plans. 
 But, being desired by the Governor to stay some time 
 in town [Williamsburg], I waited with impatience — ^. 
 he, I suppose, believing that I wanted the command 
 and being determined to give it to me." 
 
 Clark had proposed the expedition ; he would be 
 glad to see it set on foot ; but he did not desire to lead 
 it : "it was far," he declares, "from my inclination at 
 that time".* 
 
 It was not long before the enterprise was deter- 
 mined on, to be put in execution so soon as an act 
 could be passed to enable the Governor to order it. 
 Such a bill was accordingly introduced into the Legis- 
 lature, vague" enough not to arouse any suspicion of its 
 real import, and it soon became a law, though but few 
 of the members knew of its hidden meaning. It 
 authorized the Governor, with the advice of the Privy 
 Council, at anytime within nine months after its pass- 
 age, to raise a number of volunteers not exceeding six 
 hundred, to march against and attack any Western 
 enemies — he to appoint the proper officers and give 
 the necessary orders for the expedition. f 
 
 After some time had elapsed, Clark was summoned 
 to attend the Executive Council. The instructions and 
 necessary papers were ready for putting in the name 
 of the person who was to lead the expedition. Clark 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 23. 
 
 t Hening's Virginia Statutes at Large, vol. IX, pp. 
 374, 375. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note XXII.) 
 
76 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC., 
 
 fully believed it was expected by Governor Henry and 
 his advisers, that he would apply for the position, but 
 he resolved not to do so for reasons already given ; and 
 he did not ; thereupon he was informed that he had 
 been appointed chief of the proposed "little army." 
 He finally accepted the command after being told it 
 •was designed for him; and, as a consequence, he "got 
 every request granted.""^ He was commissioned at 
 the same time, a Lieutenant Colonel, that is, of Vir- 
 ginia militia, not, however, being in any way restricted 
 to Kentucky.f 
 
 It was on the second of January, 1778, that final 
 action was taken by the Governor and his Council as 
 to the proposed expedition : "Present, his Excellency, 
 John Page, Dudley Diggs, John Blair, Nathaniel Har- 
 rison and David Jameson, Esquires. 
 
 "The Governor informed the Council that he had 
 had some conversation with several gentlemen who 
 were ^^'ell acquainted with the western frontiers of 
 Virginia and the situation of the post at Kaskaskia 
 held by the British King's forces, where there are 
 many pieces of cannon, and military stores to a con- 
 siderable amount ; and that he was informed the place 
 was at present held by a very weak garrison, which 
 induced him to believe that an expedition against it 
 might be carried on with success, but that he wished 
 the advice of the Council on the occasion. 
 
 "Whereupon they advised his Excellency to set on 
 foot the expedition against Kaskaskia with as little 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 23. 
 
 t Dr. Poole, in Wmsor's' Narrative and Critical History 
 of America, vol. VI, p. 717. erroneously declares that 
 "Clark received from Gov. Henry the rank of colonel." 
 
HISTORY OF CLAR K'S CONQUEST, ETC. 77 
 
 delay and as much secrecy as possible, and for the pur- 
 pose to issue his warrant upon the treasurer for twelve 
 hundred pounds payable to Col. George Rogers Clark, 
 who is willing to undertake the service, he giving bond 
 and security faithfully to account for the same. And 
 the Council further advised the Governor to draw up 
 proper instructions for Colonel Clark."* 
 
 Public and private instructions were, on the same 
 day, drawn up : the first, for Clark to show the people, 
 "written designedly for deception" ; the other, for the 
 guidance of the Colonel. Those for the public eye 
 notified Clark that he was to proceed, without loss of 
 time, to enlist seven companies of men, officered in the 
 usual manner, to act as militia, under his command. 
 They were to proceed to Kentucky, and there obey 
 such orders and directions as he should give them, "for 
 three months after their arrival at that place;"' but, 
 they were to receive pay in case they remained on duty 
 a longer time. The Colonel was empowered to raise 
 these men in any county in Virginia ; and the County 
 Lieutenants, respectively, were "requested to give all 
 possible assistance in that business."! 
 
 Much more at length, and with considerable mi- 
 nuteness, were the private Instructions given Clark. 
 He was not only to proceed with all convenient speed 
 to raise seven companies of soldiers to consist of fifty 
 men each, officered in the usual manner and armed most 
 properly for the enterprise,^: bu t, with this force, he 
 
 * Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. I, pp. 584, 585. 
 ^ t Butler's Kentucky (ed. of 1834), p. 394. Clark's Cam- 
 paign in the Illinois, p. 95. Henry's Patrick Henry, vol I 
 p. 588. 
 
 tMany writers (see particularly, Mann Butler — 
 History of Kentucky, pp. 47, 48) have erroneously stated 
 
78 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOCEST, ETC. 
 
 was to "attack the British post at Kaskaskia,""^ in the 
 IlHiiois. 
 
 "It is conjectured," said the Governor, ''that there 
 are many pieces of cannon, and mihtary stores to a 
 considerable amount, at that place, the taking- and 
 preservation of which would be a valuable acquisition 
 to the State." "If you are so fortunate, therefore, as 
 to succeed in your expedition," continues Henry, "you 
 will take every possible measure to secure the artillery 
 and stores and whatever may advantage the State." 
 
 To transport down the Ohio, the troops, provis- 
 sions, and other supplies, Clark was to apply to the 
 commanding officer at Fort Pitt, Pittsburgh, (General 
 Hand), for boats. During the whole "transaction," 
 the Colonel was to take especial care to keep "the true 
 destination" of his force secret. Its success, the Gov- 
 ernor declared, depended upon this. Clark was in- 
 formed that orders had been issued to one who was to 
 recruit for him and who would soon be in Kentucky, 
 to secure the two men from Kaskaskia. These were. 
 it is reasonably certain, the same men (Linn and 
 Moore) who had been sent by Clark some months 
 previous to "spy out" the Illinois, the information 
 
 that Clark was to raise his force in the Western counties of 
 \'irginia. that is, west of the Bhte Ridge, "so as not to 
 weaken the Atlantic Defense :" but there was no restriction 
 hud upon him in this regard by the Governor, in his private 
 instructions; and, in his public instructions, it is, as we 
 have seen, especially stated, — "You are to raise these men 
 in any coimty in the Commonwealth." 
 
 * Not "the British forts of J'inccnncs and Kaskaskia 
 [the italicising is minel." as stated by Robert F. CoUnnan, 
 in Harf^cr's Magasinc. vol. XXII, p. "SO. And see, also, 
 E. A. Bryan, in Maga:;inc of American History, vol. XXI, 
 p. 399, for a simikir statement. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 79 
 
 brought back by them having doubtless now been re- 
 peated to the Virginia Executive. ''Similar conduct," 
 added the Governor, 'Vill be proper in similar cases."* 
 
 It was earnestly desired by Governor Henry, that 
 Clark should show humanity to such British subjects 
 and other persons as might fall into his hands. ''If 
 the white inhabitants at the post and the neighbor- 
 hood," said the Executive, "will give undoubted evi- 
 dence of their attachment to this State — for it is cer- 
 tain they live within its limits — by taking the test 
 [oath] prescribed by law, and by every other ways 
 and means in their power, — let them be treated as 
 fellow citizens and their persons and property duly 
 secured. Assistance and protection against all enemies 
 whatever shall be afforded them, and the Common- 
 wealth of Virginia is pledged to accomplish it. But if 
 these people will not accede to these reasonable de- 
 mands, they must feel the miseries of war, under the 
 direction of that humanity that has hitherto distin- 
 guished Americans, and which it is expected you will 
 ever consider as the rule of your conduct and from 
 which you are in no instance to depart." 
 
 Clark was further instructed that the men he was 
 to command were to receive the pay and allowance of 
 militia, and to act under the laws and regulations of 
 Virginia then in force as to that arm of the service.f 
 He was required to inform the inhabitants of Kaskas- 
 kia that, in case they acceded to the offers of becoming 
 citizens of the State, a proper garrison would be main- 
 tained among them and every attention bestowed "to 
 render their commerce beneficial, the fairest prospects 
 
 * See Appendix, Note XXIII. 
 
 t This made them defacto, as well as dejure, Virginia 
 militia. 
 
80 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 being opened to the dominions of both France and 
 Spain." 
 
 "It is in contemplation," the- Governor also said, 
 "to establish a post near the mouth of Ohio. Cannon 
 will be wanted to fortify it. Part of those at Kaskas- 
 kia will be easily brought thither or otherwise secured 
 as circumstances will make necessary." 
 
 It is evident that the proposition to build a iort at 
 the point indicated by Henry was for the purpose and 
 desire of commanding both the Mississippi and the 
 Ohio and of making a definite claim by Virginia to 
 territory as far west as the river first mentioned. 
 Theoretically, at least, it was a politic measure and 
 seems to have been the conception of the Virginia 
 governor ; certainly he was the first to make it public* 
 
 The concluding words of the private Instructions 
 furnished Clark were these : "You are to apply to 
 General Hand for powder and lead necessary for this 
 expedition. If he cannot supply it, the person who 
 has that which Captain [William] Linn brought from 
 New Orleans can. Lead was sent to Hampshire by 
 my orders and that m.ay be delivered you".t 
 
 * It was finally determined to put the plan in execution ; 
 but whatever may have been the reasons for the subsequent 
 carrying out of Governor Henry's idea as to the fortification, 
 by Jefferson as his successor, it is clear that its inception was 
 to further the purposes and desires of Virginia only, as above 
 mentioned, Clark's idea as afterward expressed was, that 
 by the erection of "a strong fortification there [near the 
 mouth of the Ohio] , it would immediately be the mart and 
 key of the Western country." 
 
 t Coleman, in Harper's Magazine, vol. XXII, p. 789, 
 says the officer at Fort- Pitt was "directed to give him 
 [Clark] every assistance in procuring stores and boats." 
 But Gen. Hand (a Continental officer) was not "directed" 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 81 
 
 Both instructions were dated the second of Janu- 
 ary, and both were signed by Governor Henry. In 
 those not intended for the pubHc tO' see, there is much, 
 so far as the exhibition of humanity is concerned, to 
 commend on part of the Virginia executive. His 
 words are in striking contrast, in this regard, with the 
 cruel mandate, already mentioned, of Germain to Carle- 
 ton "that the most vigorous efforts should be made 
 and every means employed that Providence has put 
 into his Majesty's hands, for crushing the rebellion," 
 referring, particularly, to the employment of savages 
 against the frontier settlements.* 
 
 Verbal instructions were also given Clark which 
 would materially extend any plans of conquest (if 
 fortune favored him in his atterApt against Kaskaskia) 
 he might be disposed to enter upon. "I was ordered," 
 he says, "to attack the Illinois [and] in case of success 
 to carry my arms to any quarter I pleased". f 
 
 to give any assistance; he was, simply, to be applied to — 
 that is, requested — to furnish "powder and lead necessary 
 for the expedition." 
 
 * Both the Pulbic and Private Instructions are printed 
 entire in Butler's Kentucky (ed. of 1834), pp. 394, 395; in 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 95-97; and in Henry's 
 Patrick Henry, vol. I, pp. 585, 586 and 588. In Monnette's 
 History of the Valley of the Mississippi, vol. I, p. 415n, 
 the Private Instructions may also be found. As given in 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, they contain two or three 
 verbal mistakes. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note 
 XXIV.) 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 23. But in his Memoir Clark carries the idea that Vin- 
 cennes was particularly an object of attack by him — that 
 he had thoughts of assailing it first; but this is clearly error, 
 another lapse in his memory. (See Appendix, Note XXV.) 
 
 6 
 
82 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 An instrument of writing was drawn up, signed 
 and delivered to Clark, wherein three of the gentlemen 
 who were aiding the expedition (Wythe, Mason and 
 Jefferson) promised to use their influence to procure 
 from the Virginia Assembly three hundred acres of 
 land for each one who enlisted, in case of the success 
 of the expedition.* 
 
 Clark, now that he was really engaged In the enter- 
 prise, was as determined to prosecute it with vigor 
 as he had been bef-€re indifferent about the command. 
 "I had," he subsequently declared, "since the begin- 
 ning of the war, taken pains to make myself acquainted 
 with the true situation of the British posts on the fron- 
 tiers ; and I since find I was not mistaken in my judg- 
 ment." "I was ordered," he adds, "to attack the 
 Illinois ; in case of success, to carry my arms to any 
 quarter I pleased." This latitude, it seems was granted 
 him in verbal Instructions ; there was no such authority 
 given him in the written ones. "I was certain," he 
 continues, "that, with five hundred men, I could take 
 the Illinois ; and, by my treating the inhabitants as 
 fellow citizens and showing them that I meant to pro- 
 tect rather than treat them as a conquered people, 
 and by my engaging the Indians to our interest, it 
 might probably have so great an effect on their coun- 
 trymen at Detroit (they already disliked their master) 
 that it would be an easy prey for me. I should have 
 mentioned my design to his Excellency, but was con- 
 vinced or afraid that it might lessen his esteem for 
 me ; as it was a general opinion that it would take 
 
 * The writing was dated January 3d, 1778, and signed 
 by George Wythe, George Mason and Thomas Jefferson 
 (Butler's Kentucky, p. 47). See Appendix (Note XXVI) 
 to our narrative. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 83 
 
 several thousand [men] to approach that place. I was 
 happy with the thoughts of a fair prospect of unde- 
 ceiving the public respecting their formidable enemies 
 on our frontiers."* It is evident that the goal of 
 Clark's ambition was Detroit. He had, it is true, the 
 welfare of the Kentucky settlements at heart and of 
 those along the northwestern border of his State ; and 
 so had Governor Henry : but, with both, there was 
 something prompting them to action besides what 
 might reasonably be expected concerning the effect on 
 the Indians in case of the success of the expedition. 
 Clark, as his own words show was ambitious as well 
 as patriotic; and to capture Detroit from the British 
 would not only end to a great extent savage marauds 
 upon the Western border, but would prove a severe 
 blow to the English generally. 
 
 Governor Henry, subsequently, was explicit in giv- 
 ing, the principal cause actuating him in promoting the 
 enterprise : 'The executive power of this State having 
 been impressed with a strong apprehension of incur- 
 sions on their frontier settlements from the savages 
 situated about the Illinois, and supposing the danger 
 would be greatly obviated by an enterprise against the 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 23, 24. In his Memoir, Clark says that, finding from the 
 Governor's conversation in general to him on the subject, 
 he did not wish an implicit attention to his Instructions 
 should prevent his executing anything that would manifestly 
 tend to the good of the public, he felt himself clothed with 
 all the authority he desired. [Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859) , 
 p. 120.] The "general opinion" as to the force necessary to 
 capture Detroit was, beyond all question, a sound one. 
 Clark, really, had but little idea of the strength of that 
 post; and it was even more formidable than Governor Henry 
 was aware of. 
 
84 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 English forts and possessions in that country, which 
 were well known to inspire the savages with their 
 bloody purposes against us, sent a detachment of mili- 
 tia .. . commanded by Colonel George Rogers 
 Clark, on that service."'^ However, as a matter of 
 fact, the savages of that region, as already explained, 
 had not actually taken up the hatchet as allies of Great 
 Britain, although they were, all of them, considered by 
 Clark, from the knowledge he had obtained from that 
 quarter, as being generally hostile.")" 
 
 Beyond the probability that success in the proposed 
 expedition would in some measure put an end to the 
 Indian war on the western frontiers of Pennsylvania 
 and Virginia, Clark did not trouble himself greatly 
 to look. It would not be surprising, surely, if he 
 occasionally indulged in reflections as to what might 
 be "the remote bearings of such an achievement." But 
 Governor Henry was more outspoken in his anticipa- 
 tions should the result be what was hoped for. He 
 
 * Governor Henry to the Virginia Delegates in Congress, 
 Nov. 10. 1778. See Butler's Kentucky (2(1 ed.), p. 532; 
 also a Life of Patrick Henry (American Statesmen Series), 
 by Moses Coit Tyler, pp. 230. 231. Consult, too, Henry's 
 -Patrick Henry, vol. II, p. 16 and vol. HI, p. 200. But the 
 Governor over-estimated the influence exerted there to induce 
 savage aggressions on the frontiers. 
 
 tin the sketch of the Life of Clark, in Collins's Ken- 
 tucky, (ed. of 1877, p. 135), it is said: "On their return 
 [that is. on the return of the 'spies" which Clark sent to 
 the Illinois] , they brought intelligence of great activity on 
 part of the garrisons, who omitted no opportunity to pro- 
 mote and encourage Indian depredations on the Kentucky 
 frontier." But what they told Clark was. according to the 
 latter's statement, simply, "that the Indians in that quarter 
 were engaged in the war." [See Clark's Memoir — Dillon's 
 Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 159.] 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 85 
 
 having already in contemplation the securing of a firm 
 foothold for Virginia (if not for the General Govern- 
 ment) on the Misissippi belov^ the mouth of the Ohio, 
 as before alluded to, the capture of Kaskaskia would 
 be a valuable aid in completing the undertaking/'^' 
 
 And here it may be said that far too much stress 
 has heretofore been laid by writers of Western history 
 upon the fact that Clark had given the subject of the 
 British forts in the West considerable thought. More 
 had evidently been given by George Morgan at Fort 
 Pitt. And much more information had been obtained 
 concerning them (Kaskaskia alone excepted) by the 
 General Government than what had been gleaned by 
 the inquisitive young Virginian. 
 
 Governor Henry delivered to Colonel Clark, on the 
 day they were written, both the public and private in- 
 structions. Twelve hundred pounds, in accordance 
 with the recommendation of his Council, were handed 
 Clark by the Governor to be used in the enterprise, 
 but the money was in depreciated Virginia currency ;t 
 and Henry, also, authorized him to draw on Oliver 
 
 "^ Several writers of Western history, by mistaking the 
 date and import of a letter written by Jefferson to Clark 
 (only a fragment of which has been preserved) , conclude that 
 that statesman put himself early on record as forseeing what 
 might be the consequences resulting from the favorable issue 
 of the proposed campaign — "the remote bearings" being 
 much plainer to his vision than to Clark's. This matter is 
 more fully discussed in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 t C. C. Baldwin's A Centennial Lawsuit, in The Western 
 Reserve and Northern Ohio Historical Society's Tract, No. 
 35, December, 1876; reprinted in the Magazine of Western 
 History, January, 1885, p. 230. "The governor [Henry] 
 . . . gave the young captain a small supply of money." 
 [The Old Northwest (Hinsdale), p. 154.] But it is certain 
 Clark was not commissioned captain. 
 
86 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Pollock, Virginia's fiscal agent in New Orleans, for 
 additional funds to aid him in his undertaking, at the 
 same time writing Pollock to draw bills on France for 
 $65,000."^ The Colonel was given, likewise, a written 
 request, directed to General Hand at Fort Pitt, ask- 
 ing him, if he could, to furnish Clark with the necessary 
 quantity of powder and lead.f 
 
 It was on the fourth of January that the Colonel 
 left Williamsburg,t going alone to his point of destin- 
 ation on the frontier. We now see him, for the first 
 time, in a position to develop some of the prominent 
 traits of his character. He at once gave evidence of 
 those qualities of mind fitting him to direct and lead a 
 military expedition made up of men who were all 
 sharp-shooters and accustomed to hardships. He knew 
 little or nothing of the laws of war or of military 
 tactics. Two peculiarities he, however, very soon 
 showed himself to be possessed of in a marked degree : 
 celerity in movement and firmness in carrying out de- 
 terminations once fixed upon. He made "as quick 
 
 * Compare Alagaciiic of American History, vol. XXIL 
 pp. 415, 416 and Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. I. pp. 603-605. 
 
 t In his Memoir Clark erroneously states that Governor 
 Henry gave him "an order on Pittsburg, for boats, ammu- 
 nition, etc." 
 
 t Clark's Memoir — BiWon's Indiana (ed. of 1869), p. 120. 
 In his letter to Mason, Clark incorrectly gives the 18th as the 
 day of his leaving {Clark's Campaig)i in the Illinois, p. 24). 
 That he started previous to the date last mentioned is proven 
 bj'- Instructions delivered to David Rogers on the 15th of 
 January- by Governor Henry and b}- a letter written the 
 same da}" to Clark (Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. I, pp. 606, 
 607; Butler's Kentucky,, pp. 102, 103). Besides, as will 
 presently be seen, he could not have accomplished before 
 the end of the month what he did had he left Williamsburg 
 as late as the 18th. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 87 
 
 dispatch as possible to the frontiers;" that is, to Red- 
 stone (now Brownsville, Pennsylvania) on the Mo- 
 nongahela, the rendezvous agreed upon, then in Vir- 
 ginia as claimed by that State, but subsequently con- 
 firmed to Pennsylvania; which Commonwealth was 
 then strenously contending for all that region ; and, 
 by the end of the month, he had recruiting-parties 
 located "from Pittsburgh to [North] Carolina," ready 
 to work under the public instructions issued by the 
 Governor.* For this service. Captain William Harod 
 and a number of- other officers were appointed.f 
 Clark also contracted for flour and other stores wanted 
 — except powder and lead. 
 
 Captain Leonard Helm of Fauquier county and 
 Captain Joseph Bowman of Frederick county, were to 
 raise each a company to be marched to Redstone, 
 where they were to join Clark at a stipulated day in 
 February. The Colonel had advanced to Captain 
 William B. Smith, one hundred and fifty pounds to 
 recruit four companies on Holston, which force was 
 to meet him in Kentucky. J 
 
 Now however, trouble arose. "Many leading men 
 in the frontiers," says the Colonel, "had liked to have 
 
 * Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, loc. cit. It was no 
 thought of Clark, in fixing at Redstone the point where he 
 was to collect his force, that he was locating his head- 
 quarters upon Pennsylvania territory. He still called the 
 region now constituting Southwestern Pennsylvania and a 
 part of West Virginia, "The District of West Augusta, 
 Virginia," — not even recognizing the fact that his State 
 had previously (in 1776) formed it into the three counties 
 of Gohogania, Monongalia, and Ohio. He believed that Fort 
 Pitt and Pittsburgh were within Virginia's jurisdiction. 
 
 t See Appendix, Note XXVH. 
 
 tid. 
 
88 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 put an end to the enterprise, not knowing my destina- 
 tion"."^ It was not apparent to many that there was a 
 great necessity for such an undertaking as suggested 
 in Clark's pubhc Instructions : for these were only the 
 four infant settlements down the Ohio (as they 
 understood it) to be guarded, while a far greater num- 
 ber upon its upper waters needed equal protection.f 
 ''I received information from Captain Helm,'' are 
 likewise the words of Clark, "that several gentlemen 
 took pains to counteract his interest in recruiting, as 
 no such service was known of by the Assembly. Con- 
 sequently, he had to send to the Governor to get his 
 conduct ratified. I found, also, opposition to our in- 
 terest in the Pittsburgh countr\\ As the whole [popu- 
 lation] was divided into violent parties between the 
 Virginians and Pennsylvanians respecting the territory, 
 the idea of men being raised for the State of Vir- 
 ginia affected the vulgar of the one [that is, of the 
 Pennsylvania] party : and as my real Instructions were 
 kept concealed and only an instrument from the Gov- 
 ernor written designedly for deception was made pub- 
 lic wherein I was authorized [inferentially] to raise 
 men for the defence of Kentucky, many gentlemen of 
 both parties conceived it to be injurious to the public 
 interest to draw off men at so critical a moment for 
 the defence of a few detached inhabitants, who had 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Ca)iipaig)i in the lUinois, p. 
 24. That is to say, "not knowing 'his real' destination." 
 
 t Clark's Public Instructions, as they knew, showed 
 clearly that the men when enlisted were to proceed to 
 Kentucky and there obey such orders and directions as he 
 should give them for three months after their arrival; the 
 inference being that protection of the Kentucky settlements 
 was the object of the expedition. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 89 
 
 better be removed. These circumstances caused some 
 confusion in the recruiting service"/^ 
 
 In view of his pubHc instructions, it was certainly 
 uncharitable for the Colonel to declare, as he did 
 afterward, that "through a spirit of obstinacy many 
 leading men combined and did every thing that lay in 
 their power to stop those that had enlisted, and set the 
 whole frontiers in an uproar; even condescending to 
 harbor and protect those that deserted." f 
 
 The disgusted commander concluded his ''case" was 
 ''desperate." The longer he remained the worse it 
 became. "I plainly saw," he subsequently wrote, "that 
 my principal design was baffled. I was resolved to 
 push to Kentucky with what men I could gather in 
 West Augusta." % 
 
 The Colonel had been joined by Captains Bowman 
 and Helm, "who had each raised a company for the 
 expedition ;" but two-thirds of their men were induced 
 to leave by "the undesigned enemies to the country," 
 as Clark styles those who opposed his expedition.§ 
 The officers only secured such as had friends in Ken- 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 120. That some Pennsylvanians enlisted there can be no 
 doubt. (See also Appendix to our narrative, Note XXVIII.) 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 24. 
 
 J Id., p. 25. Clark still adhered to the name of "West 
 Augusta," for the region claimed by Virginia, including the 
 then recently erected counties of Yohogania, Monongalia and 
 Ohio. 
 
 § Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 
 25. Bancroft, in his History of the United States (ed. of 
 1885), vol. V, p. 310, says: "There [at Redstone] . . . 
 he [Clark] was overtaken by Captain Leonard Helm of 
 Farquier, and by Captain Joseph Bowman of Frederic, each 
 
90 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOUEST, ETC. 
 
 tucky or such as were induced to enlist because of 
 private interests or a desire to see the West.* 
 
 On the twelfth of ]\Iay. Clark embarked at Red- 
 stone for the Falls of the Ohio.f with about one hun- 
 dred and fifty men, formed into three companies, 
 under command of Captains Bowman, Helm and 
 Harrod.J: With Clark went a number of families 
 (but they accompanied the Colonel much against his 
 will), in all twenty — "following in his train" — who 
 contemplated settling- in Kentucky. § 
 
 Before the departure of Clark, he had received 
 word from Captain Smith "on Holston" (it was on the 
 twenty-ninth of ^larch), informing him that he in- 
 tended to meet him at the Falls with near two hundred 
 men. Another express — one from down the Ohio — 
 gave him the intelligence that the Kentucky settle- 
 
 with less than half a company." In this, the word "over- 
 taken" conveys an impression (which is erroneous) that 
 Clark was flicn on the move. 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 
 i;2i. 
 
 t Appendix. Xote XXIX. 
 
 ^Appendix Note XXX. 
 
 § Appendix, Note XXXI. Some writers have stated that 
 Clark floated down the Ohio in a flat-boat, and that in this 
 single boat went all his force and effects, including the 
 families who joined him at Redstone. (See an article in the 
 Louisville Courier-Journal , Aug. ^d. 1883. by R. T. Durrett.) 
 Evidenth- this is error. That the Colonel had supplied him- 
 self with, and actually went do\\-n the river in row-boats 
 is sufficiently certain. "You are," says Gov. Henry to Clark 
 in his private instructions, "to apply to the commanding 
 officer at Fort Pitt for boats, etc." The italicising is mine.) 
 See Appendix to our narrative. Notes XXXII and XXXVI, 
 also the two following Chapters (VI and VII) , as to Clark 
 having rozi'-boats. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 91 
 
 ments had gained considerable strength since he left 
 that quarter. Such news had the effect to raise the 
 drooping spirits of the Colonel ; as, with Smith's prom- 
 ised reinforcements, he had no doubt of being able to 
 successfully accomplish the object of his undertak- 
 ing. 
 
 On his reaching Pittsburgh, Clark found in the 
 Fort Pitt commander (General Hand) a warm friend 
 to the enterprise. He declares that the General was 
 not only pleased with his intentions but furnished him 
 with all the necessaries he wanted. ^'Taking in my 
 stores at Pittsburgh and Wheeling," Clark subse- 
 quently wrote, "I proceeded down the river with cau- 
 tion." But the "stores" at Wheeling, taken in by the 
 Colonel upon his arrival there, were included in the 
 supply furnished by General Hand.* 
 
 Leaving the Colonel afloat on the Ohio below 
 Wheeling with his three companies of recruits and 
 their officers — acting as convoy to several families of 
 emigrants, we will turn our attention to the Kentucky 
 country whither they were bound (as all supposed but 
 the commandant), to remain, some permanently, but 
 the larger part only for a three-months' service. 
 
 Although Clark had received encouraging reports 
 from the Kentucky settlements, indicating that he 
 might be able, owing to the increase in their popula- 
 tion, to obtain a considerable number of recruits there, 
 yet, the year 1778 had really opened with prospects 
 not at all cheering to them. On the first day of Janu- 
 ary Daniel Boone went with a party of thirty to the 
 Blue Licks on Licking river, to make salt for several 
 different garrisons from which his men had been 
 collected. That necessary commodity had always 
 
 * Appendix, Note XXXII. 
 
92 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 been brought into the settlements at much trouble and 
 expense. On the seventh of the following month, 
 having previously sent back three of his men with salt, 
 Boone, while out hunting to procure meat for his com- 
 pany, met one hundred and two Indians, principally 
 Shawanese (eighty of that nation and twenty-two 
 Miamis), led by Charles Beaubien and Pierre Lorimer 
 from the Miami town at the head of the Maumee, the 
 white men with their Miami Indians having gone first 
 to Piqua and Chillicothe where they gathered the 
 Shawanese, — the whole force being on the march 
 against Boonesborough, ''that place being particularly 
 the object of the enemy." 
 
 Beaubien and his party pursued and took Boone, 
 and brought him, on the eighth, to the Licks. As they 
 approached the place, Boone realizing how impossible 
 it would be for his twenty-seven men to escape with 
 their lives if attacked, called out to them, when some 
 distance away but in full view, informing them of 
 their situation and ordering them not to resist but to 
 surrender themselves prisoners ; with which command, 
 they at once complied. Fortunately, the two French- 
 men could not prevail upon the Indians to attempt 
 Boonesborough; wdiich, doubtless (so thought the two 
 white men) might have easily been taken ''by means 
 of their prisoners." The savages were satisfied with 
 what they had already accomplished.* 
 
 Boone and his men were taken, first to "Old Qiilli- 
 cothe, the principal Indian town on Little Miami," in 
 what is now Greene county, Ohio ;t thence they took 
 him and ten of his men to Detroit, where they arrived 
 
 * Appendix. Note XXXIII. 
 
 fSee, as to this "Old Chillicothe," the History of the 
 Girtys, p. 76. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 93 
 
 on the thirtieth of March, — except four, who did not 
 reach that post until two days thereafter.* The party 
 left Chillicothe on the tenth. 
 
 Hamilton received Boone kindly and proceeded to 
 examine him as to affairs in the settlements south of 
 the Ohio. His prisoner was very communicative, but 
 he exaggerated matters. He told the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor that the people had been incessantly harrassed 
 by parties of Indians, which was true, but he added, 
 they had not been able to sow grain and would not 
 have a morsel of bread by the middle of June, which 
 was an exaggeration. Clothing, he said, was not to 
 be had, and they did not expect relief from Congress. 
 He thus unwittingly inspired Hamilton with confidence 
 that his barbarous policy was producing the desired 
 effect, inducing him to greater exertion against the 
 border settlements of the Americans. "Their di- 
 lemna," he wrote, "will probably induce them to trust 
 to the savages, who have shown so much humanity to 
 their prisoners ; and they will come to this place be- 
 fore winter." 
 
 Four of the men taken at the Blue Licks were de- 
 livered up to Hamilton by the Indians ; but Boone, 
 although Hamilton offered to ransom him, (proposing 
 £ioo sterling as the sum), they would not part with, 
 — they "expecting, by his means, to effect some- 
 thing," t He supposed that the reason why he was 
 
 * Hamilton to Carleton, Jan. 26 — April 25, 1778. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. 
 
 t Id. "A Major [Captain] Daniel Boone, who com- 
 manded Boonesborough, was taken with twenty-six men, 
 some distance from his fort, by the Indians, who carried 
 them to Detroit, without killing a man. This gentleman 
 expressed his gratitude, for the good • treatment received, 
 
94 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 still kept a prisoner was because the savages had 
 formed a friendship for him. He did not fully under- 
 stand that Indians were adepts in the art of dissimu- 
 lation. He was taken back to "Old Chillicothe," leav- 
 ing Detroit on the tenth of April, and reaching the 
 Shawanese town on the twenty-fifth,* "after a long 
 and fatiguing march." 
 
 The presence, at Chillicothe, in June, of a large 
 number of savages "ready to march against Boones- 
 borough," determined Boone to escape, the first op- 
 portunity. "On the seventeenth, before sun-rise," he 
 says, "I departed in the most secret manner and arrived 
 at Boonesborough on the twentieth, after a journey of 
 one hundred and sixty miles, during which I had but 
 one meal." f The escape of Boone, was the cause it 
 seems, of the Indians postponing their march for the 
 time, as they did not make their appearance as ex- 
 pected. The interval was well improved by the garri- 
 son in strengthening their little fortress. It was a 
 wise precaution, as subsequent events demonstrated. 
 
 During all these months — the first half of 1778 
 — strange as it may seem, the Kentucky settlements 
 were increasing their strength. Nothing could stay 
 the tide of emigration to that region. Cheap lands, 
 an excellent soil, and a mild climate, were enough to 
 induce .the emigrant to brave all dangers of the toma- 
 hawk and scalping knife. And then because of the 
 determination of the Ohio Indians to strike as a rule 
 the borders in force, small parties of savages had not, 
 
 with his men while with us [at Detroit]." — -Schieffelin: 
 Loose Notes — Magazine of American History, vol. I, p. 
 192. (See Appendix to our- narrative, Note XXXIV.) 
 
 * Boone's Narrative, before cited. 
 
 tid. ' • ' 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 95 
 
 to so great an extent, crossed the Ohio since the cap- 
 ture of Boone; besides, a grand council at Detroit 
 (hereafter to be noted) had engaged the attention of 
 many of the Indian warriors ; but, the principal reason 
 for the falling off for the first six months of the year 
 of savage marauds was owing to the fact that Hamil- 
 ton had become rather tired of such a desultory war- 
 fare and longed as he had already hinted to Carleton, 
 to have, an opportunity to send his dusky allies upon 
 some important expedition in a body. He was not as 
 active as in 1777 in -his murderous work. 
 
 And there was still another reason. The Indians 
 were finding a more inviting field for their aggressions 
 in the Western Pennsylvania settlements and along the 
 Virginia border south of them, as will hereafter be 
 shown. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 C A LARK once upon the '"Western waters" was, for 
 the tirst time, actually on the move wnth troops 
 toward the Illinois. He left the Pittsburgh 
 countrv^ "in great confusion, much distressed by the. 
 Indians" arri\4ng at the mouth of the Great Kanavrha 
 (Point Pleasant) past the middle of May, — to the 
 great joy of the garrison in Fort Randolph ; as they 
 were weak and had just before been attacked by a large 
 body of Indians.* He was importuned by the com- 
 mandant of the post to join him in pursuit of the sav- 
 ages who had gone against the interior settlements. 
 "The temptation of success was grreat, but the im- 
 portance of his own expedition was greater : and for- 
 timately for his countr}-. Clark knew his duty too well 
 and discharged it too faithfully, to be diverted from 
 his purpose." 
 
 Before lea\4ng Fort Randolph, the Colonel was 
 joined by Captain James O'Hara's company on its 
 way to Ozark (as the settlement, at the mouth of the 
 Arkansas, under the rule of the Spanish, was then 
 called). This was one of two Independent Virginia 
 companies stationed on the Ohio — the other being 
 that of Captain Henrv* Heath.t 
 
 "^ See Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 25; Washington-Irvine Correspondence, pp. 18, 19: Capt. 
 
 Joseph Bowman to Colonel John Hite. July 30. 1778 [Almon's 
 Remembrances (1779). vol. VIII. p. 82]. Clark says he 
 reached the fort the day after the attack: but Bowman (in 
 this instance the better authoritv') says the garrison had. 
 upon Clark's arrival, been confined eight days, "in which 
 time, there had been an attack." 
 -5- Appendix, Note XXXIV. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 97 
 
 After spending a day or two at Point Pleasant, 
 Clark again started down the Ohio. He had a very 
 pleasant voyage to the mouth of the Kentucky where 
 he landed. His first employment was to send ex- 
 presses to stations on that river for Captain Smith to 
 join him immediately at the Falls, as he had no doubt 
 the Captain had reached that stream and was awaiting 
 him. But, he soon learned that that officer had not 
 arrived ; that all his men, except a part of a company, 
 under a Captain Dillard, '1iad been stopped by the 
 incessant labors of the populace," ''some on the march 
 being threatened to be put in prison if they did not re- 
 turn." This information, the Colonel declares, made 
 him as desperate as he was before determined. 
 
 ''Reflecting," Clark says, "on the information that 
 I had, of some of my greatest opponents censuring the 
 Governor for his conduct in ordering me, as they 
 thought, to protect Kentucky only — that, and some 
 other secret impulses occasioned me, in spite of all 
 counsel, to risk the expedition to convince them of 
 their error, — which expedition to that moment was 
 secret to my principal officers. I was sensible of the 
 impression it would have on many to be taken near a 
 thousand miles from the body of their country to at- 
 tack a people five times their number and merciless 
 tribes of Indians their allies, and all determined ene- 
 mies to us. I knew my case was desperate, but the 
 more I reflected on my weakness, the more I was 
 pleased with the enterprise."* Clark thereupon wrote 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois , 
 p. 26. Clark's words I have not followed closely, but I have 
 endeavored to give his meaning. His language is vague, 
 especially in reference to disclosing his secret to his principal 
 
 7 
 
98 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOUEST, ETC. 
 
 to County Lieutenant John Bowman, at Harrodsburg, 
 informing him. in words although vague yet calcu- 
 lated to awaken enthusiasm, of his intention to fix a 
 post at tlie Falls: and that, having an object in view 
 of the greatest importance to the country, he desired 
 that officer to meet him at that place, with all the men 
 recruited by Smith that had reached Kentucky, and, 
 with as many others as could be spared from the in- 
 terior stations.* 
 
 It was on the twenty-seventh of May. on what was 
 afterward named "Corn Island." opposite the shore 
 where Louisville now stands, that Clark finally rested, 
 — choosing the island, instead of the southern shore, 
 as a place where he could readily secure any of his men 
 who would attempt to desert when it should be made 
 known to them that the expedition was intended for 
 the Illinois. There was, at this time, no settlement on 
 the main land, although two thousand acres, a part of 
 the site of he present city of Louisville, had, on tlie 
 sixteenth of December, 1773. been patented by John 
 Connolly. The Falls could easily be reached from the 
 interior stations : which fact probably, with the ad- 
 vantage of the place being a considerable distance 
 down the Ohio, directly on the route to Kaskaskia, 
 had previously determined Clark to make it his final 
 rendezvous. 
 
 The men who had been embodied by County- Lieu- 
 tenant Bowman at Clark's request, including also those 
 
 officers; and an erroneous impression is conveyed when he 
 sp<ia,ks of the "merciless tribes of Indians" being then "their 
 [the Creoles'] allies'' and "all determined enemies." to the 
 Americans. 
 
 * Butler's Kentucky, p. 49. (See Appendix to our narra^ 
 tive. Note XXXV. ^ 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 99 
 
 brought in from Holston by Captain Dillard, reached 
 Clark in due season ; whereupon, he made known to 
 all on the island his detemination to march against 
 Kaskaskia.* It was, of course, a great surprise to 
 those officers to whom the secret had not before been 
 revealed, as well as to the rank and file. Eagerly they 
 listened to the Colonel as he read his private instruc- 
 tions, also the promise of Nythe, Mason and Jefferson 
 ^s to a bounty in land. The commander soon found 
 that, so far as the Kentuckians were concerned, it 
 would not answer to take many of them with him, 
 owing to the weakness and exposed condition of the 
 settlements. He therefore engaged but twenty ; and 
 even these it was expected would be replaced by 
 militia which would afterward reach the country from 
 over the mountains. The residue afterward returned 
 to the various stations whence they had marched. 
 
 Clark now began, for the first time, to discipline his 
 men, "knowing that to be the most essential point to- 
 wards success." Most of them determined to follow 
 him; and "as the rest saw (at first) no probability of 
 making their escape," he "soon got the desired subor- 
 dination." t 
 
 * So well had the secret been kept that a prisoner taken 
 from Kentucky by the Indians and examined by Hamilton at 
 Detroit reported that the Kentuckians had receently been 
 reinforced by three companies. (See Hamilton to Haldi- 
 mand, Sept. 5, 1778 — Haldimand MSS.) Little did the 
 Lieutenant Governor dream, when he got this information, 
 who constituted the three companies or that their destination 
 was the Illinois, although he had already learned the result 
 of their expedition. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois^ 
 p. 27» 
 
 L.ofC. 
 
100 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Now that the Colonel had revealed his real destina- 
 tion, the time for starting was soon determined upon 
 and made known to all under his command as well as 
 to Colonel Bowman and others from Harrodsburg, 
 who resolved to stay until the expedition left the island. 
 The defection already hinted at was mostly in Captain 
 Dillard's company. His men, of course, had not en- 
 listed for any service beyond the Kentucky settlements 
 — they not being aware, as was Governor Henry, that 
 the Illinois towns were within the limits of Virginia; 
 and the greater portion of them under Lieutenant Hut- 
 chins, determined, as they had been refused leave to 
 return, to make their escape at all hazards ; which 
 they effected before daylight in the morning of the day 
 fixed upon for the departure of the army down the 
 Ohio.* ''Luckily," says the Colonel, "a few of his 
 (the Lieutenant's) men were taken the next day by a 
 party sent after them." f Those in pursuit were 
 mounted on "the horses of the Harrodsburg gentle- 
 men," overtaking the fugitives about twenty miles 
 from the island, on the trace to Harrodsburg. Not 
 less than seven were captured ; the residue ''scattered 
 through the woods." Clark had given orders that all 
 who resisted should be shot ; but none were killed. 
 The men who were taken were brought back to the 
 rendezvous ; the others "suffered m.ost severely every 
 species of distress. The people of Harrodstown felt 
 the baseness of the Lieutenant's conduct so keenly, and 
 
 * Butler's Kentucky, p. 50. Butler sflso says : "The 
 boats were . . . ordered to be well secured and sentries 
 were placed where it was 'supposed the men might wade across 
 the river to the Kentucky shore." 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 27. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 101 
 
 resented it with such indignation that they would not 
 for some time let him or his companions into the fort. 
 On the return of the detachment from the pursuit, a 
 day of rejoicing was spent between the troops about 
 to descend the river and those whO' were to return on 
 a service little inferior in danger and privation — the 
 defence of the interior stations."* 
 
 The -twenty Kentuckians who, it was arranged, 
 were to go with Clark, were put under command of 
 Captain John Montgomery, the same officer who had 
 the previous fall brought to the settlements a company 
 of Virginia militia from Holston. 'Tn 1777," wrote 
 Montgomery several years after, ''being ordered with 
 my company from Holston to the Kentucky country 
 for its defense, I remained there until the year fol- 
 lowing, when Colonel Clark arrived at the Falls of the 
 Ohio with a body of troops on his way to the Illinois. 
 I joined him."t Among those under the Captain were 
 Edward Worthington and Simon Kenton. J 
 
 There was one event of which the Colonel had 
 heard, that gave him much satisfaction. In a letter 
 written by Colonel John Campbell at Pittsburgh, and 
 brought down the Ohio by Captain William Linn, who 
 had overtaken Clark before his final rendezvous had 
 
 * Butler's Kentucky, p. 50. Butler says that Clark gen- 
 erously withheld the name of the lieutenant who deserted; 
 but that author had not seen the Colonel's letter to Mason of 
 November 19, 1779, already frequently cited. (See, further, 
 as to the escape of the men from the island, Appendix to our 
 narrative, Note XXXVI.) 
 
 t Montgomery to the Board of Commissioners for the 
 Settlement of Western Accounts, Feb. 22, 1783. {Calendar 
 of Virginia State Papers, vol. Ill, p. 441); Mason's Early 
 Chicago and Illinois, p. 352. 
 
 X Appendix, Note XXXVII. 
 
102 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC 
 
 been reached, he was informed of the acknowledge- 
 ment of the independence of the United States on the 
 sixth of the previous February, by, France, and of the 
 conclusion between them of a treaty of alliance. "If 
 war should break out between France and Great Brit- 
 ain, were the words of the compact, ''during the con- 
 tinuance of the present war between the United States 
 and England, his Majesty (the King of France) 
 shall make it a common cause, and (France and the 
 United States shall) aid each other mutually with 
 their good offices, their counsels, and their forces, ac- 
 cording to the exigencies of conjunctures, as becomes 
 good and faithful allies." Clark, of course, was not 
 slow tO' perceive what use could be made of the in- 
 formation in the event of his success against Kaskas- 
 kia. Linn joined Clark's force as a volunteer.* 
 
 Before leaving the island, Clark erected thereon "a 
 block house" (as he terms it, but which in reality 
 would not strictly answer the description), in which 
 to deposit such stores as were not to be taken along. 
 The Colonel says it was to secure his provisions ;t 
 but, at the same time, it would serve to protect from 
 the Indians those left in charge of them. It is evident 
 that, had he intended to take with him all stores he 
 had brought down the Ohio, no structure of any kind 
 would have made its appearance. It was no part of 
 the Colonel's plan to stop on his way to Kaskaskia 
 for the purpose of establishing a military post for the 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 122; Butler's Kentucky, p. 50; Hall's Romance of Western 
 History, p. 109. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note 
 XXXVIII.) 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 27. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 103 
 
 protection of the Kentucky settlements at any point, 
 or of the prospective river trade on the Ohio. Nor 
 was it his idea that, on the presumption of being suc- 
 cessful in his expedition it would be prudent to put up, 
 on the island, a defensive work for the convenience of 
 communication between the Illinois towns and the Ken- 
 tucky settlements, as one of his officers afterward 
 erroneously stated, in substance.* Clark did not 
 choose. the Falls for his stopping place, or the island 
 for a ''station," because of any other considerations • 
 than such as had reference to his expedition in going 
 and coming, whatever may have, afterwards, induced 
 his efforts towards making a permanent lodgment 
 there. His words to Colonel Bowman of his intention 
 to fix a post at the Falls were (if not intended to apply 
 to what, in the future, he might accomplish) only to 
 secure prompt and efficient action from that officer.f 
 Having got everything in readiness, the Colonel 
 with "about one hundred and eighty" officers and 
 men, mostly Virginians and all in the Virginia ser- 
 vice, consisting of four companies, under the com- 
 mand of Captains Helm, Bowman, Harrod and Mont- 
 gomery, set off for Kaskaskiaij: (intending to drop 
 down the Ohio to the deserted Fort Massac on the 
 north side of the river, and march thence by land), 
 leaving not less than ten families of the twenty who 
 had accompanied him from Redstone (the residue 
 
 * Col. John Montgomery to "B'd of Com'r for Settlenxent 
 of Western Accts," Calendar of Virginia State Papers, p. 
 441. (See also Mason's Early Chicago and Illinois, p. 352.) 
 Montgomery's declaration was evidently an afterthought. 
 
 t Appendix, Note XXXIX. 
 
 X See, further, as to Clark's force leaving the .island, 
 Appendix, Note XL. 
 
104 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 having gone into the Kentucky settlements), on the 
 island also seven soldiers "judged not competent to 
 the expected fatigiie." The whole were to gaiard the 
 military stores not taken along by the Colonel.* 
 
 "xA.s I knew," are the subsequent words of Clark, 
 "that spies were kept on the river below the towns of 
 the Illinois, I had resolved to march part of the way 
 by land, and of course left the whole of our baggage, 
 except as nuich as would equip us in the Indian mode ;" 
 that is, each one would carry only his rifle and a sup- 
 ply of ammimition, together with a knife and hatchet 
 (tomahawk), and provisions deemed sufficient for the 
 march. f 
 
 The start was made on the twenty-fourth of June 
 — a month and two days after the arrival at the ren- 
 dezvous. "We left." says Clark, "our little island and 
 ran about a mile up the river in order to gain the 
 main channel, and shot the falls at the very moment 
 of the sun being in a great eclipse."! With oars 
 
 * See Appendix. Note XLI. 
 
 t Clark's Memoir in Dillon's Indiana C^d. of 1S59), p. 
 121. It must not be supposed from Clark's language that 
 he and his men were to dress themselves as Indians : that 
 is. as the savages do before going on the war path. Butler, 
 however, followed the ^lemoir closely: "All the baggage 
 beyond what was necessary- to equip the party in the barest 
 Indian manner, was left behind, as the commander had 
 determined, in order to mask his operations, to march to 
 Kaskaskia by land from the nearest point on the Ohio." 
 (History of Kentucky, p. oO.") 
 
 X Clark's ^lenioir. in Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1S;'^9), 
 p. rJl. This is another instance where his Memoir corrects 
 the Colonel's letter to Mason. In the latter, he gives vthe 
 date of his departure as June 26th (Clark's Campaign in ih^ 
 Illinois, p. 28) : but the eclipse was on the 24rth. The cor- 
 rection is first to be found in Butler's Kentucky, p. 50. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 105 
 
 double-manned, the Colonel proceeded day and night 
 until, on the twenty-eighth, he ran into the mouth of 
 the Tennessee river. Here he landed on an island to 
 prepare for the march by land to Kaskaskia. Clark 
 had no one with him, it seems, who had previously 
 gone over the proposed route, but it was understood 
 to be a four-days' journey. Provisions were there- 
 fore, to be prepared for that length of time. 
 
 A few hours after landing, the men took a boat 
 of hunters but eight days from Kaskaskia. Before the 
 Colonel would suffer them to answer any person a 
 question, he asked them to take the oath of allegiance 
 which they did, and he then examined them particu- 
 larly. They were Enghsh — not French — and ap- 
 peared to be in the American interest. Their intelli- 
 gence was not favorable. They asked leave to go upon 
 the expedition, which Clark granted them. The Col- 
 onel then ordered them what to relate to his men, on 
 pain of suffering if they deviated from his instructions. 
 They carried out Clark's orders, in this regard, to the 
 letter, which put his soldiers in the greatest spirits; 
 sure, by what they heard, of success. In the evening, 
 Clark ran his boats into a small creek on the north 
 side of the Ohio, "about one mile above old Fort 
 Massac."* 
 
 It was a total eclipse. Hinsdale (The Old Northzvest, p. 154) 
 fails to correct Clark's date — June 26th. (See further as to 
 Clark's leaving the island, Appendix to our narrative, Note 
 XLII; and as to the erroneous assertion to be found in 
 his Memoir, that he had thoughts of attacking Vincennes 
 before going against Kaskaskia, see Note XLIII.) 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 28; not "at" Tort Massac," as Lyman C. Draper asserts, 
 in Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, art. 
 
10t> HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Years after, thus wrote Clark: "As I intended to 
 leave the Ohio at Fort INIassac, three leagues below the 
 Tennessee, I landed on a small island in the mouth of 
 that river, in order to prepare for the march [by land]. 
 In a few hours after, one John [AicEl] Duff and a 
 party of hunters coming down the river, were brought 
 to, by our boats. They were men formerly from the 
 States and assured us of their happiness in the ad- 
 venture. . . . They had been but lately from 
 Kaskaskia, and were able to give us all the intelligence 
 we wished. They said that [Lieutenant] Governor 
 Abbott had lately left ^^incennes and gone to Detroit 
 on some business of importance ; — that ^Nlr. Roche- 
 blave commanded at Kaskaskia ; . . that the militia was 
 kept in good order and spies [were kept] on the Alis- 
 sissippi : . . . that all hunters, both Indians and others 
 were ordered to keep a good look-out for the rebels ; 
 and that the fort [at Kaskaskia] was kept in good 
 order as an asylum ; . . . But they believed the 
 whole to proceed more from the fondness of parade 
 than the expectation of a visit [from the Americans] : 
 that if they received timely notice of us, they would 
 collect and give us a warm reception, as they were 
 taught to harbor a most horrid idea of the barbarity 
 of tlie rebels, especially the ^'irginians : but that if we 
 could surprise the place, which they were in hopes we 
 might, they made no doubt of our being- able to do as 
 we pleased : that they hoped to be received as partak- 
 ers in the enterprise, and wished us to put full conti- 
 dence in them and they would assist the guides in 
 conducting the party. This was agreed to, and they 
 proved valuable men. 
 
 "George Rogers Clark." "Massac" is a corruption of "]\Ias- 
 siac," the name of the first French commander of the post. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 107 
 
 "The acquisition to us was great, as I had no in- 
 telh'gence from these posts since the spies [returned, 
 whom] I sent twelve months past. But no part of 
 their information pleased me more than that of the in- 
 habitants viewing us as more savage than their neigh- 
 bors, the Indians. I was determined to improve upon 
 this, if I was fortunate enough to get them into my 
 possession ; as I conceived the greater the shock I 
 could give them at first, the more sensibly would they 
 feel my lenity, and become more valuable friends. 
 This I conceived to be agreeable to human nature, as 
 I had observed it in many instances. 
 
 "Having everything prepared, we moved down to 
 a little gully a small distance above [Fort] Massac, in 
 which we concealed our boats." . . * 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 122, 123. "Thence [that is, from the island], we continued 
 down the Ohio, moving day and night . . . till within 
 sixty miles of the month [when] we ran our boats up a 
 small creek to hide them, not having men enough to leave 
 a sufficient guard [to watch them]." — Bowman to Hite, 
 July 30, 1778. (See further as to the hunters "brought to" 
 by Clark, also as to Fort Massac, — Appendix to our narra- 
 tive, Note XLIV.) 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 
 CLARK and his companions-in-arms, after repos- 
 ing themselves upon the soil of what is now 
 the State of Ilhnois for the night, commenced 
 their march by land toward Kaskaskia, on the morn- 
 ing of the twenty-ninth of June, having a distance to 
 travel northwestward of about one hmidred and forty 
 miles. The Colonel declares he had a very fatigueing 
 journey for about fifty miles, when he reached "those 
 level plains that are frequent throughout this extensive 
 country." His route had thus far been "through a 
 low, flat region, intersected by numerous streams and 
 ponds, and entirely covered with a most luxuriant 
 vegetation." All were on foot. They had no imple- 
 ments of warfare save their guns and their knives and 
 hatchets : no horses, no tents or other camp equipage. 
 Clark marched thoughtfully on, "at the head of his 
 gallant and determined band, with his rifle on his 
 shoulder and his provision up on his back." "As I knew 
 my success depended on secrecy, I was much afraid," 
 he declared, "of being discovered in these meadow^s, 
 as we might be seen, in many places, for several miles." 
 The weather was favorable but water in some parts 
 was scarce, and the men at times suft'ered from thirst."'' 
 On the third day of the march, John Saunders, 
 principal guide to the expedition, got lost, — "not 
 being able." says the Colonel, "as we judged by his 
 confusion, of giving a just account of himself." It 
 put the whole force in the greatest confusion. "1 
 never in my life," is the emphatic declaration of 
 Clark, "felt such a flo^v of rage, — to be wandering in 
 
 '•'Appendix, Note XL"V. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 109 
 
 a country where • every nation of Indians could raise 
 three or four times our number, and [to suffer] a cer- 
 tain loss of our enterprise by the enemy getting timely 
 notice [of our approach]. I could not bear the 
 thoughts of returning. In short, every idea of the 
 sort put me in such a passion that I did not master 
 it for some time. Soon, however, our circumstances 
 had a better appearance, for I had determined to put 
 the guide to death if he did not find his way that 
 evening. I told him his doom. The poor fellow 
 scared almost out of his wits, begged that I would stay 
 a while where I was and suffer him to go and make 
 some discovery of a [hunter's] road that could not be 
 far from us ; which I would not suffer for fear of not 
 seeing him again, but ordered him to lead on the party ; 
 that his fate depended on his success. After some 
 little pause, he begged that I would not be hard with 
 him, that he could find the path that evening." The 
 bewildered Saunders then took his course, and in two 
 hours got within his knowledge.* 
 
 On the fourth of July, in the evening, the Colonel 
 and his men got within three miles of Kaskaskia, — 
 having marched the last two days ''without any sus- 
 tenance." t They now halted until dark, out of sight 
 of the town, at the same time sending spies ahead. 
 The Kaskaskia river was to be crossed before the town 
 could be reached and Fort Gage assailed. $ 'Tn our 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 pp. 29, 30. Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859, 
 p. 124. Appendix to our narrative, Note XLVI. 
 
 t Bowman to Hite. Compare Marshall's Kentucky, vol. 
 I, p. 67. See also Appendix to our narrative, Note XLVII. 
 
 X Bowman to Hite. Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign 
 in the Illinois, p. 30. Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana 
 
110 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 hungTy condition," says Captain Bowman, "we unani- 
 mously determined to take the town or die in the 
 attempt." * "After making ourselves ready for any- 
 thing that might happen," are the words of Clark, 
 "we marched after night to a farm that was on the 
 same [east] side of the river, about a mile above the 
 town, took the family prisoners and found plenty of 
 boats to cross in." f The commander was informed 
 that the people of Kaskaskia had had some suspicion of 
 being attacked and had made some preparations, keep- 
 ing out spies. However, as no discoveries had been 
 made, they "had got off their gtiard." This suffi- 
 ciently disproves a tradition "that a hunter has dis- 
 covered the American troops, and apprised the inhabi- 
 tants of the place of their approach, but that his story 
 was considered so improbable as to obtain no credit." 
 It w^as the time of year for more than the usual number 
 of men of the Creole population to be at their homes in 
 the village, and many were present :% so, too, there 
 seems to have been a considerable number of Indians 
 
 (ed. of 1859). p. 124. Appendix to our narrative. Note 
 XLVHI. 
 
 * From his letter to Hite, just cited. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois. 
 p. 30. It is a tradition that the family home was a ferry- 
 house and that the farmer was also keeper of a ferry across 
 the Kaskaskia river. But this tradition (which has fre- 
 quent b' been printed) needs evidence to siipport it. I have 
 never met with any mention in contemporaneous accounts, 
 of a ferry on that stream at that date. The words of Clark 
 imply there was none: — he "found plenty of boats to cross 
 in;" — evidently there was no crossing on a ferr\-. 
 
 X This fact is brought out in Clark's Memoir in these 
 words, "that at that time there was a great number of men 
 in town" (see Dillon's Indiana, ed. of lS.o9, p. 124. and 
 Butler's Kentucky, p, 5-2.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. Ill 
 
 in the town a short time before the Colonel's approach, 
 but now they had, most of them left, and all was 
 quiet. In two hours' time, the Kaskaskia was crosesd 
 in the j^^reatest silence, and final orders were given as 
 to the attack. 
 
 ''I immediately divided my little army into twO' 
 divisions," are the words of the Colonel, "ordered one: 
 to surround the town, with the other I broke into the 
 fort, and secured the Governor, Mr. Rocheblave," * 
 who, at the time, had no suspicions of the immediate 
 presence of a force from Virginia, nor indeed from 
 any other quarter. Fort Gage had no garrison to- 
 speak of, not even of local militia — a sentry or two> 
 was all. 
 
 The ''Governor, Mr. Rocheblave," was, it seems,, 
 when Clark and his division "broke into the fort,'" 
 asleep in bed. But he was quickly aroused by the un- 
 usual noise. He sprang up, and, half-dressed, rushed' 
 to the door of his quarters to inquire into the disturb- 
 ance. He was met by the Colonel who informed him. 
 he was a prisoner to the Americans. The "Governor" 
 at once yielded to a "rebel" force under command of 
 "Mr. Clark" — a "self-styled Colonel," as he subse- 
 quently called the American commander; and the 
 "Commandant of all the English part of the Illinois" 
 was no longer in power. — Hard fate ! During the 
 day, his ever-watchful eyes had been upon the Ohio 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 31. Here, again, Clark's letter just cited differs from 
 his Memoir. In the latter, he says he divided his army 
 into three divisions: "with one of the divisions, I marched 
 to the fort, and ordered the other two into different quarters 
 of the town." — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859) p. 124. I 
 have followed his letter to Mason. 
 
112 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 — the "Beautiful River" — but he discovered no im- 
 mediate danger in that direction. He had seen, in his 
 imagination, bateaux following each other upon that 
 stream in quick succession from Fort Pitt, loaded with 
 provisions destined for New Orleans — ■ that was all. 
 Although ''a numerous band of brigands" might soon 
 attack him, yet they were not to come from Virginia.* 
 He had never heard of one George Rogers Clark. He 
 knew George Morgan and he had heard of William 
 Linn; but the former had gone to Philadelphia from 
 Pittsburgh according to his latest information ; and 
 as to the last named — he knew nothing of his where- 
 abouts. But Linn was not so ignorant of Rocheblave.y 
 "The commanding officer, Philip Rocheblave," says 
 Captain Bowman, "we made prisoner." The Captain 
 also says they secured "all his instructions which he 
 had received from time to time from the several Gov- 
 ernors at Detroit, Quebec and Michilimackinac, to set 
 
 * "On this very day," says a recent writer, "Rocheblave, 
 the commander of the post, all unconscious of the impending 
 danger, was pouring forth the vexations of his soul in a 
 pathetic appeal to Gen. Haldimand [Sir Guy Carleton, who, 
 he (Rocheblave) supposed, was still] Governor of Canada. 
 He depicted the discouragements of settlers, the disloyal con- 
 duct of those of British birth — enlarged upon the urgency 
 of the need for troops, the jealousies of the inhabitants, 
 Spanish encroachments, and expatiated upon the 'brigandage' 
 of Capt. Willing upon the Mississippi, fearing lest the 
 latter might surprise and capture a position [Kaskaskia] 
 regarded [by Rocheblave] as of great importance." — John 
 Moses: History of Illinois, vol. I, pp. 148, 149. (For Roche- 
 blave's latter in full, translated from the French, see Mason's 
 Early Chicago and Illinois, pp. 412-418. See also ante. 
 Chap. Ill of our narrative.) 
 
 t See further as to the capture of Fort Gage, Appendix, 
 Note XLVIII, before cited. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 113 
 
 the Indians upon us, offering great rewards for our 
 scalps ; for which service, he has a salary of two hun- 
 dred pounds sterling a year."* However, what was 
 really secured was, besides letters of De Peyster and 
 Governor Carleton, those of Hamilton from Detroit, 
 some of which directed him to stimulate the Indians 
 to hostility ; but neither of the writers authorized him 
 to offer rewards for scalps. f 
 
 It was arranged before hand that 'n case Clark 
 met with no resistance at the fort, he and his men 
 were to signal the other division (which, tradition 
 says, was commanded by Captain Helm), by giving 
 a general shout, when the town itself was to be as- 
 sailed.J The signal was promptly given, and the men 
 had matters all their own way in the village. § In 
 
 * Bowman to Hite. A Kentucky historian says : "Written 
 instructions from Detroit were found in the possession of the 
 commandant Rocheblave, directing him to unite the Indians 
 to commit depredations on the citizens of the United States 
 and to promise them rewards for scalps, while the conduct 
 of the savages, conforming to these instructions, left no 
 doubt of their having been complied with." (Marshall's 
 Kentucky , vol. I, p. 68.) It will be noticed that Marshall 
 follows Bowman closely. Evidently he had knowledge of 
 what the latter had written. 
 
 t Copies of these letters or "Instructions," as Bowman 
 calls them (and most of them had the force of instructions) , 
 were kept by the writers and they are now among the Haldi- 
 mand MSS. They show no such "offering," (Appendix to 
 our narrative. Note XLVIII, already cited, may be con- 
 sulted in this connection.) 
 
 J Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 124, 125. 
 
 §It is not dijfficult to understand the exact affairs at the 
 movement when Clark found the fort in his possession with- 
 
114 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 fifteen minutes, the Colonel declares, he had every 
 street secured ; he sent runners through the village 
 ordering the people on pain of death to keep close 
 to their houses, which they observed, and before day- 
 light had all the people disarmed.* Meanwhile, every 
 avenue was guarded to prevent any escape to give 
 alarm to the other villages ; and all the while, for the 
 effect it might have, the greatest noise was kept up by 
 the troops through every quarter of the town.f "The 
 place," wrote Captain Bowman, "consists of two hun- 
 dred and fifty families, sufficiently fortified to have 
 resisted a thousand men." | 
 
 Clark sent for several of the citizens during the 
 night for the purpose of obtaining intelligence ; how- 
 ever, but little information could be obtained beyond 
 what had already been procured from the hunters who 
 were "brought to" at the mouth of the Tennessee, ex- 
 cept that a body of Indians lay at this time in the 
 neighborhood of Cahokia, sixty miles up the Missis- 
 sippi, and that Gabriel Cerre, a principal merchant of 
 Kaskaskia, was then one of the most inveterate ene- 
 mies of the Americans. § 
 
 The Colonel's first act on the morning of the fifth 
 was the withdrawing of all his men from the town 
 
 out resistance — at that moment the other division of his 
 command was marching to occupy the village. 
 
 * Clark to ^lason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 31. 
 
 t Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 125. 
 
 t Bowman to Hite. 
 
 § Butler's Kemtucky pp. 53, 54. See also that author in 
 TJie Western Journal, vol. XII. p. 168. And the tradition 
 is sufficiently confirmed by ]Monferton to Cerre, Sept. 22, 
 1778, in the Haldimand ]MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 115 
 
 (except enough to. garrison the fort) to different po- 
 sitions around it. "During these movements, as all 
 intercourse with the soldiers by the Kaskaskians had 
 been forbidden by Clark under heavy penalties, and 
 even those who had been sent for had also been or- 
 dered to have no communication with anyone else, — 
 distrust and terror overspread the village. 
 
 The result of the removal of the troops was, that 
 the citizens were , permitted to walk about freely; 
 when, finding they were busy in conversation with one 
 another, a few of the principal residents, mostly militia 
 officers highest in command, Clark apprehended and 
 put in irons, without assigning any cause or his order, 
 or suffering any defense to be made. ''This immedi- 
 ately produced general consternation ;" and the people 
 expected the worst consequences from the Americans. 
 
 After some time, Pierre Gibault, the Roman Catho- 
 lic priest of the place (Vicar-General of the Bishop of 
 Quebec for the Illinois and adjacent countries), got 
 permission, with five or six elderly gentlemen, resi- 
 dents of Kaskaskia, to wait upon Clark.* "Shocked 
 as the citizens had been by the sudden capture of 
 their town and by such an enemy as their imaginations 
 had painted, the party were, evidently, still more 
 shocked when they entered Clark's quarters, at the 
 appearance of him and his officers. Their clothes 
 dirty and torn by the briars, their others left at the 
 [Ohio] river, — the appearance of the chiefs of this 
 
 * According to Clark, Father Gibault had, while in 
 Canada (from which country he had lately come), made 
 himself somewhat acquainted with the dispute between Britain 
 and America, and was, unlike a brother who resided there, 
 rather inclined to favor the United States. — Clark's Campaign 
 in tJie Illinois, pp. 33, 34. See also Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 
 1859), p. 126, 127. 
 
116 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 little band was indeed frightful and savage (as Clark 
 himself admits) to any eyes." * 
 
 It was sometime after entering the room where 
 Clark and his officers were seated before the callers 
 could speak ; and this they did not do even, until their 
 business was demanded. They asked which was the 
 commander — ''so effectually had this backwoods ex- 
 pedition confounded the difference of rank." The 
 priest then said the inhabitants "expected to be sepa- 
 rated perhaps never to meet again." Giving up all for 
 lost, their lives were all they could dare beg for, which 
 they did with the greatest subserviency. They were 
 willing to be slaves to save their families. 
 
 Clark told them it did not suit him to give them 
 an answer at that time. He gave permission, how- 
 ever, to the citizens generally to go once more to their 
 church to take leave of each other — a request which 
 had humbly been made by their representatives — at 
 the same time telling his auditors, the people must not 
 venture out of town. Some further conversation was 
 attempted by the Kaskaskians present, but it was re- 
 pelled by the Colonel who told them there was no 
 longer leisure for further intercourse. f This he did 
 
 * "How much more so," says Butler, "to tJiis deputation, 
 may be easily conceived by those who are acquainted with the 
 refinement and delicacy of the ancient French [History of 
 Kentucky, p. 55]." But the "refinement and delicacy of the 
 ancient French" of the Illinois may well be questioned, 
 
 t The recollection of Clark many years thereafter was 
 to the effect that the people of the town suspected their 
 religion was abnoxious to the men under his command, and 
 that therefore he told the priest, carelessly, that he had 
 nothing to say against his church — it was a matter Amer- 
 icans left for every man to settle with his God (Butler: 
 History of Kentucky, p. 55; Dillon: History of Indiana, pp. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 117 
 
 that the alarm might be raised to its utmost height. 
 The deputation departed and the whole village as- 
 sembled at the church — the houses being deserted by 
 all who could leave them. Orders were given to pre- 
 vent any soldiers from entering the buildings left 
 without occupants. The people remained in the church 
 for a considerable time, when they repaired to their 
 houses, trembling as if being led to execution. It did 
 not require a lengthy reflection on part of the Ameri- 
 can commander to determine his course toward these 
 inoffensive people. It was his original idea to treat 
 them leniently should they fall into his hands and, if 
 possible, attach them to his interest ; indeed, as he 
 declares, his principles would not suffer him to dis- 
 tress such a number of persons, unless through policy 
 it was necessary ; — his instructions, also, from Gov- 
 ernor Henry were of a like spirit ; and he now, in view 
 of the fact that Cahokia and Vincennes remained to 
 be secured and that there were numerous Indian tribes 
 in the vicinity attached to the French, who were yet 
 to be influenced in favor of the Americans, — resolved 
 to carry out his first intentions. In fact, the Colonel, 
 as he himself asserts, was too weak to treat the in- 
 habitants in any other manner.* 
 
 Clark now sent for all the most influential men in 
 the town, not under arrest, to meet him at headquar- 
 ters. They "came in as if to a tribunal that was to de- 
 termine their fate forever," says the American com- 
 ics, 126). In his letter to Mason, Clark does not mention 
 this conversation, nor that the people generally went to 
 the church, upon his leave, to bid farewell to each other. 
 
 * Consult, again, as to what immediately followed on 
 the taking of Kaskaskia, Appendix to our narrative, Note 
 XLVIII. 
 
118 HISTORY or CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 mander, "cursing their fortune that they were not ap- 
 prised of us time enough to have defended themselves. 
 I told them that I was sorry to find that they had been 
 taught to harbor so base an opinion of the Americans 
 and their cause. I explained the nature of the dispute 
 to them in as clear a light as I was capable of. It was 
 certain that they were a conquered people, and by the 
 fate of war were at my mercy." But the Colonel, here 
 declared that the American principle was to make such 
 as were reduced free instead of slaves. He likewise 
 told them that, if he could have a surety of their zeal 
 and attachment to the American cause, they should 
 immediately enjoy all the privileges of the Govern- 
 ment and their property be secured to them. He as- 
 sured them that it was only to stop the farther effu- 
 sion of innocent blood by the savages under the in- 
 fluence of Rocheblave that made them an object of 
 his attention ; and now that the king of France had 
 united his powerful arms with those of America, the 
 war would not in all probability continue long.* 
 
 •The citizens, from the deepest gloom, ''fell into 
 transports of joy." They assured Clark they had 
 always been kept in the dark as to the dispute between 
 America and Britain ; that they had never heard any- 
 thing before but v^hat was prejudiced and tended to 
 incense them against the Americans ; and that they 
 were now convinced that it was a cause that they ought 
 
 * Although die reference to the alliance between France 
 and the United States is not mentioned by Clark in his letter 
 to Mason, it is spoken of in his Memoir; and, as it would 
 hardly have been overlooked by the Colonel on the occasion, 
 it is given in the text as a verity. Clark had reached a 
 conclusion not fully warranted by what he had learned, 
 that the savages under Rochcblave's influence were shedding 
 "innocent blood," — at least, to any particular extent. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 119 
 
 to espouse ; that they should be happy of an oppor- 
 tunity to convince the Colonel of their zeal ; and they 
 would think themselves the happiest people in the 
 world if they were united with the Americans : they 
 begged Clark that he would receive what they said 
 as their real sentiments. In order to be more certain 
 of their sincerity, the American commander told them 
 an oath of allegiance would be required of them ; but 
 to give them time to reflect on it, he would not ad- 
 minister it for a few days ; in the meantime any of 
 them who chose were at liberty to leave the country 
 with their families (except two or three particular 
 persons) ; that they might repair to their homes and 
 conduct themselves as usual, without any dread.* 
 
 Gibault, the priest, asked the Colonel would he give 
 him liberty to perform his duty in his church. Clark 
 told him he had nothing to do with churches more than 
 to defend them from insult; that by the laws of Vir- 
 ginia, his religion had as great privileges as any other. 
 
 ''This," says Clark, "seemed to complete their hap- 
 piness. They returned to their families, and in a 
 few minutes the scene of mourning and distress wavS 
 turned to an excess of joy — nothing else was seen 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 33. Who the two or three particular persons were that 
 were not permitted to leave the country at that time will 
 presently appear. "Perfect freedom was now given to the 
 inhabitants to go or come as they pleased, so confident 
 were our countrymen, that whatever report might be made, 
 [it] would be to the credit and success of the American 
 arms." (Butler: History of Kentucky, p. 57.) How this 
 freedom was subsequently abused, will hereafter be seen. 
 The first to leave for Detroit to carry the news to Hamilton 
 was Francis Maisonville. (Hamilton to Haldimand, July 
 6, 1781 — Germain MSS.) 
 
120 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 or heard." They adorned the streets with flowers, 
 hung out flags of different colors, and completed their 
 happiness by singing and other demonstrations of de- 
 light.* The oath of Allegiance to Virginia and the 
 United States was soon after taken by them.f 
 
 The action of the Colonel in imprisoning a few 
 Kaskaskians was a precaution taken not to let the most 
 influential of his enemies (if, really, they should prove 
 such) escape. But the throwing them and Rocheblave 
 in irons (for such was the treatment accorded to the 
 latter also) was an excess of caution, if nothing more.J 
 Notably among those deprived of their liberty was M. 
 Cerre, the merchant who had been accused of being 
 a most determined foe to the Americans. He too, was 
 ironed. § 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 pp. 33, 34. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note XLIX.) 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 35. "In a few days" are Clark's words, "the inhabitants 
 of the country took the oath subscribed [authorized] by law, 
 and every person appeared to be happy." That the citizens 
 took the oath of allegiance both to Virginia and the United 
 States is evident. In his Memoir [Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 
 1859), p. 127], Clark says it was to Virginia. But, that 
 the United States was included. Bowman to Hite, makes 
 it sufficiently evident. And corroborative is Hamilton to 
 Carleton, Aug. 8, 1778; also De Peyster to Haldimand, 
 Aug. 31. 1778 and January 29, 1779: Haldimand MSS. 
 
 X Nowhere in any writing by Clark does he say that 
 Rocheblave was ironed; but such was the fact. Butler (His- 
 tory of Kentucky, p. 54) apologizes for Clark in these words: 
 "These measures [the putting in irons of Kaskaskians] were 
 taken from no wanton cruelty; for, of all men. Colonel Clark 
 enjoyed the mildest and most affectionate disposition; and he 
 severely felt, as he says, every hardship he believed himself 
 compelled to inflict." 
 
 § As to the ironing and imprisonment, see De Peyster 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 121 
 
 The treatment given Rocheblave on his being cap- 
 tured, was according to British reports, such as to 
 approach the verge of barbarity. He was not only 
 ironed but was confined in an outbuilding inside the 
 pickets of the fort, where hogs had been kept. The 
 commander's wife, it was also alleged, was offered 
 indignities.* However, the putting in irons and im- 
 prisonment of citizens was only for a few hours dura- 
 tion, except as to Rocheblave and Cerre.f And even 
 they, it is probable, were only ironed for a short time, 
 though they were ^till kept in close confinement. J 
 
 to Haldimand, Aug. 31, 1778 and Monferton to Cerre, 
 Sept. 22, same year. — Haldimand MSS. An account sent 
 by one Chevalier, a Frenchman from St. Joseph, to De Pey- 
 ster, that Rocheblave and Cerre were put in irons because 
 of having refused [to take] the oaths of allegiance to the 
 king of Spain, the French king, and the Congress" was, of 
 course, a rediculous report. (De Peyster to Haldimand, 
 Aug. 31, 1778 — Haldimand MSS.) See Appendix to our 
 narrative, Note XXV. 
 
 * Hamilton to Carleton, Aug. 8 and De Peyster to Haldi- 
 mand Aug. 31, 1778 — Haldimand MSS.; also, especially, 
 Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781 — Germain MSS. 
 The words of the Lieutenant Governor are, as to Rocheblave, 
 that he "was laid in irons and put in a place where hogs 
 had been kept, ankle deep in filth." But, probably, this was 
 an exaggeration. See Appendix, Note — . 
 
 t Such, at least, is to be infered from Clark's Memoir — 
 Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859) , p. 126. They were probably 
 all released before the night of the fight, except Rocheblave 
 and Cerre. 
 
 X A month after he was captured, the prisoner wrote to 
 Carleton: "I say nothing to you of my prison, which there 
 is nothing like in Algiers." (Mason's Early Chicago and 
 Illinois, p. 419.) If credit is to be given to tradition, there 
 was some excuse for the ill treatment accorded Rocheblave, 
 as he did not hesitate to continually denounce the American 
 commander. 
 
122 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Cerre, upon regaining his freedom (he having 
 been finally set at liberty), immediately crossed the 
 Mississippi to St. Louis, leaving his family and an 
 extensive assortment of merchandise in Kaskaskia.* 
 It then occurred to Clark that a person of so much 
 importance must, if possible, be gained over to the 
 cause of the United States; for his influence, the 
 American commander quickly saw, would be of the 
 utmost consequence if exerted in the right direction. 
 A guard was therefore soon placed around his house 
 to the end that none of his family or property should 
 be disturbed; but he gave out that the object was 
 to secure boats because Cerre by fleeing had virtually 
 acknowledged himself an enemy, and that he had been 
 guilty of inciting the Indians against the Americans. 
 Clark then patiently awaited developments. f The 
 Colonel had already turned his attention to Cahokia. 
 He prepared on the afternoon of the fifth, a detach- 
 ment on horseback — Illinois horses, of course, had 
 to be used — under Captain Bowman "to make a de- 
 scent" On that village which was, as we have seen, 
 about sixty miles "up the country." The Kaskaskians 
 assured the American commander that one of their 
 own townsmen was enough to put him in possession 
 of the place "by carrying the good news" of the treat- 
 ment they had received ; but Clark "did not altogether 
 choose to trust them." As it was, the Captain and his 
 men were attended by a considerable number of the 
 Kaskaskia citizens. J Bowman "got into the middle of 
 
 * Butler has it, that, at the time of Clark's arrival, 
 Cerre was in St. Louis, which, of course, is error. 
 
 t Butler in Western Journal, loc. cit. 
 
 X Clark's recollection years after was, that these Kas- 
 kaskians were commanded by former militia officers of the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 123 
 
 the town before they were discovered; the French 
 gentlemen calhng aloud to the people to submit to 
 their happier fate, which they did with very little hesi- 
 tation. A number of Indians being in town, on hear- 
 ing of the 'Big Knives/ immediately made their es- 
 cape." 
 
 ''I was ordered by our commanding officer (Colonel 
 Clark)," says Captain Bowman, "with thirty men on 
 horseback to attack three other French towns up the 
 Mississippi. The first, called Prairie du Rocher, is 
 about fifteen miles from Kaskaskia, the town we had 
 in possession ; and before they had any knowledge of 
 my arrival, I was in possession of the place, which was 
 no small surprise to them ; in consequence of which_, 
 they were willing to comply with any terms I should 
 piopose." 
 
 "Thence," continues the Captain, "I passed to St. 
 Philip's, about nine miles farther up the river, which 
 I likewise took possession of ; and as it was impossible 
 for them to know my strength (the whole being trans- 
 acted in the night) they also came to my own terms. 
 I proceeded thence to Cahokia, about forty or fifty 
 miles above St. Philip's, which contained about one 
 hundred families. We rode immediately to the com- 
 mander's house and demanded a surrender of him and 
 the whole town, which was at once complied with. I 
 then possessed myself of a large stone house, well 
 fortified for war. I was immediately threatened by a 
 man of the place that he would call in one hundred 
 
 town (Butler's Kentucky, p. 58) ; rather vaguely expressed 
 by Dillon {History of Indiana, p. 127) as being "a volunteer 
 company of French militia." It is said that "all set off in 
 high spirits at this new mark of confidence under the free 
 government of Virginia." 
 
124 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOUEST,, ETC. 
 
 and tifty Indians to his assistance and cut me off. 
 This fellow I took care to secure ; but we lay upon our 
 arms the whole night, this being the third night with- 
 out sleep." "^ 
 
 "In the morning," the Captain goes on to say, "I 
 required the inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance 
 to the States or I should treat them as enemies, which 
 they readily agreed to ; and before ten o'clock there 
 were one hundred and fifty who followed the example. 
 In less than ten days, there were three hundred who 
 took the oaths, and they now appear much attached 
 to our cause." f 
 
 The inhabitants of the two principal towns having 
 thus sworn fealty to the United States and to A'irginia 
 and the smaller villages having submitted to the Vir- 
 ginians. — "the British Illinois" become at once (anr], 
 it may be premised, permanently) American. And all 
 
 "^ Bowman to Hire. Clark's subsequent assertion that 
 Bowman's force was made up of the Captain's company and 
 part of another, is at fault; althougli there was in the 
 detachment, doubtless, men from two companies — principally 
 from Bowman's. It was not strictly true that Clark ordered 
 Bowman "to attack" the other towns. He was "to make a 
 descent" on Cahokia, it being well understood by both the 
 Colonel and the Captain that, in all probability, no resist- 
 ance would be offered. 
 
 t Bowman to Hite. The above was written almost at 
 the very time of the expiration of the ten da^-s. In an 
 "Account of the French Forts Ceded to Great Britain in 
 Louisiana." written before the English occupation of the 
 Illinois, is the following with reference to Cahokia: "Fifteen 
 leagues from Fort Chartres. going up the jNIississippi. is the 
 village of Casquiars [Cahokia]. There is a small stockade 
 fort: I don't know if there is any cannon. There may be 
 about 100 inhabitants." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 125 
 
 this had been accomphshed without the shedding of 
 a drop of blood ! 
 
 Clark's success, thus far, extraordinary though it 
 was, cannot be said to have been because of any great 
 display of military genius. He had not encountered 
 an enemy of any strength either inside a fortification 
 or in the field. At the start, it had been his faith in 
 previous information gained by him that determined 
 him to undertake the expedition; and once under- 
 taken, his firmness and resolution would not permit 
 him to yield to any discouragement. But there was 
 one element in his success that the greatest and wisest 
 of Generals do not fail to invoke as one of the most 
 important factors in military science — and that was 
 secrecy. Much was due to his suavity of manners — 
 much to his readiness to share to the fullest extent 
 with his men their trials and hardships, — but it was 
 the secrecy which he so completely maintained as to 
 the real object of his undertaking that, in the end, in- 
 sured his triumph. What he had accomplished (had 
 he subsequently done no more) would not have, hence- 
 forth, given him the prestige for a capacity for great 
 military talents or sagacity; nevertheless, there was 
 already enough to his credit to entitle him to the dis- 
 tinction of having his acts spoken of as heroic. 
 
 But writers of Western history, in the past, have 
 been prone to exaggerate the troubles and trials — the 
 fears and sufferings — which from the commencement 
 of the expedition to the capture of the Illinois villages, 
 beset the Colonel and his men. Says one of these 
 chroniclers : 
 
 "A law had been passed for the raising of a regi- 
 ment; the troops had been enlisted, officered and 
 
126 niSTORV Of CL^IRK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 equipped, transported thirteen hundred miles by hind 
 and water, tluough a wilderness eountry, mhabi- 
 ted by Indian allies of the enemy, and marched mto 
 a garrisoned town, without the slightest suspicion, 
 much less discovery, of the movement. When \\e 
 observe the amount of time and labor which is 
 now expended in making a jouniey from Mrginia 
 to Kaskaskia [this was written before there was 
 railway conununication between the two], with all 
 our improvements, and reflect how incalculably 
 greater must have been the difficulties of such 
 a journey at that time, when there was no road across 
 the mountains, nor any boats in which to navigate 
 the rivers but such rude craft as the traveler might 
 construct for his own convenience : and when we take 
 into consideration the difficulty of transporting pro- 
 visions and ammunition through a wild region, tlie suc- 
 cessful expedition of Colonel Clark [in capturing tlie 
 Illinois towns] will present itself as a brilliant military 
 achievement," * 
 
 Strictly speaking. Clark did not travel, on his 
 jouniey from Williamsburg to Kaskaskia. through 
 any portion of a country inhabited by Indians : and 
 it can hardly be said he marched into a g-arrisoned 
 town when he reached the objective point of his expe- 
 dition. Xot much ditficulty could have been experi- 
 enced by tlie recruits in reaching Redstone : and the 
 force there collected dropped dowTi the Monongahela 
 and Ohio to the Kentucky rendezvous with little trou- 
 ble and in boats far from being rude in their construc- 
 tion. From the islands to just above "Old Fort Mas- 
 sac/' \\*ith oars doubled-manned. surely there was not 
 
 *Hall: Romance of IVcstcni History^ p. 29t). 
 
HISTORY OP CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 127 
 
 much hardship encountered. Thence, however, to Kas- 
 kaskia there was real suffering for the last two days 
 from hunger. Now, in all this journey from its begin- 
 ning to its end, with the surrender of the Illinois vil- 
 lagers, no events happened — no difficulties were over- 
 come — that could stamp the enterprise thus far as "a 
 brilliant military achievement." But, it may be pre- 
 mised, Clark's campaign was far from being ended. 
 Heroic valor — "military achievement" of acknowl- 
 edged force do say the least j — is yet to be chron- 
 icled ; and under such circumstances was success 
 finally assured, that it cannot fail to be considered 
 almost beyond the reach of human energy. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE occupation of Kaskaskia and Cahokia by 
 Clark's force was at once followed by friendly 
 demonstrations from the Spanish side of the 
 Mississippi. This was so marked that Clark opened 
 a correspondence with Fernando de Leyba, "Captain 
 in the Infantry Regiment of Louisiana, Commander- 
 in-chief and Lieutenant-Governor of L'pper Louisi- 
 ana, headquarters at St. Louis." "Our friends, the 
 Spaniards," says Clark, "did everything in their power 
 to convince me of their friendship.""^ 
 
 It was now that A'incennes began to engage no 
 small share of Colonel Clark's attention : and why not, 
 seeing that the Illinois towns had submitted to his au- 
 thority? He knew that the people there had learned 
 of his presence in Kaskaskia, but he concluded he was 
 by no means able to march against them, although 
 Abbott, the lieutenant-governor, had left the place. 
 The American commander was determined, if possi- 
 ble, to conquer them in a peaceable way (as they were 
 now left to themselves) by winning their affections. 
 But he must first know their sentiments — what their 
 feelings were toward the Americans. 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 35. "Clark sent tlie Lieutenant-Governor [De Lej'ba] 
 a number of letters. '{Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 
 35.] Thej- are in Spain as are all of De Lej'ba's papers and 
 probabh- have not been inspected for three quarters of a 
 century. [Br3-mner: Report on Canadian Arehives 1883, 
 p. 14.] Who can speak as to their contents?" [Oscar W. 
 Collett, in Magazine of Western Historw vol. I, (Feb., 1885) 
 p. 273.] 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 129 
 
 To execute his plans, the Colonel pretended he was 
 about to send an express to the Falls of the Ohio for a 
 body of troops to join him at a certain place in order 
 to attack the town. This soon had the desired ef- 
 fect. Advocates immediately appeared before Clark 
 in its behalf. Father Gibault, as if to convince the 
 latter of his attachment, offered to undertake to win 
 the village for the American commander if permitted 
 to make the trial, only requesting that a few Kaskas- 
 kians go with him. There seemed to be no doubt 
 among the people of their being able peaceably to gain 
 the inhabitants there to the Colonel's interest. Gi- 
 bault gave Clark to understand that, although he had 
 nothing to do with temporal business, he would hint to 
 his friends upon the Wabash enough to be very con- 
 ducive to successs. 
 
 Gibault named as his associate, a Dr. Le Font. 
 The whole plan, which was perfectly agreeable to 
 Clark and was what he was then secretly aiming at 
 and had been for some days, was immediately settled. 
 The priest and the doctor with a small retinue (of 
 whom one was an American spy) started on the four- 
 teenth, going on horseback* and taking with them in- 
 structions to be followed in case of success, also an 
 address to the inhabitants of Vincennes, authorizing 
 them to garrison their town themselves, to convince 
 them of the confidence reposed in them by the Amer- 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Aug. 8, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. It is also stated in a letter written by him to the 
 General on the 11th. It seems that Gibault before starting 
 went to Cahokia, going thence by way of Kaskaskia, which 
 he left on the 14th. It was from Cahokia that he started on 
 horseback, but there is no doubt he journeyed from Kaskaskia 
 in the same way. 
 
 9 
 
130 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ican commander. Verbal instructions from Governor 
 Henry, as we have seen, authorized this attempt, now 
 that the Ilhnois was reduced, even had it been deter- 
 mined to use coercive measures. 
 
 Upon the arrival of the party at Vincennes, a short 
 time was spent by the Kaskaskians in explaining mat- 
 ters to its inhabitants. They (with the exception of a 
 few disaffected ones, mostly traders, who from interest 
 were attached to Governor /\bbot and the government 
 he had represented on the Wabash, and who imme- 
 diately left the country) acceded to the proposal to 
 make common cause with America. The citizens went 
 in a body to the church where the oath of allegiance 
 was administered to them in the most solemn manner. 
 An officer was elected, Fort Sackville immediately 
 garrisoned, and the American flag displayed to the as- 
 tonishment of the Indians. Hamilton subsequently 
 learned from an Indian report that the British flag left 
 there by Abbott was, when taken down, wrapped 
 around a large stone and thrown into the Wabash."^ 
 
 The savages in Vincennes were informed that their 
 old father, the French King, had come to life again. 
 A Piankeshaw chief of great influence among his na- 
 tion, known as the ''Big Gate," or "Big Door," and 
 called by the Indians ''The Grand Door to the Wa- 
 bash" (controlled, as he did, the lower portion — the 
 "gate" or "door" — of the river), received a spirited 
 
 "^Proceedings of the Rebels at Vincennes, as Related to 
 Lieut. Gov'r Hamilton by Neegik, an Ottawa War Chief, 
 Oct. 14. 1778. — Haldimand MSS. But this Indian report 
 confounded the subsequent arrival of a ''rebel" officer to 
 take command of Fort Sackville, with the previous visit of 
 Gibault when the British flag was taken down and the 
 American flag raised. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 131 
 
 compliment from Father Gibault, who was much Hked 
 by the Indians ; and, through the chief's father, known 
 as "Old Tobacco,"* Big Door returned the compli- 
 ment, which was soon followed by a "talk" and a belt 
 of wampum. t 
 
 Gibault and party, accompanied by several gentle- 
 men from Vincennes, returned to Kaskaskia about the 
 first of August "with the joyful news.":|: 
 
 There was one who did not go back with Gibault. 
 This was the American spy, Simon Kenton, who had 
 with him dispatches from Clark to Colonel Bowman, 
 the County Lieutenant of Kentucky county, giving a 
 full recital of his success in the Illinois. Kenton was 
 also enjoined to make a close observation of all the 
 incidents connected with the visit of Father Gibault 
 and send back an account of the same to the American 
 commandant at Kaskaskia. This was done and Ken- 
 ton then made his way to Kentucky, reaching Colonel 
 Bowman at Harrodsburg in thirteen days from Vin- 
 cennes. After delivering his dispatches, he went to 
 Boonesborough. 
 
 But the journey of Kenton from Kaskaskia to 
 Harrodsburg, by way of Vincennes, has been, in many 
 particulars, distorted in the Annals of the West. The 
 principal errors to be noted in these traditionary ac- 
 counts are, that Kenton reached Vincennes before Gi- 
 bault ; that he reconnoitered the place undiscovered; 
 
 * See Appendix, Note LXVI. 
 
 t Compare Western Annals, pp. 173, 174. 
 
 X See also as to the winning of Vincennes to the Amer- 
 ican interests, under management of Gibault, Appendix, 
 Note L. 
 
132 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and that he then sent Clark a statement of what had 
 come nnder his observation.* 
 
 Soon after his release, the merchant, Cerre', at St. 
 Louis, became uneasy that his family and property 
 should be kept under guard at Kaskaskia ; and fear- 
 ing to venture into Clark's power without a safe-con- 
 duct, procured the recommendation of the Spanish 
 Lieutenant-Governor at the first mentioned place, also 
 that of the commandant at St. Genevieve, — supported 
 by the influence of the greater part of the citizens of 
 both places. It was all in vain. The American com- 
 mander peremptorily refused giving him the desired 
 security, at the same time intimating that he wished 
 to hear no more such applications. He understood, 
 he said, that Cerre' was a sensible man, and if he were 
 innocent of the charge of inciting the Indians against 
 the Americans, he need not be afraid of delivering 
 himself up. Backwardness would only increase sus- 
 picion against him. 
 
 Cerre' soon crossed over from St. Louis and boldly 
 repaired to Clark's headquarters in Kaskaskia, and in- 
 quired of the Colonel what crimes he stood charged 
 with. He was informed that he was accused of en- 
 couraging the Indians in their murders and devasta- 
 tions on the American frontier. This, Cerre' flatly de- 
 nied and declared his willmgness to meet any such 
 charges at once. His accusers were sent for, but up- 
 on confronting- the accused they had little to say — in 
 short, they could bring no proof whatever against him, 
 and the French merchant was honorably acquitted and 
 his family and goods immediately restored to him. It 
 
 * See Appendix. Note L. Consult as to a fiction concern- 
 ing a contemplated attack from Kaskaskia. Vincennes and 
 Detroit against Kentucky. Appendix, Note LI. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 133 
 
 is hardly necessary to add that he at once took the 
 oath of allegiance and became a most valuable friend 
 to America."^ 
 
 While Gibanlt was making a bloodless conquest 
 of Vincennes for Virginia, Clark, at Kaskaskia was 
 "exceedingly engaged" in regulating matters in the 
 Illinois. Three months, the period for which his men 
 had enlisted, had expired. Something must be done 
 and done speedily. The commander was, at the time, 
 at a great loss how to act — how far, indeed, he might 
 venture to strain his authority. His instructions were 
 silent on many important points ; for it was, of course, 
 impossible for Governor Henry and his Council to 
 foresee all the events that had taken place- To aban- 
 don the country and all the prospects that opened to 
 view for the good of America, for want of instructions 
 in certain cases, the Colonel thought would amount to 
 a reflection on the Government which had entrusted 
 him with charge of the expedition. He resolved, 
 therefore, to usurp all the authority necessary to re- 
 tain the fruits of his success. 
 
 'T now found myself," says the commandant, "in 
 possession of the whole [of the Illinois and of Vin- 
 cennes], in a country where I could do more real ser- 
 vice than I expected, which occasioned my situation to 
 be the more disagreeable, as I wanted men ;" for the 
 
 * Mann Butler, in The Western Journal, vol. XII, 
 pp. 168, 240, 241. Mention of Cerre is made in Rocheblave 
 to Carleton, [Aug. 3?], 1778 — Haldimand MSS., where, 
 it is intimated, he was then on good terms with Clark. 
 [As to Butler's account to be found in his History of Ken- 
 tucky, of the meeting between Clark and Cerre see Appendix, 
 Note LII. In a subsequent note (LVIII) will be found 
 also opinions from British accounts of the treatment accorded 
 to Cerre and Rocheblave in putting them in irons.] 
 
I'M niSTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 i^Toatcst part of those uiulor his comiiiaiul "was for ro- 
 tuniini;-, as thov wore no Ioniser otii^agod." Siirround- 
 inj;- him. thouj^h at a considorahlo distance away, most 
 of them, were numer(.>iis naiiotis oi savai^es. whose 
 miiuls had heen poisoned hy the luiii'hsh ; notwith- 
 stanchni;- tliis many of his men. whose term of enhst- 
 ment had expired, insisted on leavini^- the service. 
 "It was." sa\s Cdark. "with ditVicnUy that 1 conld snp- 
 port the dt5;nity that was essential to i^ive my orders 
 the ioree that was necessary" — sneh was the dis- 
 qnietnde of his mind. 
 
 The Colonel soon had abont one hnndred of his 
 men reenlisted for eight months, bnt this was bronght 
 about by "great presents and promises" only. To give 
 color to his remaining" with so few troops, he made a 
 feint of returning to the Falls of the Ohio, as though 
 he had sufficient contidenee in the people to trust them 
 with the management of atTairs, hoping they would 
 remonstrate against his leaving. This they did in the 
 warmest terms. They represented the necessity of 
 troops remaining at Kaskaskia. declaring" they were 
 fearful if the town was vacated and the commander 
 returned to the h\\lls with his men that the English 
 would again possess the country. So the Colonel, 
 seemingly by their request, consented to remain with 
 two companies — though he hardly thought (he pre- 
 tended) that so many were necessary. If more w^ere 
 wanted, he declared, he could get them at any time 
 from the h\dls. where, the citizens w*ere made to be- 
 lieve, there N\as a considerable g^arrison. 
 
 x\s soon as possible (it w^as probably the fourth of 
 August) the Commander sent oft* all those — seventy 
 in number — who "conld not be g'ot to stay." — Wil- 
 liam Linn taking charge of the returning" troops, all of 
 
HISTORY OP CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 135 
 
 whom were to be discharged at the Falls. He also 
 took with him an order to have the post there re- 
 moved from the island to the mainland on the Ken- 
 tucky side of the river. This was, in reality, the 
 founding of the present city of Louisville. And while 
 Clark is not entitled to the distinction of having been 
 the founder of Kentucky so frequently given him, he 
 is properly credited with being the father of its chief 
 city. 
 
 Captain Montgomery was, at the same time, or- 
 dered to proceed - to Williamsburg with letters en- 
 trusted to him, directed to the Virginia governor, giv- 
 ing a full account of the success thus far of the expe- 
 dition ; the situation of affairs at the date of writing ; 
 and the necessity there was for more troops. With 
 him, Rocheblave was sent a prisoner (there were none 
 others) to the Virginia seat of government.* 
 
 * Monnett.e's History of the Mississippi Valley vol. I, 
 p. 422; Rocheblave to Carleton, Aug. 3, 1778 — Haldimand 
 MSS. ; Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 3G, 37. '1 
 came off with the volunteers, having instructions from Colonel 
 (now General) Clark to wait on his Excellency, the Governor 
 [of Virginia] , as soon as possible with letters and verbal 
 messages." {Montgomery to the Boarci of Commissioners 
 for the Settlement of Western Accts., Feb. 22, 1783 — Calen- 
 dar of Virginia State Papers, Vol. Ill, p. 441; Mason's 
 Early Chicago, p. 352.) That Montgomery probably started 
 on the fourth of August, is to be inferred from the letter 
 of Rocheblave to Carleton of the day previous. "As Clark 
 had secured the friendship of the Spanish commandant at 
 St. Louis, he felt secure from molestation for the present, 
 and sent a party home to Virginia with the news of his 
 bloodless conquest." — Fiske: The American Revolution, 
 vol. II, p. 106. It is evident, however, that the friendship 
 spoken of had nothing to do with the Colonel's act in sending 
 off any of his men. Mr. Mason, in his excellent work, 
 
136 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The throwing of Rocheblave in irons upon his 
 capture in Fort Gage was not the only harsh treatment 
 accorded him : there was a confiscation of much of his 
 private property, — his slaves in particular being sold 
 for five hundred pounds sterling, which was distrib- 
 uted among the troops as prize money. It was an un- 
 warranted proceeding. 
 
 The day before Rocheblave's departure for Wil- 
 liamsburg, he "stole a moment" from his guards in 
 order to wTite Carleton, giving him information as to 
 his having been captured by "Mr. Clark, the self- 
 styled Colonel." 
 
 "The majority of the inhabitants," continued 
 Rocheblave, ''knowing the maneuvers which had oc- 
 curred on the lower part of the Mississippi, were re- 
 solved to defend themselves; but the dealings of our 
 neighbors, the Spaniards, and the abuse of the treach- 
 erous English. . . prevented them from doing it. 
 There remained to me., for a resource, Mr. Legras, 
 who prepared himself with forty men to come and join 
 me from Fort Vincennes, where he is captain of mi- 
 litia ; but the rebels having landed on the [north side 
 of the] Ohio sixty Jeagues from here, crossed the neck 
 of land which separates that river from this place, 
 and prevented that." 
 
 ''Uselessly," further wrote the prisoner, "I have, 
 for two years past, been representing the necessity of 
 cutting off the communication between the Ohio and 
 the Mississippi carried on with the Spaniards. It is 
 
 Early Chicago and Illinois, p. 373, inadvertantly says that 
 '"Clark sent those of his men whom he could not persuade 
 to reenlist to carry letters to Gov. Patrick Henry at Williams- 
 burg and with them went Rocheblave across the Alleghanies 
 in custody," — citing Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 37. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 137 
 
 open ; and I hope that there does not result more in- 
 convenience than I had predicted. 
 
 "I beg your Excellency," added the now disconso- 
 late writer, "to pay the expenses for which I have 
 drawn on Mr. Dunn. I entreat you to have pity on 
 the family of Captain Hugh Lord left with mine, 
 without resource, their effects and mine having been, 
 for the most part seized and sold. I leave here a wife 
 and seven children deprived of the first necessities of 
 life. They [The Americans] say that I depart to- 
 morrow for the Congress. I recommend myself to 
 you to be exchanged. I say nothing to you of my 
 prison, which there is nothing like in Algiers. I have 
 lost between Mr. Lord and myself in slaves, animals, 
 goods and utensils, nine thousand piastres. I hope 
 that your Excellency will have regard for our fami- 
 lies and will cause them to receive some aid by the way 
 of Mr. De Feive, merchant of Montreal, who could 
 give his orders to M. Cerre', a merchant here. I have 
 neither a good pen nor any other paper. Your Excel- 
 lency will excuse a prisoner who writes upon his 
 knees. Sick as he is, the time has come when he must 
 depart from the country."* 
 
 Just before Montgomery's departure, Captain 
 Bowman returned to Kaskaskia from Cahokia, leaving 
 a guard at the last mentioned place on account of its 
 remoteness from the other towns, and because the In- 
 
 * Rocheblave to Carleton Aug. 3, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. (See Mason's Early Chicago and Illinois, pp. 418, 
 419.) But Rocheblave, as already shown, was not sent a 
 prisoner to Congress, but to the Virginia authorities. (As 
 to Rocheblave being conducted to Williamsburg, see Appen- 
 dix, Note LIIL) 
 
138 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 dians, not far away, were constantly receiving sup- 
 plies from the British.* 
 
 Clark now commenced raising recruits in the set- 
 tlements. Many of the young people seemed fond of 
 the ^service, and "the different companies soon got 
 complete." At Cahokia, where the stone building — 
 really a fortification, as already suggested — had been 
 taken possession of and named "Fort Bowman," was 
 a garrison to be commanded by Captain Bowman ; one 
 was also formed at Kaskaskia to occupy Fort Clark, as 
 Fort Gage was now named,t and was put in charge 
 of Captain John Williams. In Vincennes, Fort Sack- 
 ville was still in possession of the local militia with the 
 American flag flying over the fortification ; but, as will 
 hereafter be shown, the command of the post was soon 
 turned over to one of Clark's officers. 
 
 Now that the Colonel had arranged matters so far 
 as the military was concerned to the best of his ability, 
 he next gave his attention to Indian aft'airs. This was 
 of great importance, as there were a number of na- 
 tions to the northward and northeastward that would 
 be, in the nature of the case, a menace to him, as many 
 of them were already at war on the side of Great Brit- 
 ain against the United States. But the friendship of 
 the French and the Spaniards to the "Big Knives" 
 confused them. They counseled with the French 
 traders to know what they had better do now that the 
 American flag was flying at Kaskaskia and Cahokia. 
 
 * See Appendix to our narrative. Note LIII, just cited. 
 
 t The earliest information of the changing the name 
 of Fort Gage to Fort Clark is found in the so-called "Bow- 
 man's Journal" (March 15, 1779). As to particulars con- 
 cerning this Journal see Note CXXXII, in Appendix to our 
 narrative. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 139 
 
 These traders were not slow in advising them to make 
 peace with the Virginians. Three tribes — the three 
 nearest to the Illinois towns — did so at once; they 
 were the Kaskaskias, the Peorias, and the Michi- 
 gamies. 
 
 It was the opinion of Clark that Indian treaties (as 
 before that time conducted) had not been carried on 
 by the whites in a proper manner ; — soft speeches and 
 presents, in his judgment, should give place to a stern 
 demeanor and a fearless attitude, to be tempered with 
 kindness only when an exhibition of it would tend to 
 conciUate. "It may appear otherwise to you," said the 
 Colonel, in writing to a friend, some months after, 
 ''but I always thought we took the wrong method of 
 treating with Indians, and I strove as soon as possible 
 to make myself acquainted with the French and Span- 
 ish mode, which must be preferable to ours, otherwise 
 they could not possibly have such great influence 
 among them. When thoroughly acquainted with it, 
 it exactly coincided with my own idea, and I resolved 
 to follow that same rule as near as circumstances 
 would permit."''' 
 
 In after years, Clark wrote : 'T had always been 
 convinced that our general conduct with the Indians 
 was wrong ; that inviting them to treaties was consid- 
 ered by them in a different manner to what we ex- 
 pected, and imputed by them to fear ; and that giving 
 them presents confirmed it. I resolved to guard 
 against this, and I took good pains to make myself 
 acquainted fully with the French and Spanish methods 
 of treating Indians, and with the manners, genius and 
 disposition of the Indians in general. A s in this quar- 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois ^ 
 
140 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ter [the Illinois] they had not yet been spoiled by us, 
 I was resolved that they should not be."* 
 
 The Colonel soon held a great council at Cahokia. 
 "It was with astonishment," he says, "that we viewed 
 the amazing number of savages that soon flocked into 
 the town of Cahokia to treat for , peace and to hear 
 what the 'Big Knives' had to say ; — many of them 
 came from five hundred miles distant." There were 
 Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawattamies, Winnebagoes, 
 Sacs and Foxes, and a number of other nations,t all 
 being east of the Mississippi and many of them at war 
 against the Americans. Clark "was under some ap- 
 prehension among such a number of devils ;" and it 
 proved to be just, for the second or third night, a 
 party of Winnebagoes and others endeavored to force 
 by the. guards into his lodgings to bear him off, but 
 were happily detected and made prisoners by the 
 alacrity of the sergeant. The town took the alarm 
 and was immediately under arms, which convinced the 
 savages that the French were in the American in- 
 terest. 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana {ed.. of 1859), p. 
 131. It is evident that Clark exaggerates somewhat as to 
 his preparations to deal with the savages, as, from what 
 follows, it is certain he had not time to accomplish so 
 much before entering upon negotiations with them. One 
 of his assertions, however, throws light upon what is not 
 sufficiently explained in his letter to Mason; and that is, 
 that he was opposed to inviting Indians to treaties. 
 
 t For "Chippewas," Clark writes "Chipoways;" for 
 "Ottawas," he gives "Ottowas;" for "Pottawattamies,' he 
 has "Petawatomies." Instead of "Winnebagoes," he gives 
 the more ancient name of "Puans." He has "Sayges" which 
 is but a synonym for "Sac's." "Tanways" are given, but 
 these were "Ottawas." He writes "Mawmies" for "Miamies" 
 or "Miamis." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 141 
 
 The Colonel was determined to follow the princi- 
 ple he had at first acted upon, which was, to show a 
 bold and fearless front to the savages ; he therefore 
 immediately ordered the principal chiefs to be put in 
 irons by the French militia. But the former insisted 
 that it was only to see whether the French would take 
 part with the Americans or not ; that they had no ill 
 design. This treatment of some of their greatest 
 chiefs caused great confusion among the assembled 
 Indians. The prisoners, with great submission, so- 
 licited to speak to the Colonel, but were refused. 
 They then made all the effort they possibly could with 
 the other Indians (who were much at a loss to do, as 
 there were strong guards through every quarter of the 
 town) to get to speak to him; but he told the whole 
 that he believed they were a set of villians, that they 
 had joined the English, and that they were welcome 
 to continue in the cause they had espoused, but that 
 he (Clark) was a man and a warrior; that he did not 
 care who was his friends or foes; and that he had no 
 more to say to them. Such conduct, by the Colonel, 
 alarmed the whole town; but he was sensible that it 
 would gain him no more enemies than he had already ; 
 and that, if they afterward solicited for terms, it would 
 be more sincere, and probably have a lasting good ef- 
 fect on the Indian nations. Distrust was visible in 
 the countenance of almost every person during the 
 latter part of the day. 
 
 To show the Indians that he disregarded them, 
 Clark remained in his lodging in the town about one 
 hundred yards from the fort, seemingly without a 
 guard ; but he kept fifty men concealed in a parlor ad- 
 joining, and the garrison under arms. During the 
 night there was great counselling among the savages, 
 
142 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 
 
 But to make them have the greater idea of his indif- 
 ference about them, he assembled a number of gentle- 
 men and ladies and danced nearly the whole night. 
 In the morning he summoned the different nations to 
 a grand council. 
 
 As a preliminary, Clark released the chiefs he had 
 ironed and invited them to attend the meeting, that 
 he might speak to them in presence of the whole as- 
 semblage. After the usual ceremonies were over, he 
 produced a bloody belt of wampum and made a speech 
 upon it. 
 
 ''I told the chiefs that were guilty," says the Col- 
 onel, ''that I was sensible their nation was engaged in 
 favor of the English, and if they thought it right, I did 
 not blame them for it, and exhorted them to behave 
 like men and support the cause they had undertaken ; 
 that I was sensible that the English were weak and 
 wanted help ; that I scorned to take any advantage of 
 them by persuading their friends to desert them ; that 
 there were no people but Americans but would put 
 them to death for their late behavior ; and that it con- 
 vinced me of their being my enemies." 
 
 "But it was beneath the character of Americans," 
 continued Clark^ "to take such revenge ; that they 
 were at liberty to do as they pleased, but they should 
 behave like men and not do any mischief until three 
 days after they left the town ; that I should have them 
 escorted safely out of the village, and after that expi- 
 ration of time, if they did not choose to return and 
 fight me, they might find Americans enough by going 
 farther." 
 
 And the Colonel added "that if they did not want' 
 their own women and children massacred, they must 
 leave off killing ours and only fight men under arms. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 143 
 
 which was commendable ; that there was the war belt : 
 we should soon see which of us would make it the 
 most bloody. I then told them it was customary 
 among all brave men to treat their enemies well when 
 assembled as we were; that I should give them pro- 
 visions and rum while they staid; but, by their be- 
 havior, I could not conceive that they deserved that 
 appellation, and I did not care how soon they left me 
 after that day."* 
 
 Clark observed that their countenances and atti- 
 tude favored his real design ; for the whole looked like 
 a parcel of criminals. The other nations rose and 
 made many submissive speeches, excusing themselves 
 for their conduct in a very pretty manner. The Col- 
 onel thought there was something noble in their senti- 
 ments. They alleged that they were persuaded to war 
 by the English and made to harbor a wrong opinion of 
 the Americans ; but they now believed them to be war- 
 riors and could wish to take them by the hand as 
 brothers ; that they did not speak from their lips only, 
 but that the American commander would find that 
 they spoke from their hearts ; and that they hoped he 
 would pity their blindness and their women and chil- 
 dren. They also solicited pardon for their friends that 
 had been guilty of the late crime. 
 
 The Colonel told them he had instructions from 
 the Great Man of the Big Knives not to ask peace 
 from any people, but to offer peace and war and let 
 them take their choice, except a few of the worst 
 nations to whom he was to. grant no peace; for, as the 
 English could fight no longer, he was fearful his 
 young warriors would get rusty without they could 
 
 * Clark to Mason =- C/ar^'^ Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 44. 
 
144 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. ' 
 
 find somebody to fight. He then presented them with 
 a peace belt and a war belt, and told them to take their 
 choice, — excepting those who had been imprisoned. 
 They, with a great deal of seeming joy, took the belt 
 of peace. Clark then told them he would defer smok- 
 ing the peace pipe until he heard that they had called 
 in all their warriors, and then he would conclude a 
 treaty with all the ceremony necessary for so import- 
 ant an occasion. 
 
 The savages immediately solicited of Clark some 
 persons to go with them to be witnesses of their con- 
 duct ; and they hoped the Colonel would favor their 
 guilty friends. But this the American commander re- 
 fused, by which he was pleased to see them set 
 trembling as persons frightened at the apprehension 
 of the worst fate. Their speaker then rose and made 
 a most lamentable speech (such as Clark wished for) 
 begging mercy for their women and children ; for the 
 French gentlemen of Cahokia had given them lessons 
 that favored the Colonel's purpose. Clark recom- 
 mended them to go to their English father, who had 
 told them he was strong ; perhaps he might help them, 
 as he had promised ; that they could blame no person 
 but themselves when they should, with the English, 
 be given to the dogs to eat. 
 
 When the Indian orators had tried their eloquence 
 to no purpose, they pitched on two young men to be put 
 to death as an atonement for the rest, hoping that would 
 pacify Clark. It was surprising to see how submis- 
 sively the two presented themselves to suffer for their 
 friends, — ''advancing into the middle of the floor, 
 sitting down by each other, and covering their heads 
 with their blankets to receive the tomahawk." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 145 
 
 This submission at once conciliated the Colonel. 
 ''For a few moments," he declares, ''I was so agitated 
 that I do not doubt but I should, without reflection, 
 have killed the first' man that would have offered to 
 hurt them."* It is needless to say the two were not 
 tomahawked. 
 
 Clark obtained such a treaty as he wished for, con- 
 firmed by all present ; for peace with all the savages 
 was what he wanted, if it could be secured on his own 
 terms. He came to an understanding with represent- 
 atives of not less than ten nations. This carried 
 American influence, for the time, far up the Missis- 
 sippi, and up the Illinois to the very borders of Lake 
 Michigan, — five tribes, the Winnebagoes, Sacs, 
 Foxes, Pottawattamies and Miamies, having pre- 
 viously received presents from the English and taken 
 up the hatchet against the Americans. f 
 
 ''In a short time," Clark subsequently wrote con- 
 cerning the negotiations with the Indians at Cahokia 
 at that period, and what followed immediately there- 
 after, "our influence reached the Indians on the St. 
 Joseph and the border of Lake Michigan. The 
 
 *Id., pp. 44-46. Dillon in copying Clark's Memoir is 
 silent as to this whole transacfon; but Butler (History of 
 Kentucky, pp. 72-75) gives the particulars, although, in 
 some instances, varying considerably from Clark in his 
 letter to Mason, which, as it is nearly contemporary with 
 the event related, is the better authority. (As to Butler's 
 account, see Appendix to our narrative. Note LIV.) 
 
 t Patrick Henry to the Virginia Delegates in Congress, 
 Nov. 14, 1778. (See Butler's Kentucky (2d ed.), p. 532; 
 also Tyler's Life of Patrick Henry, p. 230, 231; and Henry's 
 Patrick Henry, vol. II, p. 16 and vol. HI, p. 200.) 
 
 10 
 
146 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 
 
 French gentlemen, at the different posts that we now 
 had possession of, engaged warmly in our interest. 
 They appeared to vie with each other in promoting 
 the business ; and through the means of their corre- 
 spondence, trading" among the Indians, and otherwise, 
 in a short time the Indians of the various tribes in- 
 habiting the region of the Illinois, came in great num- 
 bers to Cahokia, in order to make treaties of peace 
 with us. From the information they generally got 
 from the French gentlemen (whom they implicitly 
 believed) respecting us, they were truly alarmed; and, 
 consequently we were visited by the greater part of 
 them, without any invitation from us : of course we 
 had greatly the advantage, in making use of such 
 language as suited our interest. Those treaties, which 
 commenced about the last of August, and continued 
 between three and four weeks, were probably con- 
 ducted in a way different from any other known in 
 America at that time." He declares he began the 
 business fully prepared, having copies of British 
 treaties in his possession."^ 
 
 Clark did not fail to make the most of his success. 
 "I sent," he declares, "agents into every quarter." To 
 a chief of the \Mnnebagoes, he gave this writing as a 
 pledge of his friendship : 
 
 "^ Clark's Memoir. The writer (already cited) in the 
 North American Rez'iczi', vol. XLIII. p. 21. says, concerning 
 these treaties : "By means of such cautious management 
 [as employed by the Colonel of Cahokia in his dealing with 
 the savages there] Clark succeeded in undermining the British 
 influence among the Indian tribes from the IMississippi to the 
 Lakes, and impressing them, with a respect for the Americans 
 hitherto unknown." But this "undermining." among many 
 of the tribes, proved, it may be promised, of short duration. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 147 
 
 ''By George Rogers Clark, Esq., Colonel and Com- 
 mandant of the Eastern Illinois and its Dependencies, 
 etc, etc.^ etc. 
 
 ''Whereas Courachon, Chief of the Puans [Win- 
 nebagoes], and his nation living at the Rock river 
 have entered into alliance and friendship with the 
 United States of America, and promised to be true 
 and faithful subjects to the same; 
 
 "In consequence whereof, I have given him this 
 writing as a remembrance that he and his said nation 
 are to treat all the subjects of the said States of Amer- 
 ica with friendship and receive all those they may 
 meet with as their brothers. 
 
 "Given under my hand and seal at Fort Bowman, 
 in the Illinois, this 22(1 Aug't, 1778. 
 
 G. R. Clark, [Seal]" 
 
 And, in nearly the same words, as will be seen, he 
 afterward gladdened the heart of a Fox chief: 
 
 "By George Rogers Clark, Esq., Colonel of the 
 Virginia troops and Comamndant of the Eastern Illi- 
 nois and its Dependencies : 
 
 "Whereas, Kinaytounak [written, also, Kindi- 
 nack], a chief of the Fox nation of Indians, has en- 
 tered into a friendly alliance with the United States of 
 America and promised to be a true and faithful sub- 
 ject thereto ; — 
 
 "In consideration of this, I give him this writing 
 as a remembrance, he agreeing that he and his nation 
 will treat all the subjects of the said States with 
 friendship, and receive them at all times as their 
 brothers. 
 
148 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. . 
 
 "Given under my hand and seal, at Fort Bowman, 
 in Cahokia, this 28th day of August, 1778. 
 
 "G. R. Clark. 
 
 Much fatigued because of his labor with the In- 
 dians, Clark, after about five weeks absence, returned 
 to Kaskaskia.- He left Captain Bowman not only in 
 charge of the garrison but of affairs generally at Ca- 
 hokia. In attending to matters in which he was en- 
 trusted, the Colonel declares the Captain ''did himself 
 much honor." 
 
 On arriving at Kaskaskia, Clark found everything 
 as well as he could have expected. Afterward, "the 
 great Blackbird, Chippewa chief. . . sent a belt of 
 peace to Colonel Clark, influenced, he [the Colonel] 
 supposes, by the dread of Detroit's being reduced by 
 American arms."y It seems that, subsequently, the 
 American commander sought an interview w4th this 
 Indian and obtained from him every assurance of fu- 
 ture friendship ; but, what promised much because of 
 the chief's power over his nation, proved, in the end, 
 of little value, on account of British influence. 
 
 * Haldimand MSS. But, it may be said, both these 
 chiefs soon returned to their British allegilance, giving over 
 these tokens to the English. (See concerning Clark's Council 
 with the Indian tribes at Cahokia. Appendix, Note LV.) 
 
 t Patrick Henry to the Virginia Delegates in Congress, 
 Nov. 14. 1778. Blackbird's interview (for this, it is claimed, 
 actually took place) with Clark, is described with minuteness 
 by Butler in his History of Kentucky (see Appendix to our 
 narrative. Note LVI). But his assertion that the conference 
 was the result of Clark having first made advances to the 
 chief, is clearly erroneous. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 149 
 
 Having now "fixed matters" so as to enable him to 
 have "a. moment's leisure/' the Colonel gave his af- 
 fairs deeper reflection than he had before attempted. 
 His situation and weakness convinced him that more 
 depended on his own behavior and conduct than on all 
 the troops under his command — far removed as they 
 were, from the body of his country, and among French, 
 Spaniards and numerous bands of Indians ; all watch- 
 ing his actions, and ready to receive impressions favor- 
 able or otherwise of the Americans, which might be 
 hard to remove and which would, perhaps, produce 
 lasting good or ill effects. It was now that he saw his 
 work was only begun;- and he naturally examined 
 every circumstance that had transpired since leaving 
 Williamsburg, fixing upon proper resolutions, so that 
 if misfortune or loss of interest should come, it might 
 be chargeable to want of judgments only. 
 
 It was, as the Colonel looked upon it, of the great- 
 est consequence to have strict subordination among 
 his troops and this he soon effected. It gave him 
 much pleasure to harrangue them on parade, all "raw 
 and undisciplined" as they were. He told them of his 
 resolutions and the necessity of strict duty as a means 
 of their own preservation. They returned answer that 
 it was their zeal for their country that induced them 
 to engage in the service; that they were sensible of 
 their situation and danger' and that nothing could con- 
 duce more to their safety and happiness than good or- 
 der, which they would try to adhere to, and they hoped 
 that no favor would be shown those who would neg- 
 lect it. In a short time, his garrison in Fort Clark, 
 was in a high state of efficiency — "perhaps," declares 
 the enthusiastic commander, "no garrison could boast 
 of better order or of a more valuable set of men." 
 
150 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Clark now became aware that Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor Hamilton at Detroit, finding British influence on 
 the wane among many of the Indian nations, was 
 sending out messengers through their country (so far 
 as they dare venture) to awaken a renewed spirit in 
 them for the cause of Britain. But he felt assured 
 that that officer was redoubling his presents and in- 
 sinuations to little purpose; as he (the Colonel) had a 
 number of persons well acquainted with the Indians he 
 had treated with, to reside among them ; and he had 
 spies continually in and about Detroit for some time. 
 However, the American commander under estimated 
 the potency of Hamilton's Indian diplomacy and of 
 his largeness dealt out with a liberal hand.* Besides, 
 there were many tribes to the eastward and north- 
 ward of the Wabash and Illinois rivers that had not 
 made treaties with the Colonel and were now in close 
 alliance with the British — closer, in fact, than he 
 thought possible, or, at least, had knowledge of. 
 
 Clark spared no effort within his reach to concil- 
 iate the Illinois people and by so doing to bring them 
 heartily to espouse American interests. ''They," he 
 said, "know no other kind of government than what 
 might be expected from the lust of power, pride and 
 avarice of the officers commanding in that country, 
 whose will was a law to the whole and certain destruc- 
 tion to those who disobeyed the most trifling com- 
 mand, — nothing could have been more to my advan- 
 tage, as I could temper the government as I pleased; 
 and every new privilege appeared to them as fresh 
 laurels to the American cause. 
 
 ''' But the Lieutenant Governor never offered a stated 
 reward for scalps. (See History of the Girtys, pp. 65, 69, 70.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 151 
 
 "I, by degrees, laid aside every unnecessary re- 
 striction they labored under. As I was convinced 
 that it was the mercenary views of their former gov- 
 ernors that established these restrictions, paying no 
 regard to the happiness of the people and those cus- 
 toms, which, when strictly observed, was most con- 
 ducive to good order, I made it a point to guard the 
 happiness and tranquility of the inhabitants, suppos- 
 ing that their happy change reaching the ears of their 
 brothers and countrymen on the lakes and about De- 
 troit, would be paving my way to that place and have a 
 good effect on the Indians. I soon found it had the 
 desired effect, for the greatest part of the French gen- 
 tlemen and traders among the Indians declared for us ; 
 and many letters of congratulation were sent from 
 Detroit to the gentlemen of the Illinois, which gave 
 me much pleasure."* 
 
 Between the American commander in Kaskaskia 
 and Don Leyba at St. Louis, there was the most cor- 
 dial understanding. The Spanish Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor omitted nothing in his power to prove his at- 
 tachment to the Americans; and this, too, with such 
 openness as to leave no doubt of his sincerity. "As I 
 was never before in the company of a Spanish gentle- 
 man," says Clark, "I was much surprised. Instead of 
 finding that reserve thought peculiar to that nation, 
 I here saw not the least symptom >of it. Freedom al- 
 most to excess gave me the greatest pleasure."! 
 
 "There lately arrived from New Orleans, wrote the 
 Colonel to Governor Henry, the middle of September, 
 
 * Clark to Mason. — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 49, 50. 
 
 fid., pp. 46, 47. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note 
 LVII.) 
 
152 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "dispatches from the Governor General to Mr. Leyba, 
 Lieutenant-Governor, residing at St. Louis, which 
 [dispatches] brought, [contained] a parcel for the 
 Commercial Committee and Congress, with instruc- 
 tions to send it by express, except it could be given 
 into the hands of an officer belonging to the States. A 
 few days ago, I received these letters from Mr. Leyba, 
 who requested that I would send them immediately, 
 as he says they are af importance and require expedi- 
 tion. Having a fit person [William Meyers], I have 
 dispatched him with orders to make no delay until he 
 arrives at Williamsburg. This express answers my 
 purpose very well as an opportunity of informing 
 you of what has past in this country since my last let- 
 ers to you by Captain Montgomery, which I hope you 
 have received." 
 
 "Mr. Leyba," continues Clark, "requested of me 
 that I would, by letters, present his compliments to 
 you. This gentleman interests himself much in favor 
 of the States — more so than I could have expected. 
 He has offered me all the force that he could raise in 
 case of an attack by the Indians from Detroit, as there 
 is now no danger from any other quarter."* 
 
 * Clark to the Governor of Virginia, Sept. 16, 1778. 
 (Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. Ill, p. 194.) 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BY the middle of January, 1778, Hamilton was 
 enabled to inform Governor Carleton of the 
 general success of his war parties sent out 
 from Detroit ; but in March, he wrote : "1 am humbly 
 of the. opinion that it must be impossible for the Wa- 
 bash Indians to be kept in order without a vast ex- 
 pense in presents, or the presence of some troops. In- 
 deed, in all those posts where the French had settled a 
 trade and intercourse with the savages, an officer's 
 presence, with troops, is much wanted ; for the minds 
 of the Indians in remote posts are poisoned by the 
 falsehoods and misrepresentations of the French. As 
 to the Indians of the Wabash, they have been out of 
 the way of knowing the power of the English; and, 
 from a presumption of their own importance, will be 
 arrogant and troublesome." However, he was grati- 
 fied with the appearance of a large body of warriors 
 — Mingoes, Shawanese and Delawares — but, as they 
 had with them their wives and children, of course they 
 were not ready to go upon the war-path against the 
 Americans. "The savages," he wrote on the ninth of 
 June, "will, in a few days, meet in Council."* And 
 that Council proved to be one of the largest ever held 
 with Indians in the West. It was opened at Detroit 
 on the fourteenth. There were sixteen hundred and 
 eighty-three Indians of both sexes present — Ottawas 
 and Chippewas, Wyandots and Pottawattamies, Dela- 
 wares and Shawanese, Miamis and Mingoes (the latter 
 * Haldimand MSS. ' 
 
 (153) 
 
154 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC 
 
 consisting of Mohawks and Senecas) ; also Kickapoos, 
 Weas and Mascoutins.* 
 
 The burden of Governor Hamilton's speeches, to 
 the large assemblage of Indians was an urgent re- 
 quest that the good feeling of the year previous might 
 be continued between them and his government, — 
 made effective, upon the occasion, by a liberal bestowal 
 of presents. The responses of the Indian orators were 
 all re-assuring. So the claim of friendship was 
 brightened between them ; war axes were given anew 
 and sharpened ; war songs were sung ; and war dances 
 danced. On the seventeenth of June, it is recorded : 
 ''Some Delawares are this day arrived, who are de- 
 sirous of showing their intention of joining their 
 brethren, and have presented me [Hamilton] two 
 pieces of dried meat (scalps) ; one of which, I have 
 given to the Chippeways, the other to the Miamis, that 
 they may show in their villages the disposition of the 
 Delawares." There is no possibility of mistaking this 
 brutality ; nor can it be denied that the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, by this deed placed himself upon record as 
 acting in a manner at once barbarous and blood- 
 thirsty.! 
 
 * British interests were represented by Lieutenant Gover- 
 nor Hamilton; Lieutenant Governor Abbott (recenth-, as we 
 have seen, from Vincennes) : Jehu Hay, Indian Agent ; Alex- 
 ander jMcKee (a Tory who had fled from Pittsburgh) ; Cap- 
 tain Lernoult and Lieutenant Caldwell, of the King's regiment; 
 William Tucker, Joseph Drouilland, Isidore Chesne, Duperon 
 Baby, and Charles Beaubien, Interpreters. 
 
 t The Record of the Council is a long one. There were 
 meetings on the 14th. 15th. 17th. 18th, 19th. 20th and •29th of 
 June, and on the 3d of July-. Little did Hamilton imagine, 
 at its close, that a hardy band of "rebels" was even then 
 rapidly approaching Kaskaskia to nullify, as the events after- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 155 
 
 The latter part of June General Frederick Haldi- 
 man reached Quebec,* the successor of Carleton as 
 Governor of the Province and Commander-in-Chief of 
 the troops therein. f But it was a long distance from 
 that town to Detroit, and of necessity the news of his 
 arrival was unknown to Hamilton for a considerable 
 time. 
 
 In midsummer, there was a flying report at Detroit 
 indicating that French and Spanish emissaries had 
 been at St. Joseph, with belts and messages for the 
 Pottawattamies at that place.J "Every intelligence," 
 wrote Hamilton to Carleton, "confirms what I had the 
 honor to mention to your Excellencey about a year 
 since, that the Spaniards are doing their utmost to 
 alienate the savages, by promises and presents. By 
 Mr. Rocheblave's letter to me, it appears that, hitherto, 
 they have not gained their good will or confidence. "§ 
 
 wards disclosed, a good share of the proceedings of hiS/ 
 Council. 
 
 * Haldimand to Germain, June 30, 1778, from Quebec. — 
 Haldimand MSS. 
 
 t Germain to Haldimand, Aug. 7, 1777.— Haldimand MSS. 
 The Province of which General Haldimand was appointed 
 governor, was, of course, that of Quebec ; and, as Com- 
 mander-in-chief therein, his authority in a military (as well 
 as civil) way extended over all the West, except, strictly 
 speaking, the country (Kentucky) south of the Ohio. The 
 General came to America first in 1757 as Lieutenant Colonel ; 
 was in the French and Indian War, being in Amherst's army 
 at the capture of Montreal; and had command in Florida in 
 1767. 
 
 X Located on the right bank of the St. Joseph river, of 
 Lake Michigan, not a great distance below the site of the 
 present city of South Bend, Indiana. 
 
 § Hamilton to Carleton, August 6, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
156 HISTORY OF CL.-1RK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Two days after sending this information to Carle- 
 ton, the Lieutenant-Governor received intelhgence of 
 the success of Clark at Kaskaskia and Cahokia. The 
 news was of the most startling character to hhn. He 
 at once dispatched expresses with all possible speed to 
 inform the Commandor-in Chief at Ouoboc, Colonel 
 Bolton at Niagara, and ^lajor DePeyster (^ho was no 
 longer Captain) at ^lichilimackinac. 
 
 "An express is arrived from the Illinois." is his 
 langniago to Carleton. "with an account of the arrival 
 of a party of rebels, in number about three hundred, 
 who have taken Mr. De Rockeblave prisoner — have 
 laid him in irons, and exacted an oath from the inhab- 
 itants, binding them to obedience to the Congress." 
 "There is an officer," added Hamilton, "with thirty 
 men detached by the rebels to Cahokia to receive the 
 allegiance of that post : and I have no doubt that, by 
 this time, they are at \'incennes, as when the express 
 came away, one Gibault, a French priest, had his horse 
 ready saddled to go thither from Cahokia to receive 
 the submission of the inhabitants in the name of the reb- 
 els . . Monsieur de Celoron sets off this day with 
 belts for the \\'abash Indians, whose deputies went 
 from this place not long since., well satisfied with their 
 reception, and took along with them three war 
 belts." 
 
 "I bog leave to observe to your Excellency." con- 
 tinues the Lieutenant-Governor, "that, if the Wabash 
 Indians are supported properly, it will entail a consid- 
 erable expense: at the same time, it is well kno^\*n to 
 your Excellency that these nations are the only bar- 
 rier to be opposed at present to tlie inroads of the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 157 
 
 rebels and the attempts of the French and the Span- 
 iards."* 
 
 It was not long before the Lieutenant-Governor 
 again wrote Carleton. In speaking of Clark's force, 
 he declared that it was reported to be three hundred 
 strong ; — "but I cannot think they are so numerous," 
 said he, "since, by what the express has related, it 
 seems they are but a part of those marauders who left 
 Fort Pitt last January under the orders of one Willing, 
 a man who is of one of the best families in Philadel- 
 phia, but of infamous character and debauched morals, 
 a proper head for the band of robbers he has con- 
 d].icted down the Mississippi. I should judge that the 
 repulse he met with at the Natchez, where one of his 
 boats with six swivels was taken and thirty of his 
 people killed or taken, joined to the news of four Eng- 
 lish frigates being in the river's mouth, has altogether 
 induced him to return without getting ammunition at 
 New Orleans, which was probably the principal object 
 of his expedition." 
 
 "After having taken the submission and oaths of 
 fidelity from the inhabitants at Kaskaskia," continues 
 Hamilton, "they sent an officer and thirty men to Ca- 
 hokia to do the like there ; and, unless they fear the 
 savages, [they] will probably send to Vincennes for the 
 like purpose. I yesterday sent away Monsieur de 
 Celoron with belts and speeches for the Miamis [lo- 
 
 * Hamilton to Carleton, Aug. 8, 1778. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 (For additional accounts, from the British side, of the 
 treatment accorded Rocheblave, see Appendix, Note LVIII.) 
 De Celoron, commandant at Wea, a post (one of the de- 
 pendencies of Detroit) situated upon the Wabash, did not 
 leave with belts for the Indians there until the tenth, as 
 Hamilton the next day mentioned in another letter to Carleton. 
 
158 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 cated mostly at the head of the Maumee] and Wabash 
 Indians and a particular order to have four iron can- 
 non which are at Vincennes spiked and the trunnions 
 knocked off; for if they [the 'rebels'] think of fortify- 
 ing themselves there, the very name of cannon would 
 deter the Indians from attacking them."* 
 
 Hamilton also again urged the necessity of sup- 
 porting the Wabash Indians and how expedient it 
 would be in case of a rupture with the Spaniards to 
 keep [these] frontier Indians in good temper, — ''who 
 will no doubt be courted by them." "Their deputies," 
 he repeated, "who were lately at Detroit, and took up 
 the ax were well pleased with their reception and 
 promised to act with vigor against the rebels. "f 
 
 * Hamilton to Carleton, Aug. 11, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. "Monsieur de Celoron was sent off directly for Ouia- 
 tanon [Wea] with belts and speeches for the Miamis Indians 
 and those of the River Ouabache [Wabash]. His orders, 
 which were given in writing, as was the case with all partizan 
 officers, directed that he should as soon as possible give jne 
 information of the dispositions of the Indians ; the number 
 and, if possible, the views of the rebels ; and that he should 
 not fail to have the few small cannon at Fort Sackville spiked 
 and the trunions knocked off." — Hamilton to Haldimand, 
 July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 t Hamilton to Carleton in his letter of August 11th. It 
 is evident that supporting the Wabash Indians was what was 
 uppermost in Hamilton's mind as being of paramount import- 
 ance at this juncture. To effect this was, to interpose a bar- 
 rier to further inroads of the "rebels" who had planted them- 
 selves in the Illinois, and to thwart all aid and comfort to the 
 enemy that might be proffered by the French and Spaniards. 
 It is not improbable that he saw, if vigorous and prompt 
 means were taken to secure the active cooperation of these 
 tribes, recapturing the Illinois from the "rebels" would surely 
 follow. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 159 
 
 When Hamilton was informed of the arrival at 
 Quebec of General Haldimand he made it a point to 
 write him.* "As .soon as possible," he said, "I shall 
 have the honor to transmit a statement of this set- 
 tlement and of the different posts dependent on it, 
 as also of the militia, the Indian department, volun- 
 teers, and other matters. A plan of the fort, with the 
 alterations which have been made since the month of 
 November, 1775, shall be prepared and sent off this 
 autumn if possible." 
 
 "The Indian nations in general," Hamilton con- 
 tinned, "who resort to Detroit, have acted with great 
 cheerfulness and unanimity. The Delawares are least 
 to be depended on, though lately some of them have 
 declared their resolution to act against the rebels ; 
 and, but a few days since, one of their parties which 
 had been at war brought in fifteen scalps to this place." 
 "Many of the war parties," he further declared, "bring 
 in prisoners and have shown a humanity hitherto un- 
 practiced among them ; they never fail of a gratuity on 
 every proof of obedience they show in sparing the 
 lives of such as are incapable of defending them- 
 selves." 
 
 "A prisoner," the Lieutenant-Governor also wrote, 
 "brought in here by the Shawanese lately, who was 
 
 * Hamilton had accounts, as already shown, of Haldi- 
 mand's arrival, as early as Aug. 11, 1778, but he did not con- 
 sider them of sufficient reliability to risk a letter to the new- 
 Commander-in-chief. However, on the fifth of September, 
 he wrote: — "Having just received an account of your Ex- 
 cellency's safe arrival at Quebec, I take the earliest opportunity 
 of presenting my dutiful respects and of congratulating your 
 Excellency on the choice his Majesty has made in appointing 
 you to the distinguished post of Commander-in-chief of this 
 Province." 
 
160 HISTORY. OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 taken near one of the forts on the Kentucky river, 
 tells me the rebels were lately reinforced with three 
 companies, each of seventy men." 
 
 "A letter," added Hamilton, "sent by Major De 
 Pe3^ster from jMichilimackinac confirms the account of 
 the rebels have taken possession of Kaskaskia and 
 Cahokia, on the Mississippi. As to the Spaniards, 
 however willing to take part against the English, I 
 apprehend the depredation of the rebels in their neigh- 
 borhood may make them backward in encouraging 
 them, for I hear that some Spaniards were at a con- 
 ference between some of the Indians from St. Joseph 
 and the rebels at Kaskaskia ; that they listened to 
 what passed without saying a word till the rebel 
 speakers went away, when they told the Indians not to 
 listen to those people, for they were unable to perform 
 the promises they had made them.""^ 
 
 As to the French inhabitants at all the out-posts in 
 the West — the Lieutenant-Governor had little confi- 
 dence in them. ''I firmly believe," were his words, 
 ''there is not one in twenty whose oath of allegiance 
 would have force enough to bind him to his duty; 
 added to this [is the fact] that the greatest part of the 
 traders among them who are called English are rebels 
 in their hearts." Hamilton thought it a most unfor- 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand [Sept. 5], 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. The reinforcements mentioned by the prisoner brought 
 into Detroit, as consisting of three companies, each of seventy 
 men, which had arrived in Kentucky, were the troops of Clark, 
 who, of course, had not left the island at the Falls of the 
 Ohio when the informant was captured. That the Kentucky 
 prisoner supposed this force was reallj'" a reinforcement for 
 the Kentucky posts, shows" how important it was that Clark 
 kept his real destination so long a secret. Clark never learned 
 how close a risk he ran of being discovered. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 161 
 
 tunate circumstance for his Majesty's interest in the 
 IlHnois that Rocheblave had fahen into the hands of 
 the ''rebels" — "his understanding, experience and 
 authority over a troublesome set of people, rendered 
 him thoroughly capable of managing such subjects." 
 
 General Haldimand was informed further that, ex- 
 cept the confirmation of the news of Clark having ta- 
 ken possession of Kaskaskia and Cahokia, there was no 
 intelhgence from either the Illinois or Vincennes. But I 
 shall not be surprised," said Hamilton, ''to hear that 
 the rebels are driven away ; nor shall I be surprised to 
 hear they are well received. The Indians are very 
 well able to effect the first ; the French very capable of 
 the last, and they would gladly revive the idea of a 
 French father with the Indians, though they have en- 
 joyed advantages under an English government they 
 were formerly strangers tOo""*" 
 
 "I have the honor to assure your Excellency," 
 again wrote Hamilton to Haldimand, "that every 
 means in my power shall be used to second your in- 
 tentions with regard to the Indians of the Wabash and 
 the invaders at the Illinois and Vincennes (for intel- 
 ligence has arrived from the Miamis that the rebels 
 had sent three persons to that place and have nomi- 
 nated three Frenchmen of that settlement to act for 
 them : Mayette, as commandant ; Bosseron, as mayor ; 
 and Monbrun, as lieutenant). I have this account 
 from Monsieur de Celoron."t 
 
 ^ Hamilton to Haldimand, just cited. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, Sept. 16, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. It will be noticed that Hamilton says "that the rebels 
 [Col. Clark] had sent three persons" to Vincennes to occupy 
 Fort Sackville; such was the fact as will hereafter be ex- 
 plained — one officer and two of the rank and file of his force 
 
 11 
 
162 IIISTORV OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 It was some comfort to the Lieutenant-Governor 
 to learn that, on the twenty-tifth of August, a party 
 of tifteen Miamis from the head of the Maumee went 
 to war towards the Ohio and on the tifth of Septem- 
 ber another party, consisting- of a chief and thirty 
 men. Even Charles Beaubien. "the King's man," 
 there, on the next day, with live Chippewas and fif- 
 teen Miamis started for A'incennes, but his undertak- 
 ing was a failure. 
 
 There were many in Detroit even to so late a date 
 as September after the appearance of Clark at Kas- 
 kaskia. who were confident the ocupation of the Illi- 
 nois by the "rebels" would be a transitory one. even 
 if it had not already been given up. But Hamilton 
 and Hay thought otherwise. "I am of a very difterent 
 opinion," wrote the latter. "They [the 'rebels"] cer- 
 tainly had bills upon the Spanish governor," he con- 
 tinued, "which were answered on their being pro- 
 duced." "And as we have but too much reason to be- 
 lieve," he added, "they were well received by the in- 
 habitants, they will not lose their hold so soon, par- 
 ticularly while they can get provisions [and other nec- 
 essaries] for their parties that are or may be on the 
 Ohio."* So the Lieutenant-Governor, sharing in the 
 opinion of his Indian Agent, resolved to attempt the 
 recovery of Kaskaskia and contiguous villages as well 
 as A'incennes. This he would accomplish with his In- 
 
 at Kaskaskia were the "three persons." the main dependence 
 being, as before, upon the Vincennes militia. 
 
 *Hay to Brehin. [Sept. — . 1778]. — Haldimand MSS. 
 Hay's reasoning had. in reality, no foimdation at the time, 
 except that Clark and his nien had been well received by 
 the inhabitants of the Illinois. (Hay's letter is given in full 
 in Appendix. Note LIX.) 
 
HISTORY OP CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 163 
 
 dian allies, and he would go with them for that pur- 
 pose. It would only be a scout on a large scale. Of 
 his own motion, however, he soon changed the "scout" 
 into an ''expedition" against the Americans at Vin- 
 cennes and in the Illinois, to be regularly organized to 
 capture the country. 
 
 Hamilton's first idea — that is, of going with the 
 Indians was strictly in accordance with Haldimand's 
 views already sent to the Lieutenant-Governor ; — he 
 would approve such steps as the latter found necessary 
 to take in supporting the Wabash Indians ; and Ham- 
 ilton would go along to see that his aid was made ef- 
 fective. And the further words of Haldimand were 
 not lost upon the Lieutenant-Governor, — "And I 
 must observe that, from the great expense to which 
 Government has been put by the Indians in general, it 
 might be expected that some of them might easily be 
 induced to undertake expeditiously to clear all the Illi- 
 nois of the invaders; and if the efforts of the parties 
 which you send out and have proposed to send out to 
 the Ohio were properly directed, the retreat of the 
 rebels and especially the communication and inter- 
 course which they want to establish, by that river, 
 with the French and Spaniards might be so disturbed, 
 if not entirely cut off, as to render the object of their 
 expedition [to the Illinois] . . entirely fruit- 
 
 less." How, then, could the war-party he now pro- 
 posed to send out be more properly conducted than for 
 him to go along and direct their movements? Would 
 not this be in strict accordance with the instructions 
 Cor, rather, suggestions) ' of General Haldimand? 
 Evidently Hamilton so thought, and he acted promptly 
 upon his conviction. But the words of Haldimand 
 
164 HISTORY OF CL.4RK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 wore not, sirictly speaking*, an authorization for an 
 "expedition" against the "rehels" in the lUinois and at 
 X'incennes. to be undertaken by Hamilton, bringing 
 whiles and Indians to his aid: Indian war-parties with 
 white leaders was one thing: British expeditions 
 against Americans with Indians as allies, quite an- 
 other. And the Coniniander-in-chief did not intend 
 to give the Lieutenant-l^iovernor authority for such an 
 luulertaking.'*' l>nt the questions asked by the Gen- 
 eral concerning the practicability of such an enter- 
 prise t only contirnied Hamilton in his resolution to go 
 on with the expedition. He did not wait orders from 
 Haldimand. He would anticipate them. \'inceimes 
 was tirst to be occupied.! 
 
 "Captain Lenioult," wrote the Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor, "has promised me every aid in his power: and. 
 as 1 purpose going" w ith the Indians. 1 hope to be able 
 to keep up their good disposition. I rely nuich on the 
 
 * Haldimand to , Tune IT. 1T7J>. — Haklitnand MSS. 
 
 The assertion afterward made by Clark to the contrary falls 
 to the ground. 
 
 t In Haldimand to Hamilton, Aug. JT, 177S, before men- 
 tioned. 
 
 J "It is evideiu." says a Western writer "that his [Hamil- 
 ton's] first purpose was to proceed at once to Kaskaskia. 
 where Clark's force was stationed, for he urges ^lajor De 
 Peyster to send him assistance." — C^ I. Walker, in The 
 Xorth-Wcst Puring the KL^z\^lutiou, pp. 20, 21. But Hamil- 
 ton's correspondence, as will presently be seen, clearly shows 
 that Vincemies was his first objective point: — to recover 
 this place from the "rebels," his first purpose: after this 
 had been acc^-implished, he would proceed ag^ainst Kaskaskia 
 and the other Illinois towns. He did not propose to march 
 against the latter by way of- St. Joseph and the Illinois river, 
 biu would take the other route, up the Maumee and down the 
 Wabash to \^incennes. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 165 
 
 experiences and zeal of the gentleman [Jehu Hav], 
 who has been deputy agent here antl is well regarded 
 by them."* 
 
 Hamilton, at the same time, wrote ]\Iajor De Peys- 
 ter at IMichilimackinac, acquainting him that he would 
 set off in about twelve days to attempt to dislodge the 
 "rebels" at the Illinois ; at the same time requesting 
 him to engage his Indians to cooperate by way of the 
 Illinois river, in the undertaking.f He soon after 
 sent a message to St. Joseph to the same effect. 
 
 Hamilton also informed the Commander-in-chief, 
 that the water of the Miamis [river, now known as the 
 Maumee], was reported to be extraordinarily low; but 
 the weather having lately changed, it might be ex- 
 pected to rise, and by the time the equinoctial gales are 
 blown over, he thought there would be water sufficient 
 for his purpose. "As I expect to get off' by the first 
 of October," he also wrote the General, "I am to re- 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Sept. 16, 1778. — Haldiniand 
 MSS. 
 
 t Id. "On the lOth and 17th of September, with an en- 
 closure from M. Celeron of the Miamis [should be, "of Wea"] 
 he [Hamilton] acknowledges the receipt of my letters of the 
 20th and 27th August, and sa5^s that he will fulfil my inten- 
 tions concerning the rebels who have taken Post Vincennes. 
 He will accompany the Indians. Captain Lernoult gives him 
 all the assistance possible. He [Hamilton] gives notice of his 
 intention to Major de Peyster and asks him to engage his 
 Indians to cooperate with him by the River Illinois." (Re- 
 marks of Haldimand on Hamilton's Letters: Haldimand 
 MSS.) "Sept. 15th. I had the honor of a letter from your 
 Excellency [referring to Haldimand's letter of Aug. 20th], 
 and in consequence, wrote to Major De Peyster, at Michili- 
 mackinac, informing him of my design of attempting to dis- 
 lodge the rebels from the Illinois." (Hamilton to Haldimand, 
 July 0, 1781 : Germain MSS.) 
 
166 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 quest of your Excellency that any letters you may 
 please to send with a design to be first read by Cap- 
 tain Lernoult, may have a flying seal." 
 
 Hamilton then gave to the Commander-in-Chief 
 more of his intentions. "Finding," said he^ "from 
 correspondents at Ouia Tanon [Wea] and the Mi- 
 amis,* that the Wabash and other Indians are averse 
 to the Virginians settling at the Illinois, I concluded 
 no time was to be lost in supporting and encouraging 
 them, especially as by the letter I receive from the 
 IMiamis, it appears that the French are too much dis- 
 posed to favor the rebels. I purpose carrying a pres- 
 ent for the savages as little bulky as possible. Sev- 
 eral articles necessary for such an enterprise had been 
 forwarded long since, so that the time necessary for 
 convening the chiefs and settling matters for depart- 
 ure may be easily calculated. Your Excellency is no 
 doubt aware that in an undertaking depending so 
 much on Indians, and in a settlement where I am but 
 too sensible there are many disaffected persons, secrecy 
 is impracticable, I hope notwithstanding to second 
 your Excellency's views by preventing the rebels from 
 confirming themselves at Illinois. . . Captain Ler- 
 noult and Captain Grant give me every possible assist- 
 ance, and I see none but cheerful faces since the 'scout' 
 has been mentioned. — I am to meet the chiefs in 
 council this morning, after which Captain Lernoult 
 will send off the Angelica to Fort Erie. As I mean 
 to consult with the headmen on the numbers neces- 
 sary to be taken with us, I hope to leave for your Ex- 
 cellency a return of the effectives for the enterprise. 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Sept. 16, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. (See Appendix, Note LX.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 167 
 
 "Since last May the Indians in this district have 
 taken thirty-four prisoners (seventeen of whom they 
 dehvered up) and eighty-one scalps : several prisoners' 
 taken and adopted are not reckoned in this number." 
 
 As to the assertion here that "several prisoners 
 taken and adopted are not reckoned," it is certain the 
 Lieutenant-Governor misstated the facts. Well 
 enough did he know they had not all been adopted, al- 
 though possibly a very few had been. Then, too, in- 
 stead of "several" he certainly was aware many had 
 been captured that had not been given up. "Seven- 
 teen of the above prisoners," wrote the Indian agent 
 at Detroit, referring to those mentioned by Hamilton, 
 "were delivered up here, but there are many more 
 among them that as yet we know nothing of."* 
 
 "We have many . . [Indian] parties out," are 
 the words of the Detroit agent of Indian affairs, at 
 this time, "but Governor Hamilton, for want of fresh 
 instructions or orders has confined himself to the tenor 
 of those he has first received, namely : carrying con- 
 tinual alarms to draw the attention of the rebels to the 
 frontiers ; preventing the re-setting of the country al- 
 ready abandoned ; and harrassing those destined to 
 keep up a communication between the small forts 
 which you may imagine they have done, as three dif- 
 ferent parties sent from this [place — Detroit — ] 
 since spring have taken thirty-three prisoners and 
 eighty scalps, with the loss of eight principal Hurons 
 [Wyandots], one Ottawa, and one Pottawattamie. 
 Fourteen of the different nations were wounded. "f 
 
 *Hay to Brehm (Sept. — , 1778). — Haldimand MSS. 
 (See Appendix, Note LIX.) 
 
 t Hay to Brehm, just cited. I find nowhere else the 
 policy of Hamilton so clearly set forth as in this letter. 
 
168 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 
 
 The continued asseverations of Hamilton and Hay 
 as to the lack of barbarity on part of the Indians in 
 'their forays into the border settlements, because of in- 
 structions from both to forbear their bloodthirstiness, 
 was a sham — the merest delusion. That the protes- 
 tations of the Lieutenant-Governor and his Indian 
 agent had some restraining influence on the Lake In- 
 dians — the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies and 
 Detroit ^^^•andots — is true ; at most, however, it was 
 but slight. On the Sandusky Wyandots, the Min- 
 goes, and particularly the Shawanese, it amounted to 
 nothing. Hay, in his desire to promote every effort 
 on part of the savages, wholly lost sight of the real 
 contest — that between the ]M other country and her 
 rebellious Colonies. To his mind it was. in the West, 
 an Indian ^^'ar pure and simple. Hear him : 
 
 "The four nations of the Lakes — The Ottawas, 
 Chippewas. Hurons [Detroit Wyandots], and Potta- 
 wattamies — have shown great attachment to his 
 Majesty and Government. The Shawanese, ^lin- 
 goes and part of the Delawares, have been very 
 active. They are stimulated as much by the late in- 
 cursion of the A'irginians under Lord Dunmore and 
 their cruelties since as anything else. Some of them 
 took up the hatchet before they were asked: the rest 
 upon dliberation and in assurance of their being sup- 
 ported by Government. And I must confess there 
 never was kno^\Tl an Indian war carried on with as 
 little of their wanton cruelty. Indeed, the sparing of 
 the lives of prisoners, the aged men. women , and 
 children, was insisted on from the first ; and thev have 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 169 
 
 paid great attention to it ; and they never went with- 
 out some reward for their compUance."* 
 
 It was not a question with Hamilton, in giving in- 
 structions to white partisans who led savage war- 
 parties or to the Indians themselves, as to whether the 
 borders, when attacked, were in arms — were in fact 
 combatants — but were they able to defend them- 
 selves; just as though the bloodthirsty warriors would 
 discriminate between the middle-aged and the aged! 
 And here it may be said that the gratitudes bestowed by 
 the Lieutenant-Governor were by no means confined 
 to those savages who spared the lives of such as were 
 incapable of defense; but they were given whenever 
 prisoners and scalps were brought in, and with a de- 
 light that was always manifest by the words and 
 actions of the giver; and these donations, as before 
 suggested, had exactly the effect of a standing reward. 
 
 The reasons brought forward by Hamilton that the 
 French inhabitants of the Illinois were too much dis- 
 posed to favor the ''rebels," and that the Wabash and 
 other Indians did not relish the idea of Virginians 
 settling there, were indeed weighty as inducements for 
 his undertaking to recover that country; but Hay 
 doubted the sincerity of the Wabash Indians in that 
 regard. ■ He thought they would probably remain neu- 
 tral until they found themselves sufficiently supplied 
 with necessaries by the Virginians and that then it 
 might be expected they would be at least overbearing 
 and perhaps insolent, which would affect those nearer 
 Detroit, in so much as to require more expense and 
 great diligence to keep them to their duty.f 
 
 * Hay to Brehm, before cited. 
 t Id. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 AFTER the middle of September, Hamilton made 
 almost daily report of progress in his undertak- 
 ing. On the twenty-second, he wrote the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief "that the preparations" for his ''lit- 
 tle enterprise" were forwarding with alacrity. But 
 surely it was to be something besides a "scout ;" — 
 instead of his going with the Indians they were to go 
 with him. He was now profiting by the hint given 
 him by the Commander-in-Chief as to the number and 
 disposition of the militia of his district, and the com- 
 pany he had raised at Detroit "and put on actual pay 
 for service."* 
 
 ^'Having reviewed the companies of militia," Ham- 
 ilton subsequently wrote, "I found there would be 
 as many of them turn out volunteers as (with 
 the regulars, Lamothe's company and the Indians) 
 would employ what little craft we had."t The 
 "little enterprise" was assuming large proportions. 
 Fifteen pirogues capable of transporting from 
 eighteen hundred to three thousand pounds each, 
 having had a thorough repair, set off for the 
 rapids of the Alaumee, where cattle and wheels 
 had likewise been sent to expedite the carriage at that 
 portage. "Biscuit is baked, provisions packed in 
 small barrels or bags, the militia companies drafted, 
 artillery stores prepared, boats mending, and all that 
 can be thought of, put forward," are the words of the 
 Lieutenant-Governor. "If it be possible," said he, "to 
 
 * Haldimand to Hamilton. Aug. 27. 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, Jul}- 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 (170) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 171 
 
 move off on the first of next month, I shall use my 
 best endeavors to do it. I can not foresee, though I 
 shall provide against any inclemency of the weather 
 which ought to prevent our taking and maintaining 
 Port Vincennes till reinforcements can join us. Light 
 cannon and an able engineer (as I must confess my 
 own want of knowledge in a branch which requires 
 abilities which I could never pretend to) are capital 
 points [to be considered in this connection]." 
 
 "I purpose," continued Hamilton, "taking presents 
 not only for the Wabash and more Western Indians, 
 but to encourage the Delawares, Mingoes and Shaw- 
 anese to keep good watch towards the banks of the 
 Ohio during the winter season, when the savages are 
 usually dispersed for hunting. If the Western In- 
 dians express their resentment for the inroad of the 
 rebels into their country, this will be a noble opportu- 
 nity to build a fort on so important a spot as the forks 
 at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, which 
 may be, in future a bridle on the Americans of what- 
 ever denomination or interest. The Falls on the Ohio 
 are another important pass, which I believe the rebels 
 will not omit to secure and fortify. The forks of the 
 Kankakee are a third object, with the mouth of the 
 Missouri, for keeping the savages in temper. . . 
 
 "As there are points perhaps," are the further 
 words of the Lieutenant-Governor, "too difficult to be 
 attempted in our present situation, perhaps liable to 
 objection in any, I mention them with that distrust and 
 diffidence which my humble station and abilities de- 
 mand — it would however make me very happy to 
 think a proposal of the kind should meet with your 
 Excellency's approbation and that I could be in the 
 
172 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 slenderest degree a means of promoting the honor and 
 interest of my king and country. The Spaniards are 
 feeble and hated by the French, the French are fickle 
 and have no man of capacity to advise or lead them, 
 the rebels are enterprising and brave, but want re- 
 sources, and the Indians can have their resources but 
 from the English if we act without loss time in the fa- 
 vorable conjuncture. This may appear a picture 
 with strong lights and little or no shade, but as the ef- 
 fects of pushing a force supported by the zeal of the 
 Indians (who have hitherto acted with perfect compli- 
 ance) have not 3^et been tried, I hope to be excused if 
 perhaps too sanguine. The most considerable of the 
 French in this settlement have shown a very good ex- 
 ample, and it is better followed than I had expected. 
 The appearance of a reinforcement from Niagara will 
 fortify them in their good disposition. 
 
 "I design forming a depot at the Miamis [head of 
 the Maumee], but shall take a survey of the portage 
 before I fix on its being on this or the other side of the 
 carr3ang place \ should the Indians act with zeal for us, 
 it shall be on the other side, if coolly, on this. An ac- 
 count of the numbers which leave this place shall be 
 transmitted to your Excellency by the next vessel 
 which goes to Fort Erie. The savages are to give 
 their answer this day. Some working ox^n and horses 
 set off at once for the Miamis to forward the trans- 
 port of provisions at that carrying place."* 
 
 The next day, Hamilton again wrote Haldimand : 
 ''This day, I met the Ottaw^as, the Chippewas and Pot- 
 tawattamies in council by their own appointment. 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Sept. 22, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 173 
 
 present Captain Lernoult, Lieutenant [Daniel] Shourd 
 and the interpreters. The Hurons [Wyandots] were 
 to have come, but the bad weather prevented them; 
 however, the Ottawas spoke with a sort of resentment 
 at their failing to meet as agreed upon. Some days 
 ago, I had called the chiefs together and without di- 
 rectly asking them to join me, had told them I was 
 going to rise up to keep my word with the Wabash 
 Indians, who had taken up the axe of their father the 
 King, and who had accepted his medals and professed 
 their attachment to the English. I further informed 
 them that my hands were loosed by your orders ; that 
 I should no longer consider myself a village chief and 
 that Captain Lernoult would act the part of a father in 
 my absence. This, with the mustering the militia, 
 pressing all the craft on the river, and other prepara- 
 tions, informed them sufficiently of my design of going 
 to war." 
 
 The oath of allegiance to the officers and the rank 
 and file of the militia, who came forward from the dif- 
 ferent companies as volunteers to the number of 
 seventy-five, was tendered on the twenty-fourth. In 
 the afternoon of the same day the Indians had an ox 
 roasted and Captain Lernoult with several of the offi- 
 cers and principal inhabitants assisted at the feast.* 
 
 The next day, Hamilton wrote Haldimand that a 
 chief of the Pottawattamies had just taken charge of 
 a letter and message to St. Joseph. The letter was to 
 Louis Chevalier. As Major De Peyster at Michili- 
 mackinac had full confidence in the Frenchman, the 
 Lieutenant-Governor wrote him in a style to prompt 
 him to deserve it also from the latter. But Hamilton 
 
 * Same to same, Sept. 24, 1778. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
174 niSrORY 01' CLARK'S COXOl'FSr, F.TC. 
 
 was skeptical on the point, llowovor, as there was no 
 other person there to eni^age the Fottawattamies to act, 
 he made a virtne of a necessity in writing him : at the 
 same time declaring to the Commander-in-Chief that 
 as interest was his i^ChevaUer's'l Deity, perhaps he 
 might reconcile his worsliip with his duty.* 
 
 t.M' the othcers of the Indian Department at Detroit, 
 one — Captain and Interpreter Alexander ^IcKee, 
 who had joined Hamilton hecanse there was "a pros- 
 pect of nniting the Western and Sonthern Indians and 
 engiiging them in his Majesty's service — was dis- 
 patched in advance, on the twenty-sixth, with a mes- 
 sage to the Shawanese asking them to send warriors to 
 aid him in his enterprise, and a present of ammnnition 
 to he forwarded from the Ohio wilderness to a party of 
 the same nation, which, nnder the lead of a white man, 
 was hesieging one of the Kentncky forts; and he was 
 partienlarly enjoined to make inqniries as to what was 
 doitig at the Falls of the Ohio, as Hamilton had 
 qniekly seen, npon heing infonned that the Americans 
 had a lodpnet\t there, how important i^shonld it de- 
 velop into a strong fortification") it might become in 
 controlling the Ohio.f 
 
 L^i the evening of the day last mentioned Charles 
 Beanbien, government agent at the head of the Mau- 
 mee, reached Detroit, bringing letters which mentioned 
 
 * Same to same. Sept. -5. 1778. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 t For a list of officers in the Indian Department who went 
 upon the expedition, see Appendix to our narrative. Note 
 LXTII. The fort mentioned as Wing hesiegx^d. it may K^ pre- 
 mised, was Booneshoroiigh, and the white leader of the 
 Shawanese, Lieut. Fontenoy Deqiiindu, of the Indian Depart- 
 ment at Detroit- That Hamilton's message to the Shawanese 
 was for the purpose mentioned above is sufficiently evident 
 from what afterward transpired. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 175 
 
 that one Clark, with eighty men, was at Vincennes, 
 where the French received them well.* Notwith- 
 standing the Indians at Wea had been represented to 
 Hamilton as undecided and timerous, yet, — "I shall 
 lose no time," said the Lieutenant-Governor, ''to en- 
 courage them." It was his belief should he reach 
 there time enough to speak to the chiefs before they 
 took a decisive part, the sight of the lake chiefs would 
 determine them as he could wish. 
 
 On the twenty-seventh, Hamilton received from De 
 Celoron, at Wea, a letter, giving him information that 
 Jean Baptiste Chapoton, late a captain of militia at 
 Detroit, but then in Vincennes, was very intimate with 
 the "rebels." "He had been dismissed at his own re- 
 quest, on the pretence of being too old to fulfill the 
 functions of his place," are the indignant words of 
 Hamilton. Then there were others friendly to the 
 Americans — especially Bosseron and Legras. The 
 latter, the Lieutenant-Governor bitterly denounced: 
 "He is on the best terms imaginable with the rebel of- 
 ficers at Vincennes. He had been equipped at De- 
 troit, was in partnership here ; and had received fa- 
 vors at the hands of the English and French at this 
 place, to say nothing of Governor Abbott's kindness to 
 him." He and Chapoton were, in Hamilton's estima- 
 tion, worthy associates in perjury, treason and ingrat- 
 itude — both had exceeded the terms expressed in 
 their passes, which they had sworn not to do. 
 
 The Lieutenant-Governor, on the day last men- 
 tioned, ordered a lieutenant in the Indian department, 
 with a small party of militia, to the Miamis — head of 
 
 * Who this "one Clark" really was, and what his business 
 at Vincennes was "with eighty men," will hereafter appear. 
 
 ) 
 
176 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 the Maumee — giving him written instructions. His 
 party was to assist the workmen in repairing the port- 
 age ; also to aid the master carpenter, boat builder and 
 others at the same place. 
 
 "My determination is," wrote Hamilton to Haldi- 
 mand, ''to set out as soon as possible. Captain Ler- 
 noult will send forward any reinforcement; thus the 
 time spent in Indian councils (which are sometimes 
 very deliberate) may be employed at the Miamis in 
 fortifying that depot ["Fort Miami"], calling in the 
 Indians, building craft and store houses and procur- 
 ing intelligence." 
 
 Relative to the post at the head of the Maumee — 
 "the Miamis" — the Lieutenant-Governor said: 
 
 "There will be a store of provisions, perhaps of 
 ammunition and Indian goods at that place. As soon 
 as I arrive there, I shall order a redoubt to be thrown 
 up, the houses to be fortified, or such other precaution 
 taken for its defence, as may appear best .suited to the 
 number of inhabitants and nature of the ground. If 
 the rebels at Fort Pitt, with the assitance of the Del- 
 awares in their interest, could effect the surprise of 
 such a place, they would not only possess themselves 
 of our magazine but cut oW one of our communications 
 with Detroit, as we might in that case be obliged to re- 
 turn by the way of St. Joseph and be distressed for 
 provision. I shall represent this to Capt. Lernoult, 
 who will judge how far a detachment sent to the Mi- 
 amis, will be a cover to Detroit, and facilitate and se- 
 cure our correspondence and communication. 
 
 "The weakness of the garrison of Detroit is known 
 to your Excellency. I .need not, therefore, dwell on 
 that subject, but at all events I shall proceed, guided 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 177 
 
 by the best information I can procure. Among sev- 
 eral persons very capable of informing as to the nature 
 of the country and character of the inhabitants, Mr. 
 Alexis Maisonville is perhaps the most so ; and I must 
 render that justice to his zeal and good will which they 
 merit. He has been very forward on this occasion and 
 every other to act the part of a good subject. I beg 
 leave to recommend him to your Excellency's favor. 
 When -we shall arrive at the Illinois, I expect great ad- 
 vantage from his enterprising spirit." 
 
 "Favorable rains," added Hamilton, "for some days 
 past and the good temper and disposition of the In- 
 dians, encourage me to hope our little enterprise may 
 be attended with some advantage. When ]\Ir. Beau- 
 bien left the Miamis, there was no notion there of any 
 preparation ; so that the first reports at the Illinois will 
 gain but little credit.""^ 
 
 "We have found it a difficult matter," is the lan- 
 guage of the Lieutenant-Governor to the Commander- 
 in-Chief, on the second of October, "to find savages to 
 express with letters to Niagara, they are so desirous of 
 going towards the Wabash ; I hope, however, to pro- 
 cure them to-morrow. On account of all the vessels 
 being absent, the repairing our craft goes on but 
 slowly ; the master-builder is this da}^ to give in the re- 
 turn of those in condition, and a second brigade will 
 set off on the fifth instant. The violent rains which 
 were so necessary for raising the waters of the Mi- 
 amis [Maumee] river, have retarded us in many par- 
 ticulars. Your Excellency will please to observe, that, 
 on the list of volunteers for the enterprise, several per- 
 
 *Id. ~ 
 
 12 
 
178 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 sons are employed who must carry arms when occa- 
 sion calls ; as to the high pay — wages are so extrava- 
 gant here that the common men receive but half what 
 they might earn were they to stay at home; this en- 
 couragement was, therefore, necessary."* 
 
 On the third, Hamilton again wrote : ''Last night 
 the savages assembled, when I sung the war song and 
 was followed by Captain Lernoult and several officers 
 and others, and by warriors going on the enterprise/'f 
 
 ''The best disposition and alacrity," the Lieutenant- 
 Governor added," are shown by all. Two Indians set 
 off this day [for Niagara], with letters. As Captain 
 Lernoult can not spare men from the garrison [to 
 handle the pieces], I leave two small howitzers behind, 
 as they would be but lumber without people to work 
 them. I have, for the six-pounder which we take, two 
 artillery men. one sergeant, one corporal and twelve of 
 the volunteer militia, — under the orders of Lieutenant 
 Du Vernet, who has exerted himself in providing and 
 preparing the many necessaries coming under his di- 
 rection. I shall set oft* for the Miamis river the i6th 
 without fail. "J 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 tid. (See Appendix, Note LXI.) 
 
 I Hamilton to Haldimand. — Haldimand MSS. "Orders 
 having been given in time for putting the carrying-place at 
 the Miamis [head of the Maumee] in order and for repairing 
 the carriages, etc. ; the proper artificers having been engaged, 
 craft overhauled, and the weight of the provisions, ammuni- 
 tion, stores, Indian goods, etc., calculated: the Indians being 
 found well-disposed and messengers sent to the different 
 nations resorting to Detroit, apprising them of my design and 
 exhorting them to send out frequent parties upon the fron- 
 tiers ; — the day was fixed for our departure." — Hamilton to 
 Haliiijimiui, July 0, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
HISTORY OP CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 179 
 
 "The sixth, our tents were struck," says the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor, before day and most of our stores 
 embarked, when three llurons [Wyandots] from San 
 (hisky arrived with a very circumstantial account of 
 the approach of the rebels by several different routes ; 
 that the advance guard of their main body was eii^ht 
 hundred strong- ; tliat they were provided with cannon 
 to come against Detroit ; with .various particulars cal- 
 culated to alarm and disconcert the Indians. T told 
 the messengers, however little credit I gave this ac- 
 count, it should be communicated to the four neigh- 
 boring nations — [Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatta- 
 mies and Detroit Wyandots] — but that I had engaged 
 to assist the Wabash Indians and I would keep my 
 word. The Indians being assembled in the afternoon, 
 heard my opinion of the intelligence and with the ut- 
 most cheerfulness agreed to accompany us. During 
 our meeting, the vessels hove in sight." 
 
 "The seventh, at eight in the morning," adds Ham- 
 ilton, ''Captain Bird, with fifty of the King's regiment 
 from Niagara, were landed. Captain Lernoult has 
 permitted Lieutenant Shourd, with two sergeants and 
 thirty [one] men [of the regulars] to accompany us ; 
 which, considering our hasty levies, will be a reinforce- 
 ment of consequence. The true spirit of the service 
 prompts Lieutenant Shourd, his sergeants, and, I 
 think, the greater part of his men, to present them- 
 selves on this occasion. Our strength will now con- 
 sist of one lieutenant of artillery with two gunners ; 
 one lieutenant of the King's regiment, two sergeants 
 and thirty-one rank and file and the volunteers and 
 militia, as mentioned in a former letter. The Indians 
 
ISO HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 
 
 are about seventy; several of them chiefs, the rest 
 picked men. My satisfaction is, all are volunteers.''* 
 
 Hamilton was now ready to march. His force was 
 made up besides that of the regulars, who were to 
 overtake him (they could not get ready to leave for 
 some little time, but would join Hamilton at no dis- 
 tant day :t of Captain William Lamoth's volunteer 
 company, ninnbering (besides the captain), one lieu* 
 tenant, two sergeants and forty rank and file, "being," 
 says Hamilton, "volunteers, who had been disciplined 
 in the best manner we could compass for about one 
 year ;" of eighty-five militia — volunteers selected 
 from those who presented themselves at the reviews of 
 the militia companies of the settlement: of ten "Indian 
 ofticers" and employes from the Indian Department; 
 and of seventy Indians. ij: 
 
 Pierre Potier, a Jesuit missionary, "a man of, re- 
 spectable character and venerable figure," now made 
 his appearance on the Detroit common, at the head of 
 the Lieutenant-Governor's encampment, "and, having 
 attended to the reading* of the articles of war and the 
 renewal of the oath of allegiance to his Britannic Maj- 
 esty, gave the blessing to the Catholics present, con- 
 ditionally upon their strictly adhering to their oaths, 
 being the more engaged thereto as the indulgence and 
 
 * Haldimand MSS. (^Appendix. Note LXII.) There 
 was much more truth in the report brought to Hamilton by 
 W'yandots, than the Lieutenant Governor was disposed to 
 accept. It was in reality an account of the first movement 
 made by General Mcintosh from Fort Pitt to erect, down the 
 Ohio, Fort ^Iclntosh. 
 
 t This fact only appears in a letter written by Hamilton 
 after his departure. 
 
 t See Appendix, Note LXIII. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 181 
 
 favor of their prince merited the best service and had 
 exceeded their most sanguine expectations."* 
 
 "On the seventh- of October," are the words of 
 Hamilton written some years after, "various necessa- 
 ries for a winter movement of six hundred miles being 
 provided, by the activity and good will of Captains 
 Lernoult and Grant, the latter of whom had attended 
 to everything afloat, and by the assistance of Major 
 Hay and Mr. Fleming, the commissary, we struck our 
 tents and embarked with one field piece, which was all 
 could be spared from the garrison. Only one single 
 person, (he an Indian) was affected with liquor.f 
 
 By the middle of August, De Peyster at Michili- 
 mackinac, not yet having heard of Clark's success in 
 the Illinois, wrote the Commander-in-Chief that he 
 was informed reports had been circulated there in all 
 the towns that the French would soon take possession 
 of that country. He declared — which was true, as 
 had been discovered — that there were no troops to 
 prevent the Virginians from going there, not dream- 
 ing that the latter had already captured those villages. 
 "The French," said he, "have it in their power to 
 spread reports and poison the minds of the Indians so 
 as at least to make it very dangerous to traders. "J 
 
 At the same time, the Michilimackinac command- 
 ant gave some interesting information as to Chevalier, 
 with whom he had been in correspondence and had re- 
 cently received a letter from him giving information 
 that forty of the savages living near St. Joseph he per- 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 t Id. (As to what Hamilton meant by "a winter move- 
 ment of six hundred miles," see Appendix, Note LXIV.) 
 
 I De Peyster to Haldimand, Aug. 15, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
182 lUSTORV OF Cl^iRK'S COXQIEST. ETC, 
 
 siuukxl to rcuKiin ai homo after thoir making all prep- 
 arations to i^x^ to *'\\"oi^t Illinois" to see the S^xmiards.* 
 ''iUn Louis Chevalier, at St. Joseph,'* said he, "holds 
 the jx\ss [from the Illinois] to Detroit, and can also 
 give the first intelligx^nce of the enemy *s motion on the 
 Wabasli [as it was noi a c^eat distance across to tliat 
 river I , 
 
 "This jivntleman is so cont\ecied w uh ihe Pottawat- 
 tamies that he can now do anythiui^- with them, having 
 liveil upwards of thirty years, at that place, A young 
 Indian nanieil Aimoble, at present at Montreal, is his 
 son. If some mark of distinctiwi wore given to this 
 young man, and if he, with a few of his a^nrade Pot- 
 taw attamies, were persuadeil to remain another year at 
 Montreal, it w ould Ix^ of gxeat service : as those at St. 
 Joseph would never misbehave whilst any of their 
 friends were down the country," 
 
 "In the year i7t\^,** adde<.l De Peyster, "when St. 
 Josei^ was cut oft\ Mr, Chevalier, two days Wfore it 
 haptxnieil, infonned M, Schlosser of the Indians hav- 
 ing bad intentions, which he [Schlosser] did not be- 
 lieve at his cv^t. Chevalier, hapixMung to be present, 
 it g^we svMne designing jxvple a handle agiiinst him, as 
 his inmxx^nce was not gx'nenvlly known, I have since 
 my arrival here [at Michilimackinac] inquireil ix\rtic- 
 nlarly into all these matters, and finding that affair no 
 wnse to his dis;\dvantagx^, and seeing the gxeat atten- 
 tic«\ |xud to him by the Indians^ I thought it necessary 
 
 * Chevalier tv^ TV Pe\^t<^r, Tnly 2(V 177^ — HaldinMind 
 MSS. Chevalier doe>5 not ^jsav the Pottmwat tamies w^re goinST 
 to :?ee the Spaniard:^ but '^be enemy." How^x^er, it is prob- 
 able he intended to n>enti!>n them, a$ they had been tamper- 
 in^ with these Indianj^: and Chev^ier had not then hean! 
 that Clark had rteached the Illinois, 
 
inSTOKY UP' CLARK'S tVNQUhyr, U'lC. 183 
 
 lo render liiiii iiselHI l)y ij;iviiii;" liiiii sonic anilioiil y .'it 
 Si. Joseph, wliieii lie lias liillieito exerted willi gieaL 
 diserel ion."''' 
 
 It was on I lie very lasl day of Anj^iisl ilial I )e Tey- 
 sler, lliroii.i;li a leller received frcMii Chevalier, was pnt 
 in possi'ssion of (lo him) Ihe astounding' news thai the 
 whole Illinois country was in possession of the ''reb- 
 els;" — "the traders in that comitry," he wrote I ialdi- 
 niaiid, "and many I'lom (his post | M ichilimackinac | , 
 are plnn(lere<l and the whole conntry |is| in the _ij;"reat- 
 est confnsion, heinj^. at a loss to know what route the 
 rehels will take next."f 
 
 lint the news of Clark's success had already 
 reached the Commander-in-Chief hy way of Detroit, 
 and the latter soon wrote 1 )e I 'eyster. "This dis- 
 patch," said he, "was intended to have been sent you 
 by a Mr. St. Ilubcrt, a nu'sisonary goin^ to the Illi- 
 nois; but the unfortunate chanj^e which has taken 
 place in the affairs of that ccnmtry, for the; ])resent puts 
 a stop to his journey, — the gentleman, Mr. J. 1>. de 
 Crosselier, with whom Mr. St. Ilu1)ert was to have 
 gone u]), proceeding nevertheless; and he being a man 
 who is well acquainted with that comitry and very well 
 spoken of, I entrust my letters to his care and recom- 
 mend him to yon both as a man who deserves to have 
 favor shown him in his ])rivate concerns and as one 
 that is capable of furnishing yon with advice that may 
 be useful to follow in those of the ])ublic, upon the 
 present situation of the Illinois. 
 
 "1 enclose you a co])y of a letter which T have, writ- 
 ten to TJeutenant-( iovernor Hamilton as necessary for 
 
 * l)c t'cystcr lo li.'ildiniand, Aug. 15, 1 778. — Tlaldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 t Same to same, Aug. .'{I, 1778. 
 
184 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 your information, and desiring that you will corre- 
 spond with him upon the occasion, and assist him as 
 far as you may have opportunities in whatever he shall 
 undertake in this emergency. In the meantime, I 
 must desire you will communicate to me as expedi- 
 tiously as possible, and by the safest conveyance your 
 sentiments, whether from the confidence to be placed 
 in the Indians, the inhabitants, and the resources and 
 difficulties of the country, you think there are any 
 means to be employed with a probability of success to 
 recover that country and what those means are if your 
 opinion on this object be in the affirmative."* 
 
 Three days subsequent to this, Haldimand again 
 wrote the Michilimackinac commandant : "Since writ- 
 ing my letter of the thirtieth of August, I have had 
 some conversation with Mr. de Grosselier, who thinks 
 it will be practicable to send some trusty Indians into 
 the Illinois with letters or messages to the missionary 
 [there, Father Gibault] and by that means to learn the 
 true state of the country, which Mr. de Grosselier tells 
 me might be conveyed to me during the winter. I 
 have, therefore, thought it necessary to recommend this 
 matter to your attention, "f 
 
 The first counter-movement attempted by De Pey- 
 ster after learning that the "rebels" had gained the Illi- 
 nois, was, to dispatch a person to St. Joseph (who was 
 well acquainted with the Illinois Indians), with a 
 speech and large belt, who was to go through their dif- 
 ferent villages, insisting that they should not suffer 
 his Majesty's enemies to keep possession of their coun- 
 try. "This, I hope," wrote the commandant, to his 
 
 * Haldimand to De Peyster, Aug. 30, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 t Same to same, Sept. 2, 1778. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 185 
 
 Commander-in-Chief, "will have a better effect than if 
 I had an expedition to send against the rebels, as the 
 Illinois Indians are in constant dread of the Ottawas 
 and other nations dependent on this post, — as they 
 some time ago earnestly entreated I would make peace 
 for them, which I effected to their great satisfaction."* 
 The next thing done by De Peyster after hearing 
 of the ''rebel" success in the Illinois was to endeavor, 
 if possible, to prevent the various savage tribes de- 
 pendent on his post from being tampered with by emis- 
 saries sent by Clark ; so he procured a large belt with 
 directions to the Menomonees, Sacs, Winnebagoes and 
 Sioux, who had arrived from the St. Lawrence, that it 
 be taken to the different villages of the various nations 
 which had been employed by government and who had 
 been so long protected by his Majesty." "It is my 
 earnest request," were the words of De Peyster, to the 
 assembled savages at his post, "that they have not the 
 least connection with the rebels, but keep themselves 
 quietly at home" for the present. With this specious 
 speech was given the hint that, if they did anything 
 prejudicial to the traders among them, or entered into 
 any alliance with the enemy, goods intended for them 
 would be sent back to Montreal — a threat which 
 seemed to have "great force with the Indians present." 
 "I have," wrote De Peyster, "as much as possible in- 
 stilled into the Indians the idea that, although the 
 rebels may perhaps be able to make a show of presents 
 at first, that they can by no means be able to furnish 
 the different nations with their necessary wants." 
 
 An estimate made by the Michilimackinac com- 
 mandant as to the rapidity with which a light canoe 
 * De Peyster to Haldimand, Sept. 16, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
186 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 (such an one as was then dispatched with his letter to 
 the Commander-in-Chief) might be urged forward, 
 gives the quickest time between his post and Montreal 
 and return. He thought, if the crew were not de- 
 tained on Lake Huron by contrary winds, they might 
 reach the last-mentioned place in eleven days, or four- 
 teen at farthest. Twenty-five days for a light bateau- 
 canoe, manne.d with an active guide and eight men 
 would be sufficient for the return to the mouth of 
 French river on Lake Huron, thence to Michilimacki- 
 nac ten days would be required. The weather was 
 usually favorable to about the middle of November at 
 .his post for such tiavigation. 
 
 De Peyster now began to revolve in his mind 
 whether Indians might not, at once, be sent down the 
 Mississippi to harrass the "rebels" in the Illinois. 
 However, he concluded it was too late in the season 
 for much to be accomplished. 
 
 There were two men of the West, who, of all oth- 
 ers, were the best calculated to arouse the Indians and 
 lead them upon such an enterprise. These were 
 Langlade (''the zealous") and Gautier; but both these 
 men were below at this time. 'The Indians," wrote 
 De Peyster, "have already declared that were Gautier 
 here to lead them, they would penetrate the Illinois 
 country this winter. As I suppose you will also send 
 orders to Detroit in the winter, I shall send off an ex- 
 press to be ready there, as my Indians will know the 
 road, and I shall be able to depend upon them and the 
 person I shall send with them." 
 
 The Major thought it would scarcely be in his 
 power to put any orders for the movement of the In- 
 dians of La Bay (Green Bay) into excQution; as Lang- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ^TC. 187 
 
 lade would not be able to undertake so active an enter- 
 prise (should he be sent for that purpose) so late in 
 the season.* 
 
 ^ De Peyster had not yet received from Hamilton 
 notice that the latter would soon go against the Illi- 
 nois towns °in person, requesting his cooperation in 
 sending savages b}^ way of the Illinois river, although 
 he afterward declared that he got the request "about 
 the same time."f 
 
 * Id. — I have not used the. exact words of De Peyster, 
 but have endeavored to convey his meaning. 
 
 tDe Peyster to Haldimand, Oct. 24, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE establishing by Clark of two garrisons — 
 those of Forts Clark and Bowman in the Illi- 
 nois, was followed by his sending Captain 
 Helm to Fort Sackville, in Vincennes, to command 
 there. "I plainly saw," subsequently wrote Clark, 
 "that it would be highly necessary to have an Ameri- 
 can officer at that post." The Colonel had entire con- 
 fidence in Helm's fitness for the position ; — he was 
 past the meridian of life and was well acquainted with 
 the Indian character and disposition. Two men of 
 the American force were all that were spared to go 
 with him, reliance being placed in the friendly attitude 
 of the citizens of the place, to assist in defense of the 
 fort ; hence, "uncommon pains" were taken by Clark 
 in all regulations concerning the relations to be en- 
 tered into by the Captain with the inhabitants there, 
 to attach them to American interests. 
 
 But it was not the French inhabitants of Vincennes 
 only who were to be dealt with in a friendly spirit — 
 there were also the Piankeshaws Indians and the other 
 savages upon the river — all must be conciliated — all 
 made, if possible, fast friends. Helm, therefore, be- 
 sides being appointed to the command of Fort Sack- 
 ville, was commissioned Agent of Indian Affairs for 
 the Wabash country. In the first half of August, the 
 Captain set out for his post."^ He was cordially re- 
 ceived by the citizens, — thanks to the effective work 
 of Father Gibault. 
 
 * See Appendix, Note LXV. 
 
 (188) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 189 
 
 Fort Sackville was found in possession of the Vin- 
 cennes militia and was at once, and for the first time, 
 occupied (though it could scarcely be considered in 
 any other light than a nominal occupation) by Amer- 
 ican troops — three in number : one commandant and 
 two rank and file. But Captain Helm nominated offi- 
 cers of the militia of the place, so that he was soon 
 able to form a respectable garrison out of four com- 
 panies organized, and numbering something over two 
 hundred citizens, with J. M. P. Legras as Major. Of 
 the four captains', Francis Bosseron was the most in- 
 fluential. 
 
 Helm found the fortification a fort in little else but 
 a name. It had, however, the four iron cannon sent 
 Governor Abbott by Rocheblave from Fort Gage ; but 
 these could not be used to advantage, they were so 
 badly mounted ; besides, the commandant had not with 
 him any one skilled in the use of artillery. 
 
 The Captain was fortunate in reaching Vincennes 
 before De Celeron could present his belts and speeches 
 to the savages of the Wea Indian towns ; for, although 
 the latter made all haste^ intent on carrying out the in- 
 structions delivered to him by Hamilton, yet, at the 
 head of the Maumee, he was detained by illness. There 
 were just arrived Indian reports from Vincennes of 
 the presence there of Virginians, which to DeCeloron's 
 mind must have made the destruction of the cannon in 
 Fort Sackville according to Hamilton's orders, 
 somewhat of a doubtful matter. Other rumors 
 reached the ears of De Celeron while at the Miamis ; 
 one concerning the harsh treatment of some of the in- 
 habitants of Vincennes by the Virginians particularly 
 Legras, who, after his merchandise had been seized by 
 
190 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 them had (so ran the report) been sent to the IlHnois. 
 But this was very far from the truth, although, 
 promptly sent to Hamilton.* There was considerable 
 merchandize, however, at Miamis from Detroit, which 
 Beaubien refused to let go across the portage to the 
 waters of the Wabash, it being intended for Vin- 
 cennes. 
 
 When De Celeron finally reached Wea, he learned 
 that the ''rebels" had already secured the cannon he 
 had been instructed to render useless. Hamilton ex- 
 pected much from the Wabash Indians in view of their 
 promises recently made him at Detroit by warriors 
 from that section. And De Celeron was not slow in 
 stirring up the war-spirit among those occupying the 
 villages near his post 
 
 Captain Helm was fully empowered by Clark to 
 treat with the Wabash Indians, — the Colonel having 
 sent letters and speeches by him to the Kickepoos and 
 Piankeshaws "desiring them to lay down the toma- 
 hawk." But if they did not choose so to do, they 
 "should behave like men and fight for the English, as 
 they had done ; but they would soon see their 'Great 
 Father,' as they called him, given to the dogs to eat.'* 
 Clark used boasting to supply the place of men; soft 
 speeches to the Indians, under the circumstances, 
 would, he believed, be a mistake. At the same time, 
 he wrote them that, if they thought of giving their 
 hands to the Big Knives to give their hearts also ; and 
 that he did not doubt but after becoming acquainted, 
 that they would find the Virginians of better princi- 
 
 *De Celoron to Hamilton, Aug. 28, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. Legras, it will be remembered, was left in command 
 of the militia of Vincennes, by Governor Abbott, when the 
 latter returned to Detroit. 
 
HISrORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 191 
 
 pies than what the bad birds, the Enghsh, Had taught 
 them to beheve.* 
 
 One of the first duties to fulfill by Helm upon his 
 arrival in Vincennes was to receive all Indians of 
 whatever nation who desired audience. Some Shawa- 
 nese on their way to the Creek Indians were early 
 callers. The Captain took advantage of the knowl- 
 edge of their journey to send to the principal chief of 
 that nation a letter asking him to keep his people at 
 home — not to let them go against the Americans, 
 adding (which was not all true, however,) that the 
 Shawanese and Wabash Indians were the friends of 
 the Virginians. He also asked him not to give ear to 
 what he might be told by the English. But, as the 
 sequel shows, this letter was never delivered.f 
 
 Captain Helm lost no time in arranging for a 
 grand council with the Piankeshaws. At the meeting, 
 he delivered the Colonel's speech and the wampum 
 sent by the American commandant, and then gave 
 them a "talk" of his own. The principal chief — the 
 "Big Door" — gave expression to the views of his na- 
 tion after some consultation. They had resolved to 
 take the Big Knives by the hand and would conclude a 
 peace with them. He said the Americans must be 
 warriors and no deceivers, or they would never have 
 spoken as they had. They liked such people. "The 
 * Clark to Mason. — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 38-40. The Colonel gives an extended relation of portions 
 of his speed, which is an attempt on his part to explain to 
 the Piankeshaws, in hyperbolic language, the nature of the 
 war then existing between Britain and the United States (pp. 
 39, 40). He was careful to refer to the aid given by France 
 
 to the latter. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, Jan. 24-28, 1779. - Haldmiand 
 
 MSS. 
 
192 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 English Were liars and they would listen to them no 
 longer." The Big Knife was in the right. He would 
 tell all the Indians on the Wabash to bloody their 
 hands no more for the English; and, jumping up and 
 striking his breast, said, he was a man and a warrior ; 
 that he was now a Big Knife, and shook the hand of 
 Captain Helm — his example being followed by all 
 present.* As a result of this council, there was 
 friendship with the savages on the lower Wabash. f 
 
 Elated with his success in dealing with the Pian- 
 keshaws. Helm endeavored to bring about an under- 
 standing with the up-river savages. Here, however, 
 he was foiled. M. De Celeron at Wea, counteracted 
 any effort put forth by him. Although a Frenchman, 
 De Celeron was not inclined to make terms with the 
 "rebels." 
 
 French traders at Vincennes felt aggrieved at the 
 action of Beaubien, in retaining their goods at the 
 Miamis, and they made representations of their trou- 
 bles to Captain Helm, who afterward exerted himself 
 to raise men for an expedition to re-take their goods, 
 hoping to be joined at Wea, by a number of volunteers 
 and Indians ; but the undertaking fell through ; as the 
 up-river Indians did not, from accounts, seem as 
 friendly as he had been led to believe they would 
 prove. J 
 
 * Clark to Mason. — Clark's Cajiipaigii in the Illinois, p. 
 36. As to Clark's account of Helm's council with the Pianke- 
 shaws, as given in his Memoir, see Appendix to our narrative, 
 Note LXVI. 
 
 t Not, however, as far up as Wea, as Clark affirms in 
 his IMemoir. 
 
 t See the information obtained from Charles Beaubien 
 by Hamikon at Detroit concerning the Upper Wabash sav- 
 ages, Appendix, Note LXVII. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 193 
 
 *'One of the British agents [De Celeron], residing 
 at Wea," wrote Clark, subsequently, "hurt our grow- 
 ing interest much, the Indians in that quarter being in- 
 clined to desert the British cause, but in some meas- 
 ure kept from their good intention by that person."* 
 
 Clark resolved, if it could be done, to capture De 
 Celeron, — in his own expressive language, ''to take 
 him off." He sent, during the first half of September, 
 a detachment of eighty men from Kaskaskiaf under 
 command of Lieutenant John Bayley, to join Captain 
 Helm at Vincennes, and, if possible, surprise him. 
 The Captain, with about one hundred men — part 
 "French militia and Indians" — set out by water for 
 that purpose. J But De Celeron was on the alert. He 
 heard of the designs against him and at once collected 
 a few Indians that he could depend on, determined to 
 give battle to the American officer. However, the lat- 
 ter had not adyanced far up the Wabash before the 
 valorous De Celeron concluded to make good his es- 
 
 * Clark to Alason. — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 48. 
 
 t This was the force which Hamilton mentioned (in his 
 letter to Haldimand of the 2Gth of September) he had heard 
 of through the arrival on that day at Detroit of Charles Beau- 
 bien, from the Miamis — head of the Maumee, and described 
 as "one Clarke with 80 men being at Vincennes, where the 
 French receive them well." 
 
 I By the fifth of October, Hamilton had received an ex- 
 aggerated account of the number of men that marched under 
 Helm : ''Mr. Bellestre who has been sometime amongst the 
 Spaniards is said to be at the head of 200 French who have 
 joined the rebels on their march: 100 from the Illinois, 
 the rest from Vincennes." That about one-half of Helm's 
 force was made up of ''French militia" of Kaskaskia and 
 Vincennes, there can be no doubt. 
 
 13 
 
194 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 capo, loaviui;- his friendly Indians to defend the W'ea 
 stockade as best ihey conld. or meet the enemy in open 
 field if they chose so to do. The savages soon as- 
 sembled in grand conncil to determine what was best 
 to be done. lUit they tieglccted to shnt the gate of 
 the fort or to keep sentinels posted, not snpi^osing the 
 enemy to be near. In ihe higlu of their delibera- 
 tion. I'aptain llelm entered the fortitication and or- 
 dered them to snrrender. racing taken entirely by sur- 
 prise, little or no resistance was otYered : at)OUt forty 
 were taken prisoners; bnt these were soon set at lib- 
 erty. A treaty followed; and the Tpper Wabash sav- . 
 ages were conciliated for the time (only, however, for 
 .some weeks') to "rebel" interests. 
 
 The fort, as it was called, which had fallen so eas- 
 ily into the hands of Captain Helm, was "a miserable 
 stockade, surrounded by a do/eu wretched cabins 
 called houses." The Indians in the vicinity were nu- 
 merous — about a hundred cabins, with a population 
 of nearl\ t"ive hundred. The b'rencli settlers were few 
 and of course, needed not many argumeiUs to be ad- 
 vanced by the militia accompanying llelm, to convince 
 them of the justice of the cause the latter had es- 
 poused. 
 
 The American tkig was now tloating at X'iucennes 
 and \\ ea on the east and at Kaskaskia and Cahokia on 
 the west, marking what was then the extreme limits 
 of territory which had fallen under military sway of 
 \'irginia ; nevertheless, it had been secured, without the 
 shedding of a drop of blood. 
 
 Hamilton, when he th-st heard of He Celeron's 
 tlight "on horseback, from Wea to the Miamis." was 
 disposed to be lenietU in his remarks as to the event i 
 
inSTORY or CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 195 
 
 **]\Ir. Do Celeron's expeditious movement rather sur- 
 prises me ; but, in this country, where indulg'ence ]')len- 
 ierc takes phice, there can be but slender confidence 
 on protestations or even stronger ties. However, his 
 own account may tlu\nv a dilTcrent lii;lU on his 
 actions."* . . . lUit subsequently he severely crit- 
 icised him for his sudden departure; — he could "find 
 no excuse lor his extraordinary conduct, unless his 
 beino- deserted by common sense or common courage," 
 could plead his cause. "He might have staid in per- 
 fect security a few leagues from . . . [Wea], 
 where he woukl have found that his fears were en- 
 tirely groundless and that he had lied from a 
 shadow. "t But Cajitain Helm's force of determined 
 men was something more than a "shadow," as the 
 frightened h'^renchman would, had he refused to leave 
 Wea, doubtless have discovered. 
 
 ''On the fifth of October [1778], late in the even- 
 ing," wrote the Lieutenant-Governor, ''Messieurs 
 Charles and Nicholas Gouin came to Detroit, the latter 
 [sent as an] express from the Miamis with an account 
 that Mr. De Celeron was at Wea when one De 
 Couagne . . . arrived with five other persons hav- 
 ing belts and speeches from the rebels addressed to the 
 Wabash Indians nearly in the following terms : 
 
 " 'You Indians living on the River Wabash ! We 
 are not come with design of taking your lands from 
 you; we only desire to pass through your coinUry to 
 Detroit to turn out your Father who is there; for now 
 your late Father, the King of France, is come to life 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Oct. 7, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 tSame to same, Dec. 4. 1778. — Haldiiiiand MSS. 
 
196 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST. ETC. 
 
 and will recover the country he lost to the English. 
 Here are several belts for you to consider : a white one 
 for the French : a red one for the Spaniards, who mean 
 to assist them ; a blue one in the name of the Colonies ; 
 a green one offering peaceable terms from the Amer- 
 icans, if you allow them to pass freely : and, lastly, a 
 red one oft'ering you war, if you prefer that. We de- 
 sire you to leave a very wide road for us, as we are 
 many in number and love to have room enough for 
 our march ; for, in swinging our arms as we walk, we 
 may chance to hurt some of your young people with 
 our swords.' " 
 
 "Mr. De Celeron, as I am mfofmed," continued 
 Hamilton, "contented himself with hearing this much 
 and without waiting to hear what reply the Indians 
 made to this flourishing speech, mounted his horse and 
 rode off for the ^liamis. who have sent a chief and 
 some men to meet the rebels, I suppose with friendly 
 overtures, as they are reputed but a dastardly nation 
 and have done nothing this war, though treated as well 
 as the bravest."* 
 
 It was a wise policy on part of Captain Helm in 
 sending this speech. in advance, so far as conciliating 
 the Wea savages w^as concerned, especially in an- 
 nouncing to them (although it w^as far from his inten- 
 tion) his determination to march on Detroit ;t but De 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand. — Haldimand MSS. As 
 Couague and his five companions were undoubtedly favor- 
 able to American interests, it is highly probable their repre- 
 sentations, after De Celoron's fight, had a good effect upon 
 ilie Wea savages. It is, indeed, not impossible that the fort 
 gate was intentionally left open, and that the Indians were 
 willingly captured. 
 
 t See Appendi>v, Note LXVII, concerning this speech. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOUEST. ETC. 197 
 
 Celeron was too wary to throw himself into the arms 
 of "rQhels."'^ 
 
 After three months of oeeupation of \'ineennes hy 
 Captain Helm, it hecame snddenly apparent to him 
 that all was not well with aft'airs np the Wabash. 
 There came rnmors of disaft'ection among- the W'ea 
 Indians. More alarming however than this, was the 
 report that the British were on their way to re-take 
 Fort Sackville. However, becanse of the lateness of 
 the season, the Captain was disposed to be skeptical as 
 to sncli a movement being on foot. By the first of 
 December news came which seemed to contirm what 
 he had already been told ; still he did not think it of 
 snl^cient reliability to jnstify his sending an express to 
 Clark with the information. Bnt the month had not 
 far advanced before it was made known to him with 
 certainty that the enemy in large numbers was ap- 
 proaching. This information was brought to him by 
 one Fouche a Frenchman residing in Vincennes.f 
 His garrison of seventy men, nearly all of Towns 
 people, seemed ready to defend the fort to the last ; and 
 they showed nnich zeal, in so far as words were con- 
 cerned. Finally, the American commandant dis- 
 patched a lieutenant with three men to reconnoitre up 
 the Wabash, giving him written instructions to watch 
 for the English and to hasten back with his intelli- 
 gence when any was gained. 
 
 * Concerning the march of the detachment sent by Clark 
 against Wea, so far as relates to the journe}' from Kaskaskia 
 to Vincennes or the return from Wea to the Illinois, par- 
 ticulars are wholly wanting. 
 
 t Deposition of John Cornwell taken at Detroit. July 28. 
 1779. — Haldimand IMS. Also a P. S. to the same by Capt. 
 R. B. Lernoult. 
 
19S HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Anxiously did Helm await the return of the four 
 militia ; but some days elapsed and they had not yet 
 made their appearance. He then learned they had 
 been taken prisoners. On the seventeenth, it was re- 
 ported that the enemy was within three miles. Then 
 the Captain wrote in great haste to Clark : 
 
 "At this time there is an army within three miles 
 of this place. I heard of their coming several days 
 before, and I sent spies to find out the certainty. The 
 spies being taken prisoners, I never got intelligence 
 till they [the enemy] got within three miles of the 
 town. As I had called out the militia and had all as- 
 surance of their integrity, I ordered at the firing of a 
 cannon, every man to appear : but I saw but few. 
 Captain Bosseron behaved much to his honor and 
 credit, but I doubt the reliability of a certain gent. 
 Excuse haste, as the armv is in sisjlit. ^Iv determina- 
 tion is, to defend the g"arris.on though I have but 
 twenty-one men, but what has left me. I refer you 
 to ^Ir. Williams for the rest. The army is in three 
 hundred yards of the village. You must think how 
 I feel — not four men that I can really depend on. but 
 [I] am deteniiined to act brave. Think of my condi- 
 tion! I know it is out of my power to defend the 
 town, as not one of the militia will take arms, though 
 before sight of the anny [there were] no braver men. 
 There is a flag at a small distance. I must concede."'*' 
 
 Two men — one an American,t the other a 
 Frenchman — hurried across the river, urged by Helm 
 
 *Hehn to Clark [Dec. 17, 177S]. — Haldimand MSS. I 
 have not attempted to give the exact words of Helm : but I 
 have preserved his meaning "as I understand it. 
 
 t Mr. Williams, the same mentioned in Helm's letter. He 
 was a brother of Captain John Williams of Clark's force. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 199 
 
 to make all possible speed to Kaskaskia. Immediately 
 after, all but three of the militia deserted their post. 
 Then it was that the Captain was summoned to sur- 
 render — to whom? The sequel will show. 
 
 Turnine our attention from the Wabash to the 
 Kentucky settlements, we shall discover that, durmg 
 the last iialf of the year 1778, affairs there were not 
 encouraging. It had been conjected when Clark left 
 the island at the Falls of the Ohio, that there would be 
 no cessation of savage marauds. The times were in- 
 deed perilous. The news, however, brought by Ken- 
 ton, of the success of the Americans against the Illi- 
 nois, was cheering. 
 
 Although, after the escape of Boone from the 
 Shawanese the warriors of that nation thought best not 
 to immediately march against Boonesborough, yet they 
 did not relinquish the undertaking. On the seventh 
 of September, the fort was beset by nearly three hun- 
 dred Indians and ten white men, — the whole under 
 the command of Captain (and Interpreter) Fontenoy 
 De Quindre, an "Indian officer" in the Indian Depart- 
 ment at Detroit. One of the white men was Captain 
 and Interpreter Isidore Chesne of the same depart- 
 ment. On the eighteenth, the enemy abandoned the 
 siege, De Quindre going with the Shawanese to their 
 towns north of the Ohio. The loss of the garrison 
 was two men killed and four wounded. The enemy 
 had two killed and three wounded. However, the 
 failure of the Shawanese in their attempts against 
 Boonesborough did not, for reasons hereafter ex- 
 
 C'Bowman's Journal," of Feb. 20, 1779.' Department of^State 
 MSS.) He is the one who is erroneously mentioned as "Wil- 
 ling" in the same Journal in Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 102. 
 
200 HISTORY OF CL.-1RK'S CONOUEST. ETC. 
 
 plained, lessen the severity of savage attacks through- 
 out the settlements generally ; and their numbers 
 seemed (strange enough to the settlers) to increase 
 rather than diminish as the winter advanced. 
 
CHAPTER XIL 
 
 IT was only a short distance down the Detroit river 
 that Hamilton moved, on the seventh of Oc- 
 tober, 1778, on his enterprise against the Illi- 
 nois, before he made his first camp. "I shall observe 
 once for all," are his subsequent words, "that camp 
 duty was as strictly attended .to as the slender know- 
 ledge I possessed would admit, and that the guards, 
 pickets, and advanced sentries were regularly visited 
 from the setting the watch, which was usually at sun- 
 set, till broad daylight; that the boats were loaded, 
 manned and arranged in such a way as to be per- 
 fectly secured within our sentries every night; [and] 
 that the Indians camped and decamped as regularly 
 as could be wished."* . . . 
 
 On the ninth, a snow-storm having subsided, it 
 was debated whether or not the passage of the lake 
 (Erie) from the mouth of Detroit river to the en- 
 trance to the Maumee should be hazzarded ; but, con- 
 sidering the advanced season and that contrary winds 
 or the freezing of the lake would frustrate his design, 
 Hamilton resolved "to make the push." The distance 
 across is thirty-six miles ; and it was noon before 
 the swell on the lake had fallen sufficiently for the 
 force to proceed. 
 
 The description given subsequently of the voyage 
 by the Lieutenant Governor, was this : "The night 
 proved extremely dark; the head boats with guides 
 carried lights for the direction of those astern. About 
 eleven o'clock the wind shifted ; it began to rain ; 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 (201) 
 
202 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 a heavy swell rolled in ; we were on a lee shore ; and 
 all was at stake : what I suffered, on this occasion, 
 may more readily be conceived than expressed. After 
 rowing some time, we lay on our oars with our sterns 
 to the swell, till we judged the most distant boats 
 could discern our lig-hts, and then rowed in shore, 
 when, happily, we made an oozy beach within a mile 
 of the entrance of the Aliamis [that is, the Maumee] 
 river. It blew so hard all night we could neither 
 pitch a tent or make a fire, and yet we were happy 
 in our escape ; for if, providentially, we had not passed 
 an extent of rocky coast before the storm arose, we 
 had all inevitably perished." 
 
 ''This day," continues Hamilton, "Monseur de 
 Celeron met us on his return. He made his report 
 aloud that the rebels were already arrived at the 
 ^Nliamies [head of the ^laumee]. I affected indiffer- 
 ence though astonished at his imprudence, and said 
 T had already heard of it. I ordered him to proceed 
 to Detroit. It soon appeared that his design in giving 
 the false intelligence was deliberately treacherous, as 
 he had been industrious, in passing the Indian settle- 
 ments on the way, to spread the alarm. I apprised 
 the commandant at Detroit of this message."* 
 
 On the eleventh, the force arrived at the foot of 
 the rapids of the ^laumee, where Hamilton found 
 Captain Grant, who, in the sloop Archangel^ had 
 brought fourteen tons of provision to expedite the 
 journey of the little army. On this day, the detach- 
 ment of the King's regiment of one subaltern, one 
 sergeant and thirty-one rank and file, joined Hamil- 
 ton. f The next day, their commander, Lieutenant 
 
 ■*■ Same to same. Oct. 14. 177S. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 203 
 
 Ghourd, ''by the accident of his piece going off, 
 which shattered his leg/' was obhged to return. Dr. 
 McBearth, the surgeon, was sent back with him in 
 a hght boat to Detroit, where he suffered amputation 
 of his Hmb; but mortification ensuing, he lost his 
 life.* The doctor returned subsequently, overtook the 
 expedition, and went on with it. 
 
 The Lieutenant Governor made slow progress. 
 He was delayed by bad weather. His first resting- 
 place was at Rocher de Bout, on the Maumee, less 
 than four miles above what is now Perrysburgh, 
 Ohio, but on the west side^of the stream,t which point 
 he reached on the thirteenth.^ The water in the 
 river he found higher than usual at this time of the 
 year. The next day, he got up the greatest part of 
 the provisions which had been brought by Captain 
 Grant. §* 
 
 A considerable number of Indians had, by this 
 time, made their appearance as auxiliaries, and every 
 one was in the best of spirits. Late in the evening 
 a trusty savage arrived, who had been sent forward 
 for intelligence. He brought an account that the prop- 
 ositions of the "rebels" at Vincennes, which had been 
 made by them to the Indians had been rejected; and 
 that, although they had no knowledge of the lake sav- 
 ages marching to their assistance, they answered the 
 Americans with, a determined spirit. This information 
 
 * Same to same, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 t See Washington-Irvine Correspondence, pp. .93, 355, and 
 accompanying map. 
 
 X Hamilton to Haldimand, Oct. 14, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 § Same to same, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
204 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 left Hamilton no room to doubt all would go well on 
 his arrival upon the Wabash.* 
 
 Here, again, Hamilton wrote the Commander-in- 
 chief as to the conduct of J\I. de Celeron. "He has 
 acted," said the Lieutenant Governor, "in a manner 
 very unprecedented," and which he hoped, for the 
 honor of human nature, would never be followed. 
 "Treachery, ingratitude, and perjury," he said, "are 
 heavy charges to lay to the account of a man reputed 
 a man of honor, but I am bold to say they can be 
 but too well supported."' "He had the effrontery," 
 added Hamilton, "to repeat, to me by word of mouth 
 and in hearing of the people in my bateau, that the 
 rebels were at the ^liamis [although they had not ar- 
 rived at Ouiatanon (Wea)] when he precipitately left 
 there, bringing with him, notwithstanding his haste, 
 some packs of peltry. He ranged about for three days 
 at the mouth of the ]\Iiamis [Maumee] river, among 
 the Indians, spreading this report, which however, they 
 did not credit.'"t 
 
 Hamilton now got news of the return to the Shaw- 
 anese country from the attack on Boonesborough of 
 Lieutenant Dequindre, who was to join the Lieutenant 
 Governor, on the march of the latter, with others who 
 had previously gone out from Detroit ;i and that one 
 hundred Shawanese were still at war. Forty "'rebels'' 
 were reported as being at Mncennes ; and Hamilton 
 wrote the Commander-in-chief that he expected these 
 
 * Same to same, Oct. 14. 177S. — Haldimand ^ISS. 
 
 tid. 
 
 J Dequindre did not join Hamilton after the siege of 
 Boonesborough. Captain Chesne, however, reached the Lieti- 
 tenant Governor while the latter was on the march. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 205 
 
 would call for help from Kaskaskia as soon as they 
 heard of his approach, but he would send from the 
 head of the Maumee, on his arrival, some Indians to 
 cause an alarm down the Wabash as far as that place, 
 in hopes this might divide the attention of the Vir- 
 ginians there.* 
 
 By the twenty-fourth, Hamilton had reached 
 "Miamistown" — the head of the Maumee — "after 
 the usual fatigues attending such a navigation, the 
 water being [here] remarkably low/'f On the twenty- 
 eighth, he wrote that he had hopes of passing for- 
 ward, on that day — "fifty-seven days' provisions for 
 three hundred men." He declared the savages were 
 in good health and temper and that their restraint on 
 their passion for rum had improved their disposition. 
 "Our own people," said he, "are in perfect health 
 and spirits." The indecision of the Wabash Indians, 
 was attributed by the Lieutenant Governor to the in- 
 fluence of interested advisers. He believed they were 
 only waiting the motions of the Lake Indians to take 
 an active part against the "rebels." 
 
 The good news Hamilton had received of the 
 war-like attitude of the Shawanese and the account 
 which had just reached him of so large a force of 
 that nation being upon the war-path, induced him to 
 send them from "Miamistown" a quantity of ammu- 
 nition as a reward for their activity and to aid them 
 against the Virginians. He had, the day previous, 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Oct. 14 and 15, 1778. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. It is highly probable that most of the forty 
 "rebels" reported as being at Vincennes were the men forming 
 the detachment sent by Clark against Wea, but who, un- 
 doubtedly, had already returned to Kaskaskia, 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781: — Germain MSS, 
 
206 HISTORY Of CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 held a council with about two hundred chiefs and 
 warriors, and he declares their behavior was such 
 as he wished. "Since it is likely." said the Lieutenant 
 Governor, "that I shall pass the winter to the south- 
 ward of Detroit," and the Indians having* desired him 
 to apprise their friends of the fact, he would have 
 General Haldiniand send him forward orders and in- 
 structions for his conduct.* In his letter to the Com- 
 mander-in-chief at this date, he ag-ain refers to the 
 supposed wrong-doings of De Celoron. "Every in- 
 telligence I have procured," he wrote, "confirms my 
 suspicion of M. de Celoron's treachery."t 
 
 While the Lieutenant Governor was at "Aliami- 
 town," Louis Chevalier reached there from St. Joseph, 
 with two chiefs and thirteen warriors — Pottawatta- 
 mies : "this." wrote Hamilton afterward, "and his 
 future behavior may elf ace his [Chevalier's] former 
 conduct." One of the Pottawattamie chiefs, it seems, 
 had on his person a French medal, which, in the 
 presence of all the savages there, numbering about 
 two hundred, he gave up to the Lieutenant Gover- 
 nor. The latter regiirded the arrival of Chevalier as 
 "a step of consequence to the service at present." He 
 added that he had been joined by several savages on 
 
 *Same to same, Oct. -28. 1778. — Haldimand :MSS. 
 "Here [at 'Miamis town'] we iner several tribes of the Indians 
 previously summoned to meet here, and held several confer- 
 ences : made them presents, and dispatched messngrers to the 
 Shawanese. as well as [to] the nations on our route, inviting 
 them to join us. or at least watch the motions of the rebels 
 upon the frontiers : for which purpose. I sent them amnumi- 
 tioti." — Hamilton to Haldimand, July t\ 17S1. — Germain 
 MSS. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand. Oct. '2S. 177S. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
IIISrORV OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 207 
 
 his way out ; and he was persuaded he should get as 
 many as he could ''manage or wish for."* 
 
 Having passed .the carrying place, or portage, of 
 nine miles,t ''we arrived," is Hamilton's subsequent 
 record, "at one of the sources of the Wabash, called 
 the Little River. "J The stream was so uncommonly 
 low that bateaux could not have floated but for the 
 fact that, some distance below, a beaver dam kept 
 up the. water. This they cut through to give a pas- 
 sage to their boats, and, having taken in the lading 
 at the landing, they -passed them all.§ The Lieutenant 
 Governor now sent forward twenty-two wagons with 
 provisions and stores, under the command of Lieu- 
 tenant Duvernot, who was ordered to encamp at the 
 forks of the Wabash and there remain until the ar- 
 rival of the main force, or until further orders. This 
 was. on the first of November. || 
 
 The numerical strength of Hamilton's little army 
 was now nearl}^ as follows : the detachment from the 
 
 * Id. Also same to same, Nov. 1, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. Hamilton's order to Chevalier to raise Pottawattamies 
 and conduct them to the head of the Maumee, was dated Oc- 
 tober 15th. 
 
 t In crossing the portage, there were ten carts employed : 
 there were also six carriages ; two with four wheels to trans- 
 port the bateaux, and four with two wheels for the pirogues. 
 Captain McLeod's company took over a part of the provisions ; 
 the rest got over in six days — from the twenty-ninth of 
 October to the fifth of November. ("Report of Henry Duver- 
 net, Second Lieutenant of Artillery." — Haldimand MSS., 
 where the wrong months are mentioned in giving the dates.) 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 He gives for "Wabash" — "Ouabache" ; . and for "Little 
 River" — "Petit Riviere." 
 
 § Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 II Same to same, Nov. 1, 1778. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 ) 
 
208 HISTORY OF CL.4RK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Kiiit;-'s (^Fii^htlO roi^iniont. non-commissioned officers 
 incliulcd. thirty-two: with the artillery were two gun- 
 ners, four of the Kiui^'s i^lui^hih) regiment, and 
 seventeen from the two Petroit militia companies; 
 — the latter companies had each fony-foin*. officers 
 included. l.amothe's company nninhered forty-two. 
 There were forty I'ltiawas. twenty Chippewas. four 
 Wyandois, thirty Tottawattamies (^of whom hfteen 
 were from St. Joseph "i. and thirty Miamis Indians: 
 in all, one hundred and eighty-tive whites and one 
 hundred and twenty-four savages — an entire force of 
 three hundred and nine inen.^ We were assured by 
 the l.ieuienant LKwernor that women are not included 
 in this his ■"Return" of the savages, 
 
 riie portage which Hamilton had just crossed at- 
 tracted his attention. "This carrying-place," he wrote, 
 "is free from any obstructions but what the careless- 
 ness and ignorance of the French have left and would 
 leave from generation to generation. An intelligent 
 person, at a small expense, might make it as tine a 
 road as any within twenty miles of London. The 
 woods are beautiful; [there are] oak. ash, beech, nut- 
 wood, very clear and of a great growth." He declares 
 he found in a ridge near the road, a sea fossil. "To 
 find/' said he. "marine productions on this hauteur 
 des terres, is. to my mind, more curious than their 
 being* fotnid in the Alps. There are no mountains in 
 view, from Detroit to this place, so these fossils can- 
 
 * Moses, in his Illinois : Historical and Statistical, vol. 
 I. p. 154. says: "With a force of thirty regulars, tifty French 
 volunteers, and four hundred Indians, he [Hamilton] started 
 down the Wabash," But this estimate is clearly erroneous. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 209 
 
 not readily be accounted for from volcanoes. o{ which 
 there is no trace to be observed."* 
 
 As yet no Shawanese had joined ILaniilton's force, 
 however, now a war party of that nation nnder Cap- 
 tain Alexander McKee was hourly expected, but which, 
 it seems, did not arrive. McKee had written that a 
 few of that tribe had ''attempted" a fortification built 
 by the rebels at the Falls of the Ohio, but only suc- 
 ceeded in destroying- "a parcel of tools." ''I shall," 
 wrote Hamilton, "endeavor to cut off the communica- 
 tion from that place to the Illinois, and perhajis shall 
 find the taking' that fort an object well worth atten- 
 tion." McKee subsequently joined the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor while the latter was moving down the Wabash 
 — proving himself a valuable assistant to Deputy 
 Agent Hay. 
 
 Hamilton had not only been informed that the 
 "rebels" had built a fort at the Falls of the Ohio, 
 but he had what was to him much better news, that 
 the Miami Indians of Eel river would join his force. 
 "We have had," he continued, "pretty sharp frosts, but 
 fine clear weather. By damming up the water of the 
 Little River four miles below the landing, the water 
 is backed and raised an inch here. At the dam, it 
 rose an inch tlie first hour. The beavers had worked 
 hard for us, but we were obliged to break down their 
 dam to let the boats pass that were sent forward to 
 clear the river and a place called the 'Chemin Con- 
 vert.' "t The beaver," Llamilton subsequently de- 
 clared, "are never molested at this place by the traders 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Nov. 1, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 tid. 
 
 14 
 
210 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 
 
 or Indians and soon repair their dam, which is a 
 most serviceable work upon this difficult communica- 
 tion."* 
 
 Hamilton, as he found himself upon the waters 
 of the A\'abash, again revolved in his mind what he 
 had learned of the flight of the commandant at Wea; 
 and once more he unburdened himself concerning the 
 matter to the Commander-in-chief: "Mr. de Celoron 
 has a brother in the rebel service, and I have no 
 room to doubt his treasonable design in spreading 
 reports that might delay us till next spring, when 
 reinforcements from the Colonies might effectually 
 frustate our attempts to regain the Illinois or keep the 
 Indians in our interest. Double pay, I take it, has 
 been his seducer: and as to his reward, I hope to 
 have your Excellency's orders. In the meantime I 
 have ordered his suspension. "f This, seemed, for a 
 while to relieve the thoughts of the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 Hamilton started with his regulars down Little 
 river, with seven loaded boats, having with him 
 seventy-two Ottawas. The next day — the second 
 of November — the Pottawattamies and the Miami 
 Indians under ]Major Hay, with the last of the bateaux, 
 
 * Same to same. July 6, ITSl. — Germain MSS. ''Between 
 the Miamie [Maimiee] and the Oiiabache [Wabash] there are 
 beaver dams, which when water is low, passengers break 
 down to raise it. and by that means pass easier than they 
 otherwise would. When they the [travelers] are gone, the 
 beavers come and mend the breach ; for this reason they have 
 been hitherto sacred, as neither Indians nor white people 
 hunt them." — RoaJ from Detroit to the Illinois, etc. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. 
 
 tHamilton to Haldimand, Nov. 1, 
 MSS. 
 
HISTORY Of CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 211 
 
 followed.* All reached, finally, a swamp then known 
 as "Les Volets," which was passed with great labor. 
 Beyond tlfts, they came to the little "Riviere a Boete," 
 which joins the one they had descended. The shal- 
 lowness of both streams obliged them to build a 
 dam across each, by which means the water was 
 backed into the swamp. When there was a sufficient 
 accumulation, they cut their dykes and floated all 
 their boats down the channel. The same obstacle 
 occurred at Riviere a 1' Anguile (Eel river) and the 
 same work had to be done.f 
 
 In the progress of the expedition down the Wabash 
 difficulties increased. The setting in of the frost 
 lowered the river; the floating ice cut the men as 
 they worked in the water to haul the boats over 
 shoals and rocks. The bateaux^ were damaged and 
 had to be repeatedly unloaded "caulked and payed." 
 Ninety-seven thousand pounds of provisions and stores 
 had to be carried by the men, in which the Indians 
 assisted cheerfully when the boats were to be lightened. 
 It was sometimes a day's work to get the distance of 
 half a league. It was necessary to stop frequently 
 at the Indian villages to have conferences with the 
 savages, furnish them with necessaries, and engage a 
 few to accompany the expedition. At length, the 
 force got into a good depth of water, a fall of rain 
 having raised the river ; but this advantage was 
 succeeded by fresh difficulties, the frost becoming so 
 intense as to freeze the river quite across ; however, 
 by hard labor, the men made their way onward. J 
 
 t Hamilton to Hcilclimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 J Id. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE arrival of Hamilton at Wea was not attended 
 with any demonstration of surprise or hostil- 
 ity on part of the Indians present. They knew 
 of his approach and remained passive. "Since my 
 leaving Detroit," said the Lieutenant Governor in writ- 
 ing to his superior officer, '' I have been joined on the 
 way by savages from different quarters — the Ottawas 
 of the Grand Glaize [now known as the Auglaize 
 river], the Pottowattamies of St. Joseph, the Miamis 
 of Riviere a I'Auguile ; the Pottawattamies of Shippe- 
 con, the Ouiatanons [Weas], and lastly the Kickapoos. 
 Their njimber is small, not amounting to two hundred ; 
 bflt I shall be sorry to have the number increased, as 
 the expense of provisions must be considerable, and this 
 wretched place is little capable of furnishing a supply." 
 Having an eye single to the prospects ahead — a large 
 reinforcement of savages, especially Shawanese, and 
 of capturing Fort Sackville and, possibly, going into 
 winter quarters in Vincennes, — it was with no little 
 concern, evidently, that the Lieutenant Governor 
 viewed the coming prospects : "We are told they are 
 in a miserable condition at Post Vincennes for want of 
 provisions, the last year's crop having sprouted on 
 the ground. They have sent to the Illinois for seed 
 grain." 
 
 Hamilton informed General Haldimand that his 
 savages were on good terms with each other, — a mat- 
 ter of much importance, as dissensions would have 
 seriously impeded his progress. He also wrote that 
 the accounts of the strength of the rebels at Vincennes 
 
 (212) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 213 
 
 varied so much that he was at a loss to form a judg- 
 ment of it. However, he did not beheve it to be such 
 as should cause the- least dread. 
 
 On the third of December, some people from Detroit 
 reached Hamilton at Wea. By a letter they brought 
 him, he learned that Mr. Macomb, a merchant of the 
 place first mentioned, had forwarded some Indian goods 
 to the Miami fort at the head of the Maumee, agree- 
 able to directions left him by the Lieutenant Governor 
 before starting on his enterprise, but then were, "not- 
 withstanding any order that may have been given for 
 the furtherance of his merchandise from Deer Island, 
 fifty bateau-loads at that place." Hamilton took the 
 liberty of mentioning this to his superior officer at 
 Quebec, as the supplying of all the Indians within his 
 reach would depend greatly on the speedy arrival of 
 goods at Detroit early in the spring. ''We are," said 
 he, "nearly exhausted at present, though we do our best 
 to content the savages at little expense. Arms, in par- 
 ticular, there is a great demand for." 
 
 One matter was looked upon by Hamilton with 
 considerable disquietude — the progress the "rebels" 
 were making at the Falls of the Ohio. But he' consoled 
 himself that, by what he could learn, if there was any 
 fort there, "it was very insignificant in its present 
 state." As to Wea, he wrote dispondingly, "The fort 
 (as it is called) at this place is a miserable stockade, 
 surrounded by a dozen wretched cabins called houses. 
 The Indians hereabouts are numerous, there appear 
 ninety-six of their cabins, which, allowing five even to 
 a house makes the number four hundred and eighty." 
 "The French settlers," continues the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor, "are few and as inconsiderable as debauchery 
 
214 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and idleness can make them. As to their attachments, 
 it is difficult to pronounce. Interest, I believe, is the 
 Grand Monarch with them ; however, I have formally 
 administered to them the oath of fidelity to his Britan- 
 nic Majesty, and left in the care of one honest man 
 the St. George's flag, to be hoisted on Sundays and 
 holidays, giving the Indians to understand it was a 
 signal of his Majesty having resumed his rights and 
 again taken them under his protection.''* 
 
 In council with the Indians at Wea, the British 
 commander destroyed the copy which had been fur- 
 nished him of the "grant — or, rather, deed of sale" — • 
 made over three years previous by the Piankeshaws 
 to the Wabash Land Company — of two large tracts 
 of land lying on both sides of the Wabash below Wea. 
 He assured the savages present that the transaction 
 was contrary to the express desire of the British king 
 and without the consent of the principal chiefs con- 
 cerned, — the Indians of the W^abash were now to con- 
 sider those lands as restored to them by order of his 
 Majesty.f 
 
 While Hamilton was at Wea, the Indian chiefs 
 who had" received the American colors from Captain 
 Helm, ''came in from their hunting, acknowledged 
 their error, gave up the flags, and accused Monsieur 
 de Celoron of having deserted them ; besides, that he 
 never distributed to them the goods entrusted to him 
 for the Indians. "if 
 
 There was one piece of information received by the 
 Lieutenant Governor from the hands of those recently 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 4, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 t See Appendix, Note LXVIII. 
 
 I Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 215 
 
 from Detroit which bore heavily upon his mind; so 
 he wrote the Commander-in-chief: "A letter from 
 Mr. Gary, the deputy sheriff at Montreal, acquaints 
 me that some legal process has been commenced against 
 Mr. Dejean for acting under my direction in regard 
 to criminal matters. I beg leave to recommend him 
 to your Excellency's protection as a man who has cre- 
 ated enemies by doing his duty and who has had the 
 misfortune to fall from good circumstances into indi- 
 gence. I hope I shall be responsible for any malver- 
 sation of his, as he has only acted by my orders, and 
 I have had reason to be satisfied with his behavior as an 
 honest man and loyal subject. Should any complaint 
 against myself be lodged judicially, I am perfectly 
 at ease, persuaded your Excellency will allow me to 
 vindicate my conduct without encountering the chicane 
 of the law."* 
 
 Hamilton kept steadily in view the words of Haldi- 
 mand as to the propriety of sending out parties of 
 Indians to cut the communication so much desired by 
 the "rebels" to be kept open between Fort Pitt and 
 the Mississippi river. But now the Lieutenant Gover- 
 nor had an expensive scheme in his mind to aid the 
 savages. As far as he could judge, it would be prac- 
 ticable to establish a post and build a fort in any part 
 of the Indian country eastward of the Mississippi as 
 far as the Ohio ; but, for this, aids of men and mer- 
 chandize would be necessary, to support such an under- 
 taking as well as to keep up the good disposition of 
 the Indians. The savages with him at Wea living 
 in the Wabash country, gave him their promise to 
 raise all their warriors during the next spring "to 
 
 * Same to same, Dec. 4, 1778. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
216 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 spread themselves in all directions "in their attacks 
 upon the frontier settlements of the Americans. "I have 
 recommended to them," are the words of the com- 
 mander to his snperior, "the example of the Lake 
 Indians for courage and hmiianity." 
 
 But Hamilton could not give Haldimand before 
 leaving Wea, any satisfactory idea as to the steps he 
 would take after proceeding onward toward Vincennes. 
 "The rigor of the season," said he, "which has in some 
 places frozen the river quite across ; the delays occa- 
 sioned by the lowness of the water ; the repairs nec- 
 essary for our craft ; and the usual tardiness of the 
 Indians, who, being our main-spring, must be attended 
 to; — all conspire to the tediousness of the journey." 
 "The health and good temper," he added, "of all the 
 various colors and characters that compose our little 
 band, give me encouragement to hope the best.""^ 
 
 It was in the after part of the fourth of December, 
 that Hamilton left ^^>a to continue his march down 
 the \\'abash. A reconnoitering party from the main 
 force, seized, on the fifteenth, the lieutenant and three 
 men sent by Captain Helm from Fort Sackville for 
 intelligence. 
 
 The American officer acquitted himself but poorly, 
 — "having taken so little precaution as to be surprised 
 himself." says Hamilton. f The officer had in his 
 pocket, two commissions. — one from Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor Abbott, the other from Colonel Clark. I "He 
 
 "^Hamilton to Haldimancl. Dec. 4. 17 iS. — Haldimand 
 
 ■^- M?:iiilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-30th. 177S. — Haldi- 
 :vI3S. 
 
 ::-r',hlon to TTaklin-'and. July 0, 17S1. — Germain MSS. 
 ■ , ' c HcU'.-ror.nt was "in the pav of Con- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 217 
 
 showed no apprehension of being hanged on the next 
 tree," says the Lieutenant Governor, "which he cer- 
 tainly deserved ; and observing the savages offered him 
 no violence, he was presently quite at his ease.* 
 
 From his prisoners, the British commander learned 
 that Captain Helm had permitted ''almost all his peo- 
 ple to return to their homes," — depending for the de- 
 fence of Vincennes on the French militia, "who had 
 all taken an oath of fidelity to the States."t The arms 
 of the lieutenant and his three men were given to the 
 Indians. Hamilton- declares he did not proceed vigor- 
 ously with his prisoners, wishing to gain the Vin- 
 cennes people by lenity, and apprehensive that an in- 
 stance of severity might arouse the ferocity of the 
 savages, which he wished of all things to avoid.J 
 
 Having learned from his prisoners the state of 
 things at Vincennes the Lieutenant Governor, on the 
 sixteenth, sent off two parties of Indians with each 
 an "Indian officer," with instructions to lie on the roads 
 leading from that town to the Illinois and to the Falls 
 of the Ohio — one on each side of the Wabash, to in- 
 tercept any intelligence of his arrival that might be sent 
 to those places. They had orders to keep their sta- 
 
 gress." This, of course, was erroneous. In his letter to 
 Haldimand last cited, the Lieutenant Governor confuses mat- 
 ters : "He [the lieutenant sent out by Helm] was furnished 
 with two commissions : one from Lieut. Gov. Abbott, the 
 other from the commandant for Congress." 
 
 * Hamiltoijatq- Haldimand, Dec. 18-30th, 1778. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. o:t .zp.^b-^hjoh 
 
 t Id. The+r^^r^jjation regarding Capt. Helm permitting 
 "almost all his peoi>te to return to their homes," related, 
 really, to the return to the Illinois of the men sent out by 
 Clark against Wea. 
 
 X Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
218 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 tioiis till they should discover the English flag flying 
 over Fort Sackville, and to secure any messengers and 
 their letters, but to do no violence to the persons who 
 might be captured.* 
 
 Major Hay, also, was detached with Captain La- 
 mothe's company. Lieutenant Duvernet of the Royal 
 Artillery, with the six-pounder, and the regulars of 
 the King's regiment to fall down the river and enter 
 Vincennes. Hay had with him Antoine Bellefeuille 
 (the interpreter), and several chiefs of the different 
 nations who formed a part of Hamilton's force, to 
 conciliate the Piankeshaws residing in the town, and 
 to show the French what they might expect if they 
 attempted to resist. ''Had our whole force moved 
 forward together," says Hamilton, "it would probably 
 have been impossible to have restrained the savages 
 from destroying the settlement. As it was, the young 
 men took alarm that they should have nO' share in the 
 business and threw themselves hastily into their canoes 
 to follow. They were, however, prevailed upon to 
 return, "t 
 
 Major Hay was given orders to secure, if possible, 
 the craft lying before the place by sending a party in 
 
 * Id. ; also Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-30th, 1778. — 
 Haldimand MSS. Hamilton, in the first mentioned letter, 
 speaks of the Falls of the Ohio, as the place where (at the 
 time of his approaching Vincennes) the "rebels" had a fort 
 and a number of families had latel}^ come to settle. He refers 
 in his letters to Haldimand of Nov. 1 and Dec. 4, 1778, as 
 well as in that of July 6, 1781, doubtless, to the defensive 
 work on the island ; as the new fort to be built on the main- 
 land was, when his informants were there, only just com- 
 menced. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-30, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. ; and same to same, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 219 
 
 the night in boats to pass the town and stop any people 
 who should attempt to escape by water. "^ A placard 
 was sent to the inhabitants, cautioning them to avoid 
 acting in the offensive, as the consequences would be 
 fatal to them.f If, as Hamilton expected, there was 
 not any resistance made, and that Hay found the re- 
 port of the prisoners to be true, he was to order the 
 St. George's ensign to be hoisted at the fort as a signal 
 for the parties before sent out to join him. He was 
 likewise empowered to receive the submission of the 
 French inhabitants' who should lay down their arms ; 
 but, should he find that the ''rebels" had been rein- 
 forced, he was to take post to the best advantage pos- 
 sible, send off an express to the Lieutenant Governor, 
 and await his arrival. 
 
 Having taken these precautions, the British com- 
 mander, on the seventeenth, fell down the river from 
 the distance of seven leagues. It snowed and blew 
 fresh from daybreak till one o'clock, when to the sur- 
 prise of Hamilton, he plainly saw the "rebel" flag 
 was still flying at the fort. He concluded the Amer- 
 ican" commander had been reinforced ; and he felt cer- 
 tain such was the case, upon finding Lieutenant Schief- 
 felin, with all the boats lying in a little cove about a 
 mile above the town. But he soon learned the true 
 state of affairs. 
 
 Captain Alexis Maisonville and Captain McLeod 
 were ordered to land their men — the Detroit volunteer 
 militia, leaving one man to each boat as a guard, and 
 march slowly towards the town. At the same time, a 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-30th, 1778. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. 
 
 t Id. — Corroborated by same to same, July 6, 1781. — 
 Germain MSS. 
 
220 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 flanking party was ordered forward, as the brushwood 
 was thick on the left of the Hne of march. 
 
 When Hamilton came in sight of the town, he 
 posted sentries and halted his men.* Just then a mes- 
 senger from ]\Iajor Hay reached him, desiring the 
 sending to him of the St. George's flag, also informing 
 the Lieutenant Governor that his men were advan- 
 tageously posted, and that the gun was mounted. The 
 flag was sent as required ; and the commander at once 
 started to join the j\Iajor, whom he soon found with 
 his men drawn up and the French militia of the village 
 bringing in their arms. 
 
 Hay informed Hamilton that the American com- 
 mandant was deserted by those in whom he had re- 
 posed confidence and did not intend to hold out, but 
 would not strike his colors imtil he knew what terms 
 he was to have.y The six-pounder being ready. Lieu- 
 tenant Duvernet was ordered to proceed with it to- 
 wards the fort, six men with a sergeant of the King's 
 regiment marching before with fixed bayonets, fol- 
 lowed by the remainder of the detachment and the 
 volunteers and militia under I^Iajor Hay. 
 
 As Hamilton approached the gate of the fort, he 
 sent a person forward to summon the commanding 
 oflicer to surrender :i but Captain Helm desired, by a 
 written paper, to know who made the demand. The 
 
 * Appendix, Note LXIX. 
 
 '^ Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-30th, 1778. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. Hay probably obtained knowledge of Helm's 
 determination from those who had just deserted him. 
 
 X It was this person who carried the flag mentioned by 
 Captain Helm, in his hastily written letter to Clark (finished 
 and dispatched immediately before he was summoned to sur- 
 render"). — which flag he says was ''at a small distance"' 
 away. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 221 
 
 British commander sent for answer verbally: "The 
 King's Lieutenant Governor from Detroit." Hamil- 
 ton then advanced to the wicket. Helm soon pre- 
 sented himself — "for, indeed," says the Lieutenant 
 Governor, "he was almost alone" — having but five 
 jnen left — and -asked what terms he should have.* 
 He was answered, humane treatment for himself ; that 
 no other terms would be mentioned. Hamilton was 
 then admitted.f "The officer who commanded in the 
 fort (Captain Helm)," is the siibsequent language of 
 Hamilton, "being deserted by the officers and men 
 who to the number of seventy had formed his garrison 
 and were in pay of the Congress, surrendered his 
 wretched fort on the very day of our arrival, being the 
 seventeenth of December, 1778. Thus we employed 
 seventy-one days in coming only six hundred miles, 
 which is to be attributed to the extraordinary diffi- 
 culties of the way, owing to an uncommon drought; 
 the severity of the season; and the inevitable delays 
 at the Indian villages, particularly at Ouiatanon 
 [Wea]."t 
 
 * See Appendix, Note LXIX. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, loc. cit. But Hamilton is 
 silent as to the number of Helm's garrison. Although "hu- 
 mane treatment was mentioned only in connection with 
 Helm's name, the Captain seemed fully assured it would be 
 extended also to his five men and in this, as will be presently 
 seen, he was not mistaken. It is altogether certain, from 
 what immediately transpired, that Helm did not leave the 
 fort, nor any of his men. 
 
 X Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 But the Lieutenant Governor was in error in saying Captain 
 Helm's garrison was in pay of the Congress. It was from 
 Virginia they expected pay for their services, as already 
 shown. 
 
222 HISTORY OF CL^iRK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 So sl\mi as the British commander entered the fort, 
 lie posted sentries at the gate- to keep out the savages; 
 but while he was attending to this, some of iheni got 
 in at two gun posts, which had not been secured. 
 
 Ihiinihon called to the interpreters and used his 
 Ikst oiureaties with the chiefs, who really did all in 
 their power to restrain their men. "hut the torrent was 
 tLX) strong for such feeble barriers." The Indians bore 
 down the sentries, and seeing one posted at the door 
 of Captain Hehu's quarters, they went to the windows 
 w hich they broke in and then fell to plundering'. The 
 soldiers. ii\ the tneantime drew up in the fort and 
 w ere quiet spectators of this scene of disorder, "which 
 lasted," as the Lieutenant Governor affimis, "until the 
 curiosity {\ carinot say avarice "i of the savages was 
 gratified." 
 
 The Indians upon being requestel so to do. restored 
 to Captain llclin his private property. Thirty-two 
 stoiu horses which had lately been purchased for the 
 Kentucky settlements were inside the fortification and 
 these were soon secured by the Indians, "which I would 
 not deprive them of," says Hamilton, "as they had 
 not committed a single act of cruelty, and have treated 
 the inhabitants with the humanity which was recom- 
 mended to them." "Had a single shot been fired," adds 
 the Lieutenant Governor, "probably the settlement 
 would have been destroyed in an hour s time.'** 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-50, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. The Liemenant Governor was under the impression 
 that the horses found inside the fort, had been purchased for 
 the use of Congress, but this was not the case. ("Bowman's 
 Tournar' — Department of State MSS.) It is evident that 
 Ihimilton had no idea that the "rebels" imder Clark were, 
 along with the Colonel. Virginia troops: he supposed the 
 whole were under ConsiTessional direction. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 223 
 
 For some time Captain Helm "hesitated to take 
 down the Continental liag;" bnt, at length finding it 
 was expected of him, ordered it to be lowered, and 
 the St. George's was run np instead; "which signal," 
 says Hamilton, "drew in our parties, one having taken 
 two prisoners (an American and a Frenchman), who 
 had Captain Helm's letter to Colonel Clark."* 
 
 In the fort, Hamilton found, besides the horses, 
 two iron three-pounders mounted on truck carriages, 
 two swivels not mounted and a very small quantity of 
 ammunition. As to the fortification, it was, the Lieu- 
 tenant Governor declares, "a miserable stockade, with- 
 out a well, barrack, platform for small arms, or even 
 lock to the gate."f 
 
 Although to Captain Helm was accorded humane 
 treatment, and although no violence was ofi:ered his 
 five men, yet all were held prisoners of w^ar. That 
 such would be the result, they must have anticipated. 
 
 Outside the fort, the day was spent on part of 
 some of the soldiery and Indians in taking proper 
 precaution to secure their boats and canoes, and in 
 landing and conveying inside the pickets, provisions 
 and baggage. Thus it w^s that Fort Sackville again 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, loc. cit. See, also, same to 
 same, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. It is the declaration 
 of Hamilton that the letter from Captain Helm was "to 
 Colonel Clark, commandant (under the Congress) of the 
 Eastern Illinois." Who Clark was "commandant under," 
 although not then understood, as before explained, by the 
 Lieutenant Governor, was. not long afterward, it may be 
 premised, made clear to him. Hamilton sent a copy of Helm's 
 letter to the Commander-in-chief, declaring to him what was 
 true enough, that it showed "what confidence was to be placed 
 in men [meaning the citizens of Vincennes] who have once 
 violated a sacred engagement." 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6. 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
224 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 passed into the possession of the British; and the in- 
 habitants of Vincennes again bowed in submission to 
 a fate whieh they could not avert. Everywhere in the 
 town, there was a complete surrender to the Lieutenant 
 Governor. "There is nothing- flattering," he wrote 
 the next day, "to win such submission."* 
 
 The official report of Hamilton puts the munber of 
 those who surrendered to him at X'incennes, as "one 
 major, four captains, two lieutenants, two ensigns, one 
 Indian agent, one adjutant, one commissary, one inter- 
 preter, four. sergeants, and two hundred and sixteen 
 rank and hie ; of the last one hundred and sixty were 
 volunteers." This return included all the citizens of 
 the place who had been enrolled in the militia com- 
 panies, together with their officers. 
 
 Hamilton had fully earned his success at Vin- 
 cennes. It is evident his journey from Detroit had 
 been one of considerable hardships and of not a little 
 suli'ering. "I nuist say," are his words, "to the praise 
 of the officers and men, they supported the fatigiies 
 and hardships of their tedious journey with the utmost 
 cheerfulness." "As to the poor savages," adds the 
 Lieutenant Governor, "their not firing a single shot on 
 the day of taking possession of the place, nor injuring 
 or even insulting a single soul (except a poor miller, 
 whose house they plundered, being half a league from 
 the fort) reflects disgrace on some well-instructed 
 Christian regulars who have not held hospitals as 
 asylums from their fury."t 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand. Doc. 18-30. 1778. — Haldimand 
 I\tSS. 
 
 tid. (For some published errors concerning the march 
 of Hamilton to Mncennes from Detroit, and the taking of the 
 first-mentioned place, see Appendix, Note LXX.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 225 
 
 Afterwards, in commenting upon the behavior of 
 the savages upon this occasion, the British commander 
 says : "Such was the moderation and good order ob- 
 served by the Indians, that not a single person had 
 the slenderest cause of complaint ; not a shot was fired 
 nor any inhabitant injured in person or property." 
 
 "It is remarkable," adds Hamilton, "that although 
 on our arrival at this place our number was increased 
 to five hundred men, there was not one sick, nor had 
 there been a single instance of drunkenness among 
 the Indians or soldiery from the day we left Detroit, 
 though rum was delivered out on every occasion when 
 the fatigues or bad weather made it necessary."''^ 
 
 As to the cause of the detention by the way, the 
 Lieutenant Governor gives certainly very reasonable 
 explanations. 
 
 And thus, too, sometime after these events trans- 
 pired, wrote an officer of Lamothe's company : 
 
 ''On the seventh of October, 1778, Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor Hamilton took his departure from Detroit, with 
 a detachment of the King's Vlllth regiment, the De- 
 troit volunteers, a detachment of artillery, two com- 
 panies of militia, and a number of savages, under his 
 command, to retake the posts the rebels had taken 
 possession of in the Illinois ; that, after suffering the 
 greatest hardships, cutting the ice to make [a way] 
 for their boats, transporting their stores, provisions, 
 etc., on the soldiers' backs at different places, where 
 
 * Same to same, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. The 
 "five hundred men" included Indians, regulars and militia — 
 his entire force. 
 
 15 
 
226 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 the bateaux could not get over, they reached Vincennes 
 on the Wabash, in December."* 
 
 There was a negligence on the part of Haldimand 
 so far as replying to the correspondence of Hamilton 
 was concerned, clearly indicating his disproval of the 
 whole movement of the Lieutenant Governor against 
 the Illinois. Finally, however, he answered his let- 
 ters which had been sent before starting, as also all 
 those to the close of the year. "I received/' he said, 
 "your several letters previous to your departure from 
 Detroit. The suddeimess of your resolution to march 
 against the rebels that had invaded the Illinois, made it 
 impossible for me to give you any orders; but, from 
 the knowledge of you and the spirit your letters 
 breathe, I am persuaded you have executed what ap- 
 peared to you best for the King's service ; and, in that 
 light, the measure you had pursued was stated to the 
 secretary of state in my letter last fall. 
 
 "I had since, by your dispatches of the iSth Decem- 
 ber last, which come to hand the 19th of March with 
 their several enclosures, learned that you have taken 
 possession of Fort Vincennes. Long before this 
 reaches you, you will have been satisfied whether the 
 rebels seriously intended an attack upon Detroit, and 
 acted in consequence, or seen what further could be 
 done for the King's service, in those parts, with the 
 force at present with you. . . . 
 
 "By accounts which bear every mark of authen- 
 
 ticitv, his Maiestv's arms have been attended with sue- 
 
 ,■ ■ - • 
 
 cess to the southward : the province of Georgia is once 
 more reduced to obey their lawful sovereign and great 
 
 * Schieffelin : Loose Notes (Magasine of American His- 
 tory, vol. I, p. 186) V 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 227 
 
 hopes are entertained of the royal forces being able 
 to penetrate further that way. It is likely this will 
 engage the southern Indians to make such a diversion 
 on their part as may tend in future to facilitate your 
 operations. In the uncertainty of all things here, un- 
 informed how far this war may spread, it is impossible 
 for me at this distance to give you orders and direc- 
 tions respecting the further measures to be pursued 
 by you; of the possibility or practicability of those 
 you embrace, you must be the best judge, and on your 
 doing what is best for the king's service I must and 
 do fully rely. 
 
 ''Before you undertake anything considerable, I 
 must recommend you weighing well the difficulty and 
 expense, that must attend the transportation of every 
 article you are to be furnished with from here, and 
 whether they are likely to be compensated by the ad- 
 vantages expected to accrue from such an undertaking. 
 
 "When you write this way, I should be glad to 
 receive the best information you can procure in regard 
 to the most likely measures to be pursued for conciliat- 
 ing the Indians, preventing the rebels' designs, and 
 securing the upper country, that when my spring dis- 
 patches reach me, I may be better enabled to judge of 
 what is best to be done for those purposes."* 
 
 *Haldimand to Hamilton, April 9, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 HAMILTON convened the inhabitants of Vin- 
 cennes in the church, on the second day after 
 his arrival and having ''in pretty strong terms 
 painted their poltroonery, ingratitude and perfidy," he 
 "read them an oath, to be subscribed only by those 
 who, being sensible of their fault, should publicly ac- 
 knowledge it, and thereby have a claim to the pro- 
 tection of the government. The chief people of the 
 place have either in an underhand manner or openly 
 embraced the rebel party."^*' 
 
 "Having summoned the inhabitants to assemble 
 . . . " the Lieutenant Governor afterward wrote, 
 'T went to meet them, reproached them for their 
 treachery and ingratitude, but told them since they had 
 laid down their arms and sued for protection, that, 
 on renewing their oath of allegiance, they should be 
 secured in their persons and property." "Lenity," 
 adds the British commander, 'T thought might induce 
 the French inhabitants of Kaskaskia to follow their 
 example, though the conduct of the Canadians at large 
 was but poor encouragement. I read twice t6 them 
 the oath prepared for them to take, explained the nature 
 of it, and cautioned them against that levity they had 
 so recently given proof of" : 
 
 "We, the undersigned, declare and avow that we 
 have taken the oath of allegiance to Congress, and, in 
 so doing, we have forgotten our duty towards God and 
 have failed towards men. We ask the pardon of God, 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-30, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. (228) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 229 
 
 and we hope for the mercy of our legitimate sover- 
 eign, the king of England, and that he will accept 
 our submission and take us under his protection as 
 good and faithful subjects, which we promise and pray 
 to be able to become before God and before men."* 
 
 "The oath," says Hamilton, "which I read in the 
 church aloud and explained to the inhabitants, I told 
 them was not forced upon them but offered for the 
 consideration of sober people convinced of their fault, 
 who, in their repentance, might be once again received 
 under the protection of their king." "Humiliating as 
 the oath is," adds the Lieutenant Governor, "one hun- 
 dred and fifty-eight signed it in a few days."t 
 
 It is difficult to determine who was the most dis- 
 graced : Hamilton in dictating the oath, or the people 
 of Vincennes in taking it. The Lieutenant Governor 
 was still laboring under the erroneous belief that Con- 
 gress had directed all affairs terminating in the con- 
 quest of the Illinois towns and those upon the Wabash 
 and that the Creole population had taken the oath of 
 allegiance to that body only. 
 
 An account was taken of the inhabitants of Vin- 
 cennes of all ages and either sex, showing the number 
 in the village to be six hundred and twenty-one, of 
 whom two hundred and seventeen were "fit to bear 
 arms on the spot ;" but there were several men absent, 
 hunting buffaloes for their w^inter provision, not in- 
 cluded in the enumeration. The entire population was, 
 probably, a little less than six hundred and fifty souls. 
 Those who had accepted commissions imder Virginia, 
 
 * Same to same, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 t Same to same, Dec. 18-30, 1778. — Haldimand MSS. 
 (See Appendix, Note LXXI.) 
 
2;U) IIISTORV OF CLARK'S COXQVEST. ETC. 
 
 now dolivoiwl ihcin up :~^ and all who had laid down 
 their arms and renew od iheir oaih of allegiance, re- 
 eeivedi theirs agiun, and, on application, had pass- 
 ports given them to gx") hnnting. A strict search was 
 made for gmipowder: all that was fonnd in the town 
 was pnt inio the magxizine in the fort : and a heavy 
 tine was laid on those who should be found to conceal 
 any: nevertheless, nuich of what belong-ed to the in- 
 habitants, Hamilton failed to discover. 
 
 It had already become a point of consideration 
 with Hamilton whether he should proceed directly to 
 attack the **rebels'* in the Illinois or be content to 
 establish himself in Fort Sackville for the winter. He 
 soon decided to remain in Mncennes. Late rains had 
 so SN\ ollen the rivers as to make it probable he might 
 be stopped so long as to consume his provisions be- 
 fore he gx>t half way. The condition of the fort was 
 such that, to make it tenable, all his available force 
 would have to be calUxi into requisition. To leave 
 the fortification in such a state with a small g-arrison 
 would be to invite the enemy to go agxiinst it, as the 
 Lieutenant Governor beheved, to be joined again by 
 the inhabitants notwithstandhig their recent oaths. 
 The \\*alx\sh Indians he found were wavering and 
 it would require the presence of some force to keep 
 thetu to what they then professes.!. Such were Hamil- 
 ton's reasons for not moving on\\*ard to the attack of 
 
 "^ The Lieinenaiu Governor s;iys "those who had accepted 
 commiss^ions under Cotigresi^ deli\-ere<i them up:" he should 
 ha\-e s;\id, ^'under Virginia:" but. as just explained, he A\"as 
 still ignorant that the American cvMiciuerors iti the Illinois 
 were \"irgima militia only** the probability being that the 
 commissions written out by Captain Helm w-ere loosely 
 wc>rvUxl. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 'm 
 
 the Illinois until a more favorable season. Then, too, 
 there would he the advantai^es of coniniandiui; the 
 ( )liio, of eutting off "rebel" eommunication by land 
 between the Illinois and the Falls of that river, and 
 of being situated so as to encourage the Delawares and 
 Ottawas on White river, who showed marked hostility 
 to Americans. 'There was fear, also, if the march 
 against the Illinois was continued, and from any cause 
 nuich prolonged, his Indian auxiliaries would leave 
 him in a body.* 
 
 The information sent by Hamilton from Detroit 
 to De Peyster, the middle of September, as to his 
 determination to set off in a few days for the Illinois 
 towns, and tlie request that the Michilimackinac com- 
 mandant should engage his Indians to cooperate with 
 him by way of the Illinois river,t were duly received 
 by that officer. And the Lieutenant Governor again 
 wrote the Major just before starting, leaving direc- 
 tions to have his letter forwarded after his departure. 
 But Hamilton, even in the first instance, wrote too 
 late for immediate action on ])art of De J'eyster. "Had 
 the Indians not been gone to their several homes before 
 I received Mr. Hamilton's letters," were the words of 
 the latter afterward to the commander-in-chief, ''it 
 would have been in my power to have seconded his 
 attempt, which he tells me he directs in person to 
 dispossess the rebels at the Illinois." 
 
 ■'The Indians at present," he also wrote, "are too 
 much dispersed for me to assemble them in a body 
 sufficiently strong to go down that river; and I am 
 persuaded they would not leave their wives and chil- 
 
 * See Appendix, Note LXXTI. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, Sept. 10, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. ; and same to same, July G, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
232 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 dren in their wintering grounds, their having been no 
 previous provision made for them. I shall, however, 
 send express to the Grand river and on the borders 
 of Lake Michigan to endeaver to spirit up the young 
 men to join Mr. Hamilton by the most expeditious 
 route, ordering them to call at St. Joseph for further 
 information of his situation. I shall also write to Mr. 
 Chevalier to give Air. Hamilton every assistance in 
 his power, which I fear cannot be much, as the Indians 
 mostly are gone to their hunting grounds."* 
 
 In referring further to Chevalier, the commandant 
 said: ''I have long since by civil treatment, appar- 
 ently secured that gentleman to his Majesty's interests, 
 foreseeing that he would become useful before those 
 troubles could be at an end. The different represen- 
 tation of him by Mr. Hamilton and myself must ap- 
 pear extraordinary. I can assure your Excellency that 
 I never heard anything that could be proven to his dis- 
 advantage; on the contrary, whilst at this post, he, 
 with a becoming decency, set his enemies at defiance. 
 Should he however prove faithless the disadvantages 
 arising from my credulity will be greatly overbal- 
 anced by advantages that may occur by putting some 
 
 *De Peyster to Haldimand, Oct. 24, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. What little assistance Chevalier was able to give Ham- 
 ilton in bringing to him a few Pottawattamies, has already- 
 been mentioned. 
 
 The Indians that De Peyster would "spirit up" were 
 Ottawas and Ciiippewas. As Grand river flows into Lake 
 Michigan on the eastern side, the Indians upon that stream 
 and upon the eastern border of the lake, at that time, would, 
 in going south to the aid of Hamilton (especially if intending 
 to take the route of the Illinois river) reach St. Joseph on 
 their way, where, naturally, further information as to the 
 movements of the Lieutenant Governor would be attainable. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 233 
 
 confidence in him. This much I am obhged to say in 
 vindication of my judgment, as Mr. Hamilton, not- 
 withstanding my representation to him, writes me 
 that he has represented him to your Excellency in a 
 very unfavorable light." 
 
 "I shall take every possible method to procure in- 
 telligence of the present state of the Illinois," continues 
 De Peyster, "and transmit (if I receive any) by way of 
 Detroit during the course of the winter."* 
 
 The request which had been sent by General Hal- 
 dimand to De Peyster to give him his views as to 
 whether he thought there were any means that might 
 be employed with a probability of success to repossess 
 the Illinois and what those means were, if in his opin- 
 ion, it might be accomplished, was now answered by 
 the Michilimackinac commandant : 
 
 *T have now to offer my sentiments agreeable to 
 your Excellency's request, whether anything can be 
 done for the recovery of the Illinois : 
 
 "Provided your Excellency's instructions relative 
 to stopping the communication of the Ohio be vigor- 
 ously put in execution, I am persuaded that Mr. 
 Gautier or some other active person may assemble a 
 body of Indians in his direct road from La Bay [that 
 is, from Green Bay] to Prairie du Chien and in the 
 river St. Peter, to go down the Mississippi early in 
 the spring, which may be performed from the mouth 
 of the Wisconsin in seven or eight days. That country 
 is full of resources, but the Indians must have presents. 
 Whenever we fall off in those, they are no more to be 
 depended upon. The past is soon forgotten by them, 
 
 *De, Peyster to Haldimand, Oct. 24, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS., just before cited. 
 
234 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 except when they do lis a favor. Give the Indians of 
 this country a present and they will immediately strive 
 to make some trifling return, which, however, we 
 must give them four times the value for. To second 
 the above mentioned Indians, the Pottawattamies must 
 be also ordered to move down the Illinois river fol- 
 lowed by the Ottawas and Chippewas : those latter 
 will be rather late, but, by sending belts before them 
 to assure the Illinois Indians that they came in friend- 
 ship to them provided they join in driving out the 
 rebels, it will have great effect ; even the brent of their 
 intended march will settle them. The inhabitants of 
 that country are not to be depended upon should the 
 French offer to interfere; otherwise, should they join 
 the rebels, it would be through fear of being plundered 
 by the stranger Indians."* 
 
 On the twenty-fifth of October, Langlade and Gau- 
 tier, who had been returned to De Peyster from the 
 St. Lawrence, to attend on his orders, arrived at Mich- 
 ilimackinac. The commandant immediately deter- 
 mined to send them off ''to give every assistance in 
 their power to Lieutenant Governor Hamilton." He 
 provided them with some goods which, he believed, 
 with their presence among the savages, would do more 
 good than could be expected by sending "belts by the 
 hands of Indians." Orders were issued to both, to 
 arouse the savages for the purpose of aiding Hamilton. 
 
 Langlade was to go among the Ottawas and Chip- 
 pewas who were wintering at Grand river "to make 
 them assemble without loss of time," while Gautier 
 was to proceed to St. Joseph, where he was to confer 
 
 with Chevalier, requesting him to assist Ainse, De 
 __ _ 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 235 
 
 Peyster's interpreter, whom he would send to that 
 place, in gathering the Pottawattamies of the neigh- 
 borhood together,' 
 
 "Gautier," was the order of the commandant, 
 ''must do his best to get information of the situation 
 of Mr. Hamilton, making report of the same to Mr. 
 Langlade. They will do their best to join him by 
 the shortest route, or to descend the Illinois river if 
 it is jpossible and more likely to assist the operations 
 of Mr. Hamilton. 
 
 "Since events cannot be foreseen, in case Mr. Ham- 
 ilton has yielded and returned to Detroit, then, if you 
 do not believe yourself strong enough in men to attack 
 Kaskaskia or Cahokia, you will send the Indians home 
 to their winter quarters and will, by the shortest route 
 gain your different posts, Mr. Langlade at the Bay 
 and Mr. Gautier at the Mississippi, there to try to 
 keep the nations well disposed for the service until 
 new orders. 
 
 'In this enterprise, it is recommended to you to 
 say to the warriors to use humanity towards the pris- 
 oners and others who may be found without arms, 
 because there are several English traders retained by 
 force amongst the rebels. The prisoners will be paid 
 for. 
 
 "Since the nations in general have had many pre- 
 sents from his Majesty before, it is- recommended to 
 you to make as little expense as the nature of the 
 service will allow, not giving them anything but what 
 is absolutely necessary."* 
 
 * Instructions of Major A. S. De Peyster to Capt. Lang- 
 lade and Lieut. Gautier, Oct. 26, 1778. — Haldimand MSS. 
 (See Appendix, Note LXXIII.) 
 
236 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 De Peyster felicitated himself (and he so wrote 
 the Commander-in-chief) that Hamilton would not 
 meet with any impediments from want of such assist- 
 ance as it was in his power to give him. At that 
 juncture, the Major would have found the aid of the 
 sloop Welcome of much advantage, as he was obliged 
 to press into his service a man of the place ''to make 
 out a canoe" for St. Joseph.* 
 
 Langlade, Gautier and Ainse being detained by 
 contrary winds, did not reach the mouth of Grand 
 river (which stream falls into Lake Michigan at the 
 present town of Grand Haven) until the thirteenth of 
 November. There Langlade landed, but Gautier and 
 Ainse proceeded on to St. Joseph, not arriving there 
 because of bad weather until the second of December. 
 They found there Chevalier, who had been twenty- 
 two days from Hamilton's little army, which passed the 
 portage from the Maumee to the waters of the Wabash 
 before he left. 
 
 The news that Hamilton had got so far the start 
 being received at Grand river, where Langlade had 
 succeeded in raising eighty Lidians (notwithstanding 
 the Ottawas there, because of not having previous 
 notice, had already declined the service), they refused 
 to follow at so great distance ; so his efforts proved 
 a failure and he went no farther. Gautier, too, find- 
 ing that Chevalier- had already taken the few Pottawat- 
 tamies, which could be raised at that advanced season 
 to Hamilton, w^as constrained to make no attempt to 
 gather any of that nation for a movement in aid of 
 the Lieutenant Governor. Langlade then proceeded to 
 
 *De Peyster to Haldimand, Oct. 27, 1778. — Haldimand 
 
 MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 237 
 
 Green Bay and Gautier to Prairie du Chien, both 
 carrying belts and speeches, exhorting the Indians 
 to be ready in the spring, if called upon.''' 
 
 De Peyster was subsequently informed by Chevalier 
 that the Pottawattamies who had joined Hamilton 
 were returned home to pass the winter, and that they 
 brought him a letter from the Lieutenant Governor 
 informing him that he did not intend to leave Vin- 
 cennes until spring. However, the Michilimackinac 
 commander concluded not to postpone any help which 
 could possibly be, sent him ; so he again ordered the 
 Ottawas and Chippewas at the Grand river to. march 
 to his (Hamilton's) aid; and he also sent an express 
 to Gautier to move down the Mississippi with all the 
 Winnebagoes and Sacs and Foxes he could raise, sug- 
 gesting, it seems, that he take with him any Canadians 
 that could be prevailed upon to march with him.f 
 
 But the first order he soon countermanded, as he 
 learned Detroit was threatened. The savages prop- 
 erly called the "Grand River Indians," De Peyster 
 advised to go directly to that post, as it was but a 
 short cut across the country; while a band was sent 
 from Thunder Ba}^ on the west side of Lake Huron, 
 likewise ''to hearten the Indians about Detroit." In 
 the last days of March, the Michilimackinac command- 
 ant wrote that, by that time, Gautier ''should be on 
 the march, joined by some active Canadians. "J He 
 
 * Same to same, Jan. 29, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 t Same to same, March 29, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. But 
 no aid had been or was sent to Detroit or by way of that 
 post, to Hamilton to assist him on his expedition, by the 
 Michilimackinac commander or by any of the subordinates of 
 the latter. 
 
 t De Peyster to Haldimand, March 29, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
238 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST. ETC. 
 
 did march it is true ; that is,, he floated down the Mis- 
 sissippi, with two hundred and eight Indians — Winne- 
 bagoes, Menomonees, Foxes, Ottawas and Chippewas 
 — as far as the mouth of Rock river, but did not get 
 below that point. 
 
 Langlade, on his arrival at La Bay (that is, at 
 Green Bay) from his unsuccessful attempt to rein- 
 force Hamilton with Indians wintering at the Grand 
 river, received information from the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor at Vincennes, acquainting him of his determin- 
 ation to winter at that place, and was ordered to join 
 him early in the spring by way of the Illinois river. 
 He attempted to do so with some Indians, but got 
 no farther than Milwaukee."^ 
 
 *Same to same, May 13, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
CHAPTER XV, 
 
 NOW that Hamilton had determined to winter in 
 Vincenncs, he quickly made up his mind to pro- 
 vide coverings for his men, provisions and 
 stores ; and, as soon as these were finished, he would 
 change the form of the fort to that of a triangle, hav- 
 ing a hlockhouse at each angle to project over the pick- 
 etting. He proposed to do all the work with his own 
 men, carrying it forward to completion during the 
 winter without any aid from the inhal)itants. 
 "Though this should he done/' wrote the commander, 
 "the village is huilt in such a manner (a space of one 
 hundred feet to two hundred feet and more being left 
 tween house and house), that most of the buildings 
 might be maintained by a dozen men, and they might 
 distress the largest garrison the fort could contain. 
 Some houses are near the fort and it would be very ex- 
 pensive to purchase them and ruinous to particular 
 persons to destroy them. [lUit] the garrison might 
 have it in their ]:)owcr in case of treachery, to burn the 
 whole town, cither by making sallies in the night or 
 firing red-hot bullets."* 
 
 A week after his arrival at Vincenncs, the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor made a return of his white force to 
 General Haldimand, showing his whole number of 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. IcS-IW, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. The Commander-in-chief, on this information from 
 the Lieutenant Governor, says : "He [Hamilton] finds . . . 
 the village a detriment to the fort now building; and immedi- 
 ately after, he thinks it secure, by proposing means to destroy 
 said village; but he gives no reason why he does not remove 
 the fort from so disadvantageous a situation," 
 
 (239) 
 
240 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 men including commissioned officers, non-commis- 
 sioned officers and privates to be one hundred and 
 seventy-six.* He also gave to the commander-in- 
 chief, the prices of necessaries which ruled in the 
 town. Flour sold at an exorbitant rate, so also 
 Indian corn; but fresh beef and buffalo meat 
 were cheap. "Wine made here" had a market value 
 of nearly five dollars a gallon. f 
 
 On Christmas, Hamilton sent off an express to 
 *'Mr. [John] Stuart, the agent of Indian affairs to the 
 Soutliward," with a letter informing him of the good 
 disposition of the Indians at the north and asking 
 ilicse of the south to act vigorously the ensuing spring } 
 also with belts for the Chickasaws and Cherokees, pro- 
 posing a meeting with them in the Spring, at Vin- 
 ceniies or at the Tennessee river, the object of which 
 was, to reconcile the Southern Indians with the Shaw- 
 anese and other Northern nations, and to concert a 
 general invasion of the ''rebel" frontiers ; which in- 
 vasion had not been rnapped out by him when he left 
 Detroit, although there was a prospect at that time of 
 uniting the Western and Southern Indians and en- 
 gaging them to act in concert against the Americans — 
 but on what lines was only the remotest conjecture. J 
 What prompted the sending of this express was, a re- 
 port he had just received that four hundred Shawa- 
 nese, Delawares, Ottawas and Cherokees were then as- 
 sembled at the mouth of the Tennessee with design to 
 intercept "rebel" boats passing and repassing the 
 
 * Appendix, Note LXXIV. 
 tid. 
 
 t Alexander McKee to Ha4dimand, July 16, 1779. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 241 
 
 Ohio.* But he soon learned what confidence was to 
 be placed, as a general thing, in Indian accounts. 
 
 Hamilton had,, previously, sent out scouts towards 
 Kaskaskia ; these now brought in two prisoners from 
 the Illinois, who gave information that no boats had 
 lately arrived from New Orleans ; that the "rebels" 
 did not exceed eighty at Kaskaskia, or thirty at Caho- 
 kia ; that there had been a recent arrival of Pottawatta- 
 mies at the Illinois ; and that there was no discipline 
 among the "rebel" soldiers enforced. Prompted by 
 this information, doubtless, the Lieutenant-Governor 
 at once sent two Pottawattamie chiefs of Detroit on a 
 mission to those of their tribe just mentioned. The 
 two savages promised they would return as soon as 
 they could execute their orders. f 
 
 The Lieutenant-Governor informed his superior 
 officer that Captain Helm remained at Vincennes on 
 his parole and w^ould not leave until it could be known 
 if the Governor of Virginia would permit his ex- 
 change for Rocheblave then supposed to be in Wil- 
 liamsburg. He suggested to General Haldimand that 
 "the arrival of a reinforcement' of troops from Detroit 
 early in the Spring," w^ould enable him to send home 
 the volunteer militia who accompanied him only for 
 the campaign.:}: 
 
 =5= Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-30, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. ; and same to same, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 This last-mentioned "design" was exactly 'in accordance with 
 Haldimand's views as expressed in his letter to Hamilton of 
 the 26th of August previous. It did not contemplate a "gen- 
 eral invasion of the rebel frontiers." 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 28-30, 1778. — H aldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 X Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-30, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. "He [Hamilton] mentions a reinforcement next 
 
 16 
 
aia HisTORr of clarks conquest, etc 
 
 Ihuwillon ag^ain calkxl the attention of \hc Com- 
 n\anderMn-chiof to Po ».Vloron, declaring- him nntit to 
 remain as oonnnandant at W oa ; -r- **his pnsillaniniity 
 dnne hin\ four hundred miles from his post; and he 
 never waited to have certait\ accounts verified, but 
 UM\i^vd such as his fears or creduhty sui^gvsted/'* 
 
 A barrack of logs and boards capable of receiving 
 tifty men was the tirst thing- built for the soldiers. 
 Twv^ companies at once moved in. while the residue of 
 the tro<.^ps remainevl tentcil in the fort» until lodging-s 
 could be preix\red for them. A well was conunenceil 
 and a mag-;\2iiie for |xnvder soon tinished. 
 
 "This day" (^Hamilton was writing- on the twenty- 
 scNcnth of December) "two IVUuvares came in, who 
 heard the nxorning^ and evening- gun, as they say> at the 
 distance of three days' march.'t "They say belts are 
 gone," continues the Lieutenant-Governor, "from the 
 Chickasaws and Cherokees to the Shaw^nese and Dd- 
 a wares askings them to forgxn fonuer quarrels and to 
 unite ag-ainst the Mrg-inians. The messengx^s are 
 ex|Kvted to l>e here in a few days. These Dela wares 
 
 Sprinit froni Detroit but does not mention what number he 
 wani^ neither if he has iWered said reinforcement, or U 
 the Comnu\nder-iiv-ehief is to orvler it" — IlaKliinaud's i?*^ 
 iMar^.\^ v>« Uk^hL trct\ f/awiVfcwV L^th^r: llaKlimaiul MSS. 
 * Hamihoi\ to HaUiimand, IVc. 1^-^X ITTa — Haldimand 
 MSS. ''He [MawihvM\] thinks !>? Celoroii unfit lo remain 
 commandant at Ouiatanoix [Weal, as if he was there again, 
 which be ought to mention, but sa>-s he lett it in a fright 
 and went 400 miles from it*' — Haldimand: R^tUiirks on 
 
 f He [I- \ vs . . . of Indians who arm-ed 
 
 and told they had heard** nv>rning and evening gun three 
 days^ march off. If it is bis, he must have a gTeat deal of 
 
 powvlcr !v^ waste during the w-- •,— * — HaKHmaiul 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 243 
 
 confirm the accounts of a number of Shawanese, Ot- 
 tawas, Chickasaws and Cherokees being assembled at 
 the Tennessee river. They add that some one em- 
 ployed for his Majesty has invited all the Southern na- 
 tions to convene at the same place next Spring to come 
 to Vincennes to drive out the rebels and their friends ; 
 that the people now there were to interecept the rel)cl 
 boats on the Ohio and Mississippi ; and the rebels were 
 dispossessed lately of a settlement of the river last 
 mentioned l)y the English." 
 
 On the same day, the British commander contin- 
 ued his letter to the Commander-in-chief : 
 
 "This day a party of Kickapoos went to war to- 
 ward Kaskaskia. This makes me easy as to the In- 
 dians of this [the Wabash] river, who will follow im- 
 plicitly the example of the Kickapoos -^ the most war- 
 like and cruel of them all." But the going "to war 
 toward Kaskaskia" by no means implied that Hamilton 
 had authorized the savages to attack any of the Creoles 
 of the Illinois villages ; on the contrary he had given 
 express orders that none should be killed. They might 
 be taken prisoners and brought to him ; that was all. 
 But any Virginians might be tomahawked and scalped 
 that could be found. As a consequence of these in- 
 structions by the Lieutenant-Governor, the garrisons 
 under Clark were in reality in little or no danger from 
 the Indians going from Vincennes as they would al- 
 most certainly be discovered by the inhabitants of the 
 towns if attempting to approach near to either of 
 them. 
 
 "As I had engaged the volunteer militia of De- 
 troit for the campaign," wrote the Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor, "they were . . . advertised that they would 
 
244 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. - 
 
 be allowed to return with twenty days' pay from the 
 date of their discharge."^ The truth was, Captain 
 McLeod's men, also Captain Maisonville's, had nearly 
 all began to murmur and complain ; — they ''had tes- 
 tified so much uneasiness and willingness to remain," 
 are Hamilton's words, "that I chose to send them away 
 rather than keep them against their inclination." All 
 of the two companies returned to Detroit except five 
 privates, the major, one captain, one lieutenant, the 
 surgeon and boatmaster. 
 
 "Several persons," the Lieutenant-Goveror wrote, 
 "who had been on pay as partisans with the Indians 
 I believe fomented this discontent, which I attributed 
 to their surmizing that France would join the Ameri- 
 cans." "These people," adds the commander, "I dis- 
 charged and sent away." There were four lieutenants 
 and one commissioner of provisions, of those he thus 
 gladly permitted to return to their homes. 
 
 Two hundred and fifty of the militia of Vincennes 
 made their appearance on the same day of the depart- 
 ure of the Detroit militia, under arms, with their of- 
 ficers. All of them had previously taken the oath of 
 allegiance and renounced their late connection with the 
 "rebels." "They are, of course, pardoned," wrote 
 Hamilton. "I hope your Excellency," he added in his 
 remarks to General Haldimand, "will approve of this 
 act of oblivion. If a sense of interest can move them, 
 they will adhere to it. As to courage, honor, or grat- 
 itude, if they were of the growth of this soil, it would 
 have been exhibited on the occasion of a handful of 
 rebels coming to take away the possessions of three 
 
 * Appendix, Note LXXV. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 245 
 
 hundred men used to arms as hunters and to the mild- 
 est government under heaven." 
 
 "It will be a -great satisfaction to me," are the 
 further vv^ords of the commander to Haldimand, "to 
 have your Excellency's orders, and as soon as possible, 
 to resign to the person you shall send to command 
 here"* — Hamilton being satisfied that the prestige or 
 interests of Britain could only be maintained in Vin- 
 cennes by military force. 
 
 Hamilton ended his lengthy letter to the com- 
 mander-in-chief by' giving him information on a num- 
 ber of subjects : 
 
 "I have taken up all the spirituous liquors in the 
 place, which is better, surely, for the good behavior of 
 the inhabitants. . . 
 
 "Tomorrow [he was still writing on the twenty- 
 seventh] I shall destroy two billiard tables, the sources 
 of immorality and dissipation in such a settlement. 
 
 "Could I catch the priest — Mr. Gibault — who 
 has blown the trumpet of rebellion for the Americans, 
 I should send him down unhurt to your Excellency, to 
 get the reward of his zeal. 
 
 "The Pottawattamies whom I sent towards Kas- 
 kaskia are returned; 'the waters being out,' as they 
 say, prevented their progress. They brought in a 
 Frenchman, prisoner, who had nothing new to tell. 
 
 "Several chiefs and warriors are returned to their 
 
 villages seemingly well satisfied, and have promised to 
 
 return if it should be necessary. The diminution of 
 
 our numbers is a necessary step as the consumption of 
 
 provisions during their stay is very considerable.*!* 
 __ 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 18-30, 1778. — Haldimand 
 MSS. ''Vincennes, Dec. 30th, 1778, the express sets out." 
 
246 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The general plan devised by Hamilton to be car- 
 ried out in strengthening Fort Sackville was, at the 
 suggestion of Major Hay, soon changed. The forti- 
 fication was to be left in a square form with a 
 blockhouse to be erected at the northwest angle and 
 one at the opposite angle, each commanding two sides 
 of the square, — the small salient angle in each face of 
 the square to be removed. This proposition, if carried 
 out, it was believed would reduce the expense consid- 
 erably and make the fort capable of being more easily 
 defended with a small force. The block houses were 
 to be musket proof, and each to have five forts. In 
 them, were to be mounted the three-pounders found in 
 the fort when surrendered by Captain Helm. The 
 other angles were to be loop-holed and lined, having 
 platforms for musketry. The work, as thus finally de- 
 termined upon, was carried forward with considerable 
 rapidity. 
 
 The information received by the Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor concerning the assembling of the Southern In- 
 dians at the Tennessee river was by no means lost 
 sight of by that officer. By a careful comparison of 
 all reports which had reached him, he was able to un- 
 derstand clearly the design of these savages. They 
 were to make four several parties for the ensuing 
 spring: one to go towards Kaskaskia to attack the 
 "rebels" there ; another to go up the Ohio to assist the 
 Shawanese ; a third to go to the Vincennes to make 
 peace with the Wabash Indians and drive the Amer- 
 
 are the last words of the Lieutenant Governor's letter. Singu- 
 larly enough, Haldimand did not comprehend the meaning of 
 the words — "the waters being out" — made use of by the 
 Indians to convey the idea of the overflow of the streams 
 and consequent inundation of the country. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 247 
 
 icans out of their country (they not knowing of Ham- 
 ilton's presence there at the time), and the fourth to 
 remain at the mouth of the Tennessee river to inter- 
 cept any boats coming up from the Mississippi or 
 going down the Ohio. The nations reported to the 
 commander as having formed this plan were the 
 Chickasaws, Cherokees, Choctaws and Alabamas.* It 
 was also reported that they were to start out during 
 the month of January, having with them four white 
 officers, who have spent the winter thus far, on the 
 Tennessee. 
 
 Hamilton, of course, was much elated at the news. 
 He had already detached from his force an officer with 
 thirty soldiers, also a party of savages with a chief, to 
 go to the Tennessee river to acquaint the savages as- 
 sembled there of his being in possession of Vincennes 
 and to encourage them to persevere in their designs 
 against the "rebels." At the mouth of the Wabash, 
 they were met by some Delawares and Peorias who 
 had lately come from the Tennessee, who informed 
 them that the Indians were dispersed, hunting three 
 hundred miles up that river.f Thereupon the officer 
 and white soldiers, after losing a corporal and seven 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Jan. 24-28, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note LXXVI.) 
 
 t These savages, for certain reasons hereafter mentioned, 
 did not meet subsequently at the mouth of the Tennessee. 
 It may be premised that whatever action was taken by the 
 British because of the letter sent south by Hamilton, to 
 Stuart, British agent of Indian Affairs, nothing to the injury 
 of the Americans came of it. It has been asserted that stores 
 and goods to a large amount (£20,000) were soon collected at 
 the Chickamauga Indian towns, on the Tennessee, for dis- 
 tribution at the grand council to be had with Hamilton and 
 the Northern Indians ; but this is now known to be error. 
 
248 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 men by desertion, and capturing some Frenchmen, in 
 a boat loaded with flour on its way from Kaskaskia to 
 ^^incennes, returned up the Wabash, informing Ham- 
 ilton that the deserters, who were all from Lamothe's 
 company, went off in the night, taking the canoe and 
 their officer's baggage with them; and that they had 
 probably gone to Kaskaskia, w^iere some of them had 
 relatives. But the Indians with the chief (an Ottawa) 
 did not at once return to Vincennes. They deter- 
 mined upon "a dcconvertc," as Hamilton expresses it, 
 to Kaskaskia. With this war-party were Charles 
 Beaubien, interpreter to the Miami Indians and Hy- 
 polite Boulon who had reached the mouth of the Wa- 
 bash on their way to Kaskaskia or its vicinity. Ham- 
 ilton had intrusted to them written messages and let- 
 ters to the inhabitants of the Illinois,* to be delivered 
 should circumstances be found favorable for so doing ; 
 hence their desire to go with the Ottawa chief on his 
 "decoiiverte" to Kaskaskia. Now, there was one mes- 
 sage — a copy of a written proclamation — intrusted 
 to Beaubien, directed to the people of the Illinois gen- 
 erally, that was intended to work upon their fears, but 
 which proved, as the sequel shows, far-reaching in its 
 effect for evil — not upon the Illinois people, but upon 
 Hamilton himself. He gave in detail a list of savage 
 nations whom he declared were already leagued with 
 him to wage war on the frontiers.f 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 t But if you will be so good as to recur to the address 
 of [Hamilton to the people of] the Illinois, which you refer 
 to, you will find that although it does not in express terms 
 threaten vengeance, blood and massacre, j'^et it proves that the 
 Governor [Hamilton] had made for us the most ample pro- 
 vision for all these calamities. He then gives in detail, the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 249 
 
 The war party of savages from the mouth of the 
 Wabash were not successful in its march against Kas- 
 kaskia. "The Indian chief," wrote Hamilton, ''who 
 is not yet returned from Kaskaskia, had nearly taken 
 prisoner Colonel Clark, the commandant of the rebels 
 there, but some negroes discovered the chief and he 
 was obliged to retire without effecting his purpose."^ 
 But further mention of this expedition is hereafter 
 made. 
 
 There were other matters besides repairing Fort 
 Sackville and attending to Indian reports which en- 
 gaged the earnest attention of Hamilton. One was 
 the attitude of the Spanish towards the English on the 
 Mississippi. The aid given by the former to the 
 "rebels" at New Orleans and the sympathy extended 
 to them (if nothing more) at Ste. Genevieve and St. 
 Louis were well understood by the Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor even before his leaving Detroit and additional 
 facts had now reached him from the disclosures of 
 prisoners which gave him much uneasiness. He re- 
 solved, after giving the subject much thought to write 
 two letters : one to Captain Bloomer, the English com- 
 mandant at the Natches, whose principal business was 
 to intercept succour from New Orleans to the "rebels ;" 
 
 horrid catalogue of savage nations, extending from south to 
 north, whom he had leagued with himself to wage combined 
 war on our frontiers; and it is well known that the war 
 would, of course, be made up of blood and general massacre 
 of men, women and children." — (Jefferson to the Governor 
 of Detroit — Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, p. 322.) 
 
 As this proclama'tion was dated Dec. 29, 1778, the sending 
 of the force intended for the Tennessee, could not have been 
 much, if any, later than that date. 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Jan. 24-30th, 1779. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. 
 
and ono to tho v^panish governor ot tl\o plaoo last n\on- 
 lionod. As ho luul sonic suspicion what he wrote to 
 Cnjnain lUoon\er might he carried to i^nnernor (.k\1- 
 \e.-. he w rote, he declares in such a uuu\i\er "as nuist 
 dispose the S]>aniards (^if it should chai\ce to tall into 
 their handsel to keep close at homo/' 
 
 "Though 1 have no douht at this minute/' said 
 llamiltot\ in convex ing the foregxMug intelligence to 
 the commander-it\-chiet\ "ot the existence of a Spainsh 
 as well as a French war. still I have as yet no account 
 hv which 1 n\ay venture to act on the offensive ag";\inst 
 tho suhjocts of Sixutt, which I ardently desire, as there 
 would be so little ditViculty in pushing them entirely 
 out of the Mississippi. They have had hut one boat 
 from New (."Orleans this autumn and that loaded with 
 liquor. The g'JUM'isoiis in their posts are incoitsider- 
 ahlo and our alliauco with the Indian nations so ex- 
 tended that the Sixmiards can have hut a slender in- 
 tluence w ith them. The rebels have had every succour 
 and eucouragvmeut from them they could expect; aiid 
 I believe their hatred at\d jealousy of tho l\ng1ish noth- 
 ing akttod since their vlisgracefnl check at the Ha- 
 vana."* 
 
 "Mr. l.e << omto having* dosinnl permission to |xiss 
 to New Orleans,** saivl Hamilton, in his letter to Gov- 
 eri\or l«alvc7, "1 embrace the opix>rtunity of kissing 
 your Excellency's hands and at the same time of ac- 
 quainting* you with the circumstance which pnxniR^s 
 mo that hoi\or. Tho rebel Americans having gx^t 
 t\x">ti«g* in tho Illinois cvHu\try» and having* opened 
 coi\uuunicativ>n to tho cv>lot\ios by taking* jx\st there ai\d 
 
 * Hau\iltou to HaWinumd. Jan. i.M-^K 17T9. — HaKUmami 
 
 MSS. 
 
msroh')- ()/. (/..//v'A'.v i'i)i\'(ji!h:si\ hrrc, \>[ti 
 
 .il lliis |)l;uc. I lli()iit;li( i( |||^ duly lo dispossess lliriii 
 .'IS soon ;is |)(issil)K\ l'"(.r Iliis I sel oiil willi ;i siii.-ill 
 U)VCv I'loiii Di'hoil so I;ili" ;is llic sevciilli of l.isl ( )c - 
 loIxM- and ;iiii\cd line on (lie scvrnUriitli ol' \>ccn\\ 
 Ih'i-, li.iviiii^ .1 lew cliuds ;ni(l warriors of lliiilci'ii dif 
 lercnl nalions alon;; willi inc. I lavinj; (akcn posses 
 •^'♦"' "' <'"<• loll Iieic and liaxini; icn-civi'd (lie snbinis- 
 •"^'*'" <>' III*' iiili;iliilanls. wlio laid down llu-ir arms and 
 swoi(> allci;iani\> (o his Uiitannic IVJajcsh', I have con 
 U'lid'd inysflf this winlci" willi scndini; on! parlies lo 
 dillcrcnl (|nai Ici s." 
 
 "^oln■ l',\(cIK'nc\ ," conliinicd Iju- Licnk-nanl • 
 (lOvtMiior, "rannol he nnai(|naiiiU'd willi wlial waA 
 c-oinnioniN pracliccd in llu- linir of \(.nr picdcccssoi- in 
 (lie L^ovcinnu'iil of Ni>w ()ilcans.- I mean llu-scnd^ 
 ill};- siipplii's of {gunpowder and oIIut sloics lo llic 
 rebels llien in arms a^ainsl (heir sovereign, 'rhoiii^h 
 I Ins ina\ lia\e Ixhmi Iransaeled in a manner miknown (o 
 Ihe i;ovi«rnor, hy llu> merchanis, I nmsl snppose Ihal. 
 under yonr h'xeilleney's orders, sneli eonnnerec> will 
 he posilively prohihili-d. The several nalions of sav~ 
 .iL^-es who aeeompanied nu- lo Ihis eonnli\' may. if (his 
 (radie he eon(inned, forj^ot (he iiisl rnel ions I have 
 i^'wcu I hem from lime (o (iine vvilh relalion to the suh- 
 jee(s (d' his ( a(hohe l\1aj(>s(y; and Ihe na(ions inhah- 
 ilini;- IJu" hanks of (he ( )liio riviM- nmsl he i)ar( ienlarly 
 jealons ol slranj^i-rs eomin.i^- thron,i;li Iheir eonnlry (o 
 supply (lu> rehi-ls, willi whom (hey areaedially a( war." 
 "/\( Ihe same lime." added (he eommandc-r. "(ha( 
 T nien(ion Ihis (o v<»m- h;\eelleiu-y lor (he sake of indi- 
 viduals who mii^lU sulTer from Iheir ignorance of (he 
 I'Ji^iish heino- in possession of Ihis pos( and of (he 
 comniunication by water to the Mississippi, — ! think 
 
252 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 it incumbent on me to represent to your Excellency 
 that the rebels at Kaskaskia being in daily apprehen- 
 sion of the arrival of a body of men from the upper 
 posts accompanied by the savages from that quarter, 
 have declared that they will take refuge on the Spanish 
 territory as soon as they are apprized of their coming." 
 
 "As it is my intention," are the concluding words 
 of Hamilton, ''early in the spring to go towards the 
 Illinois, I shall represent to the officers commanding 
 several small forts and posts on the Mississippi for his 
 Catholic Majesty, the impropriety of affording an 
 asylum to rebels in anns against their lawful sover- 
 eign. If, after such a representation, the rebels should 
 find shelter in any fort or post on the Mississippi, it 
 will become my duty to dislodge them, in which case 
 their protectors must blame their own conduct, if they 
 should suffer any inconvenience in consequence. — 
 Perhaps I may be favored with a letter from your Ex- 
 cellency before the arrival of the reinforcements I ex- 
 pect next spring; and that the officers acting under 
 your Excellency's orders may receive from you how 
 they are to act — whether as friends or enemies to the 
 British empire."* 
 
 Strengthening Fort Sackville was continued by 
 Hamilton, his attention being especially directed to the 
 finishing of the blockhouses, which were being built of 
 squared oak logs. Indian war-parties continued to 
 be sent out towards the Kentucky settlements and to 
 watch the road to the Illinois. As the month of Jan- 
 uary was wearing away, the Lieutenant-Governor be- 
 came anxious as to his situation. "I impatiently wait 
 your Excellency's orders "and instructions," are his 
 
 * Hamilton to Galvez, Jan. 13, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 253 
 
 words to the Commander-in-Chief ; ''and I hope to see 
 a few troops here, — without them, most certainly 
 there will be no- hold on the French or Indians and 
 nothing can be done of what ought to be against the 
 Americans."* 
 
 The commander determined that as soon as the 
 season would permit, he would send up to the head of 
 the Maumee for the provisions which had been 
 received there in November previous from De- 
 troit, — sent forward by Captain Lernoult not a great 
 while after the departure of Hamilton. ''Vincennes," 
 wrote the Lieutenant-Governor, "is incapable of fur- 
 nishing a quantity, and everything is so intolerably 
 dear that I am afraid of incurring more expense than 
 I can possibly avoid. Our men off duty, go over the 
 river for wood, but cannot cut enough for their con- 
 sumption, so that it is purchased from the inhabitants 
 at two dohars for four-fifths of a cord." 
 
 "Lieutenant Du Vernet," added the commander, 
 "has desired leave to return to Detroit. I could wish 
 to detain him, but he urges it ; and, as he came thus 
 far voluntarily, I do not choose to insist on his re- 
 maining."f 
 
 In his own room on Fort Sackville, the com- 
 mander, on the twenty-sixth of January, held a council 
 with his Indian allies and with others who now seemed 
 inclined, to all outward appearance, to become such. 
 There were present Shawanese, Ottawas, Chippewas, 
 Wyandots (Hurons), Miamis, Piankeshaws, Kicka- 
 poos, Weas, Delawares and a man from the Creek 
 nation. 
 
 *Same to Haldimand, Jan. 24-30, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 tid. 
 
254 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 All Ottawa chief opened the proceedings. Ris- 
 ing to his feet, he sahited "the British King, the great 
 chief at Onebec [General Haldiniand]. the Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Detroit, all the King's subjects, and the 
 several nations of Indians," — all in the name of the 
 chiefs then present. He then addressed himself to the 
 Shawanese and Delawares, in particular, exhorting 
 them to exert themselves and be tirm in their attach- 
 ment to their father [Hamilton] and all the Indians 
 his children. "It is the pleasure," said this Indian or- 
 ator, "of the Great Spirit that we should all meet this 
 day in friendship. Let us then continue in these good 
 dispositions and be of one heart and mind in acting in 
 concert with our father for the defence of our lands. 
 You see our father has it at heart, since he is come 
 thus far with that design. You have seen the at- 
 tempts of the \'irginians to dispossess us." 
 
 And thus continued the Ottawa chief: "Breth- 
 ren ! You know that the great tree under whose shade 
 we consult together is not planted here, but at Detroit. 
 Let us take care to prop that tree that it may not lean 
 to one side or the other. Let us keep it well watered 
 that its branches may shoot up to the clouds. Who 
 is there so daring as to cut the bark of that tree? No 
 one. 
 
 "Brethren ! You may remember that last spring- 
 some Chickasaws and Cherokees came to Detroit to 
 water that tree. Be advised by our father : he is doing- 
 all he can to maintain us in the possession of those 
 lands on which the ^^laster of Life has thought to 
 place us." 
 
 A Shawanese then spoke. "Father and you my 
 brethren ! Five months are now passed since we left 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 255 
 
 our own village to go to the Creek country, whence we 
 are just returned. On our leaving this place, the com- 
 mandant of the' fort [Captain Helm] gave us a letter 
 for the chief of the Creeks ; but, as we apprehended it 
 might contain something which would make the In- 
 dians uneasy, we did not deliver it, but have brought 
 it to our father sealed. We met on our road hither, 
 Kissingua and a white man [those that were sent to 
 Mr. Stuart by Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton] on 
 their way to that country. Kissingua desired us to tell 
 the Indians of this [the Wabash] river to assemble all 
 the prisoners they may have belonging to the Creeks, 
 as he designed bringing in exchange any of them 
 which might be in that country." 
 
 The Shawanese then delivered the letter to the 
 Lieutenant-Governor, which was addressed to the 
 chief man of the Creeks, requiring him to keep his 
 people quiet and not to give credit to what he should 
 be told by the English ; and that the Shawanese and 
 Wabash Indians were in friendship with the Virgin- 
 ians, and referring him to the bearers for an account of 
 the state of affairs in America. 
 
 The same Shawanese then produced a long, white 
 belt, sent by the great chief of the Creeks, which he 
 had desired might be delivered at Vincennes ; then sent 
 up to Wea ; and thence to the Lake Indians ; that 
 all the Indians might know the design of the 
 Creeks, namely : to be in friendship with them and 
 at war with the Virginians ; that, by that belt they 
 opened a road which should be kept free and open so 
 that a child might walk safely in it. He then deliv- 
 ered to the Grande Couette, the principal Piankeshaw 
 war chief, a roll of Creek tobacco for him and his al- 
 
256 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 lies to smoke, adding in the name of the Creek chief, 
 that he smoked of that tobacco when he thought on 
 good things, and had pity on his women and children. 
 
 The Shawanese then told the chiefs present that 
 the upper town of the Creeks had not taken up the 
 hatchet against the Virginians till the last Spring, but 
 that now they were all joined; that they had ravaged 
 the frontiers as far as the old Shawanese villages ; that 
 they had taken several small forts; that the English 
 had eight forts besides a great one of stone (perhaps 
 meaning the one at St. Augustine) ; that the ''rebels" 
 had made an attempt on that one, but that the Indians 
 had assembled and forced them back ; that eight hun- 
 dred of the inhabitants of the Colonies had come for 
 protection to the English, almost naked ; that they had 
 quarreled among each other and several had been 
 killed ; that the Indians were taken great care of by 
 Mr. Stuart, the Indian agent; that they wanted for 
 nothing, .having never before been so well supplied; 
 and that the "rebels" said they were not alone — the 
 French and the Spaniards having joined them.* 
 
 Three days thereafter, the Grande Couette, a 
 Piankeshaw chief, delivered to Lieutenant-Governor 
 Hamilton a string with a scalp hanging to it, and said 
 that he spoke in the name of all the Wabash Indians, 
 who had now found their father; that they had re~ 
 ceived his hatchet and would use it with all their 
 hearts; that they saw with pleaasure the messengers 
 from the Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, and the 
 belt which they brought would open the eyes of all 
 their people, m_en, women and children, who might 
 
 * Substance of a Conference with the Indians at Vincen- 
 nes, Jan. 26, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 257 
 
 now see an open sky and a clear road; that the Great 
 Spirit certainly had compassion on the Indians as he 
 had brought them together in peace ; that he (the 
 Piankeshaw chief) would acquaint the Wabash In- 
 dians of the treaty of peace presented by the Southern 
 Indians ; and, that it might be known to the northward, 
 he delivered their road belt to the Miamis. The 
 Miamis said they would deliver it to their elders, the 
 Ottawas, who would forward it. The string with the 
 scalp was then delivered by Hamilton to the Chippe- 
 was to carry to Detroit to be shown to the Lake In- 
 dians.* 
 
 On the twenty-sixth of January, Hamilton wrote 
 the commander-in-chief that almost all the Indians 
 were gone to their home or were on the point of mov- 
 ing off. The most of them, he declared, promised to 
 return to Vincennes soon or send others in their room. 
 "It is remarkable," said the Lieutenant-Governor, 
 "that not a man has died of either whites or Indians 
 since our setting out [from Detroit], which circum- 
 stance has great weight with superstitious people such 
 as these are [under my command]." 
 
 "Your Excellency will pardon me," continued 
 Hamilton, "if I mention the necessity of a supply of 
 arms, ammunition and clothing sufficient for keeping 
 in their present disposition such a number of Indians 
 as we wish to have dependent on us and of course can- 
 not be clothed, armed or fed but at a very great ex- 
 pense. I have it not in my power, as yet, to procure 
 an estimate of the numbers which will make their ap- 
 plications at this place ; but I am humbly of opinion no 
 
 * Hamilton's Report, Jan. 29, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 (See Appendix, Note LXXVII.) 
 17 
 
258 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 time should be lost in sending them from below, as the 
 passage of the Miami river [Maumee] is very precar- 
 ious even in Alay, from the scarcity of water, which is 
 so great sometimes as not to admit of pirogues. 
 
 "However inconvenient and disagreeable my stay- 
 ing at this place may be, I shall content myself as long 
 as your Excellency may judge it necessary or in any 
 way conducive to the service ; and if there should be a 
 call for my going further on this communication, I 
 shall always be ready to act for the best." 
 
 The next day Hamilton continued his relation : 
 "The Ottawas," said he, "came to me this day with 
 their chiefs, who told me they were determined to stay 
 with me and go wherever I should order them ; and 
 that if I meant to go to Kaskaskia, they would go also. 
 
 "The Chippewas almost all go home ; but they tell 
 me I may expect a number of them in the spring. 
 
 "The Hurons [Wyandots] also go home ; but they 
 promise to give such an account of their treatment and 
 of what has passed as will induce their people to come 
 this way in the spring. 
 
 "The Shawanese are inveterate against the Vir- 
 ginians. A party of them sets off to-morrow towards 
 the Falls of the Ohio, which river they purpose 
 crossing. 
 
 "The Delawares [or Loupes] hereabouts have lost 
 some relations lately killed by the Virginians. One of 
 them has a rebel passport which he makes use of to 
 get through the settlement. 
 
 "The Wabash Indians are to be expected to act 
 only from the motive of fear of the other confederate 
 Indians — not having the spirit of either the South- 
 ern or Northern nations. Their situation makes them 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 259 
 
 apprehensive of another visit from the Virginians. 
 Nothing but a force sufficient to protect them will en- 
 gage them to act •steadily."''' 
 
 Major Hay, as Deputy Indian Agent, had assid- 
 uously applied himself to the duties of his office since 
 his arrival in Vincennes. Before the ending of Jan- 
 uary, he wrote to the Agent at Niagara : "We are," 
 said he, ''at so great a distance from one another at 
 present that it is impossible to communicate Indian 
 intelligence so often as formerly. You have, how- 
 ever, been informed of everything of consequence (if 
 anything there was) until our arrival here. It was 
 high time some measures were taken to calm the minds 
 of the nations in this country, and to turn the tide that 
 was carrying them away from the interest of Govern- 
 ment and consequently their own. They have not, 
 however, shown the spirit or inclination to act that 
 might have been wished ; neither is there anything to 
 be expected from them, but what the influence of other 
 nations may prompt them to do . . . but, as there 
 is now a communication opened between the Lake In- 
 dians and those of the Creeks and Alabamas, probably 
 before the summer is over they will all act. The diffi- 
 culties of transportation of provisions and other arti- 
 cles from Detroit hither is a great obstacle to the as- 
 sembling the numbers that we might easily collect. A 
 
 * Hamilton to Haklimand, January 24-30, 1779. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. 'The several nations of Indians inhabiting the 
 banks of the Ouabache [Wabash], came in at different times, 
 made great professions, and declared their distrust of the Vir- 
 ginians ; but there was but one chief with his party who 
 really acted with zeal and spirit, although the Lake Indians 
 showed them a very good example." — Hamilton to Haldi- 
 mand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
260 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST. ETC. 
 
 party of Shawanese, Delawares and Piankeshaws set 
 out this day for the Falls of the Ohio, by which you 
 see some of those of this place join the last." 
 
 'Mf the inhabitants of this place." continued Hay, 
 "were as much to be depended on as are the Indians, 
 something- might be attempted at present from here ; 
 bm there are a set that requires force to make them 
 obedient and are consequently a dangerous set to be 
 left in the least [to themselves] . . . The rebel 
 commandant. Captain Helm, told me that, for these 
 two summers past, the parties that went from Detroit 
 and the Lakes prevented upwards of ten thousand men 
 joining the rebel army. \\> have not heard from De- 
 troit since the fourth of November ; but I am in hopes 
 of hearing not only from there, but from Niagara."* 
 
 Writing- on the same. day as Hay. the Lieutenant- 
 Governor informed General Haldimand that he had 
 first raised one of the blockhouses of the fort, and that 
 a party (the same mentioned by the Deputy Indian 
 Agent) had set off on a scout to the Falls of the Ohio 
 — another of Pottawattamies and Chippewas to follow 
 them shortly. "Lieutenant Duvermet tells me." are 
 the words of Hamilton, in addition, "he shall have the 
 draft of this river ready to send oft* to your Excellency 
 in a week after his arrival at Detroit." It is to be 
 presumed the Lieutenant soon left Vincennes. 
 
 * Hay to Butler. January 28, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 It is doubtful if any single remark made by any one could 
 have been more unfortunate than this of Helm, so far as 
 •the cause of America was concerned in the West. To prevent 
 men from joining the "rebel" army in the East was exactly 
 what Germain was desirous of accomplishing by his barbarous 
 policy, as Hay well knew. 
 
HISTORY OP CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 261 
 
 The commandant informed the Commander-in- 
 Chief on the thirtieth of January, that the next day, 
 Adhemar St. Martin, the Commissary, would set out, 
 with ten pirogues and thirty of the inhabitants of Vin- 
 cennes as crews, for ''the Miamis" (Fort Miami — 
 head of the Maumee), to get the provisions and goods 
 sent in November from Detroit.* And he added 
 that a party of Piankeshaws on the day on which he 
 writes "set off for war to the Falls of the Ohio. This 
 day, also, a Peoria chief came to give me his hand. I 
 gave him an English medal in exchange for his French 
 one." 
 
 'T may venture to affirm," continued Hamilton, 
 "that the Indians of this country are as much united 
 as can be expected, considering the differences which 
 have existed for several years among some of them 
 and which are not easily accommodated." 
 
 "By the returns I have the honor to send to your 
 Excellency of this garrison," added the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, "it will appear that regulars are very few in 
 numbers ; and I need not observe how much I stand in 
 need of the assistance of regular officers. I have such 
 frequent interruptions from the savages, who have no 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Jan. 24-30, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. The provisions were those sent by Lernoult ; the 
 goods, those forwarded by Macomb. In his letter of July 6, 
 1781, the Lieutenant Governor simply says "thirty men" went 
 with the Commissary. 
 
 In "Bowman's Journal " in the Department of State MSS., 
 December (1778) is given as the month in which the boats 
 were ordered to "Omi" (Fort Miami — head of the Maumee) 
 by Hamilton, which, of course, is error. In the same, in 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois (p. 108), the month is stated 
 to have been October (1778) — placing it still farther from 
 the true date. 
 
262 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 
 
 otluM- ocnincil chamber but my bedroom, that I am sen- 
 silUe my letters testify to a i;reat want of order and 
 method."* 
 
 On the seventh of l^^hruary. Captain INIcKee 
 started on his return to the homes of the Shawanese in 
 the ^Muo wilderness.* It was well, perhaps, for this 
 traitor to America that he left \ incennes. His active 
 wm-kinq- connection with the expedition was the first 
 of a series of efforts made by him ag\ainst his own 
 eonntry. Undoubtedly it was his intention to come 
 hack in the Spring' to aid in the movement of uniting 
 the Northern anil Southern Indian nations. Rut his 
 intention was not carried out.f 
 
 Hamilton continued his labors upon Fort Sack- 
 ville, and by the twenty-second of February it was "in 
 a tolerable stale of defence," the work proposed being 
 finished, except the lining- of the stockade. J 
 
 On the same day. Hoatmaster Francis Maisonville 
 returned by way of the Wabash from an expedition in 
 pursuit of Williams (one of the two who were taken 
 while attempting to carry Helm's letter to Clark at the 
 time of the surrender of Fort Sackville) and another, 
 who had escaped a week previous. ^^laisonville had 
 been unsuccessful in finding these men, but he brought 
 in two \'irginian prisoners — Captain William Shan- 
 non and another — whom he had taken on the Ohio, 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldiiiiand, Jan. 24-30, 1770. — Haldimand 
 MSS. (^For the "Return" the Lieutenant Governor speaks 
 of, see Appendix. Note LXXVIII.) 
 
 t Norniatul MeLeod to AIcKee. April (.>, 1770, and McKee 
 to ITaldinuuul, July \(\ satne year. — Haldimand ^FSS. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand. July t>. 1781. — Gern\ain MSS. 
 The last seulenee — "except the lining of the stockade" — 
 is omitted in this letter as published in the Michigan Pioneer 
 Collections, vol. IX, p. 4t)8. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 263 
 
 They were of a party of four from Fort Pitt going to 
 Kaskaskia. A packet of letters in their possession was 
 also captured.* 
 
 On going into the fort, Maisonville immediately 
 took Hamilton aside and informed him that he had 
 discovered some miles below the town a number of 
 fires ;t but he could not say whether they were of Vir- 
 ginians or Indians. The Lieutenant-Governor imme- 
 diately questioned the two prisoners, demanding of 
 them if they could give him any further intelligence 
 than what they had already communicated on their ex- 
 amination by the commandant. They declared they 
 could not. Hamilton at once concluded the fires were 
 those of Americans, — some men from Kaskaskia com- 
 ing to join Captain Helm at the fort, they not know- 
 ing of the presence there of any of the King's troops. $ 
 However, he would, if possible, be assured that such 
 
 * Account brought [into Detroit] from Vincennes, by 
 Captain [Isidore] Chesne. — Haldimand MSS. ; Journal of 
 Coloncd George Rogers Clark, from Feb. 23, to Feb. 27, 1779, 
 inclusive. — Haldimand MSS. ; Hamilton to Haldimand, July 
 6, 1781 — Germain MSS.. Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 pp. 70, 102 : — "Bowman's Journal," Department of State 
 MSS. 
 
 t "Nine miles below the town" : Schieffelin's Loose 
 Notes. "Four leagues below the fort:" Hamilton to Haldi- 
 mand, July 6, 1781 — Germain MSS. "About six miles:" 
 Chesne's Account. Schieffelin, in his Loose Notes, says, "a 
 number of fires was seen;" in his letter to Haldimand, just 
 cited, Hamilton enumerates fourteen. Chesne gives fifteen 
 as the number. 
 
 X Chesne's Account. Clark says Hamilton "supposed [the 
 makers of the fires] to be spies from Kentucky." (Clark to 
 yidison — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 70.) This, 
 however, is not probable ; I have relied, rather, on the state- 
 ment of Chesne. 
 
264 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 was the fact; so he immediately sent off Captain 
 Lamothe, Lieutenant SchieffeHn and twenty men to 
 reconnoitre, hoping they would be able to bring him a 
 more perfect account than the one he had obtained 
 from Maisonville. As the water of the river was 
 overflowing its banks the meadows were all sub- 
 merged; and it was necessary for the party to make a 
 considerable circuit. Maisonville, although much 
 fatigued, took it upon himself to serve- as guide.* 
 
 Hamilton now ordered the militia of Vincennes 
 under arms. Major Legras and Captain Bosseron 
 with several of the privates being reported absent, the 
 commandant suspected treachery; the two officers, 
 however, made their appearance at sunset. About five 
 minutes after candles had been lighted, the garrison 
 was alarmed by hearing a discharge of musketry; 
 presently, there was another discharge. The Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor concluded that some party of Indians 
 was returned, or that there was a riotous frolic in the 
 village. However, he thought best to go out on the 
 parade ground to make inquiry, when he heard the 
 whistling of balls. Immediately all inside the fort 
 were ordered to the blockhouses, with a command not 
 to fire until they should perceive the shots were di- 
 rected against the fortification. But Hamilton and his 
 men were soon out of suspense — one of the sergeants 
 receiving a bullet in his breast. f The fort was as- 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 In his Loose Notes, Lieutenant SchieffeHn does not give the 
 number sent off, but says : "A detachment of the Vlllth 
 [regiment] and Detroit Vokmteers was immediately dis- 
 patched to reconnoiter." Ghesne confirms the number — 
 twenty — given by Hamilton to Haldimand. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 265 
 
 sailed by enemies — that was evident; but who were 
 the assailants ? Presently, we shall see. 
 
 It is pertinent now, before following farther the 
 events of interest transpiring in the Illinois and upon 
 the Wabash, that a brief mention be made of a few of 
 the more important incidents which, about this period, 
 occurred to the eastward, on the upper waters of the 
 Ohio. 
 
 -From the Alleghany mountains to the Ohio, and, 
 from a point some distance up the Alleghany river to 
 the mouth of the' Great Kanawha, is a region, which, 
 from what has already been narrated, it is evident had 
 been more or less exposed to savage aggressions ever 
 since the time Indians west of the Ohio had, to anv 
 extent, become hostile. Not only Virginia and Penn- 
 sylvania, but the General Government also, had ac- 
 tively engaged in endeavors to protect the settlers, but 
 with varying success. The sending of Brigadier Gen- 
 eral Hand of the Continental army to take command 
 of the Western Department with headquarters at Fort 
 Pitt, at the commencement of the summer of 1777, 
 gave much confidence to the oppressed people. 
 Scarcely, however, had Clark departed upon his expe- 
 dition before the General was, at his own request, re- 
 called, and Brigadier General Lachlan Mcintosh sent 
 to take the command at Pittsburg, where he arrived 
 early in August, 1778. 
 
 In November, of the year last mentioned, Mc- 
 intosh with a considerable force — the largest col- 
 lected by the Americans west of the Alleghanies dur- 
 ing the Revolution — moved westward, ostensibly 
 against Detroit; but he marched no farther than the 
 Tuscarawas river, principally because of a lack of sup- 
 
266 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 plies ; and thence, after commencing- Fort Laurens and 
 leaving- a small number of men to continue the work, 
 he returned, with the residue of his army to Fort Mc- 
 intosh — ^a post he had erected on the right bank of 
 the Ohio, some distance below Fort Pitt. In April, 
 1770, Mcintosh retired from the command of the 
 Western Department, being- succeeded by Colonel 
 Daniel Brodhead. who had direction of military af- 
 fairs therein until the fall of 1781. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A RUMOR of Clark's success in the Illinois in 
 the early part of July reached Williamsburg 
 before the arrival of Montgomery with let- 
 ters and dispatches from the Colonel. The rejoicing 
 was great, but many discredited the report ; "it was 
 too good to be true." Finally, there was a confirma- 
 tion of the news when the Captain reached the capital, 
 having Rocheblave in charge and bringing full ac- 
 counts from the Colonel himself.* Nothing so cheer- 
 ing had before been received from the Western coun- 
 try since the war began. Those who had been fore- 
 most in encouraging the expedition were especially 
 jubilant. 
 
 "By dispatches which I have just received from Col- 
 onel Clark," wrote Governor Henry, "it appears that 
 his success has equalled the most sanguine expectations. 
 He has not only reduced Fort Chartres and its de- 
 pendences [the Governor meaning the Illinois towns] 
 but he has struck such terror into the Indian tribes, 
 between that settlement and the lakes that no less than 
 five of them . . . who had received the hatchet 
 from the English emissaries, have submitted to our 
 arms, given up all their English presents, and bound 
 themselves by treating and promising to be peaceable 
 in future." 
 
 * "Major [George] Rogers Clark, the conqueror of the 
 Illinois, has sent in the late Governor of the British settle- 
 ment there, a Frenchman by birth, who is now in this city 
 upon his parole." — From Williamsburg, Virginia, November 
 20, 1778, in Continental Journal (No. 138). 
 
 (267) 
 
ai^ HtsmRr o^ clarks conqumst, btCs 
 
 'Mu oi\lcr K> imprvn^ and sovnuv iho {ulva\iui^i;\\s 
 j^;iu\<xl l\v Colonel C'lurkv" iuKkxl iho liovcrnor» "I 
 lvi\>[K>5sO K> 5>n\>(\Mi hinx with a ixnnfv^rvxnnom ot uiili" 
 tk. lUu tlu$ will dqwnd ujKvn the plea^uR^ of the 
 
 Vj^5sen\Uly> l\> whoj^c v\n\$ivlcr;uiou the nxeaj^ur^ ij^ sub- 
 nnitt^t The French inhabitants have nxanifesteil ^^Teat 
 «eal and attachment h> our cause, and insist on the 
 jv^nisvMX ren\ainin^^ with thetn under Colonel Clark, 
 
 rhis I am iuvlucevl to agree i\^ Invause the siUetv of 
 vHir fi\M\tiers as well as that of these \x\h>U\ demainls 
 a cv^ni>liance with the ret^uest."'' 
 
 The request by CK>wrnor Uei\ry that the Virginia 
 Assembly authority him K> supjx^rt Clark in the llli- 
 mHS by a ivintorcement ''t\> in\^>rv>ve and secure the 
 udvantagx^s'' the Colonel had gained, toUoweil as it 
 was by tl\eir en\|vwerii^ hinx wiih the advice of the 
 Council fv^rthwith to raise either by whmtary ^inlist- 
 tuent or detaclunents fn>m the mihtia. fi\x^ hundrxxl 
 men for that puqx^se. inducx\l the l^xeclui\x^ of the 
 Statx^ at oixce t\> take steivs to enlist for the service 
 hvt^ c\>mi>at\ies of one huudreil men each — as this 
 l>lan was \mx ferrxxl t\> the calhng out of mihtia. 
 
 rhe clhXTtul new5!5 of Clark's sucvx^ss had its im- 
 n\e^liate etftet upon tlie Virgnuia legislators They 
 would not let the opix>rtunity slip, of expressing their 
 gratitication K> the Colonel atxd his ofttce^rs and men 
 at the br^xvery disi>la>xxl by thenu Thus it was that, 
 by an unaninxous wMx^. the House of IVlegates put 
 «po<\ re\vrv! jheir thanks on the twx'Uty-tlurvl of No- 
 \^\\ber : 
 
 ♦CfevvV'to: V,<n - ■ Vl<!g«^^:^^ ix\ CvM\3iT>e$s, 
 
 : ^^ ■ ^ B«tl^r> 5: ^v ad. <>l.>. |k 
 
lllS'rOh'V Oh (7../A7v"6" CUNQULyf liTC. Mi 
 
 " Wlicic.-i^., ;iiilliriili( iiiloi iii.'iliDii li.'i;. \)V('\\ vaviynl 
 lll.ll Liciilcii.llll ( ninlicl (icolfM- Iso^^crS ('Illfk, Willi 
 ;i l)()(lv (»l Viij'.iiN.j iiiilil i;i, li.i;. ic(|ii( cd I lie T.i il iJi \u'f.\ 
 ill llic w<'sl<"iii |).iil <>i lliis ( niiiiiif )ii w.'ilt li, on iIh" 
 rivci IVI issisM|<|>i .hhI ils l)r;iii< li<'., wlifi chy j^rcat Ji<l- 
 v;iiil.'ij4(.' may acciiic lo iIh" (oihiiidh (.ui.c of Aiiicri<;i, 
 as well as lo lliis ( niniiioiiwcillli in |);iili(iil;ii ; 
 
 '' Iscsoi'vcd, Tlial llw lli.iiil.s <>l Mil' I loii.c ;iic |ii:,lly 
 (hie Id llic s;ii(l ('(ilniicl ( 'l;irk ;iii(| llic lii;iv<- «»Hic<TH 
 ;iii<l iiicii iiii<l<i liis < oiiiiii.'iikI, lor llicii c.-:! I ;ini (Iiii;ii y 
 rcsoliil ion ;iii(l pci scv* r;tncc in :.o li;i/,;ii doii;. ;iii ciilcr- 
 |)ii/c, ;iii(| lor llic ini|»orl;iiil i.c-rvicc, IIk rc|>y iciidcicd 
 llicii ( oiiiil I y." ' 
 
 l'>nl llicK* w;is ;iiiollici- ;i< lion l.il-.cn by lli<- legis- 
 lators of Viij'.ini.i. The iiili;il)il;inls of IIk' Illinois 
 .•iikI ii|)o!i llic W.ih.T.li li.'i'l '.liowii ;i |)io|)(i- r('j^ar<l 
 for I his Stale, .'ind had lalon I he necessary oalh, Ihcrchy 
 hcconiin}^- citi/ens of I he ( omiiionwcallh ; and why, 
 considering'; llicif ii.olah-d condilioii, should Ihcy not 
 al once he accorded lo a county j^ovennneiil , in all re 
 si)ccls eonsonanl with Virf.dnia laws, as had heloic 
 been ^'■rallied lo Virf'.inians, soiilh ol the Mhio? 
 
 So llie Virjj^iiiia (icneial Assenihly |)a!,sed an act 
 llial ;ill ihe (ili/eiis of thai ( oiiiiiioii wall li "who arc 
 alrea^Iy settled, or shall hereafter settle on the western 
 side of the < )liio, sliall he included in a di stim t county, 
 which shall he (ailed Illinois county. "t The h.rinin}.^ 
 of this county was followed hy the appoint iiieiil on 
 the Iwelflh of Deceniher, of joliii 'lofld, jr., a icMdeiil 
 of Kentucky county, as county lienteiianl. 
 
 * I'.dil.i''; Kentucky, ed. of \^'M, p. 'VM\\- cd. of Ih:u;, 
 p. m). 
 
 t Appendix, Note LXXIX. 
 
270 lUSTOKY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Clark was now promoted to a full colonelcy.* Cap- 
 tain John ]\Iontg"oniery was made lieutenant colonel; 
 and Captain Joseph Bowman was commissioned ma- 
 jor: the tirst mentioned was given the title of "Com- 
 mander-in-chief of the Virginia Troops in the County 
 of Illinois." Montgomery was to recruit the five com- 
 panies. 
 
 Instructions were now drawn up for Todd, Mont- 
 gomery and Clark. The first mentioned was directed 
 by Governor Henry "to give particular attention to 
 Colonel Clark and his corps, to whom the State has 
 great obligations. You are to coi^perate with him on 
 atiy military undertaking when necessary, and to give 
 the military every aid which the circumstances of the 
 people will admit of. The inhabitants of the Illinois 
 nuist not expect settled peace and safety while their 
 and our enemies have footing at Detroit and can inter- 
 cepi or stop the trade of the jNIississippi. If- the Eng- 
 lish have not the strength or courage to come to war 
 against us themselves, their practice has been and will 
 be to hire the savages to commit murders and depre- 
 dations. Illinois must expect to pay in these a large 
 price for her freedom unless the English can be ex- 
 pelled from Detroit. The means for etfecting this 
 will not perhaps be found in your or Colonel Clark's 
 power, but the French inhabiting the tieighborhood 
 of that place, it is presumed, may be brought to see 
 it done with indifference or perhaps join in the enter- 
 
 * Clark's commission I have not found. TluTe can be no 
 donbt of its having been issued as ^[ontgomery was made 
 lieutenant colonel under him. and Governor Henry addressed 
 him. in his official instructions and letter (as will now be 
 seenV by his new title: whereas, previously, he was officially 
 designated as lieutenant colonel. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 271 
 
 prise with pleasure. This is l)ut conjectivc. When 
 you are on the spot, you and Colonel Clark may dis- 
 cover its fallacy, or reality if the former a])])ears. De- 
 fense only is to he the ohject. if the latter, or a 
 good prospect of it, I hope the Frenchmen and Indians 
 at your dis])osal will show a zeal for the affair equal 
 to the henefits to be derived from establishing liberty 
 and permanent peace. 
 
 "One great good expected from holding the Illi- 
 nois is to overawe the Indians from warring on our 
 settlers on this side of the Ohio. A close attention 
 to the disposition, character, and movements of the 
 hostile tribes is therefore necessary for you. The 
 forces [of Clark] and militia at Illinois, by being ])laced 
 on the back of them may inflict timely chastisement 
 on these enemies, whose towns are an easy prey in 
 absence of their warriors. 
 
 "You perceive by these words that something in the 
 military line may be expected from you. So far as 
 the occasion calls for the assistance of the people com- 
 posing the militia, it will be necessary to cooperate 
 with the troops sent from here; and I know of no 
 better general direction to give than this, that you 
 consider yourself at the head of the civil department 
 and as such having the command of the militia, who 
 are not to be under the command of the military until 
 ordered out by the civil authority, and to act in con- 
 junction with them." 
 
 Colonel Todd was also given additional instruc- 
 tions, — such as seemed necessary, by the Executive, 
 to fully organize the new county. 
 
 Upon one subject of private concern, the Governor 
 said: "Mr. Rocheblave's wife and family must not 
 
272 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 siitYor for ^vant of that property of which they were 
 bore ft by our troops. It is to bo restored to them if 
 possible. If this cannot be done the pubHc must sup- 
 port ihcni."'^ 
 
 The instructions issued to Colonel Montgomery by 
 tlic \ irs^inia iKncrnor were in ell'ect that he was 
 "forthwith to put on foot the recruiting- of men to re- 
 inforce Colonel Clark at the Illinois and to push it 
 on with all possible expedition." As soon as the num- 
 ber of one hundred could be collected, they were to 
 be sent on under projXM- otViccrs. If the number should 
 be thought tix^ small to go in safety, more were to be 
 added until Montgomery should judge the number 
 lari^e enoui:h to resist anv attacks that might be ex- 
 pectcd from the Indians. "You will," said Governor 
 lie!u-y, "cause the proper vessels for transporting the 
 troops down the Chewkee [Tennessee] river to be 
 buiU and ready before they are wanted. Let no time 
 be lost in doing that. "Mr. lames Ruchannan you must 
 direct to lay in the provisions necessary. You will 
 get powder and flints from Colonel Fleming's, and 
 lead from the mines, sufticient for the use of the parties 
 on their march." 
 
 Blank commissions for the officers of live com- 
 panies were delivered to Montgomery, to be tilled up 
 as the numbers of men they should recruit would 
 entitle them as to date and rank. If any officer who 
 should be entrusted to recruit should fail to enlist and 
 produce his quota in a reasonable time, such as the 
 exigence and pressing necessity to relieve and secure 
 the Illinois country required, — in that case the offi- 
 
 * The instructions given to Todd by Governor Henry, are 
 printed in full from the original, in Mason's Early Chicago 
 (}«(/ Illinois, pp. -Sl^-lU. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 273 
 
 ccr so failing was to g-ivc np the men he had enhstcd 
 together with his reeruiting instructions to the Colonel 
 or such other person as Montgomery might appoint 
 to succeed him ; and if the person vo succeed the first 
 one should also fail, another was to he named, and 
 so on until every quota was filled, or so nearly filled 
 as to be fit to march. ''You are," said Governor Henry 
 to the Colonel, ''to take especial care to ap])oint men 
 proper to be officers; and as this matter, from nec- 
 essity of the case, is entrusted to you, an improper 
 appointment will reflect great dishonor upon you." 
 
 As soon as Colonel Montgomery succeeded 
 sufficiently in the recruiting business to justify it, he 
 was instructed that he was to go to the Illinois and 
 join Colonel Clark. The Virginia Governor urged 
 the utmost dispatch. "Our party," said he, "at Illi- 
 nois may be lost, together with the present favorable 
 disposition of the French and Indians there, unless 
 every moment is improved for their preservation ; and 
 no future opportunity, if the present is lost, can 
 ever be expected so favorable to the interest of the 
 Commonwealth. I therefore urge it on you to exert 
 yourself to the utmost to lose not a moment to forward 
 the great work you have in hand and to conquer every 
 difficulty in your way arising from an inclement sea- 
 son, great distances, wants of many necessaries, oppo- 
 sition from enemies, and others I cannot enumerate 
 but must confide in your virtue to guard against and 
 surmount." 
 
 Captain Isaac Shelby was desired by Governor 
 Henry to prepare the boats ; but if he could not do it, 
 other persons were to be engaged. Montgomery was 
 to receive ten thousand pounds cash for Colonel Clark's 
 
 18 
 
274 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 corps ; which were to be dehvered to him, except two 
 hundred pounds for Captain Shelby with which to 
 build the boats and for what other incidental expenses 
 might happen necessarily on the way out.* 
 
 On the same day of the issuing of the instructions 
 to Colonel Montgomery, others were signed to be sent 
 to Colonel Clark : 
 
 ''You are to retain," said the Governor, "the com- 
 mand of the troops now at the several posts in the 
 county of Illinois and [which posts, with those] on 
 the Wabash . . . fall within the limits of the 
 county now erected and called 'Illinois County,' — 
 which troops marched out with and have been em- 
 bodied by you. You are also to take the command of 
 five other companies raised under the act of Assembly 
 which I send herewith, and which if completed, as I 
 hope they will be speedily, will have orders to join 
 you without loss of time, and are likewise to be under 
 your command. With your whole force, you are to 
 protect the inhabitants of the county [of Illinois], and, 
 as occasion may serve, annoy the enemy." 
 
 It was thought by the Virginia Executive that by 
 the adoption of proper measures on part of Clark, the 
 Indian nations might be overawed and inclined to 
 peace with the Americans; or, if that could not be 
 effected, that such of them as send out parties towards 
 the Virginia frontiers on the east and south of the 
 Ohio, might be chastised by detachments sent from 
 the Illinois. For this purpose, he thought it would 
 behoove the Colonel to watch their motions, and to 
 consider that one great advantage expected from the 
 
 * Gov. Henry to Lieut. Col. John Montgomery, Dec. 12, 
 1778. — Henry's Patrick Hewy, vol. HI, pp. 216-218. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 275 
 
 American commander at Kaskaskia was to prevent the 
 Indians from attacking the exposed settlements of the 
 Virginias. In order the more effectually to prevent 
 this, Clark was authorized to establish such forts in 
 different parts of the country as he might judge best 
 for his troops to occupy. 
 
 ''I consider your further success," continued Henry, 
 in further instructing Clark, "as depending upon the 
 good will and friendship of the Frenchmen and Indians 
 who inhabit your part of the Commonwealth [of Vir- 
 ginia]. With their concurrence, great things may 
 be accomplished. But their animosity will spoil the 
 fair prospects which your past success have opened. 
 You will therefore spare no pains to conciliate the 
 affections of the French and Indians. Let them see 
 and feel the advantages of being fellow citizens and 
 freemen. Guard most carefully against every in- 
 fringement of their property, particularly with re- 
 spect to land, as our enemies have alarmed them as to 
 that. Strict and even severe discipline with your 
 soldiers may be essential to preserve from injury those 
 whom they were sent to protect and conciliate. This 
 is a great and capital matter, and I confide [in you] 
 that you will never lose sight of it, or suffer your 
 troops to injure any person without feeling the pun- 
 ishment due to the offence. The honor and interest 
 of the State are deeply concerned in this, and the at- 
 tachment of the French and Indians depends upon a 
 due observance of it." 
 
 Governor Henry would send Clark copies of the 
 act of Government and Bill of Rights, together with 
 the French Alliance. These would serve to show as 
 the Virginia Executive thought, the new friends in 
 
270 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXQUEST, ETC. 
 
 (Iio lllinoiv^ the groiiiul upon which thov wore to stand, 
 :nul the support to ho expected troni h' ranee, h^iual 
 Hherty and happiness were the ohjeets. to a partiei- 
 patiiMi ot" which, the Americans invited them. "Upon 
 a lair presunipiion." said the Ciovernor, "ihat the peo- 
 ple ahout Petroit have sinnlar inchnations with those 
 at the llhnois and | upon tiie| W ahash, 1 think it pos- 
 sihle that they may he hroui^ht to expel their British 
 masters and hecome fellow citi/ens of a free state. 
 1 recommend this to your serious consideration, ami 
 to consult with some contulential persons on the suh- 
 ject. IVM'haps Mr. uihauli. the priest (^to whom this 
 coumrx owes many thanks for his zeal and services'). 
 may promote this atVair. lUit 1 refer it to you to select 
 the proper persons to advise with, and to act as occa- 
 sion otTers. Hut you are to push at any favorahle oc- 
 currences which fortune may present to you: for our 
 peace and safety are not secure while the enemy are 
 so near as Oetroit." 
 
 It was the desire of CKn'ornor Henry that Clark 
 should testify to all the suhjects of Spain upon every 
 occasion, the hii^h rej^ard and sincere friendship of 
 \"iri^inia towards them. He hoped it would soon be 
 manifest that nuitual advantages would be derived from 
 the neighborhood of the Xirginias and the subjects of 
 his C^atholic Majesty. 
 
 Henry did not fail to impress n|x^n Clark the fact 
 bis situation was critical: "Far detached from the 
 body of your country, placed among b'rench. Span- 
 iards, and Indian nations, strangers to our people, 
 anxiously watching your actions and behavior, and 
 •ready to receive impressions favorable or not so. 
 of our Conimonwoalth at\d its government, which ini- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 277 
 
 pressions will be hard to romove and will produce 
 lasting good or ill effects to your country. These 
 considerations will make you cautious and circumspect. 
 J feel the delicacy and difficulty of your situation, hut 
 1 doubt not your virtue will accomplish the arduous 
 work with honor to yoiu'self and advantage to the 
 Commonwealth. The advice and assistance of discreet 
 good men will be highly necessary; for, at the dis- 
 tance of your county, T cannot be consulted. General 
 discretionary powers, therefore, are given you to act 
 for the best in all cases where these instructions are 
 silent and the law has made no provision." 
 
 The Virginia Executive called the particular atten- 
 tion of the Colonel to Mrs. Rocheblave and her chil- 
 dren, that he should not sufTer them to want for any- 
 thing. ITe desired that Mr. Rocheblave's property, 
 which was taken, be restored to his lady, so far as 
 it could be done. "You have," he said, ''the sum of 
 sixty iK)unds sent for her use, in case you cannot find 
 her husband's effects to restore;" none, however, could 
 afterward be found ; and the hel]) she received from the 
 State seems to have |)r()ved of little consequence to her, 
 for in less than a year and a half thereafter, she wrote 
 that she had not ''even" the necessities of life."* 
 
 Prudence, the Governor declared, required that 
 provisions should be laid in to subsist the troops under 
 Clark's command and those expected to arrive to re- 
 inforce him. Colonel John Bowman, County Lieuten- 
 ant of Kentucky County, had contracted to deliver 
 thirty-five thousand ])ounds bear bacon at his county; 
 
 * Letter of "Marie Michel de Rocliel)lave," written at 
 Kaskaskia March 27, 1780: from the Haldimand MSS. 
 
m iUSTORV OF CLARK'S COXQIUST.ETC 
 
 but UiYavl auxst l>e ohtuiuevl iu HUnoij^, Oark wai^ to 
 )ii\>YuW it. if jxv^^iWe. Wfort^ th<^ arrival of th<? troops 
 vM^ th«? «<vtf;!i:!^tY to p\u\has<^ it Kvatue gcneraUy known* 
 s |x^rha\\^ avhantagx\« n\i^4iht W tak<?n to rais^e the 
 priv^^. rUt^ Cv^lond wa.^ enjoin<\l also to lay \ip a 
 i^vHxl jitock of ^xnYvler anvl lead. 
 
 The Au\er\oan cv^innxanvler waiii infornxe^l bv the 
 r>OYen\or that thert^ \Ya:^ a car^o of ^\>hIs at a Six\n\5^i 
 |xx^t near hitn beK^x^iin^ijr either to the I'nited States or 
 Mr^itxia^ Rather than let his trvx>|Xji be txakeik he could 
 u^ke a v^upply for then) o\U of this oar$i\^ : but this was 
 not to be dv>Jie but in ease of aKsv^lute u^wssity. An 
 exact acvxnuxt n\ust be kept of what n)i^ht be usevk 
 which acc^>unt shoxUd be sent to Governv>r Henry* 
 Clark was likewise t\>ld that in his negvMiations or 
 lYatin^^ with the Indians he would be assisti?il by 
 l\xKl He was eni^>ine<l to let the treaties be confineil 
 tv> the subiect of an\ity and l>^nce with Americans; 
 he shvMiKl not tv>uch the subject of lands. He nxight 
 accept of any services the sa\\n§;x^s nn^iiht otfer f\.>r 
 ex|H^llin^^ the Kn^ilish frv>«n Detrvnt or elsewhere. In 
 he event t>resents were fottnd ixeeessarv to §:iYe the 
 U>dianSx he shv>\tld n\ake thetn as sj^rii^sily as possible* 
 \ttin^ them know the \ ir^inia sSi^x^k of ^^xxxls was 
 hen sinalk but by means of the trade with the French 
 ,a\d Other natiojxs* it w^as oxtvvt«:\! rboiv woutd be 
 plenty of gvxxls before K>n^ 
 
 Liexnenant Ci>loixel Moixtgv^mery*' were the con- 
 , UuUn^^^ w^>r\ls of Governor Henry s instmctions. *\viU 
 v\>n\^Y to \\>M tte^x thv^usatxd pounds for i^ayment of 
 the troo|\s^ anvl fv\r v>ther matters re<txiirii\g^ xxxvxixey. 
 \\\ tno vt'st^'t'i'i ??>','''?' v'^f ^^H^ ■'^.'^''ON voi^ NvHI 1\^ careful 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUIiST, ETC. 279 
 
 to keep exact accoiinls from lime lo (imc, aiid take 
 seeiirily vvliere it is ])ro|)(r."i 
 
 \\y .1 K'llcr writlcii l»y llu- (iovcriioi- of Virginia 
 oil (he (irsi (lay of llic year \yy^), (.oKjik-I (JIarIc was 
 inforincd llial llic Vii|;iiiia AssciiiMy had diicclcd liis 
 I'atlalioii lo he (oiiiplclcd, (jhc lnindicd hicd i,, ^^ 
 stationed al llic Palls of ilic ( jIik,, iindci iVIajor Slaii^li- 
 Icr; and llial oik- only of ihc ad<litioiiai i)attali(jns was 
 to be Idled. "iViajoi- Slaii^lilcr's men," said Henry, 
 "arc raised and will inarcii in a few days." 'Ilie 
 rctnrns wlii( li had hccn made lollu; (iovenior were nrjt 
 sunicienl for hiin lo state eonlidcnlly whcllicr nicn 
 enough had Ixcii raised lo make iij> Ihc addilional 
 battalion, hiil he snjjjxjsed (liercr wc^'c nearly enon^li. 
 This battalion w<Mild march early in \\\c spring'; as Ihc 
 weather wnnld admit. 
 
 'i'he (iovciiK^r said to Clark thai he knew of but 
 Iwo priiK ipal objects lo eii^aj^e his allciition for his 
 next snmnier's (jperalions: (ij an expedilion against 
 Detroit; or, {2) against those tribes of Indians be- 
 tween the ( )liio and Illinois rivers, who had liarrassed 
 the Virginians constantly and whom experience had 
 shown to be incapable of reconciliati(jii. 
 
 "Removed at such a distance as we arct," are the 
 concliidin^^ words of 1 Icmy, "and so imperfectly in- 
 formed, it is impossible for ns t(j prescribe t(j yon. 
 The defences at Detroit seem loo j.M(at for small arms 
 alone; and if that nest was destroyed, tlie ICn^lish 
 still have a tolerable channel of commmn'cation with 
 the Northern Indians, by ^'•oin^'- from Mrjntreal up 
 the ()ttawa river; on llic other hand, the Shawanese, 
 
 *Gov. Henry to Col. G. R. Clark (Instriictions), Dec. 
 12, I77H iiciiry's I'alricic llrnry, vol. Ill, pp. 209-'J12. 
 
280 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ^lingoes, flimsies, and the nearer \\'vandots are trou- 
 blesome thorns in our sides. However, we must leave 
 it to yourself to decide on the object of the campaign; 
 if against the Indians, the end proposed should be their 
 extermination, or their removal beyond the lakes or 
 Illinois river. The same world will scarcely do for 
 them and us. I suppose it will be best for the new 
 battalion to act with you all the summer, aided by 
 a considerable part of Slaughter's men ; and, in the 
 fall, to fortify the ports we propose to take [to es- 
 tablish?] on the Ohio, and remain in them during the 
 succeeding winter. The posts which have been thought 
 of are. the mouth of Fishing or Little Kenawha, Great 
 Kenawha, Scioto, Great Salt Lick, and Kentucky 
 [river I . There being posts already at Pittsburgh, 
 the month of Wheeling and the Falls of Ohio, these 
 intermediate ones will form a chain from Pittsburgh 
 to the Falls. I have then only to wish that your post 
 [at Kaskaskia] was at the mouth of Ohio, which would 
 complete the line."* 
 
 At the close of summer. Colonel Clark's conduct 
 of public affairs had been so judicious that, so far as 
 appearances were concerned. American rule seemed 
 to be pretty finnly established not only in the Illinois 
 
 *~Henry's Patrick Hniry. vol. III. pp. 2k^, 21P. That the 
 Governor should have overlooked the fact of there being a 
 post already established at the mouth of the Great Kanawha 
 is strange indeed. To establish a post at the mouth of the 
 Ohio, had been, for a considerable time, earnestly considered 
 by Henry: and he had gone so far as to make certain proposi- 
 tions to the Spaniards siiggesting if they would bring goods 
 there in their own vessels one would be located at that point. 
 vSee Henry to Richard Henry Lee, Nov. 10, 1777. — Henry's 
 Patrick Henry, vol. Ill, p. 115.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 281 
 
 but Upon the Wabash. He had let shp no opportunity 
 in cultivating, in every quarter where there was the 
 least appearance" of future advantage, the growing 
 interest of his country. His success had been as great 
 as he had any good reason to expect. There was 
 tranquility in the village of the white people, and 
 among the savage tribes for many miles northward 
 and eastward. It was this calm that gave him leisure 
 to reflect seriously upon the conquest he had made — 
 as perfect, it would seem, as it had been bloodless; 
 but it was the calm before the storm. Patrick Henry's 
 words to the Colonel — "I must observe to you that 
 your situation is critical" — were almost prophetic. 
 
 The Colonel, after due consideration, became ap- 
 prehensive that the British at Detroit, finding it hard 
 to regain their lost interest among the savages, would 
 make a descent on the Illinois. And the more readily 
 would they undertake this should they learn with 
 what a small force possession of the country was re- 
 tained. Every precaution, then, was taken to keep 
 the inhabitants in ignorance of the commander's real 
 strength. Naturally, under such circumstances, there 
 would be an exaggeration; and, as a matter of fact, 
 the army was estimated, generally, at double its actual 
 number. As it was of the utmost importance early to 
 get particulars, should an undertaking be resolved upon 
 by the enemy, spies were sent forward to watch any 
 movement of an aggresive nature. They soon reported 
 that Lieutenant Governor Hamilton was exerting him- 
 self to engage the savages to assist him in retaking 
 the places which had fallen into the hands of Clark; 
 and the latter wrote the Governor of Virginia con- 
 cerning it: "General Hamilton of Detroit," said the 
 
282 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 
 
 Colonel, "has of late been at great pains and expense 
 to get a body of Indians to retake the Illinois; but 
 above half the Indians that he had at his command has 
 treated with me, and I believe the rest very willing 
 to be quiet, except those towards Fort Pitt. In short, 
 his officers among them have had success, as I often 
 hear from tliem, having spies in the same towns. I 
 think I shall keep his Excellency out of it [the Illinois] 
 this year; as for the next, you are the best judge."* 
 
 Clark, it will be seen, felt too much at his ease. 
 He was sure the favorable impression made on the 
 Indians of the country of the lakes by the councils 
 which had been held in the Illinois, and his sending 
 messages of good will to many of those he had not 
 seen, added to the influence of the French over all the 
 nations, would make it difficult for the Lieutenant 
 Governor to induce many to march under his com- 
 mand ; besides expectations of reinforcements undoubt- 
 edly flattered the Colonel that, in any event, no great 
 danger need be apprehended.f 
 
 Additional news was now brought to Clark.' 
 Hamilton was, in truth, on the march with a consider- 
 
 * Clark to Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, Sept. 16, 
 1778. This letter is published in full in Henry's Patrick 
 Henry, vol. Ill, p. 194. 
 
 t Patrick Henry to Congressional Delegates of Virginia, 
 Nov. 14, 1778. The following are the words of Governor 
 Henry in relating what Clark had written him : 
 
 "The governor of that place [Detroit], M. Hamilton, was 
 exerting himself to engage the savages to assist him in retak- 
 ing the places that had fallen into our hands ; but the favor- 
 able impression made on the Indians in general in that quarter, 
 the influence of the French on -them, and the reinforcement of 
 militia Colonel Clark expected, flattered him that there was 
 little danger to be apprehended." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 283 
 
 able party, taking his route up the Maumee river. 
 Surely, therefore, the Illinois must be his aim. But, 
 in a few days the Colonel received certain intelligence 
 that General Mcintosh, who, as we have seen, was 
 the successor of Brigadier General Hand in command 
 of the Western Department, had left Fort Pitt for 
 Detroit with a strong force. 
 
 This news was sent the Colonel by way of the 
 Ohio river and the Mississippi ; and it reached him in 
 terms implying that it was his (Mcintosh's) inten- 
 tion not to stop short of Detroit. The whole matter 
 was, therefore, as the American commander thought, 
 easily to be understood — Hamilton was marching 
 against Mcintosh. 
 
 It was the decided opinion entertained by Clark that 
 Detroit could easily be taken : "knowing the weakness 
 of the fortification of that post at that time, their 
 numbers, etc., I made no doubt of it being shortly in 
 our possession and that Governor Hamilton, sensible 
 that there was no probability of his being able suc- 
 cessfully to defend the fort, had marched with his 
 whole force to encourage the Indians to harrass the 
 General [Mcintosh] on his way as the only probable 
 plan to stop him ; little thinking that he had returned, 
 and that Mr. Hamilton had the same design on me that 
 I supposed he had on General Mcintosh." 
 
 'Tt being near Christmas," are the further words 
 of Clark, ''we feasted ourselves with the hopes of 
 immediately hearing from Detroit, and began to think 
 that we had been neglected in an express not being 
 sent with the important news of its being ours."* 
 
 * Clark to Mason. — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 51. 
 
284 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 But the American commander finally got some 
 light. A young man *at Cahokia was detected in hold- 
 ing a correspondence with ''Governor Hamilton's 
 party" and in sending intelligence to the enemy, and 
 was ''punished accordingly."* In the investigation, it 
 was learned that General Mcintosh had returned from 
 the Tuscarawas and that Hamilton was marching 
 really against the Illinois, although as to the latter, 
 there was not sufficient evidence "to reduce it to a 
 certainty;" but, if true, it was clear to the mind of 
 Clark that the Lieutenant Governor would make his 
 first strike at Kaskaskia — the Colonel's headquarters 
 and where the strongest garrison was. 
 
 Spies were kept on all the roads but to no purpose if 
 some were captured ; others returned with no news. 
 Cold weather setting in, Clark was at a loss what 
 to do. It was the opinion of many of his men that 
 Hamilton had quit his design, going no farther than 
 the head of the Maumee. As the Colonel could get 
 no intelligence whatever from Vincennes, he gave him- 
 self the benefit of all doubts as to the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor being there, — imagining that, perhaps. Captain 
 Helm had not been able to send him an express on 
 account of high waters. In this situation of uncer- 
 tainty, he remained for a considerable time. 
 
 It was the intention of the American commander 
 in the event of the appearance of the enemy to withdraw 
 the garrison from Cahokia. But, as he was anxious 
 to have a conference with the principal inhabitants of 
 that place, whom he knew to be zealous in his coun- 
 
 .* Id. p. 52. What punishment was meted out to the young 
 man, Clark does not say. He was probably hung, 
 t Clark to Mason just cited. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 285 
 
 try's cause, to fix on certain plans for the conduct 
 of the people there in the event of possession being 
 taken .by the English, he set out for that village with 
 the intention however of staying but a few days. 
 
 With a guard of not more than seven men, accom- 
 panied by "si few gentlemen in chairs" — that is, in 
 wooden carts, one of which ''swamped" on the way — 
 Clark — after nearly an hour's detention — proceeded 
 on his journey, reaching Prairie du Rocher, ''about 
 twelve miles above Kaskaskia," with safety, where, in 
 the evening, the party were entertained by the good 
 people of the place with a dance, gotten up in honor 
 of their arrival. "We spent," says the Colonel, "the 
 fore part of the night very agreeably, but about 12 
 o'clock there was a very sudden change."* 
 
 The cause for the interruption was this: An ex- 
 press arrived from Kaskaskia, with the information 
 that Hamilton from Detroit was within three miles 
 of the place first mentioned with eight hundred men 
 and was determined to attack the fort there that night 
 — indeed, before the news could possibly reach the 
 American commander. There was at once among 
 that small assembly the greatest confusion — "every 
 person," says the Colonel, "having their eyes on me, 
 as if my word was to determine their good or evil 
 fate."t It required but a moment for the commander 
 
 * Clark to Mason. — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 pp. 53, 54. 
 
 Roosevelt (The Winning of the West, vol. II, pp. 67, 68) 
 speaks of the dance in such a manner as to convey the idea 
 that the people "of the little village of La Prairie du Rocher" 
 had gotten it up for their own entertainment ; but this is error. 
 
 t Clark to Mason. — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 
 64. It is doubtful whether the report actually put the number 
 
286 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 to form his resolution to attempt at once to regain 
 the fort if possible before it should be attacked by the 
 enemy; or, failing in that, to endeavor to get througl^ 
 the lines of the besiegers by stratagem. He communi- 
 cated his resolution to two of his officers who had 
 accompanied him; it met their approval; and their 
 horses were ordered saddled. 
 
 ''Those of the company," says Clark "that had re- 
 covered from their surprise so far as to enable them 
 to speak, begged of me not to attempt to return ; that 
 the town was certainly in possession of the enemy and 
 the fort warmly attacked. Some proposed conveying 
 me to the Spanish shore ; — some one thing and some 
 another."'^' But the Colonel refused to listen to their 
 various propositions for his safety; insisting at the 
 same time that the dance should be continued until 
 the horses were ready; and, to inspire them with as 
 much courage as possible he tried to appear as uncon- 
 cerned as if nothing had happened. After dropping a 
 line to Captain Bowman at Cahokia, ordering him to 
 return with his force at once to Kaskaskia,t Clark 
 
 at eight hundred as Clark declares. It is not improbable, 
 when he wrote his letter to Mason, having that number in his 
 mind as the force under Hamilton when the latter entered 
 Vincennes, he gave it as the number reported. 
 
 * Clark to Mason — in the work last cited, p. 55. 
 
 t In his letter to Mason of Nov. 19, 1779, Clark does not 
 mention what word he sent to Bowman ; but in a letter to the 
 Governor of Virginia written on the 29th of April previous, 
 he explains that it was an order to evacuate the fort at Ca- 
 hokia. (See Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222 n, where the 
 entire letter is printed. The original is the property of the 
 United States and is in the archives of the Department of 
 State.) This letter is frequently cited hereafter; for, al- 
 though not written for some months after the events took 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 287 
 
 set out on his return to his headquarters, making the 
 journey, it may be presumed, in much less time than 
 on his way out. On his arrival, he found, instead of 
 an enemy in possession of the fort or besieging it, 
 everything to all appearances as calm as when he left. 
 
 Clark and his men before starting on their return 
 from Prairie du Rocher had provided themselves with 
 blankets, in which, in case the fort, on their arrival, 
 was . surrounded by the enemy, each one was to wrap 
 himself, fall in with the besiegers until an opportunity 
 offered of getting near enough to the fortification to 
 give the proper signals, when he would be promptly 
 admitted inside.* 
 
 It was the general impression in the fort that, as 
 the weather was inclement, the attack would not take 
 place until it cleared up, none doubting the presence 
 of. the enemy in the immediate vicinity. But Clark, 
 from several circumstances, was led to believe that 
 the reason for the postponement of hostilities was due 
 to their desire to give the garrison time to escape ; how- 
 ever, he determined if that was their wish, they should 
 be disappointed; so he lost no time in putting every- 
 thing in as good order as possible. 
 
 Now, the good Father Gibault was inside the fort 
 at the time and it would seem was "in the greatest 
 consternation," but he was determined to act agree- 
 able to the commander's instructions. He was, of all 
 those in Kaskaskia, "the most afraid of Mr. Hamilton," 
 
 place, it refers back to them, for certain reasons hereafter 
 explained. Its statements are generally to be relied upon, 
 
 * This, certainly, was a novel and, doubtless, an original 
 plan for cutting through a besieging force. Had there been 
 an occasion for testing its efficacy, failure probably would have 
 been the result. 
 
288 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and for good reason. The interest manifested by him 
 in temporal affairs both at Kaskaskia and V^incennes, 
 he well knew "Mr. Hamilton" would soon be informed 
 of, if he had not already obtained information con- 
 cerning it ; and he had good reason to fear the worst 
 should he fall into the Lieutenant Governor's power.* 
 
 Hamilton seems to have treasured up an implac- 
 able hatred of the priest. More than two years after 
 learning how much the American commander had 
 been indebted to him for the change of affairs at Vin- 
 cennes, he gave vent in unmeasured terms to his ill- 
 feeling against him: "He [Gibault] had been/' he 
 said, "an active agent for the rebels, and whose vicious 
 and immoral conduct was sufficient to do infinite mis- 
 chief in a country where ignorance and bigotry give 
 full scope to the depravity of a licentious ecclesiastic. 
 This wretch it was who absolved the French inhabi- 
 tants from their allegiance to the King of Great Bri- 
 tain. To enumerate the vices of the inhabitants would 
 be to give a long catalogue ; but to assert that they 
 are not in possession of a single virtue is no more 
 than truth and justice require; still, the most eminently 
 vicious and scandalous was the Rev. Mons'r Gibault."f 
 
 In conferring with Clark, the worthy priest felt 
 sure the fort would be taken unless reinforced by the 
 garrison from Cahokia, not knowing that Clark had 
 previously written Captain Bowman to join him at 
 once from that place. The Colonel thought best to 
 relieve the priest of his anxiety by pretending he 
 wanted him to go to the Spanish side of the Mississippi 
 
 * Clark to Mason. — Clark's Caiiipaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 55, 56. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 289 
 
 with public papers and money. "The proposition," 
 says Clark, "pleased him well; he immediately started 
 and getting into an island, he was obliged to encamp 
 there three days, in the most obscure part with only a 
 servant to attend him, the ice passing so thick down 
 the Mississippi." 
 
 During the hours which passed after the return 
 of the commander, but before the morning of the next 
 day, he had sufficient time to carefully reflect upon 
 what he deemed the serious condition of affairs. The 
 inhabitants had always appeared to be attached to the 
 Americans ; at the same time he fully realized that 
 he would soon have an unmistakable demonstration 
 from them as to their feeling toward him, which at- first 
 seemed to be one of friendship ; as several of the young 
 men of the place, soon after the alarm had been given, 
 turned into the fort to help defend it. But he was 
 sensible, at the same time, that, in the event they took 
 up arms to defend the town, the whole would probably 
 be lost, as he would be obliged to give the enemy bat- 
 tle in the commons ; he thought, therefore, it would 
 be best, could it be brought about, that such as had 
 no families should reinforce the garrison, while those 
 with families should remain neutral. 
 
 The Colonel concluded to burn all the houses near 
 the fort, and when the attack was made, "tO' sell it as 
 dearly as possible," as there was no probability of 
 escaping the enemy who, he had no doubt, were about 
 ready to commence the siege, although not a single 
 white man or Indian had, as yet, made his appearance 
 in a threatening manner near the village. The only 
 probable chance of safety for the garrison depended, 
 
 19 
 
290 HISl^ORV OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 as it seemed to Clark, on the prompt arrival of Captain 
 Bowman from Cahokia, with his company, for no re- 
 inforcements were expected from the eastward, and, 
 with this force added to those of his garrison he might 
 possibly defend himself until "^Ir. Hamilton's Indians" 
 and white men got tired and returned; which, he 
 judged, would be in four or live weeks, for the great- 
 est part of them, should they not meet with the success 
 they had expected. 
 
 In the morning, the lirst thing the American com- 
 mander did was, to assemble all the inhabitants in the 
 fort in order to know what their resolution was; for 
 he had learned of their counselling together during 
 the night as to what course ought, under the circum- 
 stances, to be pursued by them. He then promptly 
 asked them whether they would endeavor to defend 
 their village or not. If they would act on the defen- 
 sive, he would, he told them, quit the fort, leaving 
 inside only a small guard, and "head" them with his 
 troops. He told them also that if the enemy lay con- 
 cealed until the weather broke, he might probably dis- 
 cover their camps and get some advantage of them. 
 But the citizens declined to act on one side or the other, 
 which was really not displeasing to Clark ; at the same 
 time they protested they were really in the American 
 interest. Now, all would have been well had they said 
 no more ; yet they not only suggested that the Colonel's 
 whole force joined with them would make a poor show- 
 ing against so considerable a party as the one which 
 (as supposed") was about to attack them, but they 
 hinted that it was their wish that the Americans should 
 abandon the place and take protection of the Spanish 
 on the other side of the Mississippi ; for they could not 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 291 
 
 conceive that Clark could keep possession of the fort 
 a single day, as the enemy would immediately set 
 the adjoining houses on fire, which would fire the 
 fortification (they not knowing that the commander 
 had already resolved to burn them as soon as the 
 wind shifted).* 
 
 The suggestion made by the Kaskaskians that Clark 
 should avail himself of Spanish protection, and the 
 fact that they had already discussed the matter of the 
 enemy .firing the adjacent houses to get possession 
 of the fort, ''with some other circumstances," put the 
 Colonel "in a most violent rage." As soon as he could 
 curb his passion he gave them a lecture such as would 
 suit "a set of traitors," although he did not conceive 
 them all to be such. He then ordered out the Kas- 
 kaskians that were in the fort, at the same time telling 
 them he no longer thought them deserving any favor 
 from him ; that he, consequently, must conceive them 
 to be his secret enemies and should treat them as such. 
 But he had no idea of carrying out his threat ; it was 
 made only that the inhabitants might be convinced 
 of his firm determination never to yield to the foe 
 so long as there was the least chance left for him and 
 his men. 
 
 The inhabitants who had assembled in the fort now 
 asked Clark to issue an order for all the provision in 
 the town to be brought him immediately as an earnest 
 of their good intentions toward him and which in real- 
 ity convinced him that as they saw he was determined 
 
 * This, it will be seen, is additional evidence that Fort 
 Gage was in Kaskaskia ; although, already enough has been 
 adduced, it is confidently believed, to convince the most 
 skeptical. 
 
292 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 to stand his ground it was their desire he should be 
 able to withstand the siege as long as possible ; besides, 
 if such an order were issued, it would be an excuse 
 for them to their new master, (whom they expected 
 every moment), for furnishing the supplies to the 
 Americans. The Colonel told them he would have 
 all their provisions, and that he would then burn their 
 town "to the enemy's hand." He added that they 
 might send in what they had if they chose to do so. 
 He then again ordered them all out of the fort ; and no 
 sooner had they departed than he had set fire to some 
 out houses, a proceeding which convinced them of his 
 firm determination to fight to the last. ''Never," says 
 Clark, "was a set of people in more distress ; their town 
 set on fire by those they wished to be in friendship 
 with, at the same time surrounded by, the savages, 
 as they believed, from whom they had little else but 
 destruction to expect." 
 
 Owing to the circumstance that there was con- 
 siderable snow on the roofs of the houses, the fire 
 kindled by Clark's orders did not spread to any extent. 
 Meanwhile, the inhabitants looked on without daring 
 to say a word. The Colonel told them he intended to 
 set fire to all the houses that contained much provision, 
 for fear, unless destroyed, the enemy would get it; 
 however, they did not wait to see the commander put 
 his threat into execution, but at once commenced bring- 
 ing their hoarded supplies to the fort;, and, before 
 night, six months' provisions had been deposited there. 
 
 "Not having received a scrape of a pen from you 
 for nearly twelve months," wrote the Colonel after- 
 ward to the Governor, "I could see but little probability 
 of keeping possession of the country, as my number of 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 293 
 
 men was too small to stand a siege, and my situation 
 too remote to call for assistance. I made all the pre- 
 parations I possibly could for the attack, and was ne- 
 cessitated to set fire to some of the houses in town, to 
 clear them out of the way."* 
 
 During the first day after Clark's return, an inci- 
 dent occurred which came very near having a tragical 
 ending. A citizen riding out of town got information 
 that a party of the enemy v/ere going to the island to 
 capture the priest, who was detained there by the 
 floating ice. The man, while desiring to befriend 
 Father Gibault, was at the same time disposed to keep 
 the presence of the enemy a secret from Clark ; so, on 
 his return to the village and meeting the priest's 
 brother-in-law, he related the news to the latter, beg- 
 ging him not to tell the American commander; but 
 he made all haste to inform the Colonel. Thereupon, 
 the citizen who told the story to the relative of Gibault 
 was arrested and ordered to be immediately hanged. 
 Nothing, apparently, would have saved him had not 
 his wife and seven small children been brought before 
 Clark. "This," says the latter, 'Svas a sight too mov- 
 ing not to have granted them the life of their parent," 
 but "on terms that put it out of his power to do any 
 damage to me."f 
 
 The following day Captain Bowman with his own 
 company and one of volunteers reached Kaskaskia 
 
 * Clark to Governor of Virginia, April 29th, 1779. — Jef- 
 ferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222 n. 
 
 t Clark to Mason. — Clark's Campaign m the Illinois, pp. 
 60, 61. It would be a matter of no little interest could it be 
 ascertained what the "terms" were; but they will doubtless 
 never be known. 
 
294 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 from Cahokia.* The weather had cleared awa}^ and 
 the reinforcement gave Clark strong hopes of being 
 able to defy the enemy ; he having still the firm belief 
 that a large force was in the vicinity ready to begin an 
 attack upon him. Spies were sent out in every direc- 
 tion to make discoveries ; the commander hoping to get 
 such an advantage as would enable him, notwithstand- 
 ing the odds were as he supposed against him, to 
 attack them in the environs of the town. By this 
 time, the inhabitants seemed to change their minds 
 and to manifest a desire to aid in defense of the place. 
 And the Colonel was not slow to show them he appre- 
 ciated their readiness to assist him. Soon the spies 
 returned and, to the great relief of all, reported that, 
 instead of an army of huge dimensions there were only 
 about forty whites and Indians in the vicinity, and 
 that they were making their retreat as fast as possible 
 to Vincennes. 
 
 * Bancroft [History of the United States (ed. of 1885), 
 vol. V, p. 313] confounds Captain Joseph Bowman, then in 
 command of a company under Clark with Colonel John Bow- 
 man, of Kentucky. He says: "By his [Clark's] orders, Bow- 
 man of Kentucky joined him, after evacuating the fort at 
 Kahokia, and preparations were made for the defense of 
 Kaskaskia." 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE particulars of the movement of the enemy's 
 small force of Indians from the mouth of the 
 Wabash to the vicinity of Kaskaskia shov^ not 
 a little daring on part of the one in command. Ham- 
 ilton had not contemplated sending any of his men, 
 either Indians or whites, as a war party into the very 
 heart of the Illinois settlements, either for informa- 
 tion or to capture stragglers belonging to the army 
 of Clark. He was content with the knowledge he 
 had already of affairs there, willing to abide the time 
 when the season would admit of his marching on- 
 ward to the Mississippi, But a plan of an Ottawa 
 Indian chief who had, along with other savages and 
 a party of whites, been sent down the Wabash by 
 the Lieutenant Governor to go to the Tennessee river 
 to confer with the Cherokees, as mentioned in a 
 previous chapter, was laid, as before stated, at the 
 mouth of the first mentioned stream, to go on an 
 expedition to the Illinois to take some prisoners.* 
 There went with the party, as already noticed, two 
 French Canadians. The whole marched by land, their 
 objective point. being the immediate vicinity of Kas- 
 kaskia. After a very fa tiguing march they reached 
 
 * Ante, Chap. XV. Hamilton, in his letter to Haldimand 
 of Jan. 24-28, 1779, simply says that "the chief ... (an 
 Ottawa) determined to go on a decouverte to Kaskaskia." 
 But in his letter to the same, of July 6, 1781, he explains, 
 as has been shown, that the chief, having remained sometime 
 at the mouth of the Wabash with his party without taking 
 . any prisoners, "declared he would not return without attempt- 
 ing to be of further service;" so he started for the Illinois 
 towns. (295) 
 
296 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 the Kaskaskia river and crossed over at a point ap- 
 parently above the town, where they secreted them- 
 selves. 
 
 A few of the savages lay concealed near a small 
 branch about three miles from Kaskaskia, and only a 
 hundred yards from the place where the "chair" be- 
 longing to one of Clark's companions was mired when 
 the Colonel, with some others, was on his way to 
 Cahokia as before described, and where the whole had 
 been detained about an hour. "I believe nothing here 
 saved me," says the Colonel, "but the instructions they 
 had not to kill me, or the fear of being overpowered, 
 not having an opportimity to alarm the main body 
 without being discovered themselves." The 
 residue of the party was at this time, about half a mile 
 away — so Clark afterward learned : and he subse- 
 quently became fully persuaded that the enemy's 
 coming was only that he alone should be captured: 
 "Mr. Hamilton . . . had sent a party of forty 
 savages, headed by white men from A'incennes in 
 order if possible to take me prisoner : and he gave 
 such instructions for my treatment as did him no 
 dishonor." And again he speaks of the force of the 
 enemy as having been "sent for no other ptirpose, 
 as we found after, than to take me.""^ In all this, 
 the Colonel was mistaken. It is clear that the Lieu- 
 tenant Governor did not send the Ottawa chief and 
 his Indians to the Illinois at all : and it is certain 
 that the object of their going was not directed against 
 Clark alone, but to take "rebel" prisoners generally. 
 On their way the Indian war-party came upon some 
 "French himters of the Illinois," tirst taking away 
 
 "^ Clark to Mason. — Clark's Cawpaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 53, 61. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 297 
 
 their horses but afterward returning them. They were 
 not otherwise molested/^ French residents of the Ilh- 
 nois were not the kind of prisoners wanted by the 
 savages in this expedition. 
 
 It was now clear to the mind of Clark that the 
 British were in possession of Vincennes and that, con- 
 sequently, an attack by the enemy in force would 
 not be long delayed, though there could be no present 
 danger. The outlook, on the whole, was discourag- 
 ing to the American commander, notwithstanding he 
 had reason to expect a reinforcement to be sent him 
 by the Virginia government. It seemed to the Colonel, 
 after a careful survey of the situation, that all of 
 the Illinois, except the fortification in Kaskaskia 
 guarded by his men, would, in a few months, be 
 again in possession of the English ; — his garrison, 
 he believed, would not surrender unless driven to it 
 by the greatest distress. He sent horsemen in the 
 direction of Vincennes to take a prisoner if possible, 
 
 * Hamilton says, that Charles Beaubien, one of the party, 
 took their horses and would have kept them but for the Ottawa 
 chief who reproached him for acting contrary to his (Hamil- 
 ton's) orders. Beaubien also assured the hunters that the 
 British and their Indian allies intended to recapture their 
 towns and put all the inhabitants to death (Hamilton to 
 Haldimand, July 6, 1781 — Germain MSS.) This "treachery" 
 of Beaubien, Hamilton declares, was the reason why Clark 
 escaped; and this may have been true, as the hunters, now 
 thoroughly frightened, made all haste to the settlement giving 
 the alarm first to some negroes, who quickly notified the Kas- 
 kaskians of the approach of the war party, at the same time 
 greatly exaggerating the number of the approaching enemy. 
 It is probable that "Hamilton's orders" as given to Beaubien 
 were to treat the French and Creole residents of the Illinois 
 as friends; hence the Lieutenant Governor speaks of the 
 words of Beaubien as being treacherous. 
 
298 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 from whom he hoped to gain intelHgence ; but their 
 progress was impeded by high water and they returned 
 empty-handed. 
 
 Now, in the very height of Clark's anxiety, there 
 arrived at Kaskaskia, on the evening of the twenty- 
 ninth of January, Francis A igo, of the firm of Vigo 
 and Gosti, merchants of St. Louis, connected in bus- 
 iness with the Governor of Upper Louisiana. Vigo 
 was just from Vincennes, whither he had gone early 
 in December* on his own private business. t He was 
 there when the place was taken by Hamilton,^ but 
 was detained by the Lieutenant Governor. However, 
 he soon found means of escaping,§ and while on his 
 way back to St. Louis, stopped at Kaskaskia. || 
 
 The Colonel lost no time in writing to the Vir- 
 ginia governor, giving the particulars he had just 
 
 * Vigo must have started for Vincennes after the fourth 
 of December, as he cashed a draft on that day either at Kas- 
 kaskia or St. Louis, drawn by Clark on Oliver Pollock, the 
 Virginia agent at New Orleans. (See A Centennial Lawsuit. 
 By. C. C. Baldwin. Western Reserve and Nortlicrn Ohio 
 Historical Society's Tract, No. 35, Dec. 1876.) 
 
 t "On his lawful business" : "Bowman's Journal" in De- 
 partment of State MSS. It is the same when printed in 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 99. 
 
 I Clark to Mason. — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 63. 
 
 § Clark to the Governor of Virginia, Feb. 3d [Jan. 30th], 
 1779. (Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, pp. 315, 
 316). The imprisonment of Vigo by Hamilton was only to 
 detain him in Vincennes. Being a Spanish subject he was 
 well treated, — only required to report himself once a day 
 at headquarters, but his merchandise was confiscated. 
 
 II Vigo did not go to St. Louis first as has been very 
 generally asserted. (See Appendix to our narrative. Note 
 LXXX.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 299 
 
 received from Vigo : *'No attack is to be made on 
 the garrison at Kaskaskia until the Spring. The 
 passage is too difficult at. present. His Indians are 
 sent to war against different parts of the country, 
 especially Kentucky. Belts, presents, and speeches 
 are sent to all the nations south of the Ohio, request- 
 ing- them immediately to meet at a general council 
 at the mouth of the Tennessee river, to lay the best 
 plans for cutting off the rebels in the Illinois and 
 in Kentucky." 
 
 'The Grande Couette and his nation," continued 
 the Colonel, "living at Port St. Vincent [Vincennes] 
 told Hamilton that he and his people were Big Knives 
 and would not give their hands any more to the 
 English ; for he would shortly see his father who was 
 at Kaskaskia. There are ninety regulars in the gar- 
 rison at Vincennes ; also a few volunteers, and about 
 fifty Shawanese Indians, that are shortly to go to 
 war. They are very busy in repairing the fort, which 
 will shortly be very strong. One brass six-pounder, 
 two iron four-pounders, and two swivels, are mounted 
 in the bastions. They have plenty of ammunition and 
 provisions, and all kinds of warlike stores, and are 
 making preparations for the reduction of the Illinois 
 and other places held by the rebels. They have no 
 suspicions of a visit from the Americans. This was 
 Mr. Hamilton's circumstances when Mr. Vigo left 
 him."* But he also informed Clark that Hamilton's 
 force when the Governor reached Vincennes consisted 
 of thirty regulars, with fifty French volunteers and 
 
 * Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, pp. 315, 316. 
 The Piankeshaw chief, Grande Couette (or Coite), is men- 
 tioned by Clark as the "Grand Kite." The Colonel's knowl- 
 edge of the French language was limited. 
 
300 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 about four hundred Indians,"^ and further that he 
 not onlv took the fort with Capt. Hehn and several 
 other Americans who were there, but sectired a num- 
 ber of horses designed for Kentucky. f 
 
 Hamilton was fully in the belief, when he heard 
 of the desertion of the corporal and six men of La- 
 mothe's company at the mouth of the Wabash, that 
 they went directly to Kaskaskia, where some of the 
 men had relatives living- ;t and he subsequently de- 
 clared they were the first to give Clark intelligence 
 of his being at A'incennes.§ It is doubtful if he ever 
 learned the real otTender was \'igo. 
 
 If the situation had before appeared desperate to 
 the American commander, it seemed no less critical 
 on his getting the intelligence communicated by Vigo. 
 "At this moment." he subsequently wrote, "I would 
 have bound myself seven years a slave to have had 
 live hundred troops." The only probable way to main- 
 tain the country was, in his judginent, to take ad- 
 vangtage at once of Hamilton's weakness : perhaps 
 he might be fortunate. He considered the inclemency 
 of the season and the badness of the roads, or trails, 
 an advantage: as the enemy would be more off the/r 
 guard in all quarters. So the next day after ^'igo's 
 appearance, he collected his ofiicers about him and told 
 
 * "Bowman's Journal" in Department of State ^MSS. 
 (.See also Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 99.) 
 
 t "Bowman's Journal.** Department of State MSS. (See 
 as to Clark's published errors concerning the information 
 brought him by Vigo. Appendix to our narrative. Note 
 LXXXI.) 
 
 t Hamikon to Haldimand. Jan. 24-30. 177P. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 § Same to same. July (.>. 17S1. — Germain MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 301 
 
 them what he bjcHeved the chances were for success. 
 They agreed with their commander ; and all were 
 eager for the trial.* 
 
 As a number of days must have passed after Vigo 
 left Vincennes before his arrival at Kaskaskia — that 
 fact accounts for his not knowing of the return home 
 of most of the savages from the place first mentioned. 
 Had Clark known of the departure of the Indians, 
 his determination to march against Hamilton would 
 not have seemed so desperate. 
 
 ''30th [Jan.] — On which CoL Clark called a coun- 
 cil with his officers and it was concluded to go and 
 attack Gov. Hamilton at all events; for fear, if it 
 was let alone 'till the spring, that he with his Indians 
 would undoubtedly cut us all ofif. — "Bowman's 
 Journal" in the department of State MSS. (See ap- 
 pendix to our narrative, Note LXXXII, concerning 
 some published errors as to the reasons inducing 
 Clark to undertake the capture of Hamilton in Vin- 
 cennes." 
 
 It was immediately after taking his resolution that 
 Clark wrote the Governor of Virginia : 
 
 ''As it is now near twelve months since I have 
 had the least intelligence from you, I almost despair 
 of any relief being sent to me. I have, for many 
 months past, had reports of an [American] army 
 marching against Detroit, but no certainty. A late 
 maneuver of the famous Hair-Buyer General, Henry 
 Hamilton, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of Detroit, 
 has alarmed us much. On the sixteenth [17th] of 
 December, last, he, with a body of six hundred men, 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp, 
 63, 64. 
 
302 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 composed of regulars, French volunteers, and Indians, 
 took possession of St. Vincent [Vincennes] on the 
 Wabash and what few men composed the garrison, 
 they not being able to make the least defense. Ham- 
 ilton is influencing all the Indians he possibly can to 
 join him. I learn that those who have treated with 
 me, have as yet refused his offers. I have for some 
 time expected an attack from him. He has blocked 
 up the Ohio river with a party of French and Indians." 
 "Being sensible," Clark continued," that, with- 
 out a reinforcement, which, at present I have hardly 
 a right to expect, I shall be obliged to give up the 
 country to Mr. Hamilton, unless there is a turn of 
 fortune in my favor, I am resolved to take advantage 
 of his present situation and risk the whole in a single 
 battle. I shall set out in a few days with all the force 
 I can raise of my own troops and a few militia that 
 I can depend on," "I know," he added, "the case is 
 desperate; but, sir, we must either quit the country 
 or attack Mr. Hamilton. No time is to be lost. Were 
 I sure of a reinforcement, I should not attempt it. 
 Who knows what fortune will do for us? Great 
 things have been effected by a few men well con- 
 ducted. Perhaps we may be fortunate. We have 
 this consolation, that our cause is just, and that our 
 country will be grateful and not condemn our con- 
 duct in case we fall through. If we fail, the Illinois 
 as well as Kentucky, I believe, is lost."* 
 
 * Clark to the Governor of Virginia, Feb. 3 [Jan. 30], 
 1779. (Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, pp. 315, 
 316.) It will be noticed that even in writing so soon after 
 his conversation with Vigo, the Colonel exaggerated some- 
 what — placing the whole body of men imder Hamilton who 
 took possession of Vincennes at six hundred. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 303 
 
 So it was the American commander saw there 
 was no alternative; he must attack the enemy in 
 Vincennes. He must take Hamilton or Hamilton 
 would take him. 
 
 So soon as Clark had matured his plans, he 
 aroused himself to the utmost exertion. On the last 
 day of January, he sent an express to Captain Richard 
 McCarty, who had gone back to Cahokia with the 
 volunteer company that came away when Captain 
 Bowman left there, ordering him to return to Kas- 
 kaskia. The determination of the American com- 
 mander to march against Vincennes was quickly 
 known throughout all the Illinois towns. "The whole 
 country," he wrote, "took fire at the alarm; and 
 every order was executed with cheerfulness by every 
 description of the inhabitants." Provisions were pre- 
 pared; volunteering was encouraged; "and, as we 
 had plenty of stores," adds the Commander, "every 
 man was completely rigged with what he could de- 
 sire to withstand the coldest weather.""^ 
 
 The Colonel conducted himself as though he was 
 sure of taking Hamilton ; and he instructed his of- 
 ficers "to observe the same rule." In a day or two, 
 the inhabitants all seemed to believe it. Many per- 
 sons, anxious to retrieve their character for loyalty 
 to the American cause, enlisted for the expedition. 
 The ladies, also, began to be spirited and to interest 
 themselves in the undertaking, "which had great ef- 
 fect on the young men."t 
 
 '''Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 138. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois^ 
 p. 64. 
 
304 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 On the first day of February, in accordance with 
 Clark's determination of two day's previous, orders 
 were given for "a large bateau" — which, in reality, 
 was a small galley, fitted out some time previous — 
 to be got ready for the expedition. It was finished on 
 the third, "completely fitted up," and her loading, 
 consisting of provisions "and great stores of ammuni- 
 tion," put on board, together with two four-pounders 
 and four large swivels. This guij-boat, the first one 
 prepared by the Americans west of Pittsburg, was 
 named the Willing, in honor of Captain James Will- 
 ing. She w^as manned by forty-six men and a lieu- 
 tenant — "a fine company" — all under command of 
 Lieutenant John Rogers. "This vessel when com- 
 plete," afterwards wrote Clark, "was much admired 
 by the inhabitants, as no such thing had been seen 
 in the country before. I had great expectations from 
 her." 
 
 Lieutenant Rogers was directed to force his way 
 up the Wabash to within ten leagues of Vincennes 
 (as high as the mouth of the ^^^hite river), and 16 
 secrete himself until further orders ; but if he found 
 himself discovered, he was to do the enemy all the 
 damage he could without running too great a risk of 
 losing his vessel, and not to leave the river until he 
 had no longer hope of Clark's arrival by land ; but, 
 by all means, he was to conduct himself so as to give 
 no suspicion of the approach of the American com- 
 mander. If Clark should suft'er defeat, the boat was 
 to join Col. David Rogers on the Mississippi. This 
 officer, who was a member of the Virginia senate, on 
 the fourteenth of January," 1778, had been selected by 
 Governor Henry to proceed to New Orleans to bring 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 305 
 
 up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers some goods sent 
 there by Spain for that State — 'Svhich you will take," 
 said the Governor in his instructions, "under your 
 care and safely convey home." "You are to take my 
 instructions to Colonel Clark," continued Henry, "by 
 which he is directed to escort you homeward." Rogers 
 raised a small party of men in the Redstone (now 
 Brownsville) region of Pennsylvania and in keel-boats 
 floated down, after considerable trouHe and delay, 
 to New Orleans. When he arrived, he found he 
 would have to return to St. Louis to obtain the goods ; 
 he started up the Mississippi for that purpose. How- 
 ever, early in October, 1779, after reaching a point 
 just above the mouth of the Licking river on the Ohio, 
 his force was attacked by Indians, a large portion killed 
 or taken prisoners, and much of his cargo captured. 
 Rogers was killed. The Willing left Kaskaskia about 
 two o'clock in the afternoon of the fourth of Feb- 
 ruary.* 
 
 About ten o'clock of the same day of the de- 
 parture of the gun-boat. Captain McCarty arrived with 
 a company of volunteers from Cahokia ; and, on the 
 fifth, a company was raised in Kaskaskia under the 
 
 * Clark to Gov. Henry of Virginia, Feb. 3 [Jan. 30], 1779: 
 Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, p. 316. Jefferson's 
 Works, vol. I, p. 222 n. "Bowman's Journal," of Feb. 1, 
 1779, Department of State MSS., — and as printed in Clark's 
 Campaign in the Illinois, p. 99. See, also, p. 64 — Clark to 
 Mason -^ printed in the work last cited; and Clark's Memoir 
 — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 138. For the fact that 
 there was a lieutenant of the crew — not the commander of 
 the boat — I am indebted to another and trustworthy account. 
 (See, also, as to the Willing, Appendix to our narrative, Note 
 LXXXIII.) 
 
 20 
 
S06 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 command of Captain Charleville. A pack-horse mas- 
 ter had previously been appointed and ordered to 
 prepare pack-saddles and other necessars- equipments 
 for the horses which were to be taken alongf. Pro- 
 visions, also, sufficient in quantity, as was supposed, 
 to supply the men on the march, were pro^dded."^ 
 
 "The principal persons which follow me on this 
 forlorn hop)e," wTOte the American commander be- 
 fore starting', "are Captains Joseph Bowman, John 
 Williams. Edward ^^'orthington. Richard ^IcCart\- and 
 Francis Charleville; Lieutenants Richard Brashear, 
 Wliliam Keller, Abraham Chapline, John Gerault, and 
 John Bayley: also several other brave subalterns. 
 You must be sensible of the feeling I have for these 
 brave officers and soldiers that are determined to share 
 my fate, let it be what it will."T 
 
 "^ See Appendix. Note LXXXIV. :is :o error concerning 
 the supplies taken along by Clark. 
 
 t Qark to the Governor of Virginia, February 3 [Jan. 30], 
 1779. {Calendar of J'irginia State Papers, vol. I. pp. 315, 
 316), before cited. I ha\-e corrected Qark's spelling of sev- 
 eral names. In his letter to Mason, the Colonel says he was 
 "^joined by two volunteer companies of the principal young 
 men of the Illinois, commanded by Captains McCarty and 
 Charleville : those of the troops were commanded by Captains 
 Bowman, Williams and Worthington, of the light horse." 
 {dark's Campaign in the lUimois, p. 65.) 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ON the fifth day of February, 1779, all prepara- 
 tions for the march from Kaskaskia to Vin- 
 cennes having been completed, Colonel Clark 
 and his little band (himself at its head) moved out 
 of the place under escort of the inhabitants of the 
 village.* Father Gibault "after a very suitable dis- 
 course," gave them — one hundred and seventy in 
 number — absolution; "and we set out," wrote the 
 Commander subsequently, "on a forlorn hope indeed; 
 for our whole party, with the boat's crew, consisted 
 of only a little upwards of two hundred. I cannot 
 account for it, but I still had inward assurance of 
 success, and never could, when weighing every cir- 
 cumstance, doubt it. But I had some secret check."t 
 The Colonel left the fort in Kaskaskia governed 
 by the militia — about every other one of the able- 
 bodied men enrolling themselves to guard the several 
 
 *"0n the 5th I marched": Clark to Mason — Clark's 
 Campaign in the Illinois, p. 65. The same date is given in 
 Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 139, and 
 in "Bowman's Journal," in the Department of State MSS. 
 There can be no doubt about that being the day of starting; 
 and yet, in his letter to the Governor of Virginia of the 29th 
 of April {lefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222 n), the Colonel 
 says: "I marched on the 7th of February." It was a slip 
 of his memory; or, he may not, for. certain reasons hereafter 
 mentioned, have considered the 5th and 6th as really marching 
 days. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 
 — . (See as to the entire force which went against Vincennes, 
 Appendix to our narrative. Note LXXXV.) 
 
 (307) 
 
SOS HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 villages. The distance to be traveled was about two 
 hundred miles,"^ "through, I suppose," afterwards 
 wrote Clark, "one of the most beautiful countries in 
 the world, but, at this time, in many parts flowing 
 with water, and the marching exceedingly bad." 
 
 After crossing the Kaskaskia river, at about three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, the march began. Clark rode 
 a horse which had been brought from New ^lexico, 
 — "The finest stalHon by far that is in the coimtrv%" 
 wrote the Colonel subsequently.f Only about three 
 miles were made the first day, when they encamped, 
 the weather being rainy and drizzly. Here they lay 
 the next day, — starting early, however, on the seventh 
 and making a good day's ' progress — nine leagues, 
 notwithstanding the roads were heavy, owing to mud 
 and water. Their camp that night was pitched in a 
 square — baggage in the center ; each company was 
 to guard its own. Fortunately, though the weather 
 was wet. it was not cold for the season. t 
 
 The route the army was following was one knowTi 
 as the "Vincennes trace," from Kaskaskia to Vin- 
 cennes. It was a portion of the same trail, leading 
 on to \\'ea — thence to Detroit — traveled at an early 
 day by the French and Indians, from the Mississippi 
 to the lakes — from Louisiana to Canada. It bore off 
 to the northeastward, but inclining northward to avoid 
 
 "^ Appendix. Xore LXXXVI. 
 
 t Clark to Gov. Henry, March 9. 1779. — Haldimand ]^ISS. 
 
 t "Bowman's Journal," Feb. 7, 1779. — Department of State 
 MSS. In this Journal as printed — Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois (p. 100) — the "leagues" marched are mentioned as 
 "hours." Compare, in connection with this da^-'s march, Clark 
 to Mason, in the work last cited (p. 65) : also Clark's 
 Memoir — Dillons Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 139. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 30S 
 
 the deep water in some of the rivers necessary to be 
 crossed. 
 
 On the eighth ''[we] marched," says one of the 
 men, in his record of that day, ''early through the 
 water, which we now began to meet in those large 
 and level plains, where, from the flatness of the coun- 
 try, [it] rests a considerable time before it drains off. 
 Notwithstanding [which] our men were in great spirits 
 though much fatigued."* 
 
 The next day — the ninth — the march was re- 
 sumed. Only a moderate day's progress was made, 
 as it rained most of the timef The Petit ForkJ was 
 reached on the tenth, but its waters were so high, 
 "there was no fording it ;" so it had to be crossed on 
 trees that were cut down for that purpose. It was still 
 raining; and, as there were no tents brought along, 
 the stormy weather made it disagreeable for all dur- 
 ing their encampment that night, which was near the 
 river. The next day, the Saline river was crossed. 
 On the twelfth, "numbers of buffaloes" were seen and 
 killed. The road was very bad from the immense 
 quantity, of rain that had fallen, and, as a conse- 
 quence, the men were very tired. The encampment 
 was made that night on the edge of the woods ; the 
 prairie — "Cat Plain," as it was then called — which 
 
 * "Bowman's Journal." 
 
 t"9th. Made a moderate day's march, rain'd most of 
 the day" — "Bowman's Journal" in Department of State MSS. 
 But, when printed, the entry reads: "9th. Made another 
 day's march. Fair the part of the day." See Clark's Caiii- 
 paign in the Illinois, p. 100. 
 
 J "Bowman's Journal" — C/a;-^',y Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 100, correcting the entry in the MS. Journal, where it is 
 given "Petit Ford." 
 
310 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 had just been traversed, being fifteen miles or more 
 across, it was late in the night before the baggage and 
 troops got together. From this point Vincennes was 
 twenty-one French leagues — about fifty miles — dis- 
 tant, in a direction a little north of east.* 
 
 Thus far on the march, the spirits of the men 
 were excellent. They had been permitted "to shoot 
 game on all occasions," says Clark, "and feast on it 
 like Indian war-dancers — each company by turns in- 
 viting the other to their feasts, which was the case 
 every night, as the company that was to give the 
 feast was always supplied with horses to lay up a 
 sufficient store of wild meat in the course of the 
 day — myself and principal officers putting on the 
 woodsmen, shouting now and then, and running as 
 much through the mud and water as any of them.f 
 
 It was early on the thirteenth that the drowned 
 lands of the Little Wabash were reached. The first 
 obstruction of any consequence was now encountered. 
 The two Wabashes — that is, the Little Wabash and 
 a tributary flowing into it from the north — were 
 before them, and although three miles apart they made 
 but one stream, the overflowed water between them 
 being at least three feet deep and in many places 
 four. It was nearly five miles to the opposite hills, 
 and, in that distance, the shallowest place, except 
 about a hundred yards, was three feet. "This," said 
 the Colonel afterwards, "would have been enough 
 
 * Bowman's Journal" — Department of State MSS. The 
 printed Journal erroneously gives twenty-one miles. (See 
 Appendix to our narrative, Note LXXXVII.) 
 
 t Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 139. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note LXXXVIII.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 311 
 
 to have stopped any set of men not in the same 
 temper we were." 
 
 ''We reached on the 13th [the banks of the Little 
 Wabash], through incredible difficulties," is the sub- 
 sequent relation of Clark, ''far surpassing anything 
 that any of us had ever experienced. Frequently the 
 diversions of the night wore off the thoughts of the 
 preceding day. We formed a camp on a height which 
 we found on the bank of the river, and suffered our 
 troops to amuse themselves. I viewed this sheet of 
 water for some time with distrust ; but, accusing my- 
 self of doubting, I immediately set to work, without 
 holding any consultation about it, or suffering any 
 body else to do so in my presence ; oxdered a pirogue 
 to be built immediately, and acted as though crossing 
 the water would be only a piece of diversion. As 
 but few could work at the pirogue at a time, pains 
 were taken to find diversion for the rest, to keep 
 them in high spirits.""^ 
 
 The pirogue was finished the next day, and was 
 put into the river about four o'clock in the after- 
 noon. It was manned and sent to explore the drowned 
 lands on the opposite side of the united streams. The 
 crew had private instructions from the Colonel what 
 to report on their return ; and, if possible, they were 
 to find some spot of dry land. They found about 
 half an acre, and marked the trees thence back to 
 the camp ; they brought back, of course, a very 
 
 "^Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 139, 140. "Bowman's Journal" of the 13th of Feb., in Depart- 
 ment of State MSS. and as printed — Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, p. 101. Clark, in his letter to Mason (p. QQ of the 
 work last cited), calls the pirogue "a large canoe," which 
 it really was. 
 
312 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXQCEST. ETC. 
 
 favorable account. No attempt was made to utilize 
 the pirogTie again until the iifteenth, when the tirst 
 channel was ferried across, the men going no farther 
 than to shallow water on the opposite side. There 
 they erected a scaffold on which was placed the bag- 
 gage, which had been brought along, where it re- 
 mained until they swam the horses over, when it 
 was placed upon their backs and thus taken to the 
 edge of the second channel, tlie canoe again ferr}- 
 ing the men over, as had been done in the first in- 
 stance, when another scaffold was built and the bag- 
 gage placed upon it. The horses were then made to 
 swim a second time; and when this scaffold was 
 reached, they were again loaded : and men and animals 
 wTided in safet\- to tlie high ground, where a camp 
 was made. This transit was accomplished in one 
 day, and much of the time it was raining.* Orders 
 were then issued not to fire any g^ns for the future, 
 except in case of necessity.y Caution was necessarv* 
 because of the near approach to tlie enemy. 
 
 The march on tlie sixteenth was continued, but 
 under difficulties, as it rained the w*hole time and 
 the njen were continually compelled to wade through 
 
 " Appendix. Xj:e LXXXIX. 
 
 ■^ The wording of "Bowman's Journal" in die Department 
 of State MSS-, for the fifteenth is as follows : 
 
 "15. Ferried across the two Wabashes with it [the canoe : 
 — it] being then five miles in water to the opposite hills. 
 where we encamped. Still raining. Orders given to fire no 
 gtms in future, except in cases of necessity." As printed 
 {Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 101), the words are 
 these, for the same date: "loth. Ferried across the two 
 Wabashes. it being then fi\-e miles in water to the opposite 
 hills, where we encamped. Still raining. Orders not to fire 
 any guns for the future but in case of necessity." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 313 
 
 water. Another small river was forded, when, un- 
 fortunately, provisions for the force began to grow 
 short.* 
 
 Early on the seventeenth, the march was resumed ; 
 several very deep runs were crossed. Patrick Ken- 
 nedy, commissary of the little army, was then sent 
 with three men to endeavor to cross the river Em- 
 barrass, and proceed to a point on the west side of 
 the Wabash opposite Vincennes, where there was a 
 plantation, — there to steal, if possible, boats or canoes 
 to ferry the troops over the stream last mentioned, 
 which the force was now approaching. The low 
 lands of the Embarrass were soon reached by Clark, 
 — only nine miles from Fort Sackville, but the post 
 was on the east side of the Wabash ; and it was 
 not much of an exaggeration of the Colonel when he 
 declared, — "and every foot of the way covered with 
 deep water." 
 
 The Colonel and his men got near the Embarrass 
 about an hour before sunset. f This river enters the 
 Wabash on the w^est not a great distance below Vin- 
 cennes, its general course being southeast. The Colonel 
 now strove to find the parent stream. After traveling 
 till eight o'clock in mud and water still the Wabash 
 was not reached, nor was there any place on which 
 to encamp. Presently Mr. Kennedy and his party 
 returned, having found it impossible to cross the Em- 
 
 * The stream crossed on the sixteenth is given in "Bow- 
 man's Journal," {Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 101), 
 as "Fox river;" in Clark's Memoir [Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 
 1859), p. 141], as "Fur river;" in "Bowman's Journal" in 
 the Department of State MSS., the name is not mentioned. 
 The probability is that "Fox river" is the true reading. 
 
 t Appendix, Note XC. 
 
314 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXQUEST, ETC. 
 
 barrass. At length a small spot of ground was dis- 
 covered from which the water had fallen and upon 
 it the army staid the remainder of the night. The 
 weather was dark and drizzly.* 
 
 At break of day, on the eighteenth, Hamilton's 
 morning gun in Fort Sackville was heard. Clark set 
 off and marched down the Embarrass. Some fine land 
 was seen. At about two o'clock, the bank of the 
 \\'abash was reached. Rafts for four men to cross 
 the river were made, to enable them to go up to 
 Mncennes to steal boats ; but the attempt proved 
 abortive. They spent the day and the night on some 
 old logs in the water to no purpose, for there was 
 not one foot of dry land to be found ; they got back 
 to their comrades the next day at three o'clock. The 
 camp of the army for the night was about ten miles 
 from Mncennes. The army had marched nine miles 
 down the Embarrass and the distance was greater 
 to Fort Sackville than at the point where the stream 
 was first reached. There was not, the Colonel sub- 
 sequently declared, more than one-quarter of the ten 
 miles yet to be traveled "that was not three feet 
 and upwards under water, and there was not a mouth- 
 ful of provisions left.y 
 
 On the nineteenth Captain ^IcCart\^'s company 
 was set at work making a canoe. When it was 
 finished three men embarked in it along with the 
 
 * "Bowman's Journal" of the seventeenth. See also Clark 
 to Mason— Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 66. In Clark's 
 Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 141 — "Bowman's 
 Journal'' for the day is copied, but Mr. Kennedy's name is 
 given incorrecth^ as "Kernedy." 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 66. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 315 
 
 Captain, to make still another (the third) attempt to 
 steal boats. The party, however, soon returned, hav- 
 ing discovered four large fires about a league up the 
 river which seemed to be those of whites and Indians. 
 
 As yet nothing had been heard of the Willing. 
 Clark ordered two men into the canoe with directions 
 to drop down the Wabash until they met Lieutenant 
 Rogers and his galley. Word was sent the com- 
 mander of the boat to come on day and night, as 
 that seemed now about the last hope of the little 
 army. Many of the men were much cast down, par- 
 ticularly the volunteers. They had had no provisions 
 of any sort for two days. It is not too much, to 
 say starvation stared them in the face. It seemed 
 indeed a "hard fortune.""^ 
 
 Here is the suggestive entry of one of the force 
 in his journal for the next day — the twentieth: 
 ''Camp very quiet, but hungry. Some almost in de- 
 spair. Many of the Creole volunteers talk of return- 
 ing." But the subsequent narration of Clark adds 
 somewhat of a silver lining to this dark cloud : ''Many 
 of our volunteers began, for the first time, to de- 
 spair. Some talked of returning; but my situation 
 was now such that T was past all uneasiness. I 
 laughed at them without persuading or ordering them 
 to desist from any such attempt; but told them I 
 should be glad if they would go out and kill some 
 deer. They went, confused with such conduct. M31 
 own troops I knew had no idea of abandoning an 
 enterprise for the want of provisions while there were 
 plenty of good horses in their possession ; and I 
 * "Bowman's Journal" for the nineteenth. 
 
316 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 knew that, without any violence, the vohmteers could 
 be 4<^tained for a few days, in the course of which 
 time our fate would be knowm. I conducted myself 
 in a manner that caused the whole to believe that 1 
 had no doubt of success, which kept their spirits 
 up."* 
 
 Orders were now given for the making of more 
 canoes. At noon, a boat on the river was brought 
 to having on board five Frenchmen from Vincennes. 
 Clark was informed by them that he was not as 
 yet discovered, and that the inhabitants were well- 
 disposed toward the Americans. They also gave in- 
 formation that Captain Williams' brother, who had 
 been captured just after leaving Fort Sackville with 
 the letter of Captain Helm to Clark in his care, had 
 made his escape ; and that Francis Maisonville, with 
 a party of Indians, were then seven days in pursuit 
 of him.f The Colonel likewise • obtained from the 
 Frenchmen a full report of the repairs made to the 
 fort, of its strength, and of the number of men con- 
 stituting the garrison. He was told by them of two 
 canoes being adrift some distance up the Wabash; 
 whereupon Captain Worthington was ordered, with a 
 party, to go in search of them. He returned late, one 
 only having been secured. One of Clark's men, be- 
 fore dark, killed a deer, which was brought into 
 camp ; "this was very acceptable." 
 
 At daybreak, on the twenty-first of Februar>^, the 
 ferrying over the Wabash in two canoes — the one 
 captured, also one just completed — to a small hill 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 141 n. 
 
 t Appendix. Note XCI. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 317 
 
 called the ''Lower Mamelle," began.* Clark would 
 have crossed at a greater distance from Vincennes, 
 but the White river coming in just below made him 
 fearful of getting too near it. All reached the op- 
 posite (left) bank of the Wabash in safety, the horses 
 being left behind in care of a guard detailed for that 
 purpose.f Captain Williams was sent ahead to look 
 for a passage on the east side of the stream to the 
 town, he having crossed the river with the first who 
 reached the eastern shore for that purpose, taking with 
 him two men. The three were discovered by two 
 men in a canoe, and as they could not be "brought 
 to," Captain Williams thought it advisable to return. 
 The whole force being across the river, Clark thought 
 he might reach the town that night; so the men 
 plunged into the water, sometimes up to the neck, and 
 continued wading for more than three miles, when 
 a halt was called on a second hill called also "Ma- 
 melle." It rained all day and there were no provisions. 
 Here they encamped. It was the opinion of the pilots 
 that no further progress could be made. 
 
 The record of one of the men for the twenty- 
 second of the month though exceedingly brief, is 
 suggestive : "Colonel Clark encouraged his men which 
 gave them great spirits. Marched on in the water. 
 Those that were weak and faintish from so much 
 
 * "21st. [Feb.]. At break of day began to ferry our men 
 over in our two canoes to a small little hill called the Lower 
 Mamelle (or Bubble)." — ''Bowman's Journal" in Department 
 
 of State MSS. 
 
 ' "21st [Feb.]. At break of day began to ferry our men 
 over in our two canoes to a small hill." Same in Clark's 
 Campaign in the Illinois, p. 102. 
 
 t This fact sufficiently appears hereafter. 
 
318 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 fatigue went in the canoes. We came one league 
 farther to some sugar camps, where we staid all night. 
 Heard the evening and morning guns from the fort 
 [in Vincennes]. No provisions yet. Lord help us!"* 
 
 The five Frenchmen who were from Vincennes 
 and were taken on the river below, on the twentieth, 
 gave information at this time concerning the route 
 that was of value of Clark. It was from them the 
 Colonel got knowledge of the sugar camps on the 
 bank of the river, where he was now encamped. Years 
 after, Clark wrote that he had, on learning from 
 their conversation, the position of the high ground., 
 sent a canoe to examine the route, which returned 
 without finding the passage there feasible. He adds 
 that he then went himself and sounded the water and 
 found it as deep as to his neck. "1 returned," are 
 his words in addition, "with a design to have the 
 men transported on board the canoes to the sugar 
 camp, which I knew would take the whole day and 
 ensuing night as the vessels would pass slowly through 
 the bushes. The loss of so much time to men half 
 starved was a matter of consequence. I would have 
 given a great deal for a day's provision." 
 
 Clark continues : 'T returned but slowly to the 
 troops, giving myself time to think. On our arrival, 
 all ran to hear what was the report. Every eye was 
 fixed on me. I unfortunately spoke in a serious man- 
 ner to one of the officers; the whole were alarmed 
 without knowing what I said. I viewed their con- 
 
 * "Bowman's Journal" for this day as printed — Clark' ^ 
 Campaign in the Illinois, p. 103 — agrees with the one in the 
 Department of State MSS., except as to the single word 
 "faintish," which is given as "famished,'"' which does not 
 express the true idea. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 319 
 
 fusion for' about one minute — whispered to those 
 near to me to do as I did; immediately I put some 
 water in my hand, poured on powder, blackened my 
 face, gave the wharwhoop, and marched into the 
 water without saying a word. The party gazed and 
 fell in silently, one after another, like a flock of sheep. 
 I ordered those near me to begin a favorite song of 
 theirs ; it soon passed through the line, and the whole 
 went on cheerfully."'^ 
 
 Clark also says : 'T now intended to have them 
 transported across the deepest part of the water; 
 but when about waist deep, one of the men informed 
 me that he thought he felt a path. We examined 
 and found it so, and concluded that it kept on the 
 highest ground, which it did, and by taking pains to 
 follow it, we got to the sugar camp without the 
 least difficulty, where was about half an acre of dry 
 ground, — at least not under water, where we took 
 up our lodging."f 
 
 At this time, the five Frenchmen from Vincennes 
 appeared to be uneasy at the situation. They begged 
 of the Colonel that they might go in the two canoes 
 to town that night. They said they would bring from 
 their own houses provisions without a possibility of 
 any one knowing it ; that some of his men should 
 go with them as a surety for their good conduct; 
 and that it was impossible for the army to march any 
 farther until the water fell, as the plain was too 
 deep to be traversed. Some of the officers thought 
 the plan might be adopted, but Clark would not 
 sufl:"er it to be done. 'T never could," are his words 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 142, 143. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note XCII.) 
 t Clark's Memoir, loc. cit. 
 
320 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 subsequently, "well account for this piece of obstinacy 
 and give satisfactory reasons to myself or anybody 
 else why I denied a proposition apparently so easy 
 to execute and of so much advantage, but something 
 seemed to tell me that it should not be done, and 
 it was not done."* 
 
 It was very early in the morning of the twenty- 
 third that the little army, "prodigiously hungry," be- 
 g-an its march.f At tlie very commencement, there 
 was a stretch of land called the "Horseshoe Plain," 
 more than three miles across, "all covered with water 
 breast high." Here it was thought some of the men 
 would surely perish, — it having frozen in the nightj 
 aud all had been so long fasting. Having no other 
 resource but wading this plain (or rather lake) of 
 waters, they plunged into it with courage. Colonel 
 Clark being first, taking care to have the boats close 
 by to take those that were weak and numbed with 
 cold, into them.i" Xever were men so animated with 
 
 * Clark's Memoir, loc. oit. But before giving these inci- 
 dents, Clark confounds the day in which they took place 
 with the previous one. He also says in connection with his 
 remarks concerning the scarcity of provisions that he would 
 have given a great deal for one of his horses, — his meaning 
 doubtless was — that it might have been killed and served 
 out as food to his men. 
 
 t Clark's Journal — entry of Feb. 23, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. This Journal is not to be confounded with "Bowman's 
 Journal" or Clark's Memoir. (See Appendix to our narra- 
 tive. Note CXXVII.) 
 
 t "Bowman's Journal" as printed. Is evidently at fault in 
 sa>-ing Clark took "care to have the boats fry to take those 
 that were weak and numbed with the cold into them" (the 
 italicising is mine). I have followed the one in the Depart- 
 ment of State !MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 321 
 
 the thought of avenging the wrongs done to their 
 back settlements as this small army was."* 
 
 Pressing onward against such almost insurmount- 
 able obstacles, keeping up good hearts in hopes of a 
 speedy sight of the town, at last, at not later than 
 two o'clock in the afternoon, the long-sought village 
 came in sight. *'The spirit of my men," wrote Clark, 
 "seemed to revive." "We marched up under cover 
 of a wood," adds the Colonel, "called the 'Warriors' 
 island,' where we lay concealed until sunset. "t 
 
 "To our inexpressible joy in the evening of the 
 twenty-third," wrote the commander subsequently, 
 "we got safe on terra firma within half a league of the 
 fort, covered by a small grove of trees, where we 
 had a full view of the wished-for spot. "J 
 
 In after years Clark recorded a number of inci- 
 dents of this day not mentioned in any contem- 
 poraneous accounts : "The most of the weather we 
 had on this march [from Kaskaskia] was moist and 
 warm for the season. This [the one of the twenty- 
 third of February] was the coldest night we had. The 
 ice in the morning was from one-half to three-quarters 
 of an inch thick near the shores and in still water. 
 
 * "Bowman's Journal," entry of Feb. 23, 1779. As to the 
 spirits of the men, notwithstanding their famishing condition, 
 Clark, in his Journal, says : "Set off very early [on the 
 morning of the 23d] ; waded better than three miles on a 
 stretch; our people prodigious [ly hungry], yet they keep up 
 a good heart in hopes of a speedy sight of our enemy." 
 
 t Clark's Journal. — Haldimand MSS. In "Bowman's 
 Journal" as printed "Warriors' island" is incorrectly given as 
 "Warren's Island" — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 104. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 67. 
 
 21 
 
322 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The morning [of the twenty-third] was the finest we 
 had on our march. A Httle after sunrise I lectured 
 the whole. What I said to them I forgot ; but it may 
 be easily imagined by a person that could possess my 
 affections for them at that time : — I concluded by 
 informing them that passing the plain that was in 
 full view and reaching the opposite woods [War- 
 riors' island''] would put an end to their fatigue; 
 that in a few hours they would have a sight of their 
 long- wished for object; and [I] immediately stept 
 into the water without waiting for a reply. A huzza 
 took place." 
 
 "As we generally marched through the water in 
 a line," continues Clark, ''before the third [man] 
 entered, I halted and called to Major [Captain] Bow- 
 man, ordering him to fall in the rear with twenty- 
 five men and put to death any man who refused to 
 march, as we wished to have no such person among 
 us. The whole gave a cry of approbation, and on 
 we went. This was the most trying of all the diffi- 
 culties we had experienced. I generally kept fifteen 
 or twenty of the strongest men near myself, and 
 judged from my own feelings what must be that of 
 others. Getting about the middle of the plain, the 
 water about mid-deep, I found myself sensibly failing, 
 and as there were no trees nor bushes for the men 
 to support themselves by, I feared that many of the 
 most weak would be drowned. I ordered the canoes 
 to make the land, discharge their loading, and play 
 backward and forward with all diligence and pick 
 up the men ; and, to encourage the partv, sent some 
 of the strongest men forward with orders when they 
 got to a certain place, to pass the \yord back that 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 323 
 
 the water was getting shallow, and when getting near 
 the woods to cry out 'Land!' This strategem had 
 the desired effect. , The men encouraged by it exerted 
 themselves almost beyond their abilities, — the weak 
 holding by the stronger. . . . The water never 
 got shallower, but continued deepening. Getting to 
 the woods where the men expected [dry] land, the 
 water was up to my shoulders, but gaining the woods, 
 was of great consequence ; all the low men and weakly 
 hung to the trees and floated on the old logs, until 
 they were taken off by the canoes. The strong and 
 tall got ashore and built fires. Many would reach 
 the shore and fall, with their bodies half in the water, 
 not being able to support themselves without it." 
 
 "This," adds Clark, "was a delightful dry spot of 
 ground of about ten acres. We soon found that the 
 fires answered no purpose, but that two strong men 
 taking a weaker one by the arms was the only way 
 to recover him; and, it being a delightful day, it 
 soon did. But fortunately, as if designed by Provi- 
 dence, a canoe of Indian squaws and children was 
 coming up to town, and took through part of this 
 plain as a high way. It was discovered by our canoes 
 as they were out after 'the men. They gave chase 
 and took the Indian canoe, on board of which were 
 near half a quarter of a buffalo, some corn, tallow, 
 kettles, etc. This was a grand prize and was in- 
 valuable. Broth was immediately made and served 
 out to the most weakly with great care: most of the 
 whole got a little; but a great many gave their part 
 to the weakly, jocosely saying something cheering to 
 their comrades. This little refreshment and fine 
 weather, by the afternoon, gave new life to the whole," 
 
324 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "Crossing a narrow deep lake in the canoes, and 
 marching some distance," are Clark's further re- 
 marks, "we came to a copse of timber called the 
 Warrior's island. We were now in full view of the 
 fort and town (not a shrub between us) at about 
 two miles' distance. Every man now feasted his eyes 
 and forgot that he had suffered anything, — saying 
 that all that had passed was owing to good policy 
 and nothing but what a man could bear; and that a 
 soldier had no right to think, etc., — passing from one 
 extreme to another, which is common in such cases."* 
 
 The Colonel in writing to a friend a few months 
 after the transpiring of these events, says : 'Tf I 
 were sensible that you would let no person see this 
 relation, I would give you a detail of our suffering 
 for four days in crossing those waters [meaning 
 from the twentieth to the twenty-third day of Feb- 
 ruary, inclusive], and the manner it was done, as I 
 am sure you would credit it, but it is too incredible 
 for any person to believe except those that are well 
 acquainted with me as you are, or had experience 
 something similar to it."t 
 
 While the army was lying on "Warriors' island" 
 to dry their clothes by the*" sun, another prisoner, 
 known to be a friend, was taken, by whom the Colonel 
 got all the intelligence he wished for, being informed 
 by him that no one suspected his coming at that season 
 of the year, and further, it seems, that the walls of 
 Fort Sackville had just been completed and that there 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — DiWorv's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 143-145. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 QQ, 6.7. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note XCIH.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 32S 
 
 were a good many Indians in Vincennes ; but the 
 man captured was only allowed to see but few of the 
 soldiers. ''A thousand ideas," says Clark, "flashed 
 in my head at this moment. I found that Governor 
 Hamilton was able to defend himself for a consider- 
 able time, but knew he was not able to turn out of 
 the fort ; that if the siege continued long, a superior 
 number might come against us, as I knew there was 
 a party of English not far above in the river ; and 
 that, if they found out our numbers, they might raise 
 the disaffected savages and harass us. I resolved 
 to appear as daring as possible, that the enemy might 
 conceive by our behavior that we were very numerous 
 and thereby probably discourage them. I imme- 
 diately wrote to the inhabitants in general, in- 
 forming them where I was and what I determined 
 to do, desiring the friends to the States to keep close 
 to their houses, and those in the British interests to 
 repair to the fort and fight for their King; other- 
 wise there would be no mercy shown them, — at the 
 same time sending the compliments of several of- 
 ficers to some gentlemen of the town who were known 
 to them, and who, it was expected, would reinforce 
 me on my arrival."* The letter was then sent by the 
 friendly prisoner — the one last taken — to the village, 
 Clark reasoning that it would cause the lukewarm to 
 be decided ; encourage his friends ; and astonish the 
 enemy ; it was in these words : 
 
 "To the Inhabitants of Vincennes: 
 
 'Gentlemen : — Being now within two miles of your vil- 
 lage with my army, determined to take your fort this night, 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 66-688. As to there being a party of English not far above 
 Vincennes, Clark had been wrongly informed. 
 
326 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and not being willing to surprise you, I take this step to 
 request of such of you as are true citizens, and willing to 
 enjoy the liberty I bring you to remain still in your houses. 
 And those, if any there be, that are friends to the King, will 
 instantly repair to the fort and joint the Hair-buyer General 
 and fight like men. And if any such, as do not go to the 
 fort shall be discovered afterwards, they may depend on 
 severe punishment. On the contrary, those that are true 
 friends to liberty, may depend on being well treated. And 
 I once more request they shall keep out of the streets ; for 
 every person I find in arms on my arrival, I shall treat as an 
 enemy. 
 . "(Signed) "G. R. Clark."* 
 
 The comments of Clark upon what took place 
 while he remained on "Warrior's island," as written 
 in after years, were as follows : "Our situation was 
 now truly critical — no possibility of retreating in 
 case of defeat — and in full view of a town that had, 
 at this time, upwards of six hundred men in it — 
 troops, inhabitants and Indians. The crew of the gal- 
 ley [the Willing] though not fifty men, would have 
 been now a reinforcement of immense magnitude to 
 our little army (if I may so call it), but we would 
 not think of them. We were now in the situation 
 that I had labored to get ourselves in. The idea of 
 being made prisoner was foreign to almost every man, 
 as they expected nothing but torture from the sav- 
 
 * This letter is given in "Bowman's Journal," in the 
 Department of State MSS., as well as in the same printed in 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois (p. 104). They differ some- 
 what in the wording, but not in sense. The one to be found 
 in Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 146 — 
 is identical with the last rnentioned. I have followed the 
 one in the Department of State MSS. In Clark's Journal 
 (entry of the 23d of Feb.) only the two principal points of 
 the letter are mentioned, and these briefly. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 327 
 
 ages if they fell into their hands. Our fate was now 
 to be determined, probably in a few hours. We knew 
 that nothing but the most daring conduct would in- 
 sure success. I knew that a number of the inhabitants 
 wished us well — that many were lukewarm to the 
 interest of either [the Americans or British] ; and 
 I also learned that the grand chief [of the Pianke- 
 shams], the Tobacco's son, had, but a few days be- 
 fore, openly declared in council with the British that 
 he was a brother and friend to the Big Knives. These 
 were favorable circumstances ; and as there was but 
 little probability of our remaining until dark undis- 
 covered I determined to begin the career immedi- 
 ately."* 
 
 Clark now arranged his men in two divisions. In 
 the first one were Captain Williams and his company, 
 Captain Worthington and his company, and Captain 
 Charleville with his Kaskaskia volunteer company. 
 In the second division, commanded by Captain Bow- 
 man, were his own company and Captain McCarty 
 with the Cahokia volunteers. They were ordered by 
 the Colonel to march with the greatest regularity ; 
 and the men were enjoined to observe the commands 
 of their officers ; above all things, they were to keep 
 silence. The five men captured in the canoes were 
 to act as guides. t 
 
 The little army lay still until about sunset, in 
 order to give time for the reception and reading of 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 145, 146. But he had been wrongly informed as to the open 
 declaration of the Tobacco's son. 
 
 t Clark's Journal — ^ntry of Feb. 23, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
328 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 the letter, by the Vincennes people, when, "with colors 
 flying and drums braced" the march began.* 
 
 Clark's letter had been carried into the town and 
 delivered to prominent and friendly citizens. j Those 
 of the inhabitants who caught sight of the Colonel's 
 flags in the twilight, judged he had with him five 
 hundred men.:!: The houses obstructed the view from 
 the fort, so that the British did not observe the ap- 
 proach of the Americans, and they were not notified 
 of it by any one."§ . As the army neared Vincennes, 
 Lieutenant Bayley, with fifteen riflemen, was detached 
 to attack the fort, — keep up their firing, and harass 
 the enemy until the village was gained and he should 
 be relieved. II 
 
 According to Clark's subsequent statement, the 
 messenger who carried his letter to the people of Vin- 
 cennes was anxiously watched by the Americans until 
 
 * "Bowman's Journal." Clark, in his letter to Mason 
 says : "I dispatched the prisoner off with this letter, waiting 
 until near sunset giving [to give] him time to get near the 
 town before sunset, before we marched" (Clark's Campaign 
 in the Illinois, p. 68. The italicising is mine). But the state- 
 ment in "Bowman's Journal" is the correct one : "In order 
 [to give the bearer time] to publish this letter, we lay still 
 to about sundown." The words "to give time" which are 
 found in the Journal as printed are not given in the same 
 in the Department of State MSS. 
 
 t This fact is given upon the authority of a tradition, 
 which, seemingly, is worthy of entire credit. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 Clark had so manoeuvred his men that only his colors could be 
 seen from the town; and as these were numerous, his force 
 was judged to be much larger than it really was. (Clark to 
 Mason — Clark's Campaign in -the Illinois, p. 68). 
 
 § Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, loc. cit. 
 
 II Appendix, Note XCIV. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 329 
 
 he entered the town ; and in a few minutes they could 
 see with their glasses some stir in the streets, great 
 numbers running' or riding out into the commons to 
 see the approaching army, as was supposed by the 
 Colonel and his men. But what was surprising was, 
 that nothing happened having the appearance of the 
 garrison being alarmed ; — no drum nor gun was 
 heard. "We began to suppose," are Clark's words, 
 "that the information we got from our prisoners was 
 false, and that the enemy already knew of us and were 
 prepared." 
 
 "A little before sunset," continues Clark, "we 
 moved and displayed ourselves in full view of the 
 town — crowds gazing at us. We were plunging our- 
 selves into certain destruction, or success. There was 
 no midway thought of. We had but little to say to 
 our men, except inculcating an idea of the necessity 
 of obedience. We knew they did not want encourag- 
 ing, and that anything might be attempted with them 
 that was possible for such a number, — perfectly cool, 
 under proper subordination, pleased with the pros- 
 pect before them, and much attached to their officers. 
 They all declared that they were convinced that an 
 implicit obedience to orders was the only thing that 
 would insure success and hoped that no mercy would 
 be shown the person that should violate them. Such 
 language as this from soldiers to persons in our 
 stations must have been [was] exceedingly agree- 
 able." 
 
 "We moved on slowly," adds Clark, "in full view 
 of the town; but, as it was a point of some conse- 
 quence to us to make ourselves appear as formidable 
 [as possible], we, in leaving the covert that we were 
 
S30 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 in, marched and counter-marched in such a manner 
 that we appeared numerous. In raising volunteers in 
 the IlHnois, every person that set about the business 
 had a set of colors given him, which they brought 
 with them, to the amount of ten or twelve pairs. 
 These were displayed to the best advantage; and as 
 the low plain we marched through was not a perfect 
 level, but had frequent raisings in it seven or eight 
 feet higher than the common level (which was covered 
 with water), and as these raisings general run in 
 an oblique direction to the town, we took advantage 
 of one of them, marching through the water under 
 it, which completely prevented our being numbered. 
 But our colors showed considerably above the heights, 
 as they were fixed on long poles procured for the 
 purpose, and at a distance made no despicable appear- 
 ance ; and as our young Frenchmen had, while we lay 
 on the Warriors' islands, decoyed and taken several 
 fowlers with their horses, officers were mounted on 
 these horses, and rode about more completely to de- 
 ceive the enemy. In this manner all moved, and di- 
 rected our march in such a way as to suffer it to be 
 dark before we had advanced more than half way to 
 the town. We then suddenly altered our direction and 
 crossed ponds where they could not have suspected 
 us."* 
 
 At eight o'clock, the Colonel reached the lower 
 end of the town, going at once to the houses of 
 Major Legras and Captain Bossoron.f He then took 
 possession of the main street, putting out his guards 
 
 "^Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 146-148. 
 
 t Chesne's Account — Haldimand MSS. (See Appendix 
 to our narrative, Note XCV.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 S3i 
 
 without the least molestation,* and his long and toil- 
 some march was ended. 
 
 'The difficulties and dangers of Colonel Clark's 
 march from the Illinois," afterward wrote Hamilton, 
 "were such as required great courage to encounter and 
 great perseverance to overcome."t True ; but, in this 
 admission, was there not more of an attempt on the 
 part of the Lieutenant Governor to justify himself in 
 not leaving Vincennes immediately after the surren- 
 der by Helm of Fort Sackville, than to praise the 
 American commander ? Be this as it may, it is certain 
 the. march was a remarkable achievement. Could the 
 Colonel have foreseen the obstacles to be overcome, 
 the undertaking, doubtless, would never have been 
 resolved upon. There were perils on every side. There 
 were raging floods encountered, to combat which 
 seemed more like acts of reckless desperation than 
 the determinations (which they were) of a cool and 
 undaunted courage. Such resolution, in the face of 
 almost interminable obstructions, the world has sel- 
 dom witnessed. $ 
 
 * Clark's Journal — Haldimand MSS. 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 t See Appendix, Note XCV, as to B. J. Lossing's opinion 
 of the difficulties encountered. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 IT was one of the strange incidents connected with 
 the sudden and unexpected appearance of Clark's 
 httle army around Fort Sackville on the evening 
 of the twenty-third of February, that the pioneers 
 inside the fortification had already obtained knowledge 
 of the approach of their friends. Some of those de- 
 prived of their liberty w^ere residents of Vincennes who 
 seemed to Hamilton not only indifferent and lukewarm 
 in their feelings toward him, but as absolutely danger- 
 ous to the cause of Britain. They had been taken in- 
 side the fort and were still held in custody. One of 
 these was Moses Henry, whose wife had subsequently 
 been granted permission to supply her husband with 
 provisions whenever she desired, from their home in 
 the village. Soon after the arrival in \"incennes of the 
 bearer of the Colonel's note to the inhabitants, J\Irs. 
 Henry visited her husband ostensibly to take him some 
 supplies, but really to whisper to him the news of the 
 approach of Clark, — the information having been con- 
 veyed by the messenger at once to persons whom he 
 met upon his reaching town, from one of whom, she 
 had obtained it. Henry was not long in conveying 
 the intelligence to his fellow-prisoners, ''which gave 
 them much pleasure, particularly Captain Helm."* 
 But all this was unknown as yet to the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 No sooner had Lieutenant Bayley reached a posi- 
 tion within gunshot of the fort, than he opened fire 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 149. 
 Some additional particulars not mentioned by Clark, I am 
 indebted for to a well-authenticated tradition. 
 
 (332) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 333 
 
 upon it. 'The garrison," wrote Clark to Mason, ''had 
 so Httle suspicion of what was to happen that they did 
 not beheve the firing was from an enemy until a man 
 was wounded through the ports (which happened the 
 third or fourth shot) ; they supposing it to be some 
 drunken Indians. It was now clear to Hamilton that 
 an enemy was assailing his post.* In a few moments, 
 Dr. McBeath, who happened to be in the house of one 
 of the citizens of- the town at the time and who was 
 told that Clark had arrived with five hundred men, 
 ''pushed to get to the gate" of the fort, rushed in 
 (although narrowly escaping with his life), and re- 
 ported to the Lieutenant Governor the particulars as 
 given to him by the woman where he had been visit- 
 ing.* The astonishment of the commandant may be 
 imagined, f 
 
 "We now found," subsequently wrote Clark, "that 
 th-e garrison had known nothing of us; that, having 
 finished the fort that evening, they had amused them- 
 selves at different games, and had just retired before 
 my letter arrived, as it was near roll call. The placard 
 being made public, many of the inhabitants were afraid 
 to show themselves out of the houses for fear of giv- 
 ing offense, and not one dare give information. Our 
 friends flew to the commons and other convenient 
 places to view the pleasing sight. This was observed 
 from the garrison and the reason asked, but a satis- 
 factory excuse was given ; and as a part of the town 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 (See as to a fiction concerning Clark's appearance in Vin- 
 cennes, Appendix to our narrative, Note XCVI.) 
 
 t See, for a ridiculous tradition concerning the first firing 
 ^t the fort, Appendix to our narrative XCVII. 
 
334 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 lay between our line of march and the garrison, we 
 could not be seen by the sentinels an the walls/''^ 
 
 It was not long after Clark arrived in the village 
 before he "reconnoitered about to find a place to throw 
 up an entrenchment." One was soon found, and Cap- 
 tain Bowman's company set at work, — the trench to 
 be thrown up across the main street, about two hundred 
 yards from the fort gatef 
 
 When Hamilton became fully assured of the pres- 
 ence of an enemy and that the attack was by hostile 
 riflemen, he gave orders to have the fire returned by 
 his garrison. "But the enemy," he declares, "had a 
 great advantage from their rifles and the cover of the 
 church, houses and barns. "| 
 
 So soon as the firing had commenced on both 
 sides, Clark's two divisions united — the second join- 
 ing the first. The Colonel found that what had bee:n 
 told him by his friendly prisoner before reaching tine 
 town concerning the presence in the village of a con- 
 siderable number of Indians was true ; but Hamilto.n's 
 dusky allies had not at any time been permitted ;(if, 
 indeed, they had desired it) to take up their quarters 
 inside the fort, but had been freely admitted within 
 the pickets when councils were holden ; so, on hearing 
 the firing, those who remained firm to the British cause 
 easily made their escape out of town. Of theSe sav- 
 ages were two Ottawa chiefs and "the King of the 
 Hurons" — that is, the head chief of the Wyandots 
 (not only of those living near Detroit but of those 
 whose homes were upon the Sandusky) — the same 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 148. 
 t Not "first gate" as printed in "Bowman's Journal" — 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 105. 
 
 X Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 335 
 
 chief whose Indian name was Dunqua, but who was 
 known to the EngHsh as the Half iCing. Captain 
 Chesne, the interpreter, who, ever since his arrival 
 with Hamilton had lived in the village so as always to 
 be near the Indians, not being able after Lieutenant 
 Bailey had reached the fort and opened fire, to get in- 
 side of it, fled also with the before mentioned savages. 
 None of the inhabitants of Vincennes left until the next 
 day, and then so far as is known, but two families. 
 
 As might be supposed, ammunition was, at this 
 juncture, scarce with the Americans, as most of the 
 stores were on board the Willing. Fortunately, how- 
 ever, when Hamilton undertook to have all the powder 
 and ball in the town brought into the fort for the 
 king's use (giving the owners bills for the same), Le- 
 gras, Bosseron and others buried most of theirs, which 
 they now produced, and the Colonel found himself 
 well supplied.* 
 
 It was soon discovered by Clark that about one 
 hundred Kickapoos and Piankeshaws had not fled the 
 town — that, in reality, they were friends. They im- 
 mediately armed themselves and offered their services 
 in assailing the fort. The Colonel requested them to 
 remain quiet until morning, when he would gladly ac- 
 cept them as his allies. 'T thanked the chief for his 
 intended service," says Clark ; "told him the ill conse- 
 quence of our people being mingled in the dark; and 
 that they might lay in their quarters until daylight. 
 He approved of it, and sent off his troops, and appeared 
 to be much elevated himself, staying with me and giv- 
 ing me all the information he could. "f 
 
 * Appendix, Note XCVIII. ^~ 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 69. 
 
336 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 So, also, in after years, Clark wrote: "The To- 
 bacco's son being- in town with a number of warriors, 
 immediately mustered them and let us know he 
 wished to join us, saying that by the morning he would 
 have a hundred men. He received for answer that we 
 thanked him for his friendly disposition ; and as we 
 were sufficiently strong ourselves, we wished him to 
 desist, and that we would counsel on the subject in the 
 morning ; and as we knew there were a number of In- 
 dians in and near the town that were our enemies, some 
 confusion might happen if our men should mix in the 
 dark : but hoped we might be favored with his counsel 
 and company during the night, — which was agreeable 
 to him."* 
 
 It was not very long after the two divisions of 
 Clark's force had united before the Virginia riflemen 
 effectively annoyed the enemy, parties being sent by 
 Clark for that purpose, who wxre posted within from 
 ei.^hty to one hundred yards of the fort behind houses, 
 barns, palings and ditches, — only being dislodged by 
 the artillery (as Hamilton, afterward, rightfully de- 
 clared) from the church and some of the nearest 
 houses t was ''fine sport" — this firing on the fort — 
 "for the 'Sons of Liberty.' "| 
 
 It was now that the American commandant heard 
 of the sending out, by Hamilton, of Captain Lamothe 
 and party, about three hours before, on their reconnoit- 
 ering expedition. The Captain had got some miles 
 from the fort when the high waters prevented him 
 pursuing his route farther. Upon his return, on reach- 
 ing "the commons behind the town," he and his party 
 
 * Clark's il/rmo/> — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859). p. 149. 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 X Bowman's Journal of Feb. 23, 1779. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 337 
 
 ''heard, to their great surprise, a discharge of mus- 
 ketry ; they did not know what could be the occasion" 
 of it. Meeting some men from the village, they were 
 assured the ''rebels" had laid close seige to the fort. 
 Thereupon, they took refuge in a barn and awaited 
 further news.'^ Meanwhile, Clark had sent out a de- 
 tachment to intercept the party, — and Maisonville and 
 another were captured and brought into town.f They 
 were questioned as to the place of concealment of La- 
 mothe and his party. Both declared their ignorance 
 as to where they might be found. Maisonville was 
 threatened to be hanged if he did not at once reveal 
 where they were; but he still protested he did not 
 know. He was then pinioned, a halter put around his 
 neck, when he was led to an improvised gallows ; but 
 he was saved by the town's people from death. He was 
 then placed in a chair, and at Clark's order, says Ham- 
 ilton, was partially scalped, when he was again saved, 
 this time by "rebel" intercession. It is altogether prob- 
 
 * Schieffelin : Loose Notes. In Hamilton's letter to 
 Haldimand of July 6, 1781 (Germain MSS.), is the follow- 
 ing : "They [Lamothe and his men] lost their way — night 
 coming on — and were only apprised by the firing of cannon 
 at the fort, that it was invested." It is also recorded in 
 "Bowman's Journal" in the Department of State MSS. and 
 in the one in print (Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 105), 
 upon hearsay, that hearing the firing was the cause of 
 Lamothe's return. But Schieffelin (in this case the better 
 authority) clearly disproves this. 
 
 t Clark, on the twenty-third, records in his Journal that 
 Maisonville and one man were taken, and "Bowman's Journal" 
 corroborates this. Hamilton only speaks of Maisonville being 
 captured, — "having been betrayed and delivered to the rebels 
 by his own cousin." (Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. 
 — Germain MSS.) 
 
 22 
 
338 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOL'EST,, ETC. 
 
 able that ^laisonville and the other prisoner had, m 
 the darkness, as they were returning, become separated 
 from the balance of the party, and could not, therefore, 
 give any information as to where their companions 
 were."^ 
 
 The American commander, in a general descrip- 
 tion given not long after, of affairs during the night, 
 says he made the attack on the fort at seven o'clock, 
 before they knew of his coming; and that he had no 
 expectation of gaining it imtil the arrival of his artil- 
 lery. The moon set at about one o'clock, and he then, 
 in the darkness, had an entrenchment thrown up within 
 rifle-shot of the strongest battery of the enemy, and, 
 as he declares, "poured such a shower of well-directed 
 balls into their ports, that we silenced two pieces of 
 cannon in tifteen minutes, without getting a man 
 hurt."t 
 
 "In a few hours." adds the Colonel concerning the 
 seige. in another accoimt. "I fotmd my prize sure, — I 
 was certain of taking every man that I could have 
 wished for, being the whole of those that incited the 
 Indians to war. All my past sufferings vanished. 
 Xever was a man more happy. There vras wanted no 
 encouragement from any oflicer to 'inflame our troops 
 with a martial spirit. The knowledge of the person 
 they attacked and the thoughts pi their massacred 
 
 * Appendix. Note XCIX. 
 
 ■^ Clark to the Governor of Virginia. April 29, 1779 — 
 Jefferson's Works, vol. I. p. ■2"22 n. The Colonel says that 
 "the town immediately surrendered with joy" — that is, they 
 welcomed the Americans to the place: "and." he adds "as- 
 sisted in the siege." But there was no assistance, to speak 
 of, until the next morning. -There was a continued fire on 
 both sides," is the Colonel's farther declaration, "for eighteen 
 hours." This is error, as will be presently seen. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 339 
 
 friends were sufficient. I knew that I could not afford 
 to lose men ; and I took the greatest care of them I 
 possibly could ; at the same time, I encouraged them to 
 be daring but prudent. Every place near the fort that 
 could cover them was crowded, and a very heavy firing 
 during the night was kept up. I had flung up a con- 
 siderable entrenchment before the gate [of the fort] 
 where I intended to plant my artillery when it arrived 
 [on the Willing]:''' 
 
 But more circumstantial is the portrayal by Clark 
 of the beginning of the siege, as made by him years 
 after. "The garrison," he wrote, ''was soon completely 
 surrounded, and the firing continued without inter- 
 mission (except about fifteen minutes a little before 
 day), until about nine o'clock the following morning. 
 It was kept up by the whole of the troops — joined by 
 a few of the young men of the town who got permis- 
 sion — except fifty men kept as a reserve. ... I 
 had made myself fully acquainted with the situation of 
 the fort and town, and the ports relative to each. The 
 cannon of the garrison were on the upper floors of 
 strong blockhouses at each angle of the fort eleven 
 feet above the surface ; and the ports so badly cut that 
 many of our troops lay under the fire of them within 
 twenty or thirty yards of the walls. They [the garri- 
 son] did no damage except to the buildings of the 
 town, some of which they much shattered ; and their 
 musketry in the dark employed against woodsmen cov- 
 ered by houses, palings, ditches and the banks of the 
 river, was but of little avail against us and did us no 
 injury except wounding a man or two." 
 
 * Clark to ]\Iason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 70. 
 
340 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "As we could not afford to lose men," continues 
 Clark, ''great care was taken to preserve them suffi- 
 ciently covered, and keep up a hot fire in order to in- 
 timidate the enemy as well as to destroy them. The 
 embrasures of their cannon were frequently shut, for 
 our riflemen finding the true direction of them would 
 pour in such vollies when they were opened that the 
 men could not stand to their guns — seven or eight of 
 them in a short time got cut down. Our troops would 
 frequently abuse the enemy in order to aggravate them 
 to open their ports and fire their cannon that they 
 might have the pleasure of shooting them with their 
 rifles — fifty of which, perhaps, would be leveled the 
 moment a port flew open ; and I believe that if they 
 had stood at their artillery, the greater part of them 
 would have been destroyed in the course of the night, 
 as the larger portion of our men lay within thirty yards 
 of the walls, and in a few hours were covered equally 
 to those within the fort, and much more experienced 
 in that mode of fighting. 
 
 "Sometimes an irregular fire as hot as possible," 
 is the further language of Clark, "was kept up from 
 different directions for a few minutes, and then only 
 a continual scattering one at the ports as usual ; and a 
 great noise and laughter immediately commenced in 
 different parts of the town, by the reserved parties, as 
 if they had only fired on the fort a few minutes for 
 amusement, and as if those firing at the walls were only 
 regularly relieved. Conduct similar to this kept the 
 garrison constantly alarmed. They did not know what 
 moment they might be stormed or [blown up] as they 
 could plainly discover that we had flung up some en- 
 trenchments across the streets and appeared to be very 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 341 
 
 busy under the bank of the river, which was within 
 thirty feet of the fort. The situation of the magazine 
 we knew well. Captain Bowman began some works in 
 order to blow it up in case our artillery should arrive ; 
 but as we knew that we were daily liable to be over- 
 powered by the numerous bands of Indians on the river 
 in case they had again joined the enemy (the certainty 
 of which we were acquainted with), we resolved to 
 lose no time, but to get the fort in our possession as 
 soon as possible. If the. vessel [the Willing] did not 
 arrive before the ensuing night we resolved to under- 
 mine the fort, and fixed on the spot and plan of ex- 
 ecuting this work, which we intended to commence 
 the next day.""^ 
 
 Hamilton's officers inside the fort were exposed 
 to the fire of Clark's riflemen as they occupied tents 
 and had ever since getting possession of the place — 
 the picketing of the fortification being so poorly set 
 up that one might pass the hand clinched between the 
 uprights. "Though the night was dark," says Hamil- 
 ton, "we had a sergeant matross and five men wounded. 
 The weather was still so cold, we were obliged to 
 bring the wounded into our own quarters. "f 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 149-151. But, in this relation, there is exaggeration, and 
 some errors both by inference and direct statement, which 
 are manifest from what has already been shown and what will 
 be presently given. Clark's language I have not followed in 
 all instances literally, But have preserved his meaning strictly. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 The "sergeant matross" spoken of by Hamilton, is mentioned 
 in Chesne's Account as the "master gunner." Chesne was 
 told that this soldier and five others had been killed; but 
 they were, as stated by Hamilton, only wounded. 
 
342 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Throughout the night the inhabitants of Vincennes 
 remained, most of them, in their houses, giving the 
 Americans no trouble. Colonel Clark had little or no 
 fear of hostility on their part. 
 
 Lamothe and his men remained concealed in the 
 barn where they had taken refuge, until daylight, 
 when they made a rush for the fort and got inside 
 without the loss of a man.* Clark says, in writing a 
 few months afterward of their successful exploit, that 
 he was convinced they would make off at daybreak if 
 they could not rejoin their friends ; so, finding all en- 
 deavors fruitless to take them (ending, as these efforts 
 had, in the capture only of Maisonville and one other), 
 he withdrew his troops a little farther from the pickets 
 in order to give them an opportunity to get in. This 
 Lamothe accomplished "much to his credit," the Colo- 
 nel declares, "and my satisfaction, as I preferred the 
 garrison should receive that reinforcement rather than 
 he and his men should be at large among the sava- 
 
 ges."t 
 
 The account given by Hamilton of Lamothe's 
 reaching the inside of the fort shows he had no sus- 
 picion of Clark's design : "We despaired of Captain 
 Lamothe's party regaining the fort ; but, to our great 
 surprise and joy, about half an hour before sunrise, 
 they appeared and got into the fort over the stockades 
 (which were upright and eleven feet out of the ground) 
 with their arms in their hands. Two Canadians of his 
 company had deserted the preceding night. "ij: 
 
 * Schieffelin's Loose Notes — Magazine of American His- 
 tory, vol. I, p. 187. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 
 71. Compare "Bowman's Journal" under date of Feb. 23d. 
 
 X Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 Hamilton, in the same letter, speaks of Lamothe and his men 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 343 
 
 In after years, in recording his recollections of the 
 events connected with the successful endeavor of La- 
 mothe to get inside the fort, Clark says : "As almost 
 the whole of the persons who were most active in the 
 Department of the Detroit were either in the fort or 
 with Captain Lamothe, I got extremely uneasy for fear 
 that he would not fall into our power, — knowing that 
 he would go off, if he could not get into the fort in the 
 course of the night. Finding that, without some un- 
 foreseen accident, the fort must inevitably be ours, and 
 that a reinforcement of twenty men, although consid- 
 erable to them, would not be of great moment to us in 
 the present situation of affairs, and knowing we had 
 weakened them by killing or wounding many of their 
 gunners, after some deliberation we concluded to risk 
 the reinforcement in preference of his going again 
 among the Indians ; the garrison had at least a month's 
 provisioning, and if they could hold out, in the course 
 of that time he might do us much damage [outside the 
 fortification]." 
 
 "A little before day," adds Clark, "the troops 
 were withdrawn from their positions about the fort, 
 except a few parties of observation, and the firing to- 
 tally ceased. Orders were given in case of Lamothe's 
 approach, not to alarm or fire on him, without a cer- 
 tainty of killing or taking the whole. In less than a 
 
 "returning to the village, and finding it impossible to make 
 their way good [into the fort], they concealed themselves in 
 a barn, sending from tirne to time, one of their number to 
 explore and make report, but as they employed Canadians, 
 none of them returned." Now, it is evident, that none were 
 sent "to explore and make report ;" and that Maisonville and 
 his companion were the "two Canadians,", that he speaks of 
 (though erroneously) as having deserted. 
 
344 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 quarter of an hour he passed within ten feet of an 
 officer and a party that lay concealed. Ladders were 
 flung over to them [by the garrison], and as they 
 mounted them our party shouted. ]\Iany of them fell 
 from the top of the walls — some within and others 
 back ; but, as they were not fired on, they all got over, 
 much to the joy of their friends. But, on considering 
 the matter, they must have been convinced that it was 
 a scheme of ours to let them in, and that we were so 
 strong as to care little about them or of the manner 
 of their getting into the garrison."* 
 
 Captain Chesne and the three chiefs who had so 
 unceremoniously fled on Clark's arrival secreted them- 
 selves in a wood about a mile and a half out of the 
 town, where they heard "sl smart firing all night, and 
 now and then, a great gun from the fort." About 
 eleven o'clock, they attempted to enter the village, 
 *'but not finding it practicable, they returned again to 
 the wood; and. in the morning, they were joined by 
 Petit Ores, chief of the ]\Iiamis, and three of his peo- 
 ple. "f Chesne, so soon as he had fully satisfied him- 
 self of the true state of affairs started for Detroit to 
 bear the news to Captain Lermoult. That he made 
 quick time on his return is not to be doubted. f 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 151, 152. But, when he says the Americans knew that their 
 firing "had weakened them [the enemy] by killing or wound- 
 ing many of their gunners." Clark was drawing, certainly, on 
 his imagination. And, as to the garrison "having, on consider- 
 ing the matter," "been convinced that it was a scheme" of the 
 Americans "to let them in," it is only necessary to refer to 
 Hamilton's letter to Haldimand of July 6, 1781 (Germain 
 MSS.), to refute the idea. ■ 
 
 t Chesne' s Account having been verbally given to Captain 
 Lemoult of course is not dated; but from a letter the latter 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 345 
 
 Immediately after the return of Lamothe and his 
 party, Hamilton perceiving the works thrown up by 
 Clark, began to play his small arms very briskly but 
 could not bring his cannon to bear on them; so the 
 firing from the fort was but slack after sunrise.* 
 
 About sixty of the inhabitants of Vincennes now 
 joined the Colonel's force,t behaving, in general, ex- 
 ceedingly well. The Wabash Indians were also per- 
 mitted, at this juncture, to assist the Americans. J 
 
 After Lamothe's return, ''the firing," says Clark, 
 "immediately commenced on both sides with double 
 vigor; and I believe that more noise could not have 
 been made by the same number of men — their shouts 
 could not be heard for the firearms ; but a continual 
 blaze was kept around the garrison, without much 
 being done, until about daybreak [sunrise], when our 
 troops were drawn off to posts prepared for them, 
 about sixty or seventy yards from the fort. . . To 
 have stood to their cannon would have destroyed their 
 men without a probability of doing much service. Our 
 situation was nearly similar. It would have been im- 
 prudent in either party to have wasted their men, with- 
 out some decisive stroke required it. Thus the attack 
 
 wrote to Col. Bolton we can readily see that the escaped 
 Frenchman did not tarry on his way back. 
 
 * Clark's Journal — Haldimand MSS. Hamilton to Hald- 
 imand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 t Schieffelin : Loose Notes. Hamilton to Haldimand, 
 July 6, 1781. — Haldimand MSS. Clark to Mason — C/ary^'.s 
 Campaign in the Illinois, p. 71. 
 
 X This is to be inferred from what subsequently took 
 place, as given in detail by Clark to Mason. All contemporary 
 accounts are silent as to the aid given Clark by these Indians. 
 
346 HISTORY OF CLARK-S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 continued until about nine o'clock on the morning of 
 the twenty-fourth."^" 
 
 Clark some time before eight o'clock in the fore- 
 noon had received from the inhabitants of Mncennes 
 such a description of the prisoners lately brought into 
 the fort from the Ohio river by ]\Iaison%dlle as in- 
 duced him to believe they were an express from Wil- 
 liamsburg on tlieir way to Kaskaskia with papers and 
 letters to him from Governor Henr\-, of A'irginia. (but 
 in this he was mistaken as he afterward discovered) ; 
 so. at the hour just named, he ordered the firing to 
 cease, intending to send a flag to Hamilton demanding 
 a surrender, at the same time to g"ive him to under- 
 stand that, if he destroyed any papers or letters taken 
 from prisoners, or in j tired the houses of the inhabit- 
 ants with his artillen-. punishment of the severest kind 
 might be expected in the event the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor should be captured. t 
 
 The detennination of the American commander 
 
 was now carried out. He at once wrote to Hamilton : 
 
 "Sir : — In order to save yourself from the impending 
 storm that now threatens you, I order you immediately to 
 siurender yourself up, with all your garrison, stores, etc, 
 etc. : for. if I am obliged to storm. 3-ou maj- depend on such 
 treatment [as is] justly* due to a murderer. Beware of de- 
 stroying stores of any kind, or any papers or letters that are 
 
 * Clark's J/c'mair — Dillons Indiana (ed. of 1859). p. 152. 
 
 t Botli Clark and Hamilton declare the firing ceased at 
 eight o'clock (Clark's JournaL Feb. 24, 1779 — Haldimand 
 MSS. ; also, his letter to ^lason — Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, p. 71 ; and Hamilton to Haldimand, Juh* 6, 1781 — 
 Germain ^ISS.) : now. as it began about seven o'clock the 
 previous evening, it could not have been continuous for eigh- 
 teen hours, as stated b}- the Colonel in his letter of April 29. 
 1779. to the Governor of Virginia. "Bowman's Journal'' says, 
 by inference, that the firing ceased about nine o'clock. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 347 
 
 in your possession, or hurting one house in the town ; for, 
 by Heavens, if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you. 
 "(Signed) . "G. R. Clark."* 
 
 This letter was then sent to the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 Clark's subsequent recollection of the incident 
 agrees with his statement made a short time after the 
 event occurred : "Learning that the two prisoners they 
 had brought in the day before had a considerable num- 
 ber of letters with them, I supposed it an express that 
 we expected about this time, which I knew to be of the 
 greatest moment to us as we had not received one since 
 our arrival in the country; and not being fully ac- 
 quainted with the character of our enemy, we were 
 doubtful that those papers might be destroyed, — to 
 prevent which I sent a flag [with the letter] demand- 
 ing the garrison. "t 
 
 The troops of Clark's command took advantage 
 of the occasion to provide themselves with breakfast, — 
 "it being the only meal of victuals since the eight- 
 eenth.J" 
 
 "About eight o'clock," are the words of Hamil- 
 ton, "a flag of truce from the rebels appeared, carried 
 by Nicolas Cardinal, a captain of the militia of Vin- 
 cennes, who delivered me a letter from Colonel Clark 
 requiring me to surrender at discretion, adding, with 
 
 * "Bowman's Journal" in the Department of State MSS. 
 As printed in Clark's Campaign in the Illinois (pp. 105, 106), 
 the words "or hurting one house in the town," are omitted. 
 But in printing the letter, Dillon, in his History of Indiana, 
 pp. 152, 153, gives them. They are likewise retained in Clark's 
 lournal, in the Haldimand MSS., where he speaks of the 
 letter. 
 
 t Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 152. 
 
 X "Bowman's Journal" of the 24th of Feb, 
 
348 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 an oath, that if I destroyed any stores or papers, I 
 should be treated as a murderer. Having assembled 
 the officers, and read them this letter, I told them my 
 intention was to undergo any extremity rather than 
 trust to the direction of such sort of people as we had 
 to deal with. They all approved of the resolution, on 
 which I assembled the men and informed them of our 
 determination. The English assured me they would 
 defend the King's colors to the last, adding an homely 
 but hearty phrase that they would stick to me as the 
 shirt to my back. They then gave three cheers. The 
 French, on the contrary, hung their heads."* 
 
 Thereupon the Lieutenant Governor answered the 
 Colonel's letter, sending (on a card) a most manly and 
 soldierly reply in these words : "Governor Hamilton 
 begs lea AT to acquaint Col. Clark that he and his gar- 
 rison are not disposed to be awed into an action un- 
 worthy a British subject."t 
 
 *T then ordered out parties to attack the fort," 
 says the American commander, "and the firing began 
 very smartly on both sides. "J '*One of my men," are 
 the Colonel's words in his record of the day, ''through 
 a bravery only known but to Americans, walking care- 
 lessly up the main street, was slightly wounded over 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand. July G, 1781. — Germain ]\1SS. 
 
 t "Bowman's Journal." See, also, Clark to Mason — 
 Clark's Camt>aign in the Illinois, p. 71 : Hamilton to Haldi- 
 mand. July 6, 1781 — Germain ]MSS.. Clark's Joumal. under 
 date of Feb. 24, 1779, in Haldimand MSS. ; also, Schieffelin's 
 Loose Notes. 
 
 t Clark's Journal. Feb. 24, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 "Bowman's Journal" same date. Clark to ]\lason — Clark's 
 Canil^aign in the Illinois, p. 71. Hamilton to Haldimand, July 
 6, 1781 — Germain MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 349 
 
 the left eye, but in no wise dangerous."* Subsequent 
 to this Clark wrote : 
 
 "The firing then commenced warmly [and contin- 
 ued so] for a considerable time; and we were obliged 
 to be careful in preventing our men from exposing 
 themselves too much, as they were now much ani- 
 mated, having been refreshed during the flag. They 
 frequently mentioned their wishes to storm the place 
 and put an end to the business at once. . . The 
 firing was heavy through every crack that could be 
 discovered in any part of the fort."f 
 
 "Lamothe's volunteers," says the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor, ruefully, ''now began to murmur, saying it was 
 very hard to be obliged to fight against their country- 
 men and relatives, who they now perceived had joined 
 the Americans. They made half our number, and after 
 such a declaration were not to be trusted. The Eng- 
 lishmen wounded (six in number) were a sixth of 
 those we could depend on, and duty would every hour 
 fall heavier on the remaining few. Considering we 
 were at the distance of six hundred miles from succor, 
 that if we did not burn the village we left the enemy 
 a most advantageous cover against us ; and that if we 
 did, we had nothing to expect after rejecting the first 
 terms but the extremity of revenge, I took up the de- 
 termination of accepting honorable terms if they could 
 be procured ; else, to abide the worst." 
 
 * Clark's Journal Feb. 24, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 "Bowman's Journal" speaks of the man being wounded; but 
 the words there given carry the idea that it happened soon 
 after daylight and of course before the Colonel sent his flag 
 to Hamilton. I have followed Clark's account, however, be- 
 cause his explanation makes it the more probable. 
 
 t Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 153. 
 
350 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ''I stated," adds the Lieutenant Governor, "these 
 considerations to the officers first, who aUowed them to 
 be reasonable, then to the men, who very reluctantly 
 admitted them. And here I must declare that if the 
 defense of the fort had depended on the spirit and 
 courage of the English only, the rebels would have 
 lost their labor."* 
 
 It was now nearly mid-day, and of a sudden the 
 firing from the fort was suspended. It had continued 
 for about two hours. The Colonel was determined to 
 listen to no terms whatever until he was in possession 
 of the fort — keeping only a part of his troops in 
 action while the residue were making necessary prep- 
 arations for an assault, in which the inhabitants of the 
 town were willing to assist, but they were not called 
 upon by Clark. f Immediately following the suspen- 
 sion of firing by Hamilton was the appearance of a 
 flag of truce sent by him. I 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6. 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 Besides the six Englishmen wounded there, was one other 
 ("Bowman's Journal," Department of State MSS.) — prob- 
 ably one of the volunteers (French). "Bowman's Journal" 
 in the Department of State MSS., has this record after men- 
 tioning the capture of Maisonville : "Smart firing all night 
 on both sides. The cannon played smartly. Not one of our 
 men wounded. Seven men in the fort badly wounded." But 
 the account as printed — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 
 105 — leaves out much of this. It says : "The cannon played 
 smartly. Not one of our men wounded. Men in the fort 
 badly wounded." 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 71. 
 
 X The declaration in "Bowman's Journal" (see Department 
 of State MSS., also Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 106) 
 that "several of the men in the fort [being] wounded through 
 the port-holes . . . caused [Lieutenant] Governor Hamil- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 351 
 
 "About twelve o'clock the firing from the fort 
 suspended," says Clark, ''and I perceived a flag com- 
 ing out. I ordered my people to stop firing. . . I 
 soon saw it was 'Captain Helm."* 
 
 "After salutations," continued Clark, "[Captam 
 Helm] informed me that the purport of his commis- 
 sion was, that Lieutenant Governor Hamilton was will- 
 ing to surrender up the fort and garrison, provided 
 Colonel Clark would grant him honorable terms; and 
 that he begged the American Commander to come into 
 the fort and confer with him." "First, I desired," 
 continues Clark,' "Captain Helm not to give any m- 
 telligence of Lieutenant Governor Hamilton's strength, 
 he (Helm) being on his parole ; second, my answer to 
 Hamilton was that I should not agree to any terms but 
 that he should immediately surrender at discretion. I 
 allowed him half an hour to consider of this. As 
 to my entering the fort, my officers and men would not 
 allow it, for it was with difficulty I restrained them 
 from storming the garrison. I dismissed Captain Helm 
 
 with my answer."t 
 
 When the time allowed by Clark was up, Captain 
 Helm, came back with Hamilton's second proposals, 
 which were as follows : 
 
 "Lieutenant Governor Hamilton proposes to Col- 
 onel Clark a truce fo r three days, during which time 
 
 ton to send out a flag," does not seem warranted by th€ facts ; 
 — certainly it is not correct according to Hamilton's statement. 
 
 * Clark's Journal -^ntvy of Feb. 24th, 1779. - Haldi- 
 mand MSS. The Colonel nowhere else mentions the -first 
 appearance of Captain Helm except incidentally. Hamilton 
 does not refer to it directly or indirectly in his letter to 
 Haldimand of July 6, 1781. 
 
 t Clark's Journal -entry of Feb. 24, 1779.-Haldimand 
 
 MSS. 
 
352 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 he promises there shall be no defensive works carried 
 on in the garrison, on condition Colonel Clark shall 
 observe on his part a like cessation of any offensive 
 work; that he wishes to confer with Colonel Clark as 
 soon as can be; and further proposes that whatever 
 may pass between them two and any other person mu- 
 tually agreed upon to be present, shall remain a secret 
 till matters be finally concluded, as he wishes whatever 
 the result of their conference may be [it may tend] to 
 the honor and credit of each party. If Colonel Clark 
 makes a difficulty of coming into the fort Lieutenant 
 Governor Hamilton will speak to him before the 
 gate."t 
 
 "I was," are the subsequent words of Clark, "at 
 a great loss to conceive what reason Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor Hamilton could have for wishing a truce of three 
 days on such terms as he proposed. Numbers said it 
 was a scheme to get me into their possession. I had 
 a different opinion and no idea of his possessing such 
 sentiments, as an act of that kind would infallibly ruin 
 him. Although we had the greatest reason to expect a 
 reinforcement [from the Willing] in less than three 
 days that would at once put an end to the siege, I yet 
 did not think it prudent to agree to the proposals. "J 
 
 t "Bowman's Journal" in the Department of State MSS. 
 (See Appendix to our narrative, Note C.) 
 
 t Clark's Memoir — 'Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 153, 154. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 BEFORE a reply to Hamilton's second message 
 was prepared, to be taken back by Captain 
 Helm, an incident occurred tragic in its results. 
 "This moment," wrote Clark at the time, 'T received 
 intelligence that a party of Indians was coming up 
 from the Falls [of the Ohio] with prisoners or scalps. 
 They had been sent out by Lieutenant Governor Ham- 
 ilton for that purpose." ''My people," he adds, "were 
 so enraged that they immediately intercepted them."* 
 They consisted of eight Indians under the lead of 
 two Frenchmen of the fort garrison. Three Indians 
 were killed on the spot and four brought in — one 
 only making his escape. The two white men were 
 also captured. The savages who were made prisoners 
 were tomahawked in the street opposite the fort gate 
 and then thrown into the river. The two Frenchmen 
 were dressed in Indian style, but were seen to be white 
 men ; and Clark ordered them also to be put to death. 
 One had a father present whose name was St. Croix, 
 who was a lieutenant in Captain McCarty's company. 
 He recognized his son's voice ; and the parent's earnest 
 solicitations saved him. The other was rescued by his 
 sister, "whose husband was a merchant" in Vincennes. 
 There were but two prisoners brought in by the war 
 party on its return and these fortunately escaped death. 
 They were Frenchmen and had been hunting on the 
 Ohio. They were, of course, quickly released. f 
 
 * Clark's Journal — Haldimand MSS. The Colonel, in 
 speaking of the "Falls," refers to the Falls of the Ohio. "My 
 people" means, of course, his soldiers. 
 
 t Appendix, Note CI. 
 
 23 (353) 
 
354 HISTORY l\" ri--^-^:A'y COXQUEST. ETC 
 
 Colonel Clark now sent in his reply by Captain 
 Helm to the commander of Fort Sackville: 
 
 "Colonel Clark's compliments to Mr. Hamilton, and begs 
 leave to inform him that Col. Clark will not agree to any 
 other terms than that of Mr. Hamilton's surrendering himself 
 and garrison prisoners at discretion. 
 
 "'If Mr. Hamilton is desirous of a conference with Col. 
 Clark, he will meet him at the church with Captain Helm. 
 
 "Feb'y. iMth, 1779. 'G. R. Cl^kk. 
 
 "L't. Gov'r. Henr\- Hamilton."** 
 
 Clark immediately repaired to the chtirch to confer 
 with Hamilton, where he met him and Captain Helm.t 
 "Governor Hamilton then begged that I would consider 
 the situation of both parties," says the American com- 
 mander: "that he was willing to surrender the gar- 
 rison, but was in hopes that Colonel Clark would let 
 him do it with honor." "I answered him that I had 
 been informed that he had eight hundred men ; — *I 
 have not that number, btit I came to fight as many.' 
 Governor Hamilton then replied: '^^'ho cotild have 
 given you this false information?' 'I am, sir/ replied 
 I, 'well acquainted with your strength and force and 
 am able to take your fort : therefore I will give you 
 
 "^ "Bowman's Journal" — Department of State MSS. The 
 same Journal, printed in Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 107, leaves out the word "leave" after "begs," substitute? 
 "he" for "Col. Clark," and has only the initials "G. R. C " 
 signed at the bottom. Clark in his Journal (Haldimand 
 MSS.) and in his letter to Mason (Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, p. 72) gives the substance of his reply only. 
 
 ^Clark's Journal — entry of Feb. 24. 1779 — Haldimand 
 MSS. Consult, also, Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. 
 of 1S59). p. 151. Except in the two places just cited Captain 
 Helm's name is nowhere mentioned as accompanying Hamil- 
 ton on this his first interview with the American commander. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 355 
 
 no other terms but to submit yourself and garrison 
 to my discretion and mercy." 
 
 The rejoinder of Hamilton was that his men were 
 brave and willing to stand by him to the last ; "and 
 if," he declared, 'T cannot surrender on honorable 
 terms, I will fight it out to the last." The answer to 
 this, by Clark was, that it would give his men infinite 
 satisfaction and pleasure to fight; it was their desire. 
 The Lieutenant Governor then left the Colonel "and 
 went a few paces aloof." 
 
 Clark thus continues his account of the interview : 
 'T told Captain Helm — 'Sir, you are a prisoner on 
 your parole; I desire you to re-conduct Lieutenant 
 Hamilton into the fort and there remain until I retake 
 you.' Hamilton then returned, saying — 'Colonel 
 Clark, why will you force me to dishonor myself, when 
 you cannot acquire more honor by it ?' I told him — 
 'Could I look on you as a gentleman, I would do to 
 the utmost of my p6wer [to favor you] ; but, on you, 
 sir, who has embued your hands in the blood of our 
 women and children, — honor, my country, everything, 
 calls on me aloud for vengeance. Governor Hamil- 
 ton : 'I know, sir, my character has been stained, 
 but not deservedly ; for I have always endeavored to 
 instill humanity, as much as in my power, [into the 
 minds of] the Indians whom the orders of my super- 
 iors obliged me to employ.' Colonel Clark: 'Sir, 
 speak no more on this subject; my blood glows within 
 my veins to think of the cruelties your Indian parties 
 have committed ; therefore, repair to your fort and 
 prepare for battle' ; on which I turned away ; and the 
 Lieutenant Governor and Captain Helm went, towards 
 the fort. The latter then said — 'Gentlemen, pray do 
 
356 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 not be warm ; strive to save many lives which may be 
 useful to their country, which must unavoidably be 
 sacrificed in case you do not agree': on which, we 
 again conferred."* 
 
 It is the declaration of the Colonel subsequently 
 made that the British commander "received such treat- 
 ment, at this conference, as a man of his known bar- 
 barity deserved." "I would not come upon terms with 
 him; and I recommended to him to defend himself 
 with spirit and bravery; that it was the only thing 
 that would induce me to treat him and his garrison 
 with lenity, in case I stormed the fort, which he might 
 expect. He asked me what more I could require than 
 the offers he had already made. I told him (which 
 was really the truth) that I wanted a sufficient excuse 
 to put all the Indians and partisans to death, as the 
 greatest part of these villians was then with him. Al\ 
 his propositions were refused. He asked me if noth- 
 ing would do but fighting. I knew of nothing else."t 
 
 Hamilton's account of the conference is a studied 
 attempt to excuse himself to his Commander-in-chief 
 for the misfortune which, it may be premised, soon 
 overtook him: "He [Clark] told me that it was in 
 vain to think of persisting in the defense of the fort; 
 that his cannon would be up in a few hours ; that he 
 
 * Clark's Journal — entry of Feb. 24. This is the only 
 account zvritten at the time, so far as known, detailing the 
 conversation between Clark and Hamilton. There were other 
 "talks," as will be presently shown. The one just given is 
 so connected in the Colonel's Journal with other matters that 
 it there seems (though erroneously) to have been not only 
 the fust but the only conversation held by them. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 72. ' 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 357 
 
 knew to a man who might be depended upon with every 
 other circumstance of my situation; that if, from a 
 spirit of obstinacy I persisted when there was no prob- 
 abihty of rehef and should stand an assault, not a 
 single soul should be spared.. I replied that, though my 
 numbers were smah, I. could depend on them. He said 
 he knew I had but thirty-five or thirty-six staunch 
 men; that it was but folly to think of defense with 
 so small numbers so overmatched ; that if I would sur- 
 render at discretion and trust to his generosity, I should 
 receive better treatment than if I articled for terms. 
 My answer was, that I would then abide by the conse- 
 quences and never take so disgraceful a step, while 
 I had ammunition and provisions. 
 
 " 'You will be answerable,' he said, 'for the lives 
 lost by your obstinacy." I said my men had declared 
 they would die with arms in their hands rather than 
 surrender at discretion ; that still I would accept such 
 terms as might consort with my honor and duty." 
 
 The suggestion of Hamilton that Clark might pre- 
 sent articles of capitulation for his consideration was 
 met, says the Lieutenant Governor, by his remarking 
 that ''he would think upon it and return in half an 
 hour."* Thereupon they separated, — the British 
 commander returning to the fort and the American 
 going to his head quarters. This ended the first 
 conference. 
 
 At the appointed time Clark returned with Captain 
 Bowman, and Hamilton, with Major Hay, went to 
 meet them. "The soldiers," says the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor, "in the mean time, apprehensive of some ih de- 
 sign, manned the east blockhou se ready to fire at an 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
358 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 instant. The conversation was resumed, and Colonel 
 Clark appeared as determined as before. "I then said 
 further discourse was vain ; that I would return to the 
 fort, and, to prevent mistakes, the firing should not take 
 place for an hour after our parting. [I] took my 
 leave, and was proceeding to the fort, when Major 
 Hay and Captain Bowman called nie back. The sub- 
 ject was renewed.""^ 
 
 Hamilton then begged Clark to stay until he could 
 return to the garrison and consult his officers. "Being 
 indifferent about him," says the Colonel, "and wanting 
 a few moments for my troops to refresh themselves, 
 I told him that the firing should not commence until 
 such an hour; that during that time he was at liberty 
 to pass with safety. "f 
 
 Hamilton and Clark again met.:|: The former then 
 produced a series of articles of capitulation for the 
 consideration of the American commander : 
 
 "Article 1st. Lieutenant Governor Hamilton engages to 
 deliver up to Col. Clark, Fort Sackville as it is at present 
 with all the stores, ammunition and provision, reserving only 
 thirty-six rounds of powder and ball per man, and as many 
 weeks' provisions as shall be sufficient to. conduct those of 
 the garrison, who shall go by land or water to their des- 
 tination. 
 
 "2d. The garrison are to deliver themselves as prisoners 
 of war and to march out with their arms, accoutrements and 
 
 * Id. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note CII.) 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 72, 73. 
 
 X Id., p. 74. That this was the third meeting and at 
 the church, is evident. "Governor Hamilton," says Clark in 
 his letter to Gov. Henry of April 29, 1779, (lefferson's Works) 
 vol. I, p. 222n), "and myself had on the following day (Feb. 
 24), several conferences." [The italicising is mine]. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 359 
 
 knapsacks, — a guide or guides to be given with • a safe- 
 guard to escort the garrison to their destination, as also horses 
 for the transport of provisions, provided the garrison marches 
 by land. 
 
 "3d. The garrison [is] not to be delivered up until the 
 person employed by Col. Clark shall receive an account of the 
 stores, etc. 
 
 "4th. Three days' time from the signing of the articles 
 [is] to be allowed the garrison to provide shoes, etc., neces- 
 sary for the journey (if by land) and for baking bread, as 
 also for settling the accounts with the traders of this post. 
 
 "5th. Officers or others of the garrison who have fami- 
 lies [are] to be allowed to return to their homes on promise 
 of not acting during the present contest between Great Britain 
 and America. 
 
 "6th. The sick and wounded are recommended to the 
 humanity and generosity of Col. Clark; any charge incurred 
 by them to be discharged by Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, 
 who will leave a draft for 50£ New York' currency, for 
 their use. 
 
 "7th. Officers [are] to take their private baggage." 
 
 "Signed at Fort Sackville, Feb'y. 24, 1779. 
 
 "H. Hamilton.^^* 
 
 These articles were promptly refused by Clark.f 
 
 * These articles, although printed in several of the Eastern 
 papers in 1779, are not heretofore to be found in any work 
 on Western history. The substance of them (except the 
 first, which is not mentioned) is given in Hamilton's letter 
 to Haldimand of July 6, 1781. But he then erroneously gives 
 them as his first propositions sent out to Colonel Clark. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 
 74. In "Bowman's Journal" of Feb. 24, 1779, the words 
 are : "Governor Hamilton produced certain articles of capitu- 
 lation, which were refused," — showing they were not sent 
 by Hamilton but presented in person. Upon this point, the 
 Lieutenant Governor, in his letter to Haldimand of July 6, 
 1781, gets confused — evidently his recollection is at fault ; 
 for he says that then the Colonel agreed to his sending terms 
 
360 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The American commander records that "Hamilton 
 then said — 'Is there nothing to be done but fighting?' 
 'Yes, sir/ I rephed, 1 wiU send you such articles as I 
 think proper to allow; if you accept them, well. I 
 will give you half an hour to consider them' : on which, 
 Captain Helm came with me to take them. when drawn 
 up, to the Lieutenant Governor."* And Hamilton 
 returned to the fort. 
 
 Having assembled his officers. Colonel Clark con- 
 ferred with them and it was finally determined to 
 send to Hamilton (''it was about the close of the 
 evening") articles, by which the latter engaged to 
 surrender to the former, Fort Sackville, as it then 
 was, with all its stores, ammunition, provisions, etc., 
 etc, ; the garrison to deliver themselves up as prisoners 
 of war, and march out with their arms, accoutrements, 
 knapsacks, etc., at ten o'clock next day; three days 
 to be allowed them to settle their accounts with the 
 inhabitants and traders of Vincennes ; and the officers 
 to be allowed their necessary baggage, etc. 
 
 These articles were taken inside the fort by Captain 
 Helm for Hamilton's consideration. "I agreed to 
 them," says the Lieutenant Governor, "having first 
 called the officers together and explained to them the 
 
 for his (Clark's) consideration, and that they were sent the 
 same evening. 
 
 * Clark's Journal — entry of Feb. 24, 1779 — Haldimand 
 MSS. But the Colonel, in his record of that day, connects 
 these words immediately with the first conversation, thereby 
 leaving it to be inferred that there was but one conference. 
 This is error as already shown. "Bowman's Journal" has the 
 following, after mentioning the fact that Hamilton's articles 
 of capitulation were refused : "The Colonel told him he would 
 consult with his officers and let him know the terms he would 
 capitulate on [meaning, the terms he would grant him]." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 36l 
 
 necessity of the step. The men were then assembled, 
 and were convinced that no advantage to his Majesty's 
 service could" result from our holding out in our present 
 circumstances. "- 
 
 Within the time limited, Captain Helm returned 
 with the articles signed by the Lieutenant Governor, 
 with these words written above his signature : "Agreed 
 to, for the following reasons : the remoteness from 
 succors; the state and quantity of provisions; unanir 
 mity of officers and men on its expediency; the hon- 
 orable terms allowed and, lastly, the confidence in a 
 generous enemy."* 
 
 Among the reasons not mentioned by the British 
 commander in giving his assent to these articles (if 
 we are to believe what he afterward asserted) were 
 the treachery of one half the little garrison, the cer- 
 tainty of the inhabitants of the village having joined 
 the rebels, the northeast angle of the fort projecting 
 over a sand bank already considerably undermined, 
 the miserable state of the wounded men, and the im- 
 possibility of effecting our escape by water. f Hamil- 
 ton, at the same time, attempts to apologize for the 
 use of the words — "the confidence in a generous 
 
 * Clark's I ournal — entry of Feb. 24. "Bowman's Jour- 
 nal" — entry of the same date; but there is a difference in 
 the wording of the articles (though the meaning is essentially 
 the same) in the printed Journal from the MSS. copy. Clark 
 to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 75. Hamilton 
 to Haldimand, July 6, 1781 — Germain MSS. No two of these 
 are the same, word for word. I have followed Clark's Journal, 
 as near as may be, in the text; but, for an exact copy of the 
 Articles, see Appendix to our narrative, Note CIII. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS'. 
 (See Appendix to our narrative. Note CIV.) 
 
362 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 enemy": "If it be considered that we were to leave 
 our wounded men at the mercy of a man who had 
 shown such instances of ferocity as Colonel Clark had 
 lately, a compliment bespeaking his generosity and 
 humanity may possibly find excuse with some as I 
 know it has censure from others." 
 
 After having given the necessary orders for the 
 surrender of the fort on the morrow according to the 
 terms of the capitulation agreed upon, the Lieutenant 
 Governor ''passed the night in sorting papers and in 
 preparing for the disagreeable ceremony of the next 
 day. Mortification, disappointment and indignation 
 had their turns." 
 
 ''The business being now nearly at an end," sa3^s 
 Clark in an after-recollection of the matter, "troops 
 were posted in several strong houses around the garri- 
 son and patroled during the night to prevent any 
 deception that might be attempted. The remainder 
 on duty lay on their arms and for the first time for 
 many days past got some rest."* 
 
 About ten o'clock of the following morning (the 
 twenty-fifth), Captain Bowman and Captain McCarty's 
 companies paraded on each side of the gate of the 
 fort.f Hamilton and his men then marched out, "with 
 fixed bayonets," as he declares, "and the soldiers with 
 their knapsacks, — the colors had not been hoisted 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 156, 157. 
 
 t "Bowman's Journal" says the two companies were 
 "paraded on one side of the fort gate [the italicising is mine] ;" 
 but this is error as shown by Chesne, who says (in his Ac- 
 count) they were "drawn up on each side of the fort gate" 
 (the word "each" being italicised by myself). 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 363 
 
 . . . that we might be spared the mortification of 
 hauHng them down ;"* and the whole force of the 
 garrison, seventy-nine in number, was surrendered to 
 the two Captains just mentioned as prisoners of war.f 
 Considerable stores also fell into the hands of the 
 victors. "Besides the provisions, clothing and stores 
 belonging to the king/' says the Lieutenant Governor, 
 "all the private baggage of the officers fell into the 
 possession of Colonel Clark.":|: 
 
 "It had been told Colonel Clark," is the declaration 
 of Hamilton, "that we had labored all night to lay 
 powder-chests under the gateway, and had planted the 
 six-pounder loaded with grape, which, by a train, 
 was to destroy the rebels as they entered to take 
 possession. This report may reasonably be imputed 
 to the invention of the French inhabitants, since they 
 had the effrontery to give Colonel Clark a written 
 account of cruelties exercised by us . . . which 
 our own American prisoners confuted in their ac- 
 counts to the ColoneL"§ 
 
 Colonel Clark, with Captain Williams and Cap- 
 tain Worthington's companies, now marched inside 
 the fortification, relieved the sentries, hoisted the Amer- 
 ican colors, and secured all the arms. The Lieutenant 
 Governor then marched back to the fort and shut the 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 t Clark to Gov. Henry, April 29, 1779. — Jefferson's 
 Works, vol. I, p. 222 n. "Bowman's Journal." Butler's Ken- 
 tucky, pp. 86, 87. Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 157. 
 (See Appendix to our narrative, Note CXVI.) 
 
 X Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 The value of the stores "belonging to the King" is nowhere 
 estimated by Hamilton or Clark' in any of their statements. 
 
 § Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
364 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 gate. Thirteen guns were attempted to be fired, one 
 for each of the thirteen states, ''during which time 
 there happened a very unlucky accident through mis- 
 management" after the ninth discharge. There blew 
 up twenty-six six-pound cartridges in one of the 
 batteries, which much hurt Captain Bowman, Captain 
 Worthington, and four privates.* 
 
 And now Fort Sackville was again in possession of 
 Americans, arid its name changed to "Fort Patrick 
 Henry." Hamilton attributed his failure, "chiefly, if 
 not entirely" to the treachery of the persons whom, he 
 declares afterward to his Comm.ander-in-chief, he "had 
 reason to expect lenity and moderation would have 
 gained and whose interest it was to be faithful." He 
 refers, of course, to the inhabitants of Vincennes. 
 While giving Clark credit for a due amount of cour- 
 age and perseverance in marching against Fort Sack- 
 ville, he declares it is not for him to determine whether 
 the Colonel was entitled to success or not in its capture. 
 "In trusting to traitors," says the Lieutenant Governor, 
 "he was more fortunate than myself." As to the Cana- 
 dians w^ho went from Detroit upon the expedition, he 
 declares there was but little choice among them. The 
 arts of some rebel emissaries and the intrigues of per- 
 sons still attached to the interests of France, g-ot the 
 better of the good intentions they might have set out 
 with. "If my conduct," he says, in writing the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, "appears to your Excellency in a jus- 
 tified light, I may hope to be more pitied than blamed ; 
 
 * ''Bowman's Journal" — Department of State MSS. 
 Compare same in Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p'. 108. 
 Chesne says (in his Account) he was told there were but nine 
 guns heard. (See further as to this mishap, Appendix to our 
 narrative, Note CV.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 365 
 
 at least, your approbation will enable me to support 
 the weight of that censure which seldom fails to 
 accompany an unsuccessful enterprise.""^ 
 • In one thing, at least, Hamilton got the better of 
 Clark ; — he conducted the conferences had with the 
 Colonel with consummate skill, making use of Captain 
 Helm (who, naturally, could not relish the idea of 
 being inside the fort, even though an American and 
 well known to the assailants, when assaulted by Vir- 
 ginia riflemen) very effectively as a go-between. By 
 yielding as it were, point by point only after strong 
 efforts to maintain each, and by a firm declaration often 
 repeated to die rather than surrender at discretion, 
 he finally succeeded in almost forcing from the Amer- 
 ican commander honorable terms of capitulation. This 
 was strategy of a high order. It was, almost from 
 the firing of the first gun, evidently the only hope 
 of the Lieutenant Governor to obtain from his assail- 
 ant some terms which should prevent an indiscriminate 
 slaughter of his men when the fort should be taken ; 
 and in this he was successful. 
 
 The spirit and assurance manifested by Clark in 
 marching openly into Vincennes was, of course, the 
 result of his having learned that the inhabitants were 
 friendly. He believed he could not be deceived, and 
 he was not. His bravery in assailing the fort was 
 due, at first, largely to the circumstance that his ar- 
 tillery was hourly expected and he would secure mean- 
 while advantageous situations for planting his guns.f 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS, 
 t Appendix, Note CVI. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE sending by Hamilton, on the last day of 
 January, of Commissary Adhemar St. Alar- 
 tin, with ten boats and thirty of the inhabi- 
 tants of Mncennes, to Fort Aliami — head of the ]Mau- 
 mee — for provisions and stores which had been for- 
 warded from Detroit, had already been made known to 
 Clark ; and he lost no time in fitting out an expedition 
 to capture the whole^ before news could reach Adhe- 
 mar of the surrender of Hamilton. 
 
 On the day after the occupation of the fort by the 
 Americans, the Colonel ordered Captain Helm, Closes 
 Henry, Major Legras and Captain Bosseron with fifty 
 men of the Mncennes militia (Legras and Bosseron 
 having assumed the command of which they had been 
 deprived by Hamilton) to proceed up the Wabash with 
 three boats, each armed with a swivel, to intercept the 
 convoy."^ '"Knowing," says Clark, ''that Governor 
 Hamilton had sent a party of men up the Wabash to 
 Orne [Fort Miami] for stores that he had left there, 
 which must be on their return, I waited about twelve 
 hours for the arrival of the galley [the Willing] to in- 
 tercept them ; but fearing their getting intelligence, 1 
 dispatched Captain Helm with a party in armed boats 
 [to capture them]."f This was on the twenty-sixth 
 of February. 
 
 * "Bowman's Journal" — Department of State MSS. ; but 
 in the same when printed {Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 108), Capt. Bosseron's name is omitted. 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 
 75. But the Colonel was in error in stating the stores had 
 
 (366) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 367 
 
 Meanwhile, St. Martin, with thirty-eight men, 
 (eight having taken passage for their homes), had 
 left Fort Miami,, crossed the carrying-place, and was 
 floating down the Wabash, not only with his provi- 
 sions and stores, but with Depean, who, upon his ar- 
 rival at Miami, had obtained leave of the commandant 
 to proceed on his journey, taking with him a number 
 of letters from Detroit which had been entrusted to 
 him. Little did the party imagine, as the seven boats 
 were urged down the river, the reception which 
 awaited them. 
 
 Captain Helm returned to Vincennes on the fifth 
 of March. He had been successful. At Wea, he met 
 the British convoy and made a prize of the whole, 
 taking forty prisoners and about ten thousand pounds 
 sterling worth of goods and provisions without firing 
 a gun ; also the mail from Canada to Governor Ham- 
 ilton, containing, however, no news of importance. 
 Hamilton subsequently declared that Dejean had not 
 sufficient presence of mind to destroy the papers, 
 which, with everything else, were seized by the rebels. 
 
 The return of the Captain caused much rejoicing, 
 not only because of the large amount of stores secured, 
 but because of the capture of "Grand Judge" Dejean 
 and Commissary St. Martin. Such of the prisoners 
 as were inhabitants of Vincennes were at once set at 
 liberty. 
 
 Of the ''spoils" secured, Clark divided as gifts 
 among his men a considerable amount of such things 
 as were thought suitable for them, only retaining for 
 himself and his officers a small quantity of needed 
 
 been left at Fort Miami by Hamilton. His words to Gov. 
 Henry of April 29, 1779, are nearer the truth : "Hearing of 
 a convoy of goods from Detroit," etc. 
 
36S HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXQUEST, ETC. 
 
 clotliing. There was set aside for a specific purpose 
 what was judged to be of the vahie of eight hundred 
 pounds steriing, in addition to the foregoing.* 
 
 On tlie same day that Hehn reported his success 
 to Colonel Clark, the latter discharged a number of the 
 Illinois volunteers, consisting of the whole of Cap- 
 tain Charleville's company and a part of Captain ^Ic- 
 Carty's. Cheerfully, of course, they started for their 
 homes. ^Meanwhile, it seems. Clark had sent men 
 do\\Ti the Wabash to bring up to \'incennes, the horses 
 whicli had been left below the mouth of the Embar- 
 rass on the march out.t 
 
 Hamilton, not many hours after he became a pris- 
 oner, if we may credit his account, feared he had 
 placed himself in the power of a tyrant. "The even- 
 ing of the day we capitulated," he subsequently as- 
 sure-:! General Haldimand. "Colonel Clark ordered 
 neck-irons, fetters and hand-cuffs to be made, which, 
 in our hearing, he declared were designed for those of- 
 ficerr. who had been employed as partisans with the In- 
 dians. I took him aside and reminded him that these 
 prisoners were prisoners of war included in the capit- 
 ulation which he had so lately set his hand to. He 
 said his resolution was formed : that he had made a 
 
 * "Bo^NTnan's Journal." Clark to the Governor of Vir- 
 ginia, April 29. 1779 — Jttfcrson's JJ^orks, vol. I, p. 222 n. 
 Jefferson to Captain Lernoult, July 22, 1779 — Calendar of 
 Virginia State Papers, vol. I, p. 321. Clark to !Mason, Nov. 
 19. 1779 — Clark's Coftipaign in the Illinois, p. 75. Hamilton 
 to Kaldimand. Jul}' 6, 1781 — Haldimand MSS. Butler's 
 Kentucky, p. S7. Clark's Memoir — Dillon s Indiana (ed. of 
 1859). pp. 157, 15^. Appendix to our narrative. Note CVII. 
 
 ■^ Such is the inference from a letter written b}- Clark to 
 Gov. Henr>-. ]March 9. 1779, to be found in the Haldimand 
 MSS. [See Appendix. Note CXXV(l)]. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 369 
 
 vow never to spare man, woman or child of the In- 
 dians or those who were employed with them." 
 
 "I observed .to him," continued the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, "that these persons having obeyed my or- 
 ders were not to be blamed for the execution of them ; 
 that I had never known that they had acted contrary 
 to those orders, by encouraging the cruelty of the sav- 
 ages; and that, if he was determined to pass by the 
 consideration of his faith and that of the public, 
 pledged for the performance of the articles of capit- 
 ulation, I desired he might throw me into prison, or 
 lay me in irons, rather than the others. He smiled 
 contemptuously, turned away, and ordered three of 
 these persons to the guard till the irons should be 
 
 made."* 
 
 But the British commander had other causes of 
 complaint. "The scalps of the slaughtered Indians 
 were hung up by our tents," he indignantly declared to 
 his Commander-in-Chief; "and a young man of the 
 name of Ramboult was brought into the fort with a 
 halter ^bout his neck ; and only for the interposition of 
 the volunteers from the Illinois (some of whom were 
 his relations) he would infallibly have been hanged 
 without any crime laid to his charge but his having 
 been with a scouting party. He was half strangled 
 before he was taken from the tree."* 
 
 Hamilton fails to explain what was implied by the 
 culprit being out "with a scouting party;" fails to 
 make known that it meant the killing of men, women 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 (See Appendix to our narrative, Note CVIII.) 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 24 
 
370 HISTOKV OF CLARK'S COXOL'EST, ETC. 
 
 and children indiscriminately at their homes in the 
 Kentucky settlements. 
 
 "Besides the provision, clothing and stores be- 
 longing to the King, all the private baggage of the 
 officers fell into the possession of Colonel Clark," is 
 the lugubrious assertion of Hamilton, . . . ''Col- 
 onel Clark being arbiter of that article of the capitula- 
 tion by which the officers were to take their necessary 
 baggage."* But private baggage was one thing; 
 necessary baggage, quite another. 
 
 However much the Lieutenant-Governor may 
 have deprecated the conduct of Clark toward his 
 (Hamilton's) savage allies, he had really no cause of 
 complaint after his surrender, because of bad treat- 
 ment of himself or his officers from the Colonel, who, 
 it is evident, did not carry out his scheme of ironing 
 such as were partisans. On the first day of March, all 
 were given the freedom of the town on. their signing 
 a parole not to go beyond its limits. f The one signed 
 by Hamilton (and those by the other officers were of 
 like tenor) was in these words : 
 
 * Id. What Lieut. Schieffelin also wrote concerning the 
 failure of Clark to carry out the stipulation of the surrender 
 relative to the "necessary baggage" of the officers, was this : 
 "The rebel officers plundered the British of their baggage, 
 etc., contrary to the faith pledged by them, by virtue of 
 which they yielded their arms." (Loose Xofes — Magazine 
 of American History, vol. I. p. 187. But. it is clear, that the 
 right to determine what was "necessary baggage" was one 
 of the prerogatives of Clark. 
 
 t Schieffelin : Loose Notes. "Bowman's Journal" under 
 date of INIarch 1. A copy of Hay'sparole is in the Haldimand 
 MSS. ; that of SchietTelin is printed in his Loose N'otes. But 
 the letter gives the impression that they were paroled the 
 next morning after the surrender, which is error. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 371 
 
 "ViNCENNES, March 1, 1779. 
 
 "This certifies that I have given my parole of honor to 
 Col. George Rogers Clark, commanding the American forces 
 here, that I will not attempt to make my escape from this 
 place, nor will I by word or action, behave unbecoming a 
 prisoner at large; neither will I in any manner convey intel- 
 ligence to the subjects of his Britannic Majesty in arms 
 against the States of America. 
 
 "In witness wherof, I hereunto sign my name without 
 
 compulsion. utt tt 
 
 Henry Hamilton, 
 
 "Lieu. Gov. and Superintendent." 
 But Hamilton, as a prisoner, was ill at ease. 
 ''Our soldiers" are his subsequent words, "told us that 
 some of the rebels had solemnly sworn to destroy 
 Major Hay and myself the first opportunity. As wt 
 could not guard against any attempt in the situation 
 we then found ourselves, we thought it best to appear 
 unacquainted with any such resolution, but we were 
 twice in the night obliged to fly for security to Col- 
 onel Clark's quarters in the fort, — two men that were 
 intoxicated and whose names had been given us at- 
 tempting to shoot us in our tent. The attempt was 
 proven, but no punishment ensued.f 
 
 Soon after his surrender, the British commander 
 had been informed by Clark that he and his officers 
 and perhaps others of the prisoners were to be sent 
 east over the mountains to Williamsburg. When this 
 would happen the Colonel wisely declined to give any 
 one a hint. "We were kept in the dark," says the 
 Lieutenant-Governor, ''as to the day of our departure, 
 although I had repeatedly asked it that we might have 
 bread baked and other necessary preparations made."^'' 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Grmain MSS. 
 (See Appendix to our narrative, Note CIX.) 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
372 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 On the sovonth. Captain Williams and Lieutenant 
 Rogers, \\ith twonty-tivo men, sot otY tor the Falls of 
 the C^hio. with Hamilton, nojoan. Lieutenant Sehief- 
 felin. Dr. McBeath, Francis ^^Liisonville, i\Ir. Belle- 
 tluille. Major Hay, Captain Laniothe. Adhemar St. 
 Martin, and eighteen other prisoners (who had made 
 themselves especially ohnoxious by going out with 
 Indian war parties') to be sent to \\'illiamsburg, — lo 
 which place Lieutenant Rogers had orders to guard 
 them from the Falls. f 
 
 The prisoners were "under guard of two armed 
 boats" and furnished with ten days' rations of pork 
 and flour to last them until their arrival "at the Falls 
 fort, on the Ohio (400 miles) to row against a strong 
 current. "J Fourteen g-allons of spirits were sent 
 along for the prisoners and their guard. § 
 
 Before starting, the Lieutenant-Governor and 
 Major Hay, by consent of Colonel Clark, wrote each 
 to Captain Lernoult at Detroit, asking him to allow a 
 Mr. Cournailler, who proposed to go to that place on 
 his private affairs, to return to \'incennes.|| 
 
 The tenth, in the afternoon," says the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, "we reached the Ohio, whose waters were 
 out in an uncommon and astonishing degree. The 
 
 t "Bowman's Joiirnar' in the Department of State MSS., 
 where several of their names are misspelled and Adhemar 
 St. Martin's is omitted. The spelling in the same in Clark's 
 Campaign in the Illinois, p. 100, is yet wider of the mark: 
 and there also St. Martin's name is not mentioned. (See 
 Appendix to our narrative. Note CX.") 
 
 t SehiefFelin : Loose Notes. 
 
 § Hamilton to Haldimand. July (.>, 17S1. — Germain MSS. 
 
 li Hamilton to Lernoult and Major Ha}- to same. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. Hamilton's letter, although written on the 7th of 
 March, is dated the 8th. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 373 
 
 depth above the banks [was J eighteen feet, with such 
 a swift current as made it very fatiguing to row, which 
 we all did in turn, while our guard was distributed in 
 four light boats. At night, we were obliged to lie in 
 our boat, making it fast to a tree; for the flood ex- 
 tended as far in the woods as the eye could reach. 
 We made a miserable shift with our mast and oars to 
 throw a cover overhead to keep out the rain, and lay 
 like swine, closely jammed together, having not room 
 to extend ourselves." 
 
 "We presently found the discipline of our guards 
 such," continues the Lieutenant-Governor, '*as would 
 have enabled us to seize their arms and escape to the 
 Natches ; this was agitated among us, but the idea 
 was given up on the persuasion that our companions 
 left in the hands of the rebels at Vincennes would be 
 sufferers for it. We fell in with four Delaware In- 
 dians who were hunting, having only their bows and 
 arrows. Our escort obliged them to accompany us 
 part of the way, but they disappeared one day ; and we 
 were given to understand they were quietly knocked 
 on the head."* 
 
 The Falls of the Ohio was reached on the thir- 
 tieth when the prisoners were "marched to the Falls 
 fort, commanded by Captain [William] Harrod. Lit- 
 tle or no refreshments were to be had."t This is not 
 surprising. The emigrants, as well as the original 
 settlers upon the island, who had moved to the main- 
 land, and had located around the fort found it diffi- 
 cult to supply themselves with necessaries. Their 
 
 * Hamillon to Haldimand, July G, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 t Schicffclin : Loose Notes. The Lieutenant gives the 
 day of arrival at the Falls fort as the. 31st; but Hamilton 
 says it was the 30th. I have followed the Lieutenant Governor. 
 
374 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 new settlement which had taken the name of "White 
 Home," chistered aromid the fortification. "^ 
 
 Hamilton found at the Falls, as he remarks, with 
 much truthfulness, "a number of settlers who live in 
 log houses, in eternal apprehensions from the In- 
 dians ;"t — "^li^^ cause of all which anxiety," he could, 
 with truth, have added, "was, because I chose to obey 
 the behests of my superiors, however barbarous, rather 
 than resign my office ; and because I had shut my eyes 
 to the awful scenes of destruction and death which I 
 knew were constantly occurring- in the Kentucky set- 
 tlements from these savage visitations." 
 
 The news that Fort Sackville had fallen into tlie 
 hands of the British on the seventeenth of December, 
 had only reached the Falls the day before the arrival 
 there of the prisoners.^ so vigilant had been the parties 
 sent out from A incennes by Hamilton ; and great, of 
 course, was the astonishment of the borderers to find 
 by ocular demonstration, that the Fort had already 
 been re-taken, and that before them was a number of 
 the enemy who had surrendered to the heroic Clark 
 and his gallant Americans. 
 
 From the "Falls fort." the Lieutenant-Governor 
 and his fellow prisoners were marched through the 
 woods on foot, under a heavy guard, with their nec- 
 essaries and provisions about one hundred miles, to 
 Harrodstown, which they reached on the eighth of 
 April. The post there they found commanded by Col- 
 onel John Bowman, county-lieutenant of Kentucky 
 
 ■" R. T. Dnrrett. in the Louisville Coiiricr-JoitrnaJ. August 
 •_\ 1883. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimaml Tulv 6. 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 I Id, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 375 
 
 county, 'Vho treated them as well as his abilities 
 would admit." There they remained ten days when 
 they again started, ''depending," says one of the pris- 
 oners, ''on Providence for provisions" and "insulted 
 by every dirty fellow as they passed through the coun- 
 try;* "In our long march," afterward declared the 
 Lieutenant-Governor, "we had frequently hunger and 
 thirst to encounter as well as fatigue. "f 
 
 According to Hamilton, Colonel Clark had prom- 
 ised to send fifteen horses to the Falls for his (Ham- 
 ilton's) use and those of the other officers, on their 
 march thence; but that promise, he declares, "never 
 was performed." "He had apprized us," are the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor's words, "that there was but little 
 chance of escaping with our lives, the people on the 
 frontiers were so exasperated by the inroads of the 
 Indians; and, in this, we found he had told us the 
 truth, being often threatened upon the march and way- 
 laid at different places. Our guard, however, be- 
 haved very well, protected us and hunted for us, else 
 we must have starved, for our rations were long since 
 expended, and our allowance of bear's flesh and In- 
 dian meal was frequently very scanty." 
 
 "The people at the forts," Hamilton added, "were 
 in a wretched state, obliged to enclose their cattle 
 every night within the pickets, and carry their rifles to 
 the field when they went to plow of cut wood."J Why 
 these particulars should have been related by the 
 Lieutenant-Governor afterward, to his superior officer 
 can only be accounted for on the presumption that he 
 
 * Schieffelin : Loose Notes. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 J Id. 
 
37b HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 delighted in recounting them and in the rememhrance 
 that he, of all others, had most promoted snch wretch- 
 edness and distress to the "rebels" — men, women 
 and children. 
 
 As the prisoners and their guard passed out of 
 Kentucky, the Lieutenant-Governor, who. for over 
 three years had governed Detroit and its dependencies 
 always in a turbulent manner (and sometimes des- 
 potically), was forced from the West, in a bad plight. 
 His capture, wherever it had become known in the 
 American frontier settlement, was hailed with delight: 
 for the backwoodsmen all knew who it was that titted 
 out many war-parties of savages carrying destruction 
 and death to the distracted border. 
 
 Without any suspicions of the stirring events 
 which had in the previous month transpired at A'in- 
 cennes. — without any knowledge of Clark's march 
 and the capture of Hamilton — without any infonna- 
 tion of the latter being then on his way to the A'ir- 
 g*inia capital a prisoner of war. — Governor Henry, 
 on the sixteenth of ]^Iarch, wrote Washington, that 
 \'irginia militia had full possession of the Illinois and 
 the post (Mncennes) on the Wabash: that he was not 
 without hopes the same militia might overawe the In- 
 dians as far as Detroit : that these troops were inde- 
 pendent of General ^Iclntosh whose mniibers al- 
 though upward of two thousand, he thought could not 
 make any great progTess on accoimt. as he had heard, 
 of the route they took and the lateness of the season : 
 that the conquest of the Illinois and Wabash towns 
 was etteotod with less than two hundred men, who 
 would soon be reinforced : and that then these mili- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 377 
 
 tiamen, he hoped, by holding posts on the back of the 
 Indians, might intimidate them.* 
 
 On the eighteenth of May, the Governor of Vir- 
 ginia, having received information of the capture of 
 Hamilton, announced it to the House : 
 
 '1 have enclosed a letter for the perusal of the 
 Assembly, from Colonel Clark, at the Illinois. This 
 letter, among other things, informs me of an expedi- 
 tion which he had planned and was determined to ex- 
 ecute, in order to recover Fort Vincennes, which had 
 been formerly taken from the British troops and gar- 
 risoned by those under the Colonel's command. This 
 enterprise has succeeded to our utmost wishes; for 
 the garrison commanded by Henry Hamilton, Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor of Detroit, and consisting of British 
 regulars and a number of volunteers, were made pris- 
 oners of war. Colonel Clark has sent the Governor, 
 with several officers and privates under guard, who 
 have by this time arrived at New London, in the 
 county of Bedford. Proper measures will be adopted 
 by the Executive, for their confinement and se- 
 
 curity."t 
 
 "At length," says Hamilton, 'Ve gained the set- 
 tled country, and at Lynch's ferry, on James river, 
 were put into canoes and continued our progress by 
 water." On the twentieth of May, bein g on shore to 
 
 * Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. Ill, p. 230. 
 
 t Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, pp. 315, 316 ; 
 Henry's Patrick Henry, vol III, pp. 240, 241. The Jetter 
 mentioned by Gov. Henry as having been received from Clark 
 was the one dated at Kaskaskia Feb. 3, 1779. He of course 
 only got. from that letter the Colonel's determination to go 
 against Vincennes. The residue of the information he ob- 
 tained, doubtless, from some person or persons who had 
 come on with the prisoners. 
 
378 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOUEST, ETC. 
 
 get refreshments, the Lieutenant-Governor was agree- 
 ably surprised to find himself at Brigadier Hamilton's 
 quarters, "who endeavored," the Lieutenant-Governor 
 afiirms, "by his kindness and hospitality to make 
 us forget our hardships." "The same evening," he 
 states further, "halting at the house of a rebel. Col- 
 onel Lewis, we had the good fortune to see tw^o ofticers 
 of the Convention army. Captain Freeman, aid-de- 
 camp to General Reidezel was so obliging as to be the 
 bearer of a letter from me to General [WiUiam] Phil- 
 lips." He also sent one to General Haldimand, con- 
 taining the capitulation and some returns. On the 
 twenty-sixth, the prisoners were marched by a "rebel" 
 captain with a small force, from Beaver Dam to Rich- 
 mond ; thence, they were taken to Chesterfield Court 
 House, being "kept to its limits under a strong 
 guard."* 
 
 By the middle of June, the Mrginia Council had 
 determined to put Hamilton, Dejean and Lamothe in 
 irons, and confine them in the dungeons of the public 
 jail, — to be "debarred the use of pen, ink and paper, 
 and excluded all converse, except with their keeper." 
 
 "The Board proceeded to the consideration of the 
 letters of Colonel Clark, and other papers relative to 
 Henry Hamilton, Esq., who has acted for some years 
 past as Lieutenant-Governor of the settlement at and 
 about Detroit, and commandant of the British garri- 
 son there, under Sir Guy Carleton, as Governor-in- 
 chiof : Philip Dejean, justice of the peace for Detroit, 
 and William Lamothe, captain of volimteers, — pris- 
 oners of war taken in the count}' of Illinois." 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand". July 0. 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 ScliietYelin : Loose Xotcs — Magacinc of A)ncrican History, 
 vol. I, p. 188. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note CXI.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 379 
 
 "They find," says the Board, "that Governor 
 Hamilton has executed the task of inciting Indians to 
 perpetrate their accustomed cruelties on the citizens of 
 the United States without distinction of age, sex or 
 condition, with an eagerness and avidity which evince, 
 that the general nature of his charge harmonized 
 with his particular disposition. They should have 
 been satisfied from the other testimony adduced, that 
 these enormities were committed by savages acting 
 under his commission ; but the number of the procla- 
 mations which, at different times, were left in houses, 
 the inhabitants of which were killed or carried away 
 by the Indians, one of which proclamations is in pos- 
 session of the Board, under the hand and seal of 
 Governor Hamilton, puts this fact beyond a doubt." 
 
 "At the time of his captivity," continues the 
 Council, "it appears he had sent considerable bodies of 
 Indians against the frontier settlements of these states, 
 and had actually appointed a great council of Indians 
 to meet him at [the mouth of the] Tennessee, to con- 
 cert the operations of this present campaign. They 
 find that his treatment of our citizens and soldiers, 
 taken and carried within the limits of his command has 
 been cruel and inhuman ; that in the case of John 
 Dodge, a citizen of these States, which has been par- 
 ticularly stated to this Board, he loaded him with 
 irons threw him into a dungeon, without bedding, 
 without straw, without fire, in the dead of winter and 
 severe climate of Detroit; that, in the state, he wasted 
 him with incessant expectations of death ; that when 
 the rigors of his situation had brought him so low that 
 death seemed likely to withdraw him from their power, 
 he was taken out and somewhat attended to, until a 
 
380 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 little mended ; and before he had recovered ability to 
 walk, was again returned to his dungeon, in which a 
 hole was cut seven inches square only, for the admis- 
 sion of air, and the same load of irons again put on 
 him ; that appearing, a second time in imminent dan- 
 ger of being lost to them, he was again taken from 
 his dungeon in which he had lain from Janu- 
 ary till June, with the intermission of a few weeks 
 only, before mentioned ; that Governor Hamilton gave 
 standing rewards for scalps, but offered none for pris- 
 oners, which induced the Indians, after making their 
 captives carry their baggage into the neighborhood of 
 the fort [Detroit], there to put them to death, and 
 carry in their scalps to the Governor, who welcomed 
 their return and success by a discharge of cannon ; 
 that when a prisoner, brought alive, and destined to 
 death by the Indians, the fire already kindled, and him- 
 self boimd to the stake, was dexterously withdrawn, 
 and secreted from them by the himianity of a fellow 
 prisoner, a large reward was offered for the discovery 
 of the victim, which having tempted a servant to be- 
 tray his concealment, the present prisoner, Dejean, be- 
 ing sent with a party of soldiers, surrounded the 
 house, took and threw into jail the tmhappy victim and 
 his deliverer, where the former soon expired under the 
 perpetual assurances of Dejean, that he was to be 
 again restored into the hands of the savages, and the 
 latter, when enlarged, was bitterly reprimanded by 
 Governor Hamilton." 
 
 "It appears to them." the Council adds, "that the 
 prisoner, Dejean, was on all occasions, the willing and 
 cordial instrimient of Governor Hamilton. — acting 
 both as judge and keeper of the jails, and instigating 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 381 
 
 and urging him, by malicious insinuations and un- 
 truths, to increase, rather than relax his severities, 
 hightening the cruelty of his orders by the manner oi 
 executing them ; offering, at one time, a reward to one 
 man [a prisoner] to be the hangman of another, 
 threatening his life on refusal; and taking from his 
 prisoners the little property their opportunities en- 
 abled them to acquire." 
 
 ■ ''It appears that the prisoner, Lamothe," says the 
 Council further, ''was a captain of the volunteer scalp- 
 ing parties of Indians and whites, who went, from time 
 to time, under general orders to spare neither men, 
 women, nor children." Then, to begin their summing 
 up, the Council say : 
 
 "From this detail of circumstances which arose m 
 a few cases only, coming accidentally to the knowl- 
 edge of the Board, they think themselves authorized 
 by fair deduction to presume what would be the hor- 
 rid history of the sufferings of the many who have ex- 
 pired under their miseries (which, therefore, will re- 
 main forever untold), or who have escaped from them 
 and are yet too remote and too much dispersed to 
 bring together their well-founded accusations against 
 these prisoners." 
 
 "They [the Council] have seen that the conduct 
 of the British officers, civil and military, has in the 
 whole course of this war been savage, and unprece- 
 dented among civilized nations ; that our officers taken 
 by them, have been confined in crowded jails, loath- 
 some dungeons and prison ships, loaded with irons, 
 supplied often with no food, generally with too httle 
 for the sustenance of nature and that little sometimes 
 unsound and unwholesome, whereby such numbers 
 
382 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 have perished, that captivity and death have with them 
 been almost synonymous ; that they have been trans- 
 ported beyond seas, where their fate is out of the 
 reach of our inquiry, have been compelled to take arms 
 against their country, and by a refinement in cruelty, 
 to become murderers of their own brethren. 
 
 "Their prisoners with us have, on the other hand, 
 been treated with humanity and moderation ; they have 
 been fed on all occasions, with wholesome and plenti- 
 ful food, suffered to go at large within extensive tracts 
 of country, treated with liberal hospitality, permitted 
 to live in the families of our citizens, to labor for them- 
 selves, to acquire and enjoy profits, and finally to par- 
 ticipate of the principal benefits of society, privileged 
 from all burdens. 
 
 "Reviewing this contrast, which cannot be denied 
 by our enemies themselves, in a single point, and 
 which has now been kept up during four years of un- 
 remitting war, a term long enough to produce well- 
 founded despair that our moderation may ever lead 
 them to the practice of humanity ; called on by that 
 justice we owe to those who are fighting the battles of 
 our country, to deal out, at length, miseries to their 
 enemies, measure for measure, and to distress the feel- 
 ings of mankind by exhibiting to them spectacles of 
 severe retaliation, where we had long and vainly en- 
 deavored to introduce an emulation in kindness ; hap- 
 pily possessed, by the fortune of war, of some of those 
 very individuals who, having distinguished themselves 
 personally in this line of cruel conduct, are fit subjects 
 to begin on, with the work of retaliation ; this Board 
 has resolved to advise the Governor that the said 
 Henry Hamilton, Philip Dejean and William La- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 383 
 
 mothe, prisoners of war, be put in irons, confined in 
 the dungeon of the public jail, debarred the use of pen, 
 ink and paper, and excluded all converse except with 
 their keeper.""^ 
 
 It is evident that a considerable part of the find- 
 ing by the Council against Hamilton and Dejean was 
 predicated upon what had been "particularly stated" 
 to the Board by Dodge. f The latter, after a great 
 deal of ill treatment in Detroit by Hamilton as he 
 claimed, had been taken a prisoner to Quebec. He 
 subsequently escaped, reaching Boston in safety. 
 From that place, he made his way finally to Pitts- 
 burgh. J 
 
 The prisoners remained in Chesterfield until the 
 fifteenth of June. On that day, an officer having a 
 written order under the hand of the Governor of the 
 State — Thomas Jefferson — for taking the Lieuten- 
 ant-Governor in irons to Williamsburg, reached the 
 former place. "1 was accordingly handcuffed," says 
 Hamilton, "put upon a horse, and my servant not be- 
 ing suffered to go with me, my valise was fastened 
 behind me. Captain Lamothe was ordered to accom- 
 pany me, being in like manner handcuffed." 
 
 "The fatigues of the march," continues the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor, "having heated my blood to a violent 
 degree, I had several large boils on my legs. My 
 
 * These proceedings of the Virginia Council were pub- 
 lished the next day (June 16, 1779), in the Virginia Gazette. 
 They are to be found, also, in Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 
 226 n, and in other publications. 
 
 t Compare in this connection Andrew McFarland Davis's 
 article, "The Indians and the Border Warfare of the Revolu- 
 tion," in Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, 
 vol. VI, p. 683. 
 
 X Appendix to our narrative, Notes IV and CXII. 
 
384 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 handcuffs were too tight, but were eased at a smith's 
 shop on the road. Thus sometimes riding and some- 
 times walking, we arrived the second evening at Wil- 
 Hamsburgh, having come sixty miles. "We were con- 
 ducted to the palace, where we remained about half an 
 hour in the street at the Governor's door, in wet 
 clothes, weary, hungry and thirsty, but had not even a 
 cup of water offered us. During this time, a consid- 
 erable mob gathered about us, which accompanied us 
 to jail. On our arrival there, we were put into a cell, 
 not ten feet square, where we found five criminals and 
 Mr. Dejean, who was also handcuffed. This poor 
 man could not refrain from tears on seeing our equip- 
 ment. We had the floor for a bed; the five felons 
 were as happy as rum could make them ; and so we 
 were left to our repose for that night. ""^ 
 
 And thus Lieutenant Schieffelin : 
 
 "June 15th. An American officer came to them 
 [the prisoners] from Williamsburg with orders to lay 
 Governor Hamilton in irons, with Capt. Lamothe, 
 which piece of cruelty was performed before his of- 
 ficers, who shed tears of indignation that their worthy 
 Chief should be so treated. They were marched on 
 foot, handcuffed, through rain, their wrists much hurt 
 from the chafing of the irons ; they would not allow 
 him his waiting-boy. They were marched, in great 
 pomp, through Williamsburg city, and committed to 
 the dungeon with felons, murderers, and condemned 
 crirninals ; not so much as a blanket allowed them."t 
 
 The Mrginia Council having given Jefferson, 
 who, since the first day of June had been Governor of 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 t Loose Notes, already cited. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 385 
 
 the State, their advice to lay the three prisoners in 
 irons, an order was issued in accordance therewith. 
 ''The next day [after their arrival in Williamsburg, 
 which was on the sixteenth] we three," says Hamil- 
 ton, "were taken out about ii o'clock, and, before a 
 number of people, our handcuffs were taken off and 
 fetters put on in exchange. I was honored with the 
 largest, which weighed eighteen pounds eight ounces. 
 As I thought opportunities might not offer frequently, 
 and seeing some of the delegates [members of the Vir- 
 ginia Assembly] . present, I took occasion, while my 
 irons were riveting to speak a few words. I told them 
 that the ignominious manner in which we were 
 treated, without any proof of criminality, or any hear- 
 ing, without even a crime being laid to our charge, was 
 a reproach to those only who could act in that man- 
 ner to prisoners of war, under the sanction of a ca- 
 pitulation; that after a proceeding so unjust, I was 
 prepared for any extremity, but desired the persons 
 present to observe that punishment was exercised on 
 us before any inquiry had taken place or before any 
 persons who might have accused us had been con- 
 fronted with us; — some by their jestures appeared to 
 feel for us, but no one uttered a word, and when our 
 fetters were properly fixed, we were remanded to our 
 dungeon, from which the five felons were removed.""^ 
 The indignant Schieffelin says : "Their [the 
 prisoners'] handcuffs were knocked off; and heavy 
 chains put on their legs before great numbers of peo- 
 ple. Mr. Dejean, justice of peace for Detroit, was 
 also put in irons for reasons of State retaliation. "f 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. -^ Germain MSS, 
 
 '\ Loose Notes, before cited. 
 
 25 
 
386 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 A friend, on the fifth of July, dispatched to 
 Dodge, at Pittsburgh (where the latter had remained 
 since his arrival from the East after escaping from 
 Quebec), a letter, inclosing the proceedings of the Vir- 
 ginia Council as to Hamilton, Lamothe and Dejean, — 
 that, for some time, they had been loaded with irons. 
 This friend was one Andrew Robinson. He wrote that 
 he had previously been called on by the Virginia Coun- 
 cil to give evidence as to Dodge's character, "which I 
 gave," says the writer, "to your advantage," Robin- 
 son also wrote that he was "engaged to secrecy, as the 
 Governor and Council were jealous that he [Hamil- 
 ton] might, if acquainted with their intention of retal- 
 iation, endeavor to escape." He gave information 
 that the Lieutenant-Governor was "loaded with heavy 
 irons," but that he was very severe in his denuncia- 
 tions of Dodge, and that numbers were drawn to con- 
 dole with him and cry out against his accuser. He 
 adds : 'T have gone some lengths to justify you and 
 assure all of them [members of the Council] that you 
 will appear and confront Mr. Hamilton, as he and 
 Dejean both wish to be face to face." Robinson in- 
 formed Dodge also that he (Dodge) had a letter ot the 
 Governor, for his going to Williamsburg, and he 
 hoped he would go without delay. "I wish to see you 
 and give you the letter; but I desire you not to wait 
 for it."^ 
 
 Dodge at once resolved to make a trip from Pitts- 
 burgh to the Virginia capital ; — he would go imme- 
 diately — still be delayed starting. He found an op- 
 portunity to send a letter to a friend of his — a trader 
 ' — at Sandusky. "It is," said he^ "with pleasure that 
 
 *Haldimand MSS. '^ ™ 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 387 
 
 I inform you that I have made my escape from Que- 
 bec. I have the honor of wearing a captain's com- 
 mission, and have the managing of Indian affairs. 
 You may depend on seeing me this fall with a good 
 army." "I am going to Williamsburg in a few days," 
 he added, ''to prosecute Hamilton, and that rascal, De- 
 jean; [also] Lamothe; likewise . . . [Major 
 Hay]. They will be all hanged without redemption 
 and the Lord have mercy on their souls. My compli- 
 ments to all the good Whigs of Detroit — money 
 plenty — fine times for the sons of liberty! I am 
 just now drinking 3^our health with a good glass of 
 madeira. God bless you all. We will soon relieve 
 you from those tyrants 1""^ 
 
 A printed copy of the order of the Virginia Coun- 
 cil in regard to Hamilton, Dejean and Lamothe was 
 transmitted to Washington on the 23d of June. 
 
 The British General, William Phillips, soon pro- 
 tested to Jefferson against the treatment administered 
 to the Lieutenant-Governor of Detroit. He wrote 
 him a lengthy and temperate letter, to the effect that 
 the putting in irons and confinement of Hamilton 
 could not be justified, upon military principles, even 
 if the charges against him were true. Had he been 
 captured, or had he surrendered at discretion, Gen- 
 eral Phillips acknowledged that he would have been 
 at the mercy of his enemies ; "but since he had capitu- 
 lated upon honorable terms, which were signed in the 
 usual form by both parties, he could not be made ac- 
 countable for alleged previous misdemeanors, with- 
 
 * Dodge to Philip Boyle, July 13, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. It was not at Pittsburgh that Dodge was to have "the 
 managing of Indian affairs," but in the Illinois, 
 
388 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 out the violation of a compact which had always been 
 considered sacred by civilized nations."* 
 
 On the seventeenth of July, Jefferson wrote 
 Washington concerning the subject of General Phil- 
 lips' letter. "I some time ago inclosed to you," said 
 the Governor, "a printed copy of an order of Council, 
 by which Governor Hamilton was to be confined in 
 irons and in close jail. This has occasioned a letter 
 from General Phillips, of which the inclosed is a copy. 
 The General seems to suppose that a prisoner on ca- 
 pitulation cannot be put into close confinement, 
 though his capitulation shall not have provided against 
 it. My idea was that all persons taken in war were to 
 be deemed prisoners of w^ar ; that those who surren- 
 dered on capitulation (or Convention) are prisoners 
 of war also, subject to the same treatment with those 
 who surrender at discretion, except only so far as the 
 terms of their capitulation or Convention shall have 
 guarded them. In the capitulation of Governor Ham- 
 ilton (a copy of which I inclose), no stipulation is 
 made as to the treatment of himself or those taken 
 with him. The Governor, indeed, when he signs adds 
 a flourish of reasons inducing him to capitulate, one of 
 which is the generosity of his enemy. Generosity, on 
 a large and comprehensive scale, seems to dictate the 
 making a signal example of this gentleman ; but waiv- 
 ing that, these are only the private motives inducing 
 him to surrender, and do not enter into the contract of 
 Colonel Clark." 
 
 Jefferson added that he had ''the highest idea of 
 the sacredness of those contracts which take place be- 
 
 * Jared Sparks. See the Writings of George Washington 
 (Worthington Chauncey Ford's edition, 1890), vol. VIII, p. 
 5, note. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 389 
 
 tween nation and nation at war," and that he ''would 
 be among the last on earth who should do anything m 
 violation of them." He could find nothing in those 
 books usually recurred to as testimonials of the laws 
 and usages of nature and nations which convicted the 
 opinions he had expressed, of error ; yet there might 
 be such an usage as General Phillips seemed to sup- 
 pose, though not taken notice of by these writers. 
 
 ■ Jefferson's particular object in writing Washing- 
 ton was to get from him information upon the point 
 made by General Phillips. He declared to the Com- 
 mander-in-chief that there was no other person whose 
 decision would so authoritatively decide the doubt in 
 the public mind, and none with which he was disposed 
 so to comply. ''If you shall be of the opinion," said 
 he, "that the bare existence of a capitulation in the 
 case of Governor Hamilton, privileges him from con- 
 finement, though there be no article to that effect in 
 the capitulation, justice shall most assuredly be done 
 him."^ 
 
 When the confinement in the Williamsburg jail, 
 of Hamilton, Lamothe and Dejean became known to 
 Captain Lernoult, at Detroit, he addressed a letter to 
 the Executive of Virginia, asking the reasons for this 
 treatment and remonstrating against it. This on the 
 twenty-second of July, was answered by Governor 
 Jefferson : 
 
 "I think you, sir, who have had as good opportu- 
 nities as any British officer, of learning in what man- 
 ner we treat those whom the fortune of war has put 
 into our hands, can clear us from the charge of rigors, 
 as far as your knowledge or information has extended. 
 
 * Jefferson's Works, 
 
390 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 I can assert that Governor Hamilton's is the first in- 
 stance which has occurred in my own country ; and if 
 there has been another in any of the United States it 
 is unknown to me. These instances must have been 
 extremely rare, if they have existed at all, as they 
 could not have been altogether unheard of by me. 
 
 "When a uniform exercise of kindness to prison- 
 ers on our part has been returned by as uniform sever- 
 ity on the part of our enemies, you must excuse me for 
 saying it is high time, by other lessons, to teach re- 
 spect to the dictates of humanity. In such a case, re- 
 taliation becomes an act of benevolence." 
 
 ''But suppose, sir," continues Jefferson, "we are 
 willing still longer to decline the drudgery of general 
 retaliation, yet Governor Hamilton's conduct has been 
 such as to call for exemplary punishment on him per- 
 sonally. In saying this, I have not so much his par- 
 ticular cruelties to our citizens, prisoners with him 
 (which, although they have been great, were of nece- 
 sity confined to a small scale), as the general nature 
 of the service he undertook at Detroit, and the exten- 
 sive exercise of cruelties which that involved. Those 
 who act together in war are answerable to each other. 
 "I will not say to what length the fair rules of war 
 would extend the right of punishment against him; 
 but I am sure that confinement under its strictest cir- 
 cumstances as a retaliation for Indian devastation and 
 massacre, must be deemed lenity." . . . 
 
 "The proclamation alluded to [by the Council]," 
 says the Virginia Governor, further, "contained noth- 
 ing more than an invitation to our officers and soldiers 
 to join the British arms against those whom he is 
 pleased to call rebels and traitors. In order to intro- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 391 
 
 duce these among our people, they were put into the 
 hands of the Indians, and in every house where they 
 murdered or carried away the family they left one of 
 these proclamations. Some of them were found stick- 
 ing in the breasts of the persons murdered, one under 
 the hand and seal of Governor Hamilton came to our 
 hands. The Indians being the bearer of proclama- 
 tions under the hand and seal of Governor Hamilton 
 (no matter what was the subject of them), there can 
 be no doubt they were acting under his direction ; and, 
 as including this proof, the fact, was cited on the ad- 
 vice of the Council. 
 
 "No distinction can be made between the princi- 
 pal and ally by those against whom the war is waged. 
 He who employs another to do a deed, makes the deed 
 his own. If he calls in the hand of the assassin or 
 murderer, himself becomes the assassin or murderer. 
 The known rule of warfare with the Indian savages is, 
 an indiscriminate butchery of men, women and chil- 
 dren. These savages under this well-known charac- 
 ter, are employed by the British nation as allies in the 
 war against Americans. Governor Hamilton under- 
 takes to be the conductor of the war. In the execu- 
 tion of that undertaking, he associates small parties of 
 whites under his immediate command with large par- 
 ties of the savages, and sends them to act sometimes 
 jointly, sometimes separately, —^ not against our forts 
 or armies in the field, but against the farming settle- 
 ments on our frontiers. Governor Hamilton, then, is 
 himself the butcher of men, women and children." 
 
 "A proclamation addressed to the Inhabitants of the Illi- 
 nois, afterward printed in the public papers — which though 
 it does not in express terms threaten vengeance, blood and 
 massacre, yet it proves that Hamilton had made for us the 
 
392 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 most ample provision for all these calamities. He then gives 
 in detail the horrid catalogue of savage nafions, extending 
 from south to north, whom he had leagued with himself to 
 wage combined war on our frontiers ; and it is well known 
 that that war would of course, be made up of blood and 
 general massacre of men, women and children. Other papers 
 of Governor Hamilton have come to our hands, containing 
 instructions to officers going out with scalping-parties of 
 Indians and whites and proving that that kind of war was 
 waged under his express orders. Further proof in abundance 
 might be added, but I suppose the fact too notorious to need 
 them."* 
 
 Jefferson, after discussing the question as to 
 whether Hamilton, being a prisoner by capitulation 
 was privileged or not from strict confinement — tak- 
 ing the ground that he was not — says : "However, 
 we waive reasoning on this head, because no article in 
 the capitulation of Governor Hamilton is violated by 
 his confinement. 
 
 "Perhaps," adds Jefferson, "not having seen the 
 capitulation, you were led to suppose it a thing of 
 course, that, being able to obtain terms of surrender, 
 they [Hamilton and his party] would first provide for 
 their own treatment. I inclose you a copy of the ca- 
 pitulation, by which you will see that the second ar- 
 ticle declares them prisoners of war, and nothing is 
 said as to the treatment they were entitled to. When 
 Governor Hamilton signs, indeed, he adds a flourish 
 containing the motives inducing him to capitulate, one 
 of which was, confidence in a generous enemy. He 
 
 * Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, p. 321. The 
 proclamation to the inhabitants of the Illinois was, as before 
 shown, dated at Vincennes, Dec. 29, 1778, and published in the 
 Virginia Gazette, June 26, 1779. It was the one handed to 
 Beaubien, already mentioned. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 393 
 
 should have reflected that generosity on a large scale 
 would take side against him. However, these were 
 only his private -motives and did not enter into con- 
 tract with Colonel Clark. Being prisoner of war then, 
 with^nly such privileges as their capitulation has pro- 
 vided, and that having provided nothing on the sub- 
 ject of their treatment, they are liable to be treated as 
 other prisoners. We have not extended our order as 
 we might justifiably have done to the whole of this 
 corps. Governor Hamilton and Captain Lamothe 
 alone as leading' offenders are in confinement. The 
 other officers and men are treated as if they had been 
 taken in justifiable war; the officers being at large on 
 their parole, and the men also having their liberty to a 
 certain extent. Dejean was not included in the ca- 
 pitulation, being taken eight days after, on the Wa- 
 bash, one hundred and fifty miles from Vincennes." 
 
 'T hope, sir," concludes Jefferson, "that, being 
 made more fully acquainted with the facts on which 
 the advice of Council was grounded, and exercising 
 your own good sense in cool and candid deliberation 
 on these facts, and the consequences deducted from 
 them according to the usage and sentiments of civil- 
 ized nations, you will see the transaction in a very dif- 
 ferent light from that in which it appeared at the time 
 of writing your letter ; and [that you will] ascribe the 
 advice of the Council not to want of attention to the 
 sacred nature of public conventions, of which I hope 
 we shall never in any circumstances lose sight, but to 
 a desire of stopping the effusion of the unoffending 
 blood of women and children and the unjustifiable se- 
 
394 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 verities exercised on our captive officers and soldiers 
 in general, by proper severities on our part.""^ 
 
 It is to be noticed that, in his reply, Jefferson not 
 once alludes to Dodge, or to the particulars furnished 
 by him to the Virginia Council. Had the Governor 
 come to doubt the truth of his narrative? It seems 
 not; for as will presently be seen, he subsequently 
 wrote that, as to particular acts of barbarity on Ham- 
 ilton's part to citizens of the United States, he (Jeft'er- 
 son) had "as sacred assurances as human testimony 
 was capable of giving." Nevertheless, for fear he 
 had, possibly, been imposed upon, he would not (such 
 is the inference) rest the case in any wise upon that 
 evidence, in his reply to Lernoult. 
 
 That the Governor desired to see Dt)dge in Wil- 
 liamsburg, to the end that the latter might meet his 
 arch-adversary and, in hearing of the Executive, 
 charge Hamilton with his crimes was what he ex- 
 pected of Jefferson in view of the emphatic denial on 
 part of the prisoners of what had been alleged against 
 them, and does not imply any doubt on part of the 
 Virginia Governor of the statements previously made 
 by Dodge. The resolution of the latter at once to 
 leave Pittsburg for the Virginia capital was not, it 
 seems, carried out. As the sequel shows, he was in 
 no especial hurry to confront the three prisoners — 
 Hamilton, Dejean and Lemothe — "face to face."t 
 
 * Ibid. The reply of Jefferson, in some of its parts, is 
 illegible and therefore not printed in the work just cited. 
 This has caused an arrangement of some of the words, as 
 given in the text above, different from that found in the 
 Virginia Calendar. 
 
 t Appendix, Note CXII. 
 
H 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 AMILTON gives a dolorous description of the 
 condition of the jail in which the three pris- 
 oners — himself, Lamothe and Dejean — 
 were confined : ''The light we received was from a 
 grate, which faced the court of twenty feet square, 
 with walls thirty feet high. The prison having been 
 built sixty years, it may be conceived we were sub- 
 ject to one very offensive convenience, in the heat of 
 the summer almost suffocating. Our door was only 
 opened to give us water. ^ We were not allowed any 
 candle; and, from the first to the last of our confine- 
 ment, we never could find that the Governor or Council 
 had ordered provision of any kind to be made for us 
 except water, with which we were really very well 
 supplied. The variety of vermin to which we were 
 a prey, bad air, chagrin, and want of exercise, began 
 to produce their effects on my companions."* 
 
 Because of this, Hamilton thought to procure by 
 writing a letter to the Lieutenant Governor of the 
 State (the Governor being absent) a mitigation of 
 their sufferings. So, having obtained from the jailor 
 (who. was left sole arbiter to deal out his indulgence 
 or straighten their captivity) pen, ink, and paper, he 
 wrote Mr. Pelham, who had procured him these nec- 
 essary articles : 
 
 ''Having understood from you yesterday," said 
 Hamilton, "that the Governor [Jefferson] was gone 
 to the country to stay for a month, I request you to 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 (395) 
 
396 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 wait on the Lieutenant Governor, present my respects 
 to him, acquainting him that, by a written order 
 signed by the Governor, I, with Mr. Dejean and Cap- 
 tain Lamothe, have been ironed and thrown into a 
 dungeon where we have now lain upwards of forty 
 days ; that we have not been informed of the cause 
 of this treatment: we do not hear of our being to be 
 confronted with our accusers ; we hear no mention of 
 any pubHc inquiry ; we suffer without trial." 
 
 "We understand," continued the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor, "that these proceedings are not agreeable to 
 the laws of this province, or to any known rule of 
 equity; that it is inconsistent with the tenor of the 
 Governor's oath, and breathes the genuine spirit of 
 lettres de cachet in the most arbitrary government. 
 The Governor's departure without bestowing a thought 
 on men in our si44.iation shows that we may suffer in 
 reputation, health and loss of time, with as little pros- 
 pects of redress as if we were in the cells of the 
 inquisition." 
 
 "Mr. Pellham, please to inform the Lieutenant 
 Governor [of Virginia]," added Hamilton, "that I do 
 not think common justice to be less the birthright of 
 every man, than the enjoyment of life and liberty; 
 but that since our arrival in this state, we have in lieu 
 of common justice, experienced uncommon injustice. 
 I do, therefore, for myself and the gentlemen confined 
 with me, demand justice — justice as open to the public 
 as our ill treatment has been notorious." 
 
 The next day after the writing of this letter it 
 was returned to Hamilton "with the greatest insolence 
 of contempt," as he puts it. He was informed by his 
 jailor "that dignified characters in that country were 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 397 
 
 not treated with so little ceremony." Now, as the mes- 
 sage had been "contemptuously refused," — "I was 
 necessitated to lower my tone," the Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor declared, "or give up all thoughts of redress." 
 So he again wrote, but this time directly to the Lieu- 
 tenant Governor and Council of the State. 
 
 "Mr. Pelham," said he, "having very obligingly 
 procured me the means of addressing you, I take this 
 first opportunity of representing to you the circumstan- 
 ces and situation of the two gentlemen at present in 
 confinement along with me. I am to suppose they 
 have been put in prison for having acted under my 
 orders ; if there be any criminality in those orders, 
 justice demands that I alone should be the sufferer. 
 I, therefore, make it my request that I may suffer 
 alone." 
 
 "The health of these gentlemen," continued Hamil- 
 ton," is daily impaired by the consequences of their 
 restraint, as they are in want of even a change of linen, 
 highly necessary at this sultry season. As to my 
 own conduct, however misrepresented, I have con- 
 fidence (which will, I hope, hereafter appear well 
 grounded) that it will support itself against the at- 
 tacks which have been made upon it in this country, 
 and that it will abide the test of that inquiry which 
 I am to expect it will undergo whenever I shall be 
 called upon by those superiors whose orders I have 
 endeavored to execute with humanity and moderation." 
 
 ''Gentlemen, whatever may be the result of this 
 application," added the prisoner, "I shall with pati- 
 ence wait for the day when I may more largely expose 
 to the world the whole tenor of my conduct, which 
 
398 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 I have all the reason imaginable to think has been 
 discolored and misrepresented." 
 
 But Hamilton declared, what was true, that the 
 Virginia Lieutenant Governor "never deigned an* 
 answer to his letter. But soon thereafter the prisoners 
 got knowledge of the charges that had been preferred 
 against them — by being secretly furnished with the 
 ''findings" of the Council. The way this was brought 
 about is told by the Lieutenant Governor himself. 
 ''Having been," he says, "by order of the Governor 
 (with the advice of his Council) prohibited the use of 
 pen, ink and paper, or the converse of any one but our 
 jailor, we had no employment but our reflections. At 
 length, the prisoners in the next cell contrived to thrust 
 the newspapers through a hole, and in them we found 
 the formal charge drawn up against us, entirely un- 
 supported by truth or evidence."* 
 
 On the twenty-sixth of August, Hamilton wrote 
 Haldimand from the jail in Williamsburg, that he 
 had drawn bills in favor of Samuel Beal for four 
 hundred pounds sterling. He said he might have to 
 draw again, as there were eight officers and eighteen 
 men of his party. Dejean and Lamothe as well as 
 himself had been in confinement seventy-five days. 
 Major Hay, with the other prisoners were at Chester- 
 field, Virginia. t In explanation of this drawing of 
 bills, by Hamilton, it may be stated that General Phil- 
 lips had arranged for it by the consent of the Virginia 
 authorities. "General Phillips," subsequently wrote 
 the Lieutenant Governor, "knowing our situation, had 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 t Haldimand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 399 
 
 sent us an unlimited credit ; and his letter having passed 
 to us through the hands of the Governor and Council 
 [of Virginia]^ we, for a time, lived plentifully and 
 had the means of helping out the miserable ration of 
 the prisoners ; but, after a while, the Executive power 
 ordered our purveyor to limit our allowance.""^ 
 
 ''Major Hay, Lieutenant Schieffelin, and others, 
 remained at Chesterfield, under a guard," wrote one 
 of the prisoners, subsequently, who was there confined, 
 "until the twenty-eighth of August, when an officer, 
 with a party, arrived with orders to march them imme- 
 diately to Williamsburg; to keep them closely confined 
 at nights; and, in every instance, to let them know 
 they were prisoners : if they behaved unbecoming, to 
 punish them." 
 
 On the thirty-first of the month, they started for 
 the capital. "We were marched on foot," says the 
 same chronicler, "passed through Williamsburg to the 
 common jail, where they kept us at the door for three 
 or four hours, when the jailor showed his orders to 
 commit us in close confinement, searching us before- 
 hand. He desired us to follow him to a cell, when 
 the dungeon where the worthy Governor was in, was 
 opened, and we were locked therein. We were now 
 eight in number ; hardly room to stretch ourselves ; 
 no one permitted to confer with us. Here we con- 
 tinued for the long space of eight or ten days, without 
 ever having the door once opened. The criminals 
 were let out to get the air of the court, but we were 
 not. On the eighth day some of us fell ill at twelve 
 at night and would have expired had not blood been 
 immediatel}^ let. The jailor then represented the 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
400 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 
 
 dreadful situation we were in as also the privates, who 
 were confined in another apartment, when, after 
 some deliberation, the infamous Executive Coiuicil 
 indulged us. by separating the officers, namely, Capt. 
 Lamothe, Lieut. Schieffelin, 'Mr. Dejean and Surgeon 
 ^IcBearth, from the others, putting them in an upper 
 apartment. The others were left in the dimgeon, but 
 the doors were left open until evening when they were 
 shut at the same time that those of the criminals 
 were."* 
 
 *\Vngust thirty-first," wrote Hamilton, afterwards, 
 coiiceniing the coming on of the residue of his captive 
 i. lends at his jail, "^lajor Hay, with the other pris- 
 oners from Chesterfield, arrived at \Mlliamsburg ; the 
 soldiers were confined in the debtors' room. The offi- 
 ceri-. five in nimiber, were put into the dungeon, with 
 us, vhich made the heat intolerable. At eleven at 
 night, we were obliged to alarm the prisoners in the 
 next cell, who passed the word to the guard, for the 
 jaiL r, — our surgeon being on the point of suffocating, 
 an asthma, to which he was subject, having seized 
 him, at this time, with such violence that he lost his 
 pulse for ten minutes. We had tried, by wafting a 
 blanket, to draw some air through the grate : but this 
 was insufficient ; and if we had not had presence enough 
 of mind to open a vein, he probably would have ex- 
 pired : for the state of the air was such that a candle, 
 with which we had lately been indulged, would barely 
 live if held near the top of the cell." 
 
 "The jailor," continued the Lieutenant Governor, 
 "took ]\Ir. ^IcBearth out and suft'ered him to sleep in 
 
 * Schieffelin : Loose Notes — Maga::inc of American Hw- 
 tory\, vol. I. p. ISP. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 401 
 
 his own room; and I must declare in justice to him, 
 that, in several points, he showed more feeling by far 
 than his employers. The door of our cell continuing 
 shut for several days, the poor prisoners young and 
 old, men and women, offered to be locked up and de- 
 barred the use of the court, if we might be allowed 
 the liberty, which at length we had." 
 
 "The humanity and attention of these poor people," 
 adds- Hamilton, ''is not to be forgotten. They offered 
 themselves to do a hundred kind offices; cleaned and 
 washed our cell ; showed us how to manage our irons ; 
 wrapped them round with rags; offered to saw them 
 off whenever means of escape were presented: but 
 what struck me most was, that when we were indulged 
 with the use of the court and sat down to eat, these 
 people always withdrew. Gratitude calls on me to 
 mention the difference of characters we experienced 
 from the leaders in this country and those subject to 
 their control." 
 
 "Being attacked with a fit of tlie gout," concludes 
 the Lieutenant Governor, "a surgeon was sent for 
 who treated me with the greatest tenderness. By this 
 means, my fetters were taken off and hand-cuffs put 
 on; but these were of Httle restraint; for, as I had 
 fallen away considerably, I could slip my hands 
 through them with ease." 
 
 When Washington first received the proceedings of 
 the Virginia Council as to Hamilton and his compan- 
 ions he had no doubt of the propriety of the treatment 
 decreed against them. He believed it was founded in 
 principles of a just retaUation. But, after the letter 
 of Jefferson, of the seventeenth of July came to hand, 
 26 
 
402 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and upon examining the matter more minutely, at the 
 same time consuhing with several intelligent general 
 officers, it seemed to be the opinion of the Commander- 
 in-chief — and on the sixth of August he wrote Jeffer- 
 son — "that Air. Hamilton could not, according to the 
 usage of war, after his capitulation even in the man- 
 ner it was made, be subjected to uncommon severity, 
 under that idea, and that the capitulation placed him 
 upon a different footing from that of a mere prisoner 
 at discretion." 
 
 ■'Whether it may be expedient," said Washington, 
 "to continue Hamilton in his present confinement from 
 motives of policy and to satisfy our people, is a ques- 
 tion I cannot determine ; but if it should be, I would 
 take the liberty to suggest that it may be proper to 
 publish all the cruelties he has committed or abetted, 
 in a particular manner, and the evidence in support of 
 the charges, that the world, holding his conduct in 
 abhorrence, may feel and approve the justice of his 
 fate. Indeed, whatever may be the line of conduct 
 towards him, this may be advisable. If, from the 
 considerations I have mentioned, the rigor of his treat- 
 ment is mitigated, yet he cannot claim of right, upon 
 any ground, the extensive indulgence which General 
 Phillips seems to expect for him : and I should not 
 hesitate to withhold from him a thousand privileges 
 I might allow to common prisoners. He certainly 
 merits a discrimination ; and, although the practice of 
 war may not justify all the measures that have been 
 taken against him, he may unquestionably without any 
 breach of public faith or the least shadow of impu- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 403 
 
 tation, be confined to a room. His safe custody will 
 be an object of great importance."* 
 
 The arrival of. Dodge in Williamsburg as requested 
 by his friend Robinson, was not productive of results 
 as against Hamilton, Lamothe and Dejean, who were 
 still closely confined in jail at that place. It is evident 
 he did not confront these men in their dungeon, 
 akhough he says he saw them there in irons;* and -it 
 is doubtful if either of the prisoners were aware of 
 his presence. He soon learned that in no event were 
 they to be hanged ; but he was informed they would 
 be imprisoned until the end of the war. He got his 
 information doubtless before the arrival of Wash- 
 ington's letter at the Virginia capital. He returned 
 to Pittsburgh declaring that the three had been ironed 
 and thrown into the dungeon for the usage they had 
 given him at Detroit,t which was undoubtedly true, 
 in part, as to Hamilton and Dejean, but wholly errone- 
 ous as to Lamothe. J 
 
 On the receipt of Washington's letter of the sixth 
 of August by the Virginia Council in the absence of 
 the Governor, that body on the twenty-ninth of Sep- 
 tember, officially promulgated the following: 
 
 "The Board having been, at no time, unmindful 
 of the circumstances attending the confinement of 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, Captain Lamothe and 
 Philip Dejean, which the personal cruelties of those 
 men, as well as the general conduct of the enemy had 
 
 * Writings of Washington (Ford's ed.), vol. VIII, pp. 
 4, 5. 
 
 t Dodge to Boyle, Sept. 18, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 t See Appendix to our narative. Note CXII. 
 
404 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 constrained them to advise: wishing and willing to 
 expect that their sufferings may lead them to the 
 practice of humanity, should any future turn of for- 
 tune, in their favor, submit to their discretion the fate 
 of their fellow-creatures ; that it may prove an admo- 
 nition to others, meditating like cruelties, not to rely 
 for impunity in any circumstances of distance or pre- 
 sent security; and that it may induce the enemy to 
 reflect, what must be the painful consequences, should 
 on their part impel us again to severities, while such 
 multiplied subjects of retaliation are within our power: 
 sensible that no impression can be made on the event 
 of the war by wreaking vengeance on miserable cap- 
 tives ; that the great cause which has animated the 
 two nations against each other is not to be decided 
 by unmanly cruelties on wretches, who have bowed 
 their necks to the power of the victor, but by the 
 exercise of honorable valor in the field : earnestly hop- 
 ing that the enemy, viewing the subject in the same 
 light, will be content to abide the event of that mode 
 of decision, and spare us the pains of a second depart- 
 ure from kindness to our captives : confident that com- 
 miseration to our prisoners is the only possible motive 
 to which can be candidly ascribed, in the present actual 
 circumstances of the war, the advice we are now about 
 to give ; the Board does advise the Governor to send 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, Captain Lamothe and 
 Philip Dejean to Hanover Court House, there to re- 
 main at large within certain reasonable limits taking 
 their parole in the usual manner."* 
 
 "^ Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 230 n. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 405 
 
 Thereupon the Board ordered the irons to be taken 
 off the three prisoners.* Two days thereafter a parole 
 was made out and tendered them also Major Hay, 
 which, among other things, restrained them from say- 
 ing anything to the prejudice of the United States. 
 This they would not sign — they insisted on the "free- 
 dom of speech" ; and, in consequence, they were contin- 
 ued in prison, though not ironed ; "which confinement," 
 wrote Jefferson to Washington, on the same day, "must 
 be considered as a voluntary one, until they can deter- 
 mine with themselves to be inoffensive in word as well 
 
 as in deed.f 
 
 "Governor Hamilton and his companions," also 
 
 wrote Jefferson to one who was a prisoner to the 
 British and had been in the Lieutenant Governor's 
 power but who now pleaded leniently for him, in hopes 
 of effecting an exchange of himself, "were imprisoned 
 and ironed, first in retaliation for cruel treatment of 
 our captive citizens by the enemy in general; (2d) 
 for the barbarous species of warfare which himself and 
 his savage allies carried on in our western frontier; 
 (3d) for particular acts of barbarity, of which he him- 
 self was personally guilty, to some of our citizens in his 
 power. Any one of these charges was sufiicient to 
 justify the measure we took. Of the truth of the first 
 
 * "Seventy-five days they [Hamilton, Dejean and La- 
 mothe] were loaded with irons in a dungeon nine by ten 
 feet, and no one admitted to have access to them except the 
 jailors." — Schieffelin: Loose Notes — Magazine of Amer- 
 ican History, vol. I, p. 189. 
 
 t Jefferson's Works, vol. I, 230 n. Silas Farmer {History 
 of Detroit and Michigan, p. 254), infers that the three pris- 
 oners were a second time ironed ; but this was not the case ; 
 they were continued in prison, but not again fettered. 
 
■i06 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 yourself are witness. Your situation, indeed, seems 
 to have been better since you were sent to New York : 
 but reflect on what you sutTered before that, and 
 Icnew others of your countrymen to sutfer, and what 
 you know is now suffered by that more unhappy part 
 of them who are sfill confined on board of the prison 
 ships of the enemy. Proofs of the second charge, 
 we have under Hamilton's own hand : and of the third, 
 as sacred assurances as human testimony is capable 
 of giving-. Humane conduct on our part was found 
 to produce no eff'ect : the contrary, therefore, was to 
 be tried. ""^ 
 
 "As we had suffered already," afterwards wrote 
 Hamilton, in gi\*ing his reasons for the prisoners not 
 accepting this parole, "from the simple asseverations 
 of obscure persons — one of whom, John Dodge, was 
 known by several A'irginians to be an unprincipled 
 and perjured reneg^ade, and as we had experienced 
 the inhumanity of the executive power: it plainly ap- 
 peared that this parole was offered for no other motive 
 than to lay us open to the malice of the first informer, 
 when we should probably have been imprisoned as 
 before, with the additional stigma of having broken 
 our parole, which it was next to impossible to obser^-e 
 in all its parts, "f 
 
 The soldiers who formed a part of the party held 
 in confinement, were, on the ninth of October, sent 
 from the debtors' room in the jail to the barrack, 
 where, being allowed to cut wood, "a part was sent 
 to the jail for us/* is the langiiage of Hamilton. "And 
 
 * Jefferson to Mathews," Oct. 1779. Memorandum in Pro- 
 ceedings of T^irginia Council, MS. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6. 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 407 
 
 even the American soldiers on guard/' he added, 
 "though miserably bare of clothing themselves, used 
 to share a part of* their own fuel for dressing our vic- 
 tuals."* On the eleventh, Dejean and Lamothe wrote 
 a memorial stating they wished to have their paroles 
 tendered them that they might be enlarged, and remain 
 no longer in confinement, although they had before 
 been unanimous in rejecting it. They were accord- 
 ingly discharged-f They repaired, of course, to Han- 
 over Court House in accordance with the terms of their 
 paroles. Lieutenant Schieffelin being indisposed was 
 told he could be admitted on parole; and he sent to 
 the authorities the following: 
 
 " 'Gentlemen : Having been informed that it has been 
 a general practice to permit prisoners of war on parole to 
 procure themselves an exchange, or wherewith to defray 
 necessaries of life during their captivity, my present unhappy 
 situation prompts me to take this mode of requesting that the 
 indulgence be granted me to proceed to New York for the 
 same purpose. I shall sign the usual parole, and a strict 
 adherence shall be paid thereto. Relying that my request 
 will be taken into consideration, — 
 
 " 'I am, with respect, gentlemen, your humble servant, 
 
 1st Lieut. Detroit Volunteers. 
 " 'Jacob Schieffelin, 
 " "Williamsburg Prison, Oct. 11, 1779. 
 " 'The Gov. and Council of Va.' 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
 t Schieffelin : Loose Notes — Magazine of American 
 History, vol. I, p. 189. "Captain Lamothe and Mr. Dejean 
 sometime in last October," afterward wrote Hamilton, "ac- 
 cepted the parole formerly rejected." (-Hamilton to Haldi- 
 mand, July 6, 1781 — Germain MSS.) But the statement of 
 Hamilton was taken by him from his notes of August 1, 
 1780 ; hence the words "sometime in last October." 
 
408 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "The jailor returned with answer that they w^ere resolved 
 to keep us confined until we had signed the paroles first 
 tendered to us."* 
 
 Haldimand, at Quebec, was much concerned at 
 the treatment meted out to Hamilton and those with 
 him, by the V^irginia authorities ; but he consoled him- 
 self with the behef that the "rebels" would not venture 
 to take their livesf — a matter really that had not for 
 a moment been considered by either Jefferson or his 
 Council. It was only Dodge who had wished it;$ 
 and, with him, the "wish was father of the thought." 
 
 "The measure of the Council," said Washington, 
 in writing Jefferson, on the twenty-third of November, 
 "in remanding Governor Hamilton and his compan- 
 ions back to confinement, on their refusing to sign the 
 parole tendered them, is perfectly agreeable to the 
 practice of the enemy." The particular part objected 
 to by them — their not being allowed to say anything 
 to the prejudice of the United States — the Com- 
 mander-in-chief declared he had always understood 
 entered into the paroles given by American oiffcers 
 to the enemy. "Of late," added Washington, "or ra- 
 ther since Sir Henry Clinton has had the command, 
 the treatment of our prisoners has been more within 
 the line of humanity and in general very different from 
 that which they experienced under his predecessors. "§ 
 
 * Schieff elin : Loose Notes — Magazine of American 
 History, vol. I, p. 190. 
 
 t Haldimand to Bolton, Nov. 11, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 MSS. 
 
 . I Dodge to Boyle, July 13, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 % Writings of Washington (Ford's ed.), vol. VHI, pp. 
 121, 122. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 409 
 
 "Hamilton, Hay and four others," wrote Jefferson 
 to Washington on the twenty-eighth of November, 
 ''are still obstinate. They were continued therefore, 
 in close confinement, though their irons have never 
 been on since your second letter on the subject. I 
 wrote full information of this matter to General Phil- 
 lips also, from whom I had received letters on the 
 subject. I cannot, in reason, believe that the enemy, 
 on receiving this information, either from yourself 
 or General Phillips, will venture to impose new cruel- 
 ties on our officers in captivity with them. Yet their 
 conduct, hitherto, has been most successfully prog- 
 nosticated by reversing the conclusions of right reason. 
 It is, therefore, my duty, as well as it was my prom- 
 ise to the Virginia captives, to take measures for 
 discovering any change which may be made in their 
 situation. For this purpose, I must apply for your 
 Excellency's interposition. I doubt not but you have 
 an established mode of knowing, at all times, through 
 your commissary of prisoners, the precise state of those 
 in the power of the enemy. I must, therefore, pray 
 you to put into motions, any such means you have, 
 for obtaining knowledge of the stiuation of the Vir- 
 ginia officers in captivity. If you should think proper, 
 as I could wish, to take upon yourself to retaliate any 
 new sufferings which may be imposed on them, it will 
 be more likely to have due weight and to restore the 
 unhappy on both sides to that benevolent treatment 
 for which all should wish."''' 
 
 On Christmas day, Hamilton's imprisoned soldiers 
 were marched away to King Williams' Court House.t 
 
 * Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 237. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
410 HISTORY OF Cl.~y:K'S COXOCEST, ETC. 
 
 "The weather at this time," the Lieutenant-Gover- 
 nor ^TOte subsequently, "became so intensely cold that 
 we could not rise from the floor, but continued day and 
 nieht in our blankets. The sairvev bes:an to make 
 its appearance and our legs to swell. The jailor 
 then concluding we could not survive the severitj* of 
 the cold, in our present situation, took us to an upper 
 room in the jail, where prisoners had formerly been 
 kept : this, though it had no ^\indow but an open grate 
 was more tolerable than the dungeon. \\'e could Hght 
 fire in the chimney, and by sacrificing part of our blan- 
 kets to stop the grated window, and stuff the cracks 
 in the ceiling, we made a shift to endure in the day 
 time: at nig^t we were remanded to our dungeon."* 
 
 "The whole winter." wrote one of the ofl&cers, "did 
 we pass without a stick of wood allowed us. Blankets 
 were demanded for us by the keepers, who got for 
 answer that no blankets could be given us; that their 
 friends who were a: Xew York were ill-treated by 
 our people. s:n:e starved for want of pro\4sions and 
 blankets. This is the consolation they received from 
 their cruel masters. General Phillips was so obhging 
 as to order a supply of clothing from Albermarle. 
 WTien it came to our hands, one third only was de- 
 livered to us. The balance was laid on the wagoner : 
 poor restitution! The Executive restricted us from 
 having our meals as usual from the tavern at our own 
 expense, but ordered us to be put on prison allow- 
 ance — salt beef damaged, and Indian meal." 
 
 "In January, a ^Ir. WiUiam B. St Clair, voltm- 
 teer of the Forty-fourth regiment, with ten troopers of 
 the Seventeenth Dragoons, were committed in close 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 41] 
 
 confinement and kept four days without an ounce of 
 provision issued for them. Governor Hamilton sent 
 out of the mess a supply, or they would have starved. 
 The Executive power of the rebels in Mrginia were 
 pleased to accuse Governor Hamilton and others of 
 having raised the Indian tribes to murder women, 
 children and defenceless men — most infamous false- 
 hoods, propagated by them to inveterate the com- 
 monality against the British, on the frontiers. They 
 say it is cruel in them to act with Indians.'"* 
 
 Lieutenant Schieffelin, on the nineteenth of 'April, 
 1780, at 7 P. ]\I., made his escape from the prison in 
 Williamsburg. t With him went Rocheblave in vio- 
 lation of his parole, as Governor Teli'erson afterward 
 claimed. J: The two made their way to Little York, 
 and embarked on board a schooner Schieffelin engaged, 
 and made their way to the eastern shore, where they 
 remained concealed for nine weeks. § "After great 
 risks and difficulties" both reached Xew York in safety. 
 In thus escaping, Rocheblave declares he did not break 
 his parole. II 
 
 * Schieffelin : Loose Notes — Magazine of American 
 History, vol. I, p. 190. Schieffelin then gives in full the Vir- 
 ginia resolutions of May 21, 1776, as to the employment of 
 Indians in regular warfare. 
 
 t Schieffelin : Loose Notes — Magazine of American 
 History, vol. I. p. 190. Hamilton gives the previous da}' as 
 the date of Schieffelin and Rocheblave's escape. (Letter to 
 Haldimand, Juh^ 6, 1781 — Germain MSS.) But Schieffelin, 
 for this, is the better authority. 
 
 I Jefferson JVorks, vol. I. p. 258. 
 
 § Schieffelin : Loose Notes, loc. cit. 
 
 II Mason's Early Chicago and Illinois, p. 374. For Roche- 
 blave's subsequent career, see the same work, pp. 375-381. 
 
412 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 On the first of August, Francis Maisonville de- 
 stroyed himself.* "This poor man" . . . are the 
 subsequent words of Hamilton, "was not . . . 
 proof to the long confinement he underwent at Wil- 
 liamsburg". The gloominess of his situation alTected 
 his spirits first ; the apprehension of suffering an 
 ignominious death lowered them still more, till his 
 reason began to be impaired. The surgeon, a man of 
 great humanity, though attached to the cause of re- 
 bellion, wrote to the Governor and Council of ^'ir- 
 ginia, to solicit a little enlargement for this poor man 
 as the only means likely to save him. What the 
 answer was I know not : but the unfortunate creature 
 put an end to his miseries and his life, in spite of two 
 persons who watched him and were aware of his 
 situation. "f 
 
 Hamilton and ^lajor Hay, on the day of Alaison- 
 ville's death, were sent to the jail at Chesterfield: 
 JNIcBearth and Bellefeuille to King \Mlliam Court 
 House. Another parole was oflPered Hamilton sub- 
 sequently for his consideration, "which varied so lit- 
 tle," he afterwards wrote, "from the first that we 
 chose to remain prisoners rather than accept it. "J 
 
 "\Miile at Chesterfield" is the language of the 
 Lieutenant Governor . "our confinement was rendered 
 very tolerable ; and several of the military and others 
 who were convinced of the injustice and illiberality 
 of our treatment, showed by their behavior what opin- 
 ion they had of the executive power. In this jail Ma- 
 
 =^ Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. -20, 1780. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 t Same to same. July t>. 17S1. — Germain MSS. 
 J Id. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 413 
 
 jor Hay and I had a very severe though short attack of 
 fever, w^hich w^as pretty generally felt through the 
 country : we were well attended. We had liberty 
 to walk about in the neighborhood of the jail-"''' 
 
 The imprisonment of the Lieutenant Governoir 
 called out on part of General Haldimand a retaliation, 
 but in a mild form. He says : 'Trom the barbarous 
 treatment of our prisoners by the rebels in many in- 
 stances, particularly in that of Lieut. Gov'r Hamil- 
 ton and the troops taken with him, (who are still con- 
 fined in dungeons iipon scanty and unwholesome pro- 
 visions), and their obliging many, even in the charac- 
 ter of gentlemen, to work for their maintenance, I have 
 given orders to the commanding officers of the several 
 posts to employ the rebel prisoners in whatever work 
 they may be most useful, if necessary under a guard, 
 allowing them a full ration and pay equal to the sol- 
 diers who are employed as laborers — which is to be 
 applied to clothe them. The air and exercise will pre- 
 serve their health, and there cannot be a doubt of their 
 being treated with humanity."t 
 
 On the fifth of September, the attention of the 
 Governor of Virginia was called, by Washington, to 
 the confinement of Hamilton, in a letter of that date. 
 
 * Id. Farmer {History of Detroit and Michigan, p. 255) 
 confounds the American Brigadier General Hamilton with 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, giving a letter from Col. 
 James Wood mentioning, as he (Farmer) supposes, the latter; 
 which would indicate that the prisoner was, on the 15th of 
 June, 1780, in confinement at Charlottesville, Va. ; but this is 
 error. None of the British taken by Clark and sent to Vir- 
 ginia were held at the place last named. 
 
 t Haldimand to Sinclair, Aug. 10, 1780.— Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
414 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The Commander-in-chief was desirous that Virginia 
 should consent to his being exchanged. "I was hon- 
 ored yesterday," wrote Governor Jefferson, on the 
 twenty-sixth, in reply, ''with your favor of the fifth 
 instant, on the subject of prisoners, and particularly of 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton. You are not unap- 
 prised of the influence of this officer with the Indians, 
 his activity and embittered zeal against us. You also, 
 perhaps, know how^ precarious is our tenure of the 
 Illinois country, and critical is the situation of the new 
 counties on the Ohio. These circumstances determ- 
 ined us to retain Governor Hamilton and Major Hay 
 within our power, when we delivered up the other 
 prisoners. On a late representation from the people 
 of Kentucky, by a person sent here from that country, 
 and expressions of what they had reason to appre- 
 hend from these two prisoners in the event of their 
 liberation, we assured them they would not be parted 
 with, though we were giving up our other prisoners. 
 ''Lieutenant Colonel Dabusson, aid to Baron de 
 Kalb, lately came here on his parole, with an offer 
 from Lord Rawdon to exchange him for Hamilton. 
 Colonel Towles is now here with a like proposition 
 for himself, from General Phillips, very strongly urged 
 by the General. These, and other overtures do not 
 lessen our opinion of the importance of retaining him ; 
 and they have been, and will be, uniformly rejected. 
 Should the settlement, indeed, of a cartel become im- 
 practicable, without the consent of the states to submit 
 their separate prisoners to its obligation, we will give 
 up these two prisoners, as we would do anything rather 
 than be an obstacle to the general good. But no other 
 circumstances would, I believe, extract them from us. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 415 
 
 These two gentlemen, with a Lieutenant EUigood, are 
 the only separate prisoners we have retained, and the 
 last, only on his own request, and not because we set 
 any store by him. There is indeed a Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor [British Commandant] Rocheblave, of Kaskas- 
 kia, who has broken his parole, and gone to New 
 York, whom we must shortly trouble your Excellency 
 to demand for us, as soon as we can forward to you 
 the proper documents."* 
 
 Colonel Towles,t already mentioned, arrived on 
 the twenty-third ' of September, at Chesterfield. He 
 had been a long time prisoner to the English on Long 
 Island. He had hopes, as we have seen, of procuring 
 an exchange, and came, under permission, to Vir- 
 ginia to effect it if possible. He brought Hamilton 
 letters from friends, which gave him to understand 
 that, unless he accepted a parole, there was little prob- 
 ability of his (Hamilton's) exchange. Being, there- 
 fore, pretty well assured that the only hopes of return- 
 ing to his friends lay in signing it, and having written 
 to a "rebel" officer (Brigadier General Hamilton) re- 
 questing the continuance of his kindness to the residue 
 of the prisoners then removed to Frederick Town, the 
 Lieutenant Governor accepted and set his name to 
 one: 
 
 'T, Henry Hamilton, Lieutenant Governor, and 
 Superintendent of Detroit, hereby acknowledge myself 
 a prisoner of war to the Commonwealth of Virginia; 
 
 * Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 258. It will be remembered 
 that Rocheblave claimed he did not break his parole. It 
 seems that no farther action was taken by Jefferson in the 
 matter. 
 
 t The Colonel's name is incorrectly given in Hamilton to 
 Haldimand, July 6, 1781 (Germain MSS.) as 'Towler." 
 
416 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and having permission from his Excellency, Thomas 
 Jefferson, Governor of the said Commonwealth, to go 
 to New York, do pledge my faith and most sacredly 
 promise upon my parole of honor, that I will not do, 
 say, write, or cause to be done, said or written, directly 
 or indirectly, in any respect whatever, anything to the 
 prejudice of the United States of America, or of any 
 of them, until I shall be enlarged from my captivity 
 by exchange or otherwise with the consent of the said 
 Governor of Virginia or his successors ; and that I 
 will return when required by the said Governor or his 
 successor, to such place within the said Commonwealth 
 as he shall point out and deliver myself up again to 
 him or the person acting for or under him. 
 
 "In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my 
 hand and seal at Chesterfield, this loth day of October, 
 1780. 
 
 "Henry Hamilton/'' 
 
 "The within mentioned Henry Hamilton, having 
 signed a parole, of which this is a copy, has permis- 
 sion to go to New York and to remain within such 
 parts of that State as are in possession of the armies 
 of his Britannic Majesty, until he shall be exchanged 
 or otherwise liberated with the consent of the Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia for the time being, or until he shall 
 be recalled by him. 
 
 "Given under my hand and seal of the Common- 
 wealth of Virginia, at Richmond, date within written. 
 
 "Th. Jefferson [L. S.]" 
 
 Major Hay accepted and signed a like parole at 
 the same date.* 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781^ 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 417 
 
 On this very day — October tenth — Washington 
 wrote: "The State of Virginia, sensible of the dan- 
 gerous influence which Governor Hamilton holds over 
 the Indians, has absolutely refused to exchange him 
 on any terms, for the present at least.""^ 
 
 On the twenty-fifth, Jefferson wrote Washington 
 that '*on some representations received by Colonel 
 Towles that an indulgence to Governor Hamilton and 
 his companions to go to New York, on parole, would 
 produce the happiest effect on the situation of our 
 officers on Long Island, we have given him, Major 
 Hay, and some of the same party at Winchester, leave 
 to go there on parole. The two former go by water, 
 the latter by land."t 
 
 Hamilton and Hay had no sooner accepted a parole 
 than they hastened to Williamsburg on their way to 
 Hampton where they were stopped by the Lieutenant 
 Governor of Virginia, who, as General Leslie had just 
 arrived, thought it not advisable to let them pass, 
 giving orders for their being escorted back to Rich- 
 mond. This treatment Hamilton resented and the 
 order was rescinded. As soon as he had given certifi- 
 cates recommending to General Leslie such of the 
 inhabitants as had shown an attachment to the British 
 government (thereby, virtually, violating his parole) 
 or had been kind to him and his company in their 
 distress, he with Hay proceeded to York, where some 
 turbulent people were minded to set a guard over 
 them and stop their progress ; however, they finally 
 reached Hampton. This short journey cost the British 
 Lieutenant Governor one thousand pounds in the de- 
 
 * Washington's Writings (Sparks's ed.), vol. VII, p. 240. 
 
 tid., p. 291. 
 
 27 
 
418 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 preciated paper money then in circulation. At Hamp- 
 ton, the two received civil treatment. They were fur- 
 nished with a canoe, which, to their "inexpressible 
 satisfaction," put them on board his ^lajesty's sloop, 
 the Delight^ Captain Inglis, who, by his kind recep- 
 tion of them "presently recruited" their ''lowered 
 spirits."* 
 
 The Lieutenant Governor and Hay next went to 
 wait on Captain Gayton (in the Romulus), the Com- 
 modore of the British squadron. The cartel vessel 
 which was to have conveyed them from Hampton to 
 New York, had been taken, and the master's certificate 
 not appearing genuine, he, with his vessel, was de- 
 tained. Having paid their respects to General Leslie, 
 who received them with the greatest politeness, the 
 two returned to the Romulus. Finally the cartel mas- 
 ter was suffered to go to Hampton to prepare for his 
 voyage. The stores which General Leslie and Cap- 
 tain Gayton had most liberally supplied the Lieuten- 
 ant Governor and his companions with "were plun- 
 dered by the Americans on shore," as the two did 
 not care to risk themselves out of a king's ship in an 
 effort to save them.f 
 
 "At length," says Hamilton, "we set off from the 
 Romulus in our cartel, a little miserable sloop, of 
 thirty-five feet keel, for a passage, in which we were 
 obliged to pay four hundred hard dollars. A violent 
 gale of wind obliged us to anchor off Smith's island, 
 where we were very near perishing. Our crew was 
 three hours at work to get the anchor out of the 
 ground. At last we got it home, leaving one flook be- 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS, 
 tid. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 419 
 
 hind ; and, to our no small mortification were obliged 
 to put back to Hampton. Here we were on the point 
 of being detained" by order of General Nelson, who 
 had assembled some militia, but our skipper being 
 desirous to get us away, and having got another an- 
 chor, we once more set sail for New York." 
 
 "A very severe gale of wind," continues the Lieu- 
 tenant Governor, "took us near the capes of Dela- 
 ware, when our skipper, not having a lag-line on 
 board laid the vessel to ; and we had reason in the 
 morning to admire our good fortune, for the wind was 
 right on shore and it was twelve at night when he lay 
 to. Judging by the sun, we were [now] opposite 
 Delaware Bay (as it proved) ; for we had [been] 
 driven seven leagues up the bay from the time of lay- 
 ing to." 
 
 "We arrived at New York," are Hamilton's fur- 
 ther words, "very squalid spectacles, not having had 
 any sleep for three days and nights, our clothes ragged, 
 shoes broken, and [we] so altered in face and figure 
 that our acquaintances could scarcely recollect us."t 
 
 Not long after reaching New York, Hamilton 
 wrote to his Commander-in-chief, giving him some- 
 thing of an idea of his own and his companions' suf- 
 
 t Id. On the eleventh of November and before Haldimand 
 had learned of the acceptance by Hamilton and Hay of a 
 parole, he wrote that he was much concerned to find how 
 Hamilton and those with him had been treated, but he did 
 not think the "rebels" would "venture to take their lives" 
 (Haldimand to Bolton — Haldimand MSS.) "The treatment 
 of Hamilton by the titular Governor and Council of Virginia 
 has been so barbarous that his Excellency [General Haldi- 
 mand] will not set at liberty any prisoners from that State 
 till Hamilton is liberated." (Mathews to Campbell, Dec. 28, 
 1780 — Haldimand MSS.) 
 
420 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ferings since they had been made prisoners, and re- 
 commending to his consideration the services of his 
 officers : 
 
 "It has been," said he, "matter of great concern to 
 me, that my situation has put it out of my power to 
 know for a certainty whether or not the different 
 letters I have had the honor of addressing to your 
 Excellency, have found their way to Quebec. 
 
 ''Neglect in point of respect to your Excellency, 
 or willful remissness of duty, have not a place among 
 my failures. I have, it is true, experienced the mis- 
 fortune of having undertaken an enterprise which has 
 been attended with great expense and fallen totally 
 short of success, yet I have a confidence in your Ex- 
 cellency's candor and generosity, that the unexampled 
 treachery of those whom I had endeavored to win by 
 kind treatment, will appear to have disappointed my 
 measures and that at least I have made the best use 
 in my power of the means I had for distressing the 
 enemy. 
 
 ''It would be far beyond the compass of a letter, 
 were I to enter into a detail of facts, necessary for 
 clearing up this point, so necessary for your Ex- 
 cellency's information and my own vindication. My 
 confinement since my being a prisoner of war, has been 
 so strict, and the watch over my actions so exact, that 
 I have but very imperfect minutes whereon to build my 
 defence ; yet, while the candid few suspend their opin- 
 ions, I shall quiet myself as to the malicious censures 
 of the many. 
 
 "After some months confinement in a dungeon, 
 the Governor of Virginia offered a parole, which we 
 all rejected, as it was manifestly constructed to the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 421 
 
 purpose of ensnaring us and taking advantage of some 
 new ground for crimination. 
 
 "1 have since that time been an entire year a pris- 
 oner, the greater part of the time in a dungeon, with 
 Major Hay and other of the gentlemen made prisoners 
 of war at the same time. A second and a third parole 
 have been tendered to us in the course of that time, the 
 last I accepted with some regret, and am now on 
 parole ; but as yet unexchanged and restricted to the 
 limits of the lines dependent on this garrison. 
 
 "However, by-the goodness of his Excellency, Sir 
 Henry Clinton, and the extraordinary kindness of Ma- 
 jor General Phillips, who has given himself infinite 
 trouble on our accounts, I am in hope we shall all be 
 finally exchanged shortly. 
 
 "Major Hay's situation is truly pityable; upward 
 of two years absent from his numerous family, of 
 whom he has had no intelligence, his anxiety and dis- 
 tress are more easily imagined than described. His 
 misfortune will recommend him more strongly to your 
 Excellency, than can a person who himself stands so 
 greatly in need of your protection and support. I 
 must, however, in justice to Major Hay, lessen my 
 own pretensions to your Excellency's favor, by avow- 
 ing, that on every occasion, his advice and assistance 
 were my chief resource. He voluntarily embarked, 
 on my projecting the enterprise against the rebels, and 
 his fortitude has supported him in the most trying cir- 
 cumstances, ignorant of the fate of his wife and seven 
 children. Your Excellency will, I hope, pardon my 
 zeal, for a very deserving person, an officer of so 
 long standing, if I presume to mention his eldest son 
 being in his sixteenth year. 
 
422 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ''Captain Lamothe's health suffered much by his 
 confinement, and he is now ill ; were it practical and his 
 exchange effected, he would attempt crossing the 
 Lakes this winter to receive your Excellency's com- 
 mands. 
 
 "Lieutenant Schieffelin, who has set out for Que- 
 bec, will, I hope, have the honor of acquainting your 
 Excellency with some particulars, which, in my present 
 situation, I am not at liberty to enter iipon. He 
 effected his escape out of prison, last April ; has been, 
 on all occasions, devoted to the service, and has done 
 his duty with alacrity and diligence. The unfortunate 
 Mr. Frangois Maisonville put an end to his miseries 
 in the prison with us the first day of August last. Mr. 
 Bellefeuille has behaved with great propriety, and is a 
 young man of unexceptionable character. He has 
 been upon pay as an interpreter at one dollar per 
 diem. I shall take the liberty of continuing that to 
 him, till I can have your Excellency's orders and in- 
 structions, as the young gentleman is exposed to ex- 
 pense at this place, and has no other resource as yet. 
 Should your Excellency judge proper to order Cap- 
 tain Lamothe's company to be recruited I would beg 
 leave to recommend Mr. Bellefeuille as second lieu- 
 tenant of it. 
 
 "Mr. McBeath, who willingly accompanied me to 
 Vincennes, and has shared our fatigues and hard- 
 ships, gave up what views of advantage in his pro- 
 fession, he was pursuing at Detroit and being now 
 debarred the support of his relations and friends at 
 so great a distance from home, I hope it will appear 
 but reasonable to your Excellency, that I should con- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 423 
 
 tinue his pay likewise, till further orders, as his situ- 
 ation is, owing to his misfortune, not to his fault. 
 
 "I have the honor of transmitting by the oppor- 
 tunity of a vessel, bound to Halifax an account of 
 bills drawn and cash disbursed, directed to Captain 
 Brehm, your Excellency's secretary ; the vouchers 
 shall be forwarded as soon as possible, which I hope 
 w^ill be by the hands of Major Hay. 
 
 "Should my exchange take place speedily, I shall, 
 with the approbation of Sir Henry Clinton sail for 
 England, and lose no time to put myself under your 
 Excellency's orders."''' 
 
 ''His Excellency Sir Henry Clinton, Major General 
 Phillips, and Lord Rawdon," are the concluding words 
 of Hamilton, in his Journal proper, ''were so good 
 as to take several steps toward procuring our exchange, 
 which finally took place on the fourth day of March, 
 1 78 1. We took our passage for England the tenth, 
 but the packet not sailing till the twenty-seventh of 
 May, our arrival in this country was so late as the 
 twenty-first of June."t 
 
 On the sixth day of July, Hamilton, then in Lon- 
 don, wrote to Haldimand at Quebec : "The last let- 
 ter I had the honor of addressing to your Excellency," 
 said he, "was dated May the seventh, 1781,' and was 
 accompanied with returns of the prisoners and general 
 account of the disbursements and of cash received 
 at different times, duplicates of all which shall be sent 
 by the first opportunity. The packet which brought 
 Major Hay and myself sailed from Sandy Hook on the 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 12, 1780. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 t Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS. 
 
424 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 twenty-seventh of May and arrived in Falmouth, on 
 the twenty-first of June."* 
 
 It gave Haldimand much satisfaction to hear of 
 Hamilton's enlargement and exchange, and he wrote 
 his congratulations, trusting he v^'ould derive benefit 
 from his trip to England. He informed him of the 
 arrival in Quebec of Captain Lamothe and of Roche- 
 blave and Bellefeuille. He generously assured the 
 Lieutenant Governor that he would try what could 
 be done by Dr. McBearth.f 
 
 On the recall of General Haldimand, in 1785, Ham- 
 ilton was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. 
 He held his position one year, wdien he went to Eng- 
 land, and was, soon after his arrival there, made 
 Governor of Dominica. He died at Antiqua in Septem- 
 ber, iy<)6.X Hay was rewarded with the office, of 
 Lieutenant Governor of Detroit. As might be pre- 
 sumed, Dejean did not return to Canada ;§ however, 
 the criminal proceedings against him and Hamilton, 
 which had been commenced at Montreal were not 
 approved by the home government;. ''The present- 
 ments," wrote Germain, "of the grand. jury at Mon- 
 treal against Lieutenant Governor Hamilton and Mr. 
 Dejean, are expressive of a greater degree of jeal- 
 ousy than the transaction complained of in the then 
 circumstances of the Province appear to warrant." 
 
 "^Haldimand MSS. (See Appendix to our narrative, 
 Note CXIII.) 
 
 t Haldimand to Hamilton, Oct. 23, 1781. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 X Morgan's Celebrated Canadians, p. 108. 
 
 § Dejean to Haldimand, from Vincennes, July 28, 1780, 
 and to De Peyster from the same place, at same date. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 425 
 
 "Such stretches of authority," continues Lord George, 
 "are, however, only to be excused by unavoidable nec- 
 essity and the justness and fitness of the occasion; 
 and you will therefore direct the Chief Justice to ex- 
 amine the proofs produced of the criminal's guilt, 
 and if he shall be of opinion that he merited the pun- 
 ishment he met with, although irregularly inflicted, it 
 is the King's pleasure that you do order the Attorney 
 General to grant a nolle prosequi and stop all further 
 proceedings in the matt er."* And they were stopped. 
 
 * Germain to Haldimand, April 16, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
CHAPTER XXIil. 
 
 JUST as, on the twenty-seventh of February, 
 Colonel Clark in Vincennes was getting anxious 
 because of the non-arrival of tne Willing, the 
 bateau made its appearance. It was three o'clock in 
 the afternoon when the boat was made secure at the 
 landing. It had been detained by the strong current 
 of the Ohio and the Wabash. On board were the 
 lieutenants — Rogers (the commander) and another 
 — and forty-eight men, two having been added to 
 the original number — they were those dispatched 
 by Clark on the nineteenth to drop down the Wabash 
 until they met the Willing. The armament remained 
 intact — two iron four-pounders and four swivels.* 
 
 Great was the mortification on the vessel when all 
 learned the particulars of the siege and surrender of 
 the fort that they had been denied the privilege of 
 taking part in the attack.f But good humor soon 
 took the place of disappointment ; and no one was 
 more happy than the Colonel himself; it was because 
 of the arrival, in the galley, of William Myres, who 
 had been sent by him as an express from Kaskaskia 
 and had now returned from Williamsburg, having 
 been taken up on the Ohio by the commander of the 
 Willing and brought back to the mouth of the Wa- 
 bash, and taken thence to Vincennes. 
 
 The package delivered by Myres contained the 
 official letter of the Governor to Clark of January i, 
 
 * Clark's Journal (entry of Feb. 27, 1779). — Haldimand 
 MSS. But the Colonel says there were five swivels on the 
 Willing. In this he was in error; there were only four. 
 
 t "Bowman's Journal" — entry of the 27th of February. 
 
 (426 i 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 427 
 
 preceding, and one to him on private affairs from his 
 Excellency. One also was received by the Colonel 
 from Benjamin Harrison, speaker of the. House of 
 Delegates, with the vote of thanks of the House en- 
 closed. There were, besides the instructions of Gov- 
 ernor Henry to Clark of December 12, copies of those 
 issued to John Todd as Lieutenant of Illinois county, 
 and to Lieutenant Colonel Montgomery, both of the 
 date last mentioned. Captain Bowman, too, received 
 his commission as Major.* The whole gave encour- 
 agement for the f-uture to the Colonel. His battalion 
 was to be completed (he might expect) in a few 
 months, and an entirely new regiment for service in 
 the Illinois was to be raised. 
 
 "What crowned the general joy," afterward wrote 
 Clark to the Virginia Governor, "was the arrival of 
 William Myers, my express to you, with your let- 
 ters, which gave general satisfaction. The soldiery 
 being made sensible of the gratitude of their country 
 for their services, were so much elated that they would 
 have attempted the reduction of Detroit, had I ordered 
 
 them."t 
 
 The American commander, on the ninth of March, 
 busied himself in writing to the Virginia executive 
 and others on public affairs — answering the letters 
 he had received. He was particularly careful to give 
 Governor Henry full details in answer to the letter 
 
 * "Came [Feb. 27, 1779] William Myers express from 
 Williamsburgh, with very good news. Capt. Bowman receives 
 a Major's commission inclosed from the Government/' 
 ("Bowman's Journal" — State Department MSS.) 
 
 t Clark to the Governor of Virginia, April 29, 1779 — 
 Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222 n. (See Appendix to' our 
 narrative, Note CXIV.) 
 
428 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 of the latter of the first day of January; but it never 
 reached its destination : nor did his Journal, which 
 he had kept from the time of leaving Kaskaskia to 
 the final capture of Vincennes.* "By William Myres," 
 said he to Henry, in reply to the letter from the 
 Governor relating wholly to private matters, *'you 
 wrote me to procure you, if possible, some horses and 
 mares. Nothing could give me greater pleasure than 
 to serve you, but I think, at present, it is out of my 
 Yoower, as my situation and circumstances are much 
 changed. There are no such horses here as you re- 
 quest me to get; and I have so much public business 
 to do, especially in the Indian department, that I doubt 
 if I shall be able to go to the Illinois for some time." 
 Changing his subject to other matters that Gover- 
 nor Henry had written him about, the Colonel said : 
 *T thank you for your remembrance of my situation 
 respecting lands on the frontiers. I learn that [the 
 Virginia Government] has reserved lands on the Cum- 
 berland for the soldiers. If I should be deprived of a 
 certain tract on that river which I purchased three 
 years ago and have been at considerable expense to 
 improve, I shall, in a manner, lose my all. It is 
 known by the name of the 'Great French Lick,' on the 
 south (or west) side, containing three thousand acres. 
 If you can do anything for me in saving it, I shall 
 ever remember it with gratitude. There are glorious 
 situations and bodies of land in this country formerly 
 purchased. I am in hopes of being able, in a short 
 time, to send you a map of the whole."t 
 
 * See Appendix to our narrative, Note CXVII ; also 
 Note CXXV. 
 
 t Clark to Gov. Henry. — Haldimand MSS. The letter 
 had for its heading — "Fort Patrick Henry, Vincennes;" 
 
429 
 
 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 429 
 
 The next day, the Colonel wrote to Benjamin Har- 
 rison Speaker of the House of Delegates of Vir- 
 ginia, acknowledging, in fitting terms, his apprecia- 
 don of the action of the House, of the twenty-third 
 of the previous November, in voting their thanks to 
 him and his men for their services in capturmg the 
 
 lUinois towns. -r , . i 
 
 "I must confess, sir," he said, ''that I think my 
 country has done me no more honor than I merited; 
 but you may be assured my study shall be to ^ de- 
 serve it." "By my public letters," he added, you 
 will be made fully acquainted with my late success- 
 ful expedition against Lieutenant Governor Hamilton 
 who has fallen into my hands with all the prmcipal 
 partisans of Detroit. This stroke will nearly put an 
 end to the Indian war. Had I but men enough to 
 take advantage of the present confusion of the Indian 
 nations, I could silence the whole in two months. _ 
 
 As it was, he hoped to accomplish some effective 
 
 work with the help of five hundred men reported as 
 
 ordered out to reinforce him. "U they arrive, he 
 
 wrote, "with what I have in this country, I am m 
 
 hopes it will enable me to do something clever. ^^ . 
 
 Now more than at any previous time,. did Clark 
 
 yearn for an opportunity to March against Detroit. 
 
 Nay, he even flattered himself the auspicious moment 
 
 for such an undertaking was near at hand. "Never, 
 
 says he "was a person more mortified than I was, at 
 
 this time^^^eejoJaii^_an_opp^^ 
 
 '^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 lady and family." [See Appendix, Note CXV. (Letter 
 
 """icL to Harrison, March 10, l^^^. - Haldimand MSS. 
 [See Appendix to our narrative, (Letter No. 2), Note CXV], 
 
430 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 victory — Detroit — lost for want of a few men 
 Having at once all the intelligence I could 
 wish for from both sides, I was better able to fix my 
 future plans of operation against that post. By his 
 Excellency's letter, I might expect to have a com- 
 plete battalion in a few months. The militia of Illi- 
 nois I knew would turn out ; and I did not doubt 
 of getting two Or three hundred men from Kentucky ; 
 which put the matter out of any uncertainty. I 
 contented myself on that presumption.""^ 
 
 "Early in the month of Alarch, I laid before the 
 officers," wrote Clark subsequently, "my plans for the 
 reduction of Detroit and explained the almost cer- 
 tainty of success and the probability of keeping pos- 
 session of it until we could receive succor from the 
 States. If we awaited the arrival of the troops 
 mentioned in the dispatches from the Governor of 
 Virginia, the enemy in the meantime might get 
 strengthened, and probably we might not be so cap- 
 able of carrying the [post] with the expected rein- 
 forcement as we should be with our present force, in 
 case we were to make the attempt at this time; and 
 in the event of our being disappointed in the promised 
 reinforcement, we might not be able to effect it all. 
 There were various arguments made use of on this 
 delicate point. Every person seemed anxious to im- 
 prove the present opportunity, but prudence appeared 
 to forbid the execution and induced us to wait for the 
 reinforcement." 
 
 "The arguments," continues Clark, "which ap- 
 peared to have the greatest weight, were, that, with 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 75, 76. • 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 431 
 
 such a force we might march boldly through the In- 
 dian nations ; that it would make a great [impres- 
 sion] on them as well as the inhabitants of Detroit, 
 and have a better effect than if we were now to slip off 
 and take the place with so small a force; that the 
 British would not wish to weaken Niagara by sending 
 any considerable reinforcement to Detroit ; that it 
 was more difficult for that post to get succor from 
 Canada than it was for us to receive it from the 
 States ; and that the garrison at Detroit would not 
 be able to get a reinforcement in time to prevent our 
 designs, as we might with propriety expect ours in 
 a few weeks."* 
 
 Myres, with two men, on the fourteenth, set out 
 by land from Vincennes for the Virginia capital, — 
 sent again as an express by Clark. j* He was enjoined 
 to hasten and, if necessary, to press whatever he might 
 need for the service, even using force, if necessary; 
 such were the orders given him the day before in 
 writing; J but the three returned the next day, not 
 being able to proceed because of the country being 
 overflowed with water. However, Myres soon started 
 again, this time with three men, going in a canoe 
 down the Wabash to its mouth and up the Ohio to the 
 Falls. Thence, not earlier than the fourth of April, 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 159, 160. The argument that it was more difficult for Detroit 
 "to get succor from Canada" than for Clark to receive it 
 "from the States" was (if really made) a fallacy, it may be 
 premised, soon to be made apparent. 
 
 t "Bowman's Journal" of March 14th. 
 
 X From the Haldimand MSS. — Clark's Instructions to 
 Myers. [See Appendix, Note CXV, (Letter No. 3.)] 
 
432 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXQUEST, ETC. 
 
 he set out for his destination by land.* He had in- 
 trusted to him not only letters of Clark and of some 
 of his officers and men but the Journal of the Colonel 
 containing an account of the march from Kaskaskia 
 to \'incennes and of the capture of Hamilton and his 
 
 garrison, t 
 
 On the fifteenth an express arrived at Vincennes 
 from Kaskaskia with the information that forty-one 
 men from Xew Orleans had reached there. This was 
 Captain James \\'illing's Company : — the Captain, 
 after resigning his command to Robert George, had 
 started with a companion for Philadelphia. J Captain 
 George, on his arrival, took charge of the garrison 
 in Fort Clark. § 
 
 "On my return from Xew Orleans," afterward 
 wrote George, "I had positive written orders to join 
 Colonel Clark in the Illinois or the commanding officer 
 there, who was to give me order for my future des- 
 tination. These orders [to join Clark] I received from 
 Mr. Pollock, agent for the United States, and also 
 from Captain Willing." || 
 
 It was now a question with the American com- 
 mander what he should do with the residue of his 
 
 * "Bowman's Journal" — Department of State MSS. 
 (.See Appendix, Note CXVI.) 
 
 t Appendix. Note CXVII. 
 
 t "Bowman's Journal." The number of men under com- 
 mand of Capt. George is given in De Peyster to Haldimand. 
 June -JT, 1779 — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 § Clark to ^Nlason — Clark's Canipaig)! in the lUinois, p. 
 So. The Colonel declares that George's company was a con- 
 siderable reinforcement to the little party in the Kaskaskia 
 fort. 
 
 I' George to Colonel Daniel Brodhead at Fort Pitt, Sept. 
 25, 1779.— ^Haldimand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 433 
 
 prisoners, having, he says, more than he knew what 
 to do with.* Besides, he was not ignorant of the fact 
 of the great desire of those who had famihes in De- 
 troit to return home; and, not doubting that his 
 good treatment of these volunteers — all inhabitants 
 of Detroit — would promote his interests there, he, 
 upon their application,! discharged the greater part 
 of them (but none who had been with Indian parties 
 against the American settlements) on their taking 
 "the oath of neutrality;" that is to say, they were 
 paroled. "They went off," says the Colonel, "huzzaing 
 for the Congress and declaring though they could not 
 fight against the Americans they would for them" 
 (a few, it seems, remaining in Vincennes, joining 
 Clark's force). This was on the sixteenth. There 
 was sent with them a copy of the alliance between 
 France and the United States. Clark was now much 
 relieved;, for, after so many of his volunteers had 
 returned to their homes, his prisoners numbered almost 
 as many as his own men. 
 
 With those set at liberty, Clark sent a letter to 
 Captain Lernoult at Detroit. It ended with a sarcasm 
 doubtless irritating to that officer: 
 
 'T learn by your letter to Governor Hamilton that 
 you were very busy making new works. I am glad to 
 hear it, as it will save the Americans some expense 
 in building." The Colonel then added these words : 
 r^^^TtTc^^enry, April 29, 1779 (Jefferson's Works, 
 
 vol. I, p. 222 n.) 
 
 tCapt Joseph Bowman to Capt. R. B. Lernoult, March 
 20, 1779.-Haldimand MSS. (See Appendix to our narra- 
 tive, Note CXVIII.) 
 
434 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 'The officers of Fort Patrick Henry solicit Cap- 
 tain Lernoult to present their compliments to the of- 
 ficers of his garrison.'"'' 
 
 From the moment of the arrival of Clark at Vin- 
 cennes, the Piankeshaws and Kickapoos of the village 
 had given him no concern. It is true they had met 
 Hamilton in council and declared themselves thence- 
 forth his followers, but the British commander very 
 well understood it was more through fear than kindly 
 regard. The Colonel declares that, having matters a 
 little settled at Vincennes, he turned his attention to 
 the Indians of the Wabash, calling together the Pian- 
 keshaws, Kickapoos and others, who, as he had been 
 informed (though erroneously), had refused to listen 
 to the Lieutenant Governor. "I knew," says Clark, 
 "that Mr. Hamilton had endeavored to make them 
 [the Indians] believe that we intended at last to take 
 all their lands from them, and that, in case of suc- 
 cess, we would show no greater mercy for those who 
 did not join him than those that did. I endeavored 
 to make myself acquainted with the arguments he 
 used." 
 
 "I made a very long speech to them in the Indian 
 manner," continues the Colonel ; "extolled them to 
 the skies for their manly behavior and fidelity; told 
 them that we were so far from having any design 
 on their lands that I looked upon it that we were 
 then on their land where the fort stood, that we 
 claimed no land in their country, that the first man 
 that offered to take their lands by violence must strike 
 the tomahawk in my head, that it was only necessary 
 
 * See Appendix to our narrative, Not^ CXIX. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 435 
 
 that I should be in their country during the war and 
 keep a fort in it to drive off the Enghsh, who had a 
 design against all people ; after that, I might go to 
 some place where I could get land to support me/' 
 
 The treaty was concluded to the satisfaction of 
 both parties. The Indians, the American commander 
 declares, were much pleased at what they heard and 
 they begged him to favor them the next day with his 
 company at a council of theirs ; so, on the sixteenth 
 of March, he attended their meeting, — '- the great part 
 of the time being spent in ceremony. Finally, they 
 told the Colonel they had been meditating on what he 
 had said to them the day before; that all the nations 
 of the Wabash would be rejoiced to have him always 
 in their country as their great father and protector; 
 and as he had said he would claim no land of theirs 
 they were determined that they would not lose him 
 on that account, and had resolved to give him a piece, 
 but larger than they had given to all the French at 
 Vincennes. 
 
 Clark was well pleased at the Indians' offer, as it 
 gave him an opportunity to refuse the acceptance of it, 
 — the farther to convince them that he did not want 
 their land; but they appeared dejected at his refusal; 
 whereupon, he waived any further talk on that or 
 other subjects, recommending a ''frolic," as he terms 
 it, that night, "as the sky was clearer than ever." He 
 then presented them with a quantity of tafia and pro- 
 visions to make merry on and left them.* 
 
 After the treaty with the Indians of the Wabash,t 
 the American commander was gratified to see coming 
 
 * See Appendix to our narrative, Note CXX. 
 t The Miami Indians of Eel river, it seems, did not take 
 kindly to the American cause (History of the Girtys, p. 107), 
 
436 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 into Vincennes and craving audience, some Chippewas 
 and others that had been with Hamilton. The Colonel 
 soon granted them a hearing. They begged him to 
 excuse their blindness and take them into favor. After 
 the warmest solicitations for mercy, Clark told them 
 that the Big Knives were merciful, which proved them 
 to be warriors; that he would send belts and a speech 
 to all the nations ; and that they [the savages present], 
 after hearing of it, might do as they pleased; but 
 [they] must blame themselves for future misfortunes. 
 He then sent them oft. 
 
 It was the opinion of Clark that nothing destroys 
 the interest of Indians in one so soon as wavering 
 sentiments or speeches that show the least fear. He, 
 consequently, had observed, as he declares, one steady 
 line of conduct among them. Hamilton who was 
 almost deified by them being captured by the Colonel, 
 it was a sufficient confirmation to the Indians of every- 
 thing the latter had formerly said to them and gave 
 great weight, in his view, to the speeches he intended 
 to send them. Expecting that he would shortly be 
 able to fulfill his threats with a body of troops suf- 
 ficient to penetrate into any part of their country and 
 by reducing Detroit bring them to his feet, he sent 
 the following speech to the different tribes near the 
 lakes, which were at war with the Americans : 
 
 "To the Warriors of the Different Nations. Men and 
 Warriors : — It is a long time since the Big Knives sent 
 belts of peace among you soliciting of you not to listen to 
 the bad talks and deceit of the English, as it would, at some 
 future day tend to the destruction of your nations. You 
 would not listen but joined the Englis?h against the Big 
 
 doubtless because the residue of that nation at the head of the 
 Maumee still adhered to the British. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 437 
 
 Knives and spilt much blood of women and children. The 
 Big Knives then resolved to show no mercy to any people 
 that hereafter would refuse the belt of peace which should 
 be offered, at the same time one of war. You remember last 
 summer a great many people took me by the hand, but a few 
 kept back their hearts. I also sent belts of peace and war 
 among the nations to take their choice ; some took the peace- 
 belt others still listened to their great father (as thej^ call 
 him) at Detroit, and joined him to come to war against me. 
 The Big Knives are warriors and look on the English as old 
 women and all those that join them, and are ashamed when 
 they fight them because they are no men. 
 
 "I now send two belts to all the nations, — one for 
 peace and the other for war. The one that is for war has 
 your great English father's scalp tied to it and [is] made 
 red with his blood. All you that call yourselves his children 
 make your hatchets sharp and come out and revenge his 
 blood on the Big Knives ; fight like men, that the Big Knives 
 may not be ashamed when they fight you, that our old women 
 may not tell us tha't we only fought squaws. If any of you 
 are for taking the belt of peace, send the bloody belt back 
 to me that I may know who to take by the hand as brothers ; 
 for, you may be assured that no peace for the future will be 
 granted to those' that do not lay down their arms immediately. 
 It is as you will, — I do not care whether you are for peace 
 or war, as I glory in war and want enemies to fight us as 
 the English cannot fight us any longer, and are become like 
 young children begging the Big Knives for mercy and a little 
 bread to eat. This is the last speech you may ever expect 
 from the Big Knives ; the next thing will be the tomahawk. 
 And you may expect in four moons to see your women and 
 children given to the dogs to be eat, while those nations that 
 have kept their words with me will flourish and grow like 
 the willow trees on the river-banks under the care and nour- 
 ishment of their father, the Big Knives." 
 
 Now that Clark had fixed all matters at Vincennes 
 "so as to promise future advantage," having sent let- 
 ters to Colonel John Bowman, the County Lieutenant 
 of Kentucky County, solociting him to make some 
 
438 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 preparatory movements towards joining him when 
 called on, with all the force he could raise, he made 
 preparations to return to Kaskaskia.* 
 
 Lieutenant Brashier was to be left in command 
 of Fort Patrick Henry, and with him forty picked 
 men, sergeants and corporals included. Under him 
 were Lieutenants Bayley and Chapline. The whole 
 were to remain until relieved from Kaskaskia. Cap- 
 tain Helm was given command of Vincennes, in civil 
 matters. He was also made Superintendent of Indian 
 affairs. Moses Henry was appointed Indian Agent 
 and Patrick Kennedy quartermaster.f 
 
 On the nineteenth of March, orders were issued 
 by Clark to have six boats put in readiness to start 
 for Kaskaskia. Two of these were the Willing and 
 Rimning Fly — the latter a small craft. Captain Mc- 
 Carty was given command of the Willing, "now 
 made perfectly complete ;" while a sergeant and six 
 men were to manage the Rimning Fly. Captain 
 Worthington and Lieutenant Keller, and two ensigns 
 were to have charge, each of them, of a boat4 With 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Cauipaign in the Illinois, p. 
 82. "Bowman's Journal" — entry of March 19, 1779. (See 
 Appendix to our narrative, Note CXXI.) 
 
 t Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 163, 164. "Bowman's Journal," of the date March 20, 1779. 
 
 ;t] In ''Bowman's Journal" — Department of State MSS. 
 — the names of the two ensigns are given as Montgomery 
 and Lawvin ; in the printed Journal, as Montgomery and 
 Lorraine, and Lieutenant Chapline appears erroneously as 
 "Chapman" (see Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 110). 
 In the place last cited, as well as in the Department of State 
 MSS., Lieutenant Keller is erroneously spoken of as "Captain 
 Keller." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 439 
 
 them were to be sent all the prisoners yet remaining 
 in Vincennes, as well as all the goods — "the spoils of 
 the war" — not previously disposed of, including such 
 as had been set aside for a specific purpose.* The 
 brass field-piece captured from Hamilton was also to 
 be taken along, f 
 
 On the twentieth, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, 
 Clark started with all his force (save those left to 
 guard Fort Patrick Henry and the few who had been 
 charged with other duties) for Kaskaskia. Out of 
 abundant caution eighty of his men whom he styles 
 his "guard" were armed and equipped for instant and 
 effective service ; for, besides the danger which might 
 impend from an unknown and concealed enemy, there 
 were his prisoners to be watched. | 
 
 Says one of his men who did not go along and 
 who noted the incident at the moment of starting: 
 "The boats, after much rejoicing, are now out of 
 sight. God send them a good and safe passage !"§ 
 The trip of three hundred and fifty miles was made 
 without accident ; and the soldiers, after a campaign 
 of about seven weeks' duration were happy in getting 
 
 * That goods were taken along of those secured from the 
 enemy, is made certain by the statement to be found in the 
 History of the Girtys, p. 106. Other evidence will hereafter 
 be adduced. 
 
 t History of the Girtys, loc. cit. 
 
 X Clark in his Memoir erroneously gives seventy as the 
 number of his "guard" and speaks of them as though there 
 were none beside them taken along. 
 
 § "Bowman's Journal" in Department of State MSS., 
 where the wording is different from what is printed in Clark's 
 Campaign in the Illinois, p. 110. (See Appendix to our nar- 
 rative, Note CXXII.) 
 
440 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 back to the Illinois,''' The American commander 
 found, on his return, that the presence of Captain 
 George and his company, because of the protection they 
 gave, afforded much satisfaction to the inhabitants of 
 Kaskaskia.f And these new friends received with 
 great joy their victorius countrymen. 
 
 'The season of the year," wrote one of Clark's 
 men soon after, ''when the expedition against Vin^ 
 cennes was undertaken, and the good conduct of those 
 engaged in it, show what can be done by an army, 
 let the difficulties be what they may. Perseverance 
 and steadfastness will surmount all obstacles, as is 
 shown in the acts of our brave commander, and all 
 his officers, not forgetting his soldiers. Although 
 a handful in comparison to other armies, they have 
 done themselves and the cause they were fighting for, 
 credit and honor; and they deserve a place in history 
 that their posterity may know the difficulties their 
 forefathers went through for their liberty and free- 
 dom ; particularly the back-settlers of Virginia may 
 bless the day they sent out such a commander, such 
 officers and men — to root out the vipers that were 
 every day ravaging on their women and children ; 
 which I hope will soon be at an end, as the leaders 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 164. 
 (See Appendix to our narrative, Note CXXIII.) 
 
 t "During my absence," wrote the Colonel, "Captain Robert 
 George, who now commands the company formerly com- 
 manded by Captain Willing, had returned from New Orleans, 
 which greatly added to our strength. It gave great satisfac- 
 tion to the inhabitants, when acquainted with the protection 
 which was given them." (Cl.ark to Jefferson, April 29, 1779 — 
 Jefferson's Works, vol". I, p. 222 n.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 441 
 
 of these murderers will soon be disposed of by Con- 
 gress. ^ 
 
 * From "Bowmati's Journal" as printed (see Clark's Cam- 
 paign in the Illinois, p. 111.) I have not followed the words 
 of the writer closely, but have endeavored to give the sense 
 intended to be conveyed by him. (Consult, in this connection. 
 Appendix to our narrative, Note CXXII.) 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE Delaware Indians inhabiting the White 
 river country had, most of them, before the 
 capture of Hamilton and his force, joined the 
 British; but now, that matters had taken a decided 
 change, a few concluded it best to make peace with 
 the conquerors, or at least to be on friendly terms with 
 them. 
 
 A party of these savages visited Kaskaskia; but, 
 "getting drunk with some loose young fellows" of 
 the town, they made threats, forgetting their peace- 
 able resolutions. Their menaces were met by like 
 demonstrations on the other side. Thereupon one of 
 the Indians flashed his gun at a woman. This aroused 
 the animosity of the Creoles and two of the Delawares 
 were shot down and the rest pursued by the townsmen 
 some distance down the Kaskaskia, with the result of 
 another being killed and some wounded. Clark, it 
 seems, while returning from Vincennes, on his way up 
 that river had observed some fresh Indian camps, 
 which it was plain had been left in great haste. Upon 
 his arrival at Kaskaskia, the mystery was soon cleared 
 up when the circumstances were explained to him of 
 the pursuit and shooting of the fleeing Delawares. 
 Some days afterwards, an express arrived from 
 Vincennes, bringing the intelligence from Captain 
 Helm, that a party of traders who were going by land 
 to the Falls of the Ohio had been killed and their 
 goods taken by White river Delawares, and that it 
 appeared their designs were altogether hostile, as he 
 had learned (but this was an erroneous report) they 
 
 (442) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 443 
 
 had received a belt from the great council of their 
 nation — that of their people residing on the Mus- 
 kingum, to take up the hatchet. Clark quickly decided 
 it was cause for war with these savages (he was really 
 glad to find some cause for attacking them, as he had 
 all along considered them enemies) ; he therefore, sent 
 back the express to Vincennes with orders to Captain 
 Helm at once to attack them. Clark declares that 
 upon the first arrival of the Americans in the country 
 they had "hatched up a kind of peace" with them ; but 
 he always knew they were for open war, yet he never 
 could get a proper excuse before for driving them 
 from the country, which he knew they would be loth 
 to leave, and that the other Indians wished them away, 
 as ''they were great hunters and killed up their game." 
 
 "I was sorry for the loss of our men," subsequently 
 wrote Clark, ''otherwise pleased at what had happened, 
 as it would give me an opportunity of showing the 
 other Indians the horrid fate of those who would dare 
 to make war on the Big Knife ; and, to excel them in 
 barbarity I knew was and is the only way to make 
 war and gain a name among the Indians. I immedi- 
 ately sent orders to Vincennes to make war on the 
 Delawares, to use every means in their [Captain Helm 
 and his men's] power to destroy them, to show no 
 kind of mercy to the men, but to spare the women and 
 children. This order was executed without delay, 
 their camps were attacked in every quarter where they 
 could be found ; many fell and others were brought to 
 Vincennes and put to death, [and] the women and 
 children secured. 
 
 "They immediately applied for reconciliation, but 
 were informed that I had ordered the war . . , 
 
444 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and that they [the Americans] dare not lay down the 
 tomahawk without permission from me; but that if 
 the Indians were agreed, no more blood should be 
 spilt until an express should go to Kaskaskia, which 
 was immediately sent. I refused to make peace with 
 the Delawares, and let them know that we never 
 trusted those who had once violated their faith, but if 
 they had a mind to be quiet, they might, and if they 
 could get any of their neighboring Indians to be 
 security for their good behavior, I would let them 
 alone; but that I cared very little about it, privately 
 directing Captain Helm how to manage. 
 
 "A council was called of all the Indians in the 
 neighborhood ; my answer was made public ; the Pian- 
 keshaws took on themselves to answer for the future 
 good conduct of the Delawares ; and the Tobacco's 
 son, in a long speech, informed them of the baseness of 
 their conduct, and how richly they had deserved the 
 severe blow they had met with ; that he had given them 
 permission to settle that country but not to kill his 
 friends ; that they now saw the Big Knife had refused 
 to make peace with them, but that he (the Tobacco's 
 son) had become security for their good conduct, and 
 that they might go and mind their hunting, and that 
 if they ever did any more mischief — pointing to the 
 sacred bow he held in his hand — . . . he himself 
 would for the future chastise them. Thus ended the 
 war between us and the Delawares in this quarter, 
 much to our advantage, as the nations about said that 
 we were as brave as the Indians, and not afraid to 
 put an enemy to death."* 
 
 * Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 164, 165. But Clark in writing to Mason {Clark's Campaign 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 445 
 
 Upon Clark's arrival at Kaskaskia from his success- 
 ful campaign against Hamilton, things in general 
 seemed to be tranquil (excepting only the hostility of 
 the Delawares, just mentioned) ; so he resolved to spend 
 a few weeks in diversions, which he had not done since 
 his arrival in the Illinois ; but his resolution came to 
 naught, as he found it impossible to throw off the care 
 and anxiety which continually beset him. Then there 
 was' the reduction of Detroit which he had continually 
 in view, not as a motive for applause but from a desire 
 to establish a profound peace on the frontiers. He 
 was, as he fondly imagined (but in this, he was un- 
 doubtedly mistaken) so well acquainted with its situa- 
 tion, strength and influence that, in case he was not 
 disappointed in the number of troops he expected, he 
 accounted the place his own.* He would rendezvous 
 at Vincennes, marching them up the Wabash — , such 
 were the plans he revolved in his mind. 
 
 ''Receiving letters from Colonel Bowman at Ken- 
 tucky," says the commandant, "informing me that I 
 might expect him to reinforce me with three hundred 
 men whenever I should call on him if it lay in his 
 power, at the same time receiving intelligence from 
 Colonel Montgomery, — I now thought my success 
 reduced to a certainty. I immediately set about mak- 
 ing provision for the expedition, to be ready against 
 
 in the Illinois, p. 83) was, for some reason, careful not to 
 enter upon a description of the bloody work performed by 
 Capt. Helm as a retaliation. All he says is : "The war was 
 carried on pretty equally on both sides for several months ; 
 but they [the Delawares], at last thought proper to solicit 
 a peace." 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 loc. cit. 
 
446 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 — « — — - ■ -■ — — — 
 
 the arrival of troops, to give the enemy as Httle time as 
 possible to complete the new fortifications I knew they 
 were then about. ""^^ Clark sent an express to Colonel 
 Bowman desiring him to join him at Vincennes on the 
 twentieth of June with all the force he could possibly 
 raise, agreeable to his letters to him. He also sent 
 out one of his captains among the different nations 
 of Indians to receive their congratulations on his late 
 success, and the submission of those that had resolved 
 to desert the English, and to get fresh intelligence 
 from Detroit. 
 
 The civil department in the Illinois had hitherto 
 robbed the Commandant of much of his time he 
 thought ought to have been given to military matters ; 
 but he was now likely to be soon relieved by John Todd, 
 who had been appointed (as Clark gladly learned) 
 lieutenant of the county of Illinois, with civil jurisdic- 
 tion of much importance — more, in fact, than had ever 
 before been delegated to an officer of the kind in Vir- 
 ginia.f I ''was anxious," wrote Clark, "for his arri- 
 val and happy in his appointment, as the greatest in- 
 timacy and friendship existed between us." 
 
 Clark was now in high spirits. On the twenty- 
 ninth of April, he wrote the Governor of Virginia at 
 considerable length, not only giving him many details, 
 but again answering the letters received by him at Vin- 
 
 * Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, pp. 
 83, 84. The intelligence from Montgomery was to the effect 
 that he (Montgomery) would be able to bring a considerable 
 force of recruits by way of the Tennessee river, and that he 
 had been commissioned a lieutenant-colonel. 
 
 t As to the fiction that Todd was one of Clark's soldiers 
 on his expedition to the Illinois, see Appendix to our narrative, 
 Note CXXIV. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 447 
 
 cennes at the hands of WilHam Myres, the express 
 sent from Wilhamsburg ; — why this was done will 
 now appear. "A few days ago," said Clark, ''I re- 
 ceived certain intelligence of William Myres, my ex- 
 press to you, being killed near the Falls of the Ohio, 
 — news truly disagreeable to me, as I fear many of 
 m}^ letters will fall into the hands of the enemy at 
 Detroit, although some of them, as I learn were found 
 in the woods torn in pieces.""^ What the Colonel 
 feared, actually happened; his journal, reciting the 
 particulars of his march to Vincennes, and the surrend- 
 ering to him of Fort Sackville with its garrison and 
 stores, was captured, together with all the letters in 
 possessions of the express, several of which afterward 
 found their way to Detroit. f It is evident, therefore, 
 there were white men with the Indians on that occa- 
 sion. 
 
 The Colonel also wrote that he was proud to hear 
 that Congress intended putting its forces on the fron- 
 tiers under the direction of the Governor of Virginia. 
 "A small army," said he, "from Pittsburgh, conducted 
 with spirit, may easily take Detroit and put an end to 
 the Indian war. Those Indians, who are active against 
 us are the Six Nations [Mingoes], part of the Shaw- 
 anese, the Miamies, and about half of the Chippewas, 
 Ottawas, lowas, and Pottawattamies, bordering on the 
 lakes. Those nations who have treated with me, have 
 since behaved very well ; they are the Piankeshaws, 
 Kikapoos, Weas, of the Wabash river ; the Kaskaskias, 
 Peorians, Mitchigamies, Sacs and Foxes, lowas, Illi- 
 
 "^ Clark to the Governor of Virginia, April 29, 1779 — 
 Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222 n. 
 
 t See Appendix to our narrative, Note CXXV ; also Note 
 CXXVII. 
 
448 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 nois, and Pottawattamies, of the Mississippi and Illi- 
 nois rivers. Part of the Chippewas have also treated 
 and are peaceable. I continually keep agents among 
 them to watch their motions and keep them peaceably 
 inclined. Many of the Cherokees, Chickasaws, and their 
 confederates, are, I fear, ill disposed. It would be 
 well if Colonel Montgomery should give them a dress- 
 ing as he comes down the Tennessee. There can be 
 no peace expected from many nations while the English 
 are at Detroit. I strongly suspect they will turn their 
 arms against the Illinois, as they will be encouraged. 
 I shall always be on my guard, watching every oppor- 
 tunity to take advantage of the enemy; and, if I am 
 ever able to muster six or seven hundred men, I shall 
 give them a shorter distance to come and fight me than 
 this place." 
 
 There was one circumstance very distressing to the 
 country, Clark thought, and that was the discredit 
 which American paper money, had fallen into in the 
 Illinois, — caused by the great number of traders who, 
 had come there in his absence, "each outbidding the 
 other, giving prices unknown in this country by five 
 hundred per cent.," said the Colonel, ''by which the 
 people conceived it to be of no value, and both French 
 and Spaniards refused to take a farthing of it." Pro- 
 visions had advanced three prices in two months, and 
 supplies were not to be obtained in any other way than 
 by the commander giving his own bonds, or exchang- 
 ing goods,* or taking what he wanted by force. Sev- 
 eral of the merchants were advancing considerable 
 
 * That is, such as he had_ brought from Vincennes taken 
 from the enemy. (See History of the Girtys, p. 106.) These 
 goods did not include, of course, such as had been set aside 
 for the expected reinforcement from the east. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 449 
 
 amounts of their own property rather than the service 
 should suffer, by which Clark was sensible they would 
 lose greatly, unless some method was taken to raise 
 the credit of the money in circulation or a sum be sent 
 to [New] Orleans for the payment of the expenses of 
 this place, wdiich would at once reduce the price of 
 every species of provisions, money being of little ser- 
 vice to them unless it would pass at the posts they 
 trade at. The Colonel said he had drawn some bills 
 on Mr. Pollock in New Orleans, as he had no money 
 with him. Pollock vv^ould accept the bills, but had not 
 the cash to pay them off, though the sums were trifling ; 
 "so that," said Clark, "we have little credit to expect 
 from that quarter- ""^ 
 
 Clark assured the Virginia Governor that he would 
 take every s^p he possibly could for laying up a suffi- 
 cient quantity of provisions, f and he hoped the Execu- 
 tive of the State would immediately send him an ex- 
 press with instructions. Public expenses, he declared, 
 had "hitherto been very low" and might continue so, 
 in the Illinois, if a correspondence was fixed at New 
 Orleans for payment of the expenses of the country, 
 or if gold and silver could be sent. "I am glad," says 
 Clark, "to hear of Colonel Todd's appointment. I 
 think the government has taken the only step that it 
 
 * History of the Girtys, in the place last cited, confirms 
 this statement. 
 
 tMay 22, 1779, Clark drew for $300 "in favor of Mr. 
 Rapicault or order," on the Treasurer of Virginia or Oliver 
 Pollock at New Orleans, "for supplies, etc., furnished garri- 
 son" at Kaskaskia. Also, on the next day, he drew in favor 
 of the same for $617, on the Treasurer of Virginia "for the 
 use of the Commonwealth." {Calendar of Virginia State 
 Papers, vol I, p. 320.) 
 
 29 
 
450 IIISTORV OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 could to make this region flourish. No other regula- 
 tion would have suited the people. "'*' 
 
 It was Clark's opinion that one regiment of troops 
 would he ahle to clear the Alississippi, and do great 
 damage to the Ih'itish interests in Florida. If they 
 [the American soldiers] would properly conduct them- 
 selves, he thought they might perhaps gain the aifec- 
 tion of the people so as to raise a sufticient force "to 
 give a shock to Pensacola." "Our alliance," he added, 
 "with France has entirely devoted this people to our 
 interest." 'VHy your instructions to me," continues 
 Clark. "1 tind you put no confidence in General Mc- 
 intosh's taking Detroit, as you encourage me to attempt 
 it if possihle. It had been twice in my power. Had I 
 been able to raise five hundred men when I first arrived 
 in the country, or when I was at \^incenne* could have 
 secured my prisoners and only have had three hundred 
 good men, I should have attempted it, and I since 
 learn there could have been no doubt of success, as, 
 by some gentlemen lately arrived from that post, we 
 are informed that the town and country kept three 
 days' feasting and diversions on hearing of my success 
 against ^Ir. Hamilton : and they were so certain of my 
 embracing the fair opportunity of possessing myself 
 of that post that the merchants and others provided 
 many necessaries for us on our arrival. — the garrison, 
 consisting of only eighty men. not daring to stop their 
 diversions. They are now completing a new fort ; 
 
 * The "regulation" referred to by the Colonel was the 
 creation of the county of the Illinois and the appointment of 
 John Todd as its Lieutenant : the news of which had reached 
 Clark while he was yet in Vincennes. by the hand of William 
 Myers. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 451 
 
 and I fear it will be too strong for any force I shall 
 ever be able to raise in this country."''' 
 
 Notwithstanding Clark's letter dated the day pre- 
 vious to the last one of April, was intended to apprise 
 the Governor of Virginia (now that Myres had beeq 
 killed on his way, with the first one written) of his suc- 
 cess at Vincennes, yet as early as the eighteenth of 
 May, as already shown, the news had reached Wil- 
 liamsburg; and the letter of Governor Henry to the 
 Virginia House of Delegates of that date gave the in- 
 formation officially to that body. ''Unfortunately," 
 said the Governor, ''the letters from Colonel Clark, 
 containing no doubt particular accounts of this affair, 
 were in possession of an express who was murdered 
 by a party of Indians on his way through Kentucky 
 to this place. The letters as I am informed were de- 
 stroyed. As the facts which I have mentioned are 
 sufficiently authenticated, I thought it material that 
 they should be communicated to the Assembly. "f 
 
 On the next day. Governor Henry also wrote to 
 his friend, Richard Henry Lee: 
 
 "Governor Hamilton of Detroit is a prisoner, with 
 the judge of that country, several captains, lieuten- 
 ants, and all the British who accompanied Hamilton in 
 his conquest of the Wabash. Our brave Colonel Clark 
 (sent out from our militia), with one hundred Virgin- 
 
 * Clark to the Governor of Virginia, April 29, 1779. The 
 messenger intrusted with this letter was one St. Vrain, a 
 resident of Kaskaskia. {Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222 n.) 
 The instructions which Clark speaks of as having been re- 
 ceived by him from Gov. Henry were sent by the latter in 
 care of Myers, who, as we have seen, delivered his package 
 to the Colonel at Vincennes upon his arrival in the Willing. 
 
 t Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, pp. 319, 320, 
 Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. HI, p. 241, 
 
452 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ians besieged the Governor in a strong fort with several 
 hundreds, and with small arms alone fairly took the 
 whole corps prisoners and sent them into our interior 
 country. This is a most gallant action and I trust will 
 secure our frontiers in great measure. The goods 
 taken by Clark are said to be of immense amount, and 
 I hope will influence the Indians to espouse our inter- 
 ests. Detroit now totters ; and if Clark had a few of 
 Mcintosh's forces the place would be ours directly. 
 I have lately sent the French there all the state papers, 
 translated into their language, by the hands of a priest, 
 who I believe has been very active. I cannot give you 
 the other particulars of Clark's success, his messenger 
 to me being killed and the letters torn by the Indians."* 
 For the s^reater securitv of the inhabitants of the 
 county of Illinois, a Virginia law was passed providing 
 for the raising of a troop of horse. This was in May. 
 The troop was to consist of one captain, one lieutenant, 
 one cornet, and thirty-two privates. The same law 
 declared that "every soldier who enlisted into the corps 
 of volunteers commanded by Colonel George Rogers 
 Clark and continued therein till the taking of the sev- 
 eral posts in the Illinois country" should, "at the end 
 
 * Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. II, pp. 30, 31. It will be 
 noticed, from the concluding words of the Governor, that he 
 had not, at date of writing, received Clark's letter from Kas- 
 kaskia, of April 29, giving details of the capture of Hamilton. 
 Twenty-one days were too few for its transmission by express 
 from Kaskaskia to Williamsburg. It is not, therefore, at all 
 surprising that Gov. Henry (relying solely upon reports) 
 should have underestimated Clark's force when the latter 
 attacked Fort Sackville and overestimated Hamilton's. Mc- 
 intosh's forces which he speaks of .were really Brodhead's ; 
 as the former was then no longer in command at Fort Pitt 
 of the Western Department. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 453 
 
 of the war, be entitled to a grant of two hundred acres 
 of any unappropriated lands" within that Common- 
 wealth. And every able-bodied freeman who should 
 enlist, or who, having enlisted for a period unexpired, 
 should re-enlist to serve during the war, among the 
 forces ordered for the protection and defense of the 
 county of Illinois, should receive a bounty of seven 
 hundred and fifty dollars, and at the end of the v/ar, 
 should be entitled to one hundred acres of land. 
 
 John Todd, who had been commissioned a lieuten- 
 ant of Illinois county, did not reach Kaskaskia from 
 his home in Kentucky until the month last mentioned. 
 When he came Colonel Clark was "happily rid of a 
 piece of trouble" that he "had no delight in" — the 
 administration of civil affairs. But the powers granted 
 to Todd were greater than had ever before been given 
 the Lieutenant of a county by Virginia, and greater 
 than were afterward given to such an officer by that 
 State. He could even pardon all offenses except mur- 
 der and treason.'''' 
 
 The reinforcement which was to be recruited by 
 Colonel Montgomery for Clark to enable the latter to 
 fill up his battalion was only ready to move in March, 
 lyyg^ — ouc huudrcd of his men under Major Slaughter 
 having marched in January for the Falls of the Ohio ■, 
 but had it not been that, early in the year the Cher- 
 okees and other southern Indians became hostile, ex- 
 tending their ravages from Georgia to Pennsylvania, 
 a regiment (or battalion) of twelve-months men which 
 had been enlisted for Clark, in addition to the force 
 
 * Consult in this connection the Act creating Illinois 
 county, Hening's Virginia Statutes at Large, vol. IX, p. 552, 
 and a sketch of, and the Instructions to Todd in Mason's 
 Early Chicago and Illinois, pp. 286, 289-294. 
 
454 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 raised by Montgomery, dispatched to him; but now, 
 for the cause just mentioned, they were withheld. 
 
 Montgomery, after getting together as many more 
 men as possible, numbering, however, only one hun- 
 dred and fifty, started for the Illinois, but he engaged 
 an enemy before reaching his destination not antici- 
 pated when his force was enlisted. It happened in this 
 wise. There was a settlement of renegade Cherokees 
 on the Tennessee, at and below the mouth of the Chick- 
 amauga. These Indians were now exceedingly hostile ; 
 and a considerable force under Evan Shelby prepared 
 to march against their towns. 
 
 Montgomery, as he was to go down the Tennessee, 
 could, with little trouble, join Shelby on the proposed 
 expedition; and he actually did reinforce him with his 
 whole party. The general rendezvous was at the 
 mouth of Big creek, near the present town of Rogers- 
 ville, in Tennessee. The army floated down the river 
 for three hundred miles, attacked the savages, killed 
 some of their warriors, burnt their towns, and 
 destroyed their provisions.* Montgomery then contin- 
 ued down the Tennessee, reaching Kaskaskia by way 
 of that river, the Ohio, and the Mississippi, on the 
 
 * The idea expressed by Clark in his letter of the twenty- 
 ninth of April, to the Governor of Virginia, that "it would 
 be well if Colonel Montgomery should give them [the Chero- 
 kees] a dressing as he comes down the Tennessee, thus be- 
 came, with the aid of Shelby, a reality. And it here may be 
 said that the capture of Hamilton and the "dressing" given 
 the Cherokees, effectually put an end to any efforts put forth 
 because of the plan sent by the first mentioned in the previ- 
 ous December to the British Indian agent Stuart, "to reconcile 
 the Southern Indians with the Shawanese and other Northern 
 nations, and to concert a general invasion of the frontiers." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 455 
 
 twentieth of May, but with not half the number of 
 men expected by Clark. This was a great disappoint- 
 ment to the Colonel. 
 
 Clark still resolved to rendezvous at Vincennes, 
 thinking that, if he could raise three hundred men, he 
 would risk the undertaking against Detroit ; as the new 
 fortification there, although the work was being vigor- 
 ously prosecuted by Captain Lernoult, was not com- 
 pleted, nor could it be according to the plan, before 
 he could reach the place. 
 
 "We had," says Clark, "a prospect of a consider- 
 able reinforcement from Kentucky, and we yet flatter- 
 ed ourselves that something might be done : at least 
 we might maneuver in such a manner as to keep the 
 enemy in hot water and in suspense and prevent their 
 doing our frontiers much damage. We went on pro- 
 curing supplies and did not lose sight of our object." 
 
 The news of the success of the Americans and their 
 volunteer allies of the Illinois against Hamilton's force 
 in Vincennes, although more than a month in reaching 
 the Kentucky settlements, was every where hailed with 
 the liveliest expressions of joy among them; and when 
 finally, it became known generally throughout Virginia, 
 there was great delight manifested, especially in the 
 border counties. It was, indeed, a source of pleasure 
 to the whole country. But Governor Jefferson would 
 wait for direct information from Clark before notify- 
 ing Washington officially of Hamilton's capture. Past 
 the middle of June, he wrote the Commander-in-chief : 
 'T have the pleasure to enclose you the particulars of 
 Colonel Clark's success against Vincennes as stated in 
 his letter lately received ; the messenger, with his first 
 letter, having been killed. I fear it wiU be impossible 
 
456 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 for Colonel Clark to be so strengthened as to enable 
 him to do what he desires. Indeed, the express [St. 
 Vrain] who brought this letter, gives us reason to fear 
 Vincennes is in danger from a large body of Indians 
 collected to attack it, and said, when he came from 
 Kaskaskia, to be within thirty leagues of the place."* 
 
 Jefferson's reply to the Colonel upon receiving the 
 letter was brief and (purposely) vague, but easily un- 
 derstood by Clark. The Governor knew the danger of 
 its transmission and, instead of a lengthy answer, gave 
 St. Vrain, the messenger, full verbal instructions to be 
 repeated to the Colonel. The real meaning of what 
 he wrote was that his (Clark's) wishes would be at- 
 tended to ; that much solicitation would be felt for the 
 result of the expedition to Detroit (by way of the 
 Wabash) ; that it would at least delay any movement 
 towards the frontier by the enemy from that post ; and 
 that, if successful, it would have, ultimately, an im- 
 portant bearing in establishing the northwestern bound- 
 ary of the United States. f 
 
 The rapid transmission of the news of Hamilton's 
 capture to Detroit was in striking contrast to the slow- 
 ness of the information reaching the Virginia author- 
 
 * Jefferson to Washington, from Williamsburg, June 23, 
 1779. {Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 221). The letter men- 
 tioned by Jefferson as ''lately received" was the one written 
 by Clark April 29, after his return to Kaskaskia from Vin- 
 cennes. But Washington by the reception of "Bowman's 
 Journal" had already been put in possession of more par- 
 ticulars concerning the march of Clark and his capture of 
 Hamilton than Jefferson had obtained. There was no foun- 
 dation for the report broughtby St. Vrain of a large body 
 of hostile Indians being within thirty leagues of Vincennes. 
 
 t Only a fragment of the letter has been preserved. (See 
 Appendix to our narrative, Note CXXVI.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 457 
 
 ities in Williamsburg. But Captain Cliesne (with two 
 Wyandot Indians) safely arriving at the first mentioned 
 place, in the first' half of March, made his report. 
 It was as a thunderbolt from a clear sky to Captain 
 Lernoult — a "most unlucky shake," as he termed it. 
 Such a catastrophe he had not dreamed of. That Vin- 
 cennes had been "retaken by Colonel Clark," and the 
 Governor and whole garrison made prisoners, was 
 astounding news. The Captain soon dispatched the 
 armed sloop Felicity to Fort Erie with a letter to Col- 
 onel Batton at Niagara, conveying the surprising in- 
 formation to the commandant,* who lost no time in 
 transmitting it to General Haldimand. 
 
 As the loss of Fort Sackville opened a new road 
 for the Americans to his post by the Maumee, Lernoult 
 urgently requested that a strong reinforcement be sent 
 him from Niagara, especially as his new fort was not 
 yet in a state to be properly defended. "The loss of 
 Governor Hamilton," said the Detroit commander, ''is 
 a most feeling one to me ; I find the burden heavy with- 
 out assistance ; it requires, I confess, superior abilities 
 and a better constitution [than I have] ; I w^ill do m)- 
 best however".f 
 
 The Canadians in Detroit received the account of 
 Captain Chesne with unbounded satisfaction. Lern- 
 oult declared they were "all rebels to a man." The 
 Captain needed help upon his new fortification. "The 
 Canadians," he wrote, "exceedingly assuming on our 
 bad success and weakness, not one of them will lend a 
 hand. "J It was true then what Clark subsequently 
 wrote : "We are informed that the town and country 
 
 * Lernoult to Bolton, March 26, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 tld. 
 
 t Id. 
 
458 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 [Detroit] kept three days' feasting and diversions on 
 hearing of my success against Mr. Hamilton." 
 
 It may be presum.ed that the Canadians sent home 
 from Vincennes by the Colonel, on their parole, upon 
 reaching Detroit added not a little to the excitement. 
 The Colonel declares that after they had gone he had 
 spies constantly *'to and from Detroit," and that he 
 learned by them that the returned prisoners "answered 
 every purpose he could have wished for by prejudic- 
 ing their friends in favor of America. So certain were 
 the inhabitants of that post of my marching immedi- 
 ately against it, that they made provision for me in 
 defiance of the garrison." But he added : "Many of 
 them have paid dearly for it since." "We learned," 
 are his words years after, "that they made great havoc 
 with the British interest on their return . . . pub- 
 licly saying that they had taken an oath not to fight 
 against Americans, but they had not sworn not to fight 
 for them, etc. ; and matters were carried to such a 
 hight, that the commanding officer [Lernoult] thought 
 it prudent not to take notice of any thing that was said 
 or done." However, the commandant was not so com- 
 plaisant, as we know, and as his words to the Niagara 
 commander plainly indicate. He soon began to repress 
 the ardor of the "rebels," having received full authority 
 for so doing from the Commander-in-chief, who wrote 
 him on the thirteenth of June : 
 
 "Sir : — Having certain Intelligence that many of the 
 inhabitants in your neighborhood are not only disaffected to 
 Government, but in the present critical situation of public 
 affairs, may possibly prove dangerous enemies to the King. 
 I have judged it necessary for His Majesty's service, hereby 
 to authorize you to apprehend any person or persons whom 
 you may have cause to believe is in any manner directly or 
 indirectly aiding, or abetting the rebels or their allies, either 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 459 
 
 with provisions, intelligence or otherwise, and that you imme- 
 diately send them to Niagara, to be detained there or for- 
 warded to Carleton Island as Lt. Col. Bolton may judge best 
 for the public service. 
 
 "And it is also your duty to require, and obtain from all 
 persons of doubtful character, such hostages as may effectually 
 prevent them or any part of their family from taking an 
 active part against His Majesty's Government, or the troops 
 under your command."* 
 
 There were added to the forces in Detroit late in 
 the Spring two hundred men from Niagara, mostly 
 regulars ; a few, however, were "prisoners who were 
 bought of the Indians and made soldiers of." To add 
 to the security of Detroit, one of the largest of the 
 armed vessels upon Lake Erie was stationed at the 
 mouth of the Maumee to gain intelligence of any far- 
 ther movement of Clark, and to convey the news 
 quickly to Captain Lernoult, — also to render any other 
 necessary assistance on that line of communication. 
 
 It will be readily presumed that, of all the precau- 
 tions taken by Captain Lernoult to guard against the 
 capture of Detroit by the Americans who might come 
 either from Pittsburgh or Vincennes, — to hurry the 
 work on his new fort was the one which engaged his 
 chief attention. He did not slacken his efforts in that 
 regard whatever else might seem to demand his time. 
 
 Early in April, General Haldimand dispatched to 
 Niagara and Detroit Captain Brehm, his aid-de-camp, 
 to look into affairs to the westward. To Captain Lern- 
 oult, the General wrote: "Anxious to be exactly in- 
 formed as soon as practicable, of the true state of 
 things in the Upper Country, I send Captain Brehm, 
 my aid-de-camp, as far as Detroit ; and it is my re- 
 
 * Haldimand MSS. 
 
460 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 quest you would open yourself to him with the utmost 
 freedom as to a person in whom you may safely con- 
 fide upon all matters which concern the King's service 
 in those parts. Captain Brehm is directed to give you 
 my orders respecting your post, which he is to deliver 
 you in writing, signed with his own hand, and to which 
 you will in every part thereof exactly conform your- 
 self'.* 
 
 Captain Brehm did not reach Detroit until the 
 twenty-fifth of May. Three days thereafter, he sent 
 his first letter to the Commander-in-chief. To him, 
 Lernoult ''declared that the arrival of the two hun- 
 dred men at his post had made a great alteration in 
 the inhabitants and even among the Indians ; the for- 
 mer, before that, were insolent and almost daring in 
 their behavior." ''The rebels," continued Brehm, 
 "having spread among all the Western or Wabash or 
 [and] Illinois Indians by some disaffected savages 
 [the report] that the French, Spanish (even Germans) 
 and Americans are all joined together to drive the 
 English out of America; [and this] has not only an 
 effect among the Indians, but likewise among the 
 French from the Illinois and Wabash through this 
 whole country." But Captain Brehm assured the Com- 
 mander-in-chief that Captain Lernoult was not idle in 
 counteracting the designs of the "rebels." As to the 
 condition of the new fort at Detroit, the writer de- 
 clared it was very much advanced; and, if it could be 
 finished before being attacked, it would be very ten- 
 able, f He wrote some days after that Lernoult and 
 
 * Haldimand to Lernoult, April 8, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 t Brehm to Haldimand, May 28, 1779. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 461 
 
 his garrison were very busy in working upon the fort 
 — "they have already finished a bomb-proof magazine 
 and store-house and are now making barracks for 
 officers and men all to be small-shell proof."* 
 
 The general effect produced by the capture of Ham- 
 ilton and his force was expressed in the clearest man- 
 ner by one at Detroit who fully comprehended how 
 matters stood a few months afterward with the Indian 
 allies of Britain: ''[It] has not only discouraged many 
 tribes well disposed, but inclined others who were 
 wavering, to stand neuter, so that a force to act in con- 
 junction with them appears necessary to engage them 
 again to act with vigor against the enemy. "f 
 
 It was over a month after Hamilton's surrender 
 before the tidings reached Michilimackinac. De 
 Peyster was astounded. 
 
 On the arrival of Captain Langlade at Green Bay 
 from his attempt to induce the Ottawas and Chippewas 
 at the Grand river to march to the aid of Hamilton, 
 he received from the latter an order acquainting him 
 that he would winter at Vincennes, and requiring him 
 and Gautier to join him early in the Spring, by way of 
 the Illinois river. The Captain accordingly set out 
 with some Indians, in good time, going by way of 
 Milwaukee, "where he received accounts of Mr. Hamil- 
 ton being taken, when the Indians disheartened, would 
 proceed no farther;" so the Captain returned. De 
 Peyster was informed by Langlade, who went to Mich- 
 ilimackinac, arriving there on the twelfth of May, that 
 a Canadian at the head of twenty horsemen was travel- 
 ing through the Milwaukee and Sac country, at the 
 
 * Same to same, June 23, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 t Alexander McKee to Haldimand, July 16, 1779. — Haldi- 
 mand MSS. 
 
462 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 time of his visit, purchasing horses for Colonel Clark, 
 — telling the Indians that the Colonel would be at 
 Green Bay soon with three hundred men. Also on the 
 twentieth of February, Mr. Chevalier, of St. Joseph, 
 wrote De Peyster, that the "rebels" had employed 
 Canadians to purchase horses in the neighborhood of 
 Chicago, to mount their cavalry. Gautier, upon re- 
 ceiving Hamilton's order, gathered together a consider- 
 able band of Winnebagoes and Menomonees ; marched 
 with them down the Wisconsin but was turned back 
 by the Sacs and Foxes, before news reached him of 
 the surrender of Hamilton. 
 
 "I do not care," wrote De Peyster on the thirteenth 
 of May, to General Haldimand, "how soon Mr. Clark 
 appears, provided he comes by Lake Michigan and the 
 Indians prove staunch ; and, above all, that the Cana- 
 dians do not follow the example of their brethren at the 
 Illinois, who have joined the rebels to a man. I am in 
 hopes that their connection at Montreal will be a check 
 upon them. If I had armed vessels I could make them 
 constantly coast Lake Michigan to awe the Indiang 
 and prevent the rebels building boats. There is a small 
 sloop here, as already reported, but no sailors, nor will 
 my present garrison. admit of any detachment, it not 
 being by one-half sufficient to do the necessary duty 
 here. I shall allow the traders to come to this post; 
 but if things do not greatly change, I will not let one 
 go the Green Bay road. The Sacs and Foxes seem 
 easy about the matter; but they will soon open their 
 eyes, if it is possible effectually to restrain that trade." 
 The commandant adds : "If Detroit should be taken, 
 it is evident we would have but a dismal prospect".* 
 
 * Haldimand MSS. ' ~~ ~^ 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 463 
 
 The first of June, De Peyster wrote that the Indians 
 were growing very importunate since hearing that the 
 French were assisting the "rebels." Hamilton's defeat 
 had cooled the savages in general ; but the Michilimack- 
 inac commander declared he had a great number to 
 send to Detroit, if they should be wanted. Gautier 
 reached De Peyster's post during the latter half of 
 May, with a large band of Winnebagoes and Menom- 
 onees, which had been with him to the Mississippi, and 
 had been stopped by the Sacs and Foxes on their way 
 to join Hamilton. , They soon went home, however, 
 fearing the Chippewas of the plains and the Sacs 
 would in their absence, disturb their villages. "They 
 are gone," wrote De Peyster, "with promises to bring 
 me some prisoners from Kaskaskia ; scalps I have posi- 
 tively forbid, to prevent cruelty and lest they should 
 pawn old ones or those of innocent persons, a deceit 
 I think them often guilty of." 
 
 "The Sioux Wabasha," continues the commandant, 
 "was on his march to join Hamilton, but stopped on 
 hearing of his defeat. He has sent the interpreter 
 with his son and some young men, with a pipe, telling 
 me that he waits my further orders ; that he has sil- 
 enced the Foxes ; and desires to know if he shall strike 
 the Sacs for having had talks with the rebels ; which 
 he is ready to, as well as all opposers of his Majesty's 
 arms. I am sending off some powder and clothing to 
 his nation as well as to the Winnebagoes and Menom- 
 onees, to endeavor to keep them in our firm alliance ; 
 if they continue so, we have nothing to fear from the 
 Indians of that quarter."'*' 
 
 * De Peyster to Haldimand in same. 
 
464 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Not understanding well the idle habits of savages 
 and scarcely comprehending the numbers who were 
 dependent on De Peyster for supplies, General Haldi- 
 mand asked the IMichilimackinac commandant by letter 
 during the winter, whether some plan — such as the 
 use by his garrison of dried venison and of fish — ■ 
 could not be hit upon to lessen the great expense of 
 furnishing his post with provision. But the Com- 
 mander-in-chief was informed that any such scheme 
 was not possible to be carried out. "Supplying the 
 troops here," he wrote on the first of June, "with any- 
 thing but store provisions is impracticable ; the taking 
 of fish is too precarious ; most of what they take now, 
 I supply the Indians with. And as to the Indian meat, 
 there are not five carcasses of any kind brought to 
 this post in the course of a year. Formerly, there 
 used to be more, but there are fewer animals ; and the 
 Indians, since the beginning of the war, are become 
 very idle, even in the hunting season. I am obliged 
 to help maintain all who live within fifty or sixty 
 miles of this place. \\>re it not for the sugar in the 
 spring, many would starve." 
 
 By the middle of June, the Indians were "hanging 
 upon" De Peyster in great numbers, to know if they 
 were to be employed to go against the "rebels." That 
 ofiicer could not learn from below^ whether Captain 
 Lernoult needed the assistance of any ; and he was 
 loath to send of? parties to the Illinois without the 
 express orders of th^ Commander-in-chief for so 
 doing; for, at best, in his judgment, "it would only 
 be productive of much cruelty perhaps exercised upon 
 the undeserving :" still . manv parties "would steal 
 off". 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 465 
 
 So soon as De Peyster received the news of the 
 surrender of Fort Sackville, he took every pains to 
 place his fort in as' proper state of defense as possible. 
 He threw down such houses as encumbered it, making 
 use of the timber ''together with the cedar fences," to 
 help strengthen the fortification. On the twentieth 
 of June, he wrote General Haldimand, that the whole 
 fort was lined with good, strong cedar pickets and a 
 banquet thrown up so as to fire from a good hight 
 through the loop-holes. x\lthough the barracks would 
 hold but seventy-two men, "still there are traders 
 houses left," De Peyster declared, "which may be pur- 
 chased and easily fitted to serve the purpose." The 
 sand hills which commanded the fort were sources of 
 much trouble. One of these still remained to be re- 
 moved. After every storm, the drifts of sand like 
 drifts of snow, were to be seen, and these had to be 
 removed. 
 
 Towards the last of June, De Peyster had received 
 pretty full accounts from the Illinois. He was glad 
 to know that Kaskaskia was not fortified and that the 
 fort there was a "sorry" affair — "an enclosure round 
 the Jesuits' college, with two plank houses at opposite 
 angles, mounting two four-pounders each on the 
 ground floor." Besides these, there were some swivels 
 mounted. But there was one thing that gave the 
 Michilimackinac commander uneasiness. "One Gode- 
 froy Linctot," had joined the "rebels." "He has," 
 declared De Peyster, "too much to say amongst 
 the Indians ; every method should therefore be used 
 to get him into our hands; for which purpose (and to 
 reconnoiter) I send off Gautier with a party of Indians 
 
 * De Peyster to Haldimand. — Haldimand MSS. 
 • 30 
 
466 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 for Le Pee [Peoria], a small fort on the Illinois 
 river, where he [Linctot] is at present with some other 
 traders who had better be here. Gautier has orders 
 to burn the fort." " 'The Pay' adds the Michilimack- 
 inac commandant, is about eighty leagues from Kas- 
 kaskia."* 
 
 * Same to same, June 27, 1779. — Haldimand ]MSS. ''The 
 Pay" had a number of snyonyms : Peoria, Le Pee, Le Pay, 
 Au Pay, Opa, the Pe, Pa}^ Pays, Pe, Pees. The village 
 was situated on the west bank of Peoria Lake, one and a 
 half miles above its outlet. (Matson's Pioneers of Illinois, 
 pp. 216, 217.) In a letter written by Patrick Sinclair, then 
 Lieutenant Governor at ]\Iichilimackinac to Brehm, Oct. 
 29, 1779, he said that JNIons. Durand upon oath related the 
 affairs of the Illinois to be much in the condition represented 
 by Major De Peyster to his Excellency [Gen. Haldimand, 
 June 29, 1779], except that there was no fort at the Pe. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 HITHERTO, there had been no desertions from 
 Kaskaskia to the enemy ; now, however, by 
 the wiles of one of Captain George's officers 
 who had determined to go over to the British, three 
 were induced to forsake the cause of hberty and put 
 themselves under the protection of Captain Lernoult at 
 Detroit. These are the particulars : George Girty, a 
 second lieutenant in what was formerly Captain Wil- 
 ling's company (now Captain George's), hearing that 
 his brothers, Simon and James Girty, had joined the 
 British at Detroit, determined to forsake his compan- 
 ions-in-arms, — in short, to desert. He made known 
 his intentions to some of the prisoners taken by Clark 
 at Vincennes, who had been brought to Kaskaskia. He 
 offered to conduct them safely to Captain Lernoult. 
 Sixteen of them agreed to the proposition ; but one en- 
 tering an information and making oath against Girty, 
 he was seized, put in irons, and closely confined. On 
 the fourth day of May, he found means to effect his 
 escape to the Spanish side of the Mississippi. Upon 
 his arrival in St. Louis, the commandant of the Spanish 
 garrison ordered him into confinement, but next morn- 
 ing, after some inquiry, released him, informing him 
 that it was not his intention to interfere with or molest 
 any person on either side, unless for murder or some 
 capital offense against civil society, and that it was 
 his desire to remain in tranquility, and to treat all well 
 who behave as becometh them. 
 
 Girty, now that he was set at liberty, plotted 
 again to secure the fscape of some of Clark's prisoners 
 
 (467) 
 
468 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 — succeeding-, finally, in collecting four soldiers of the 
 King's (or 8tli) regiment, three deserters from the 
 Americans, and one prisoner from Captain Lamothe's 
 company (a fifer). They set out on the nineteenth of 
 June from the Illinois and reached Detroit on the 
 eighth of August following.* \Miether the three de- 
 serters were all from Captain George's company is un- 
 known, f 
 
 As a first movement looking to an attack on De- 
 troit, Clark dispatched from Kaskaskia Godefroy Lin- 
 clot (a Canadian, formerly an ensign in the French 
 service but latterly a merchant of Vincennes,:|: and who 
 now joined the Colonel's forces) on a reconnoisance to 
 the northward and northwestward, with a company of 
 forty mounted volunteers — "forty rebel Canadians," 
 as an Englishman afterward termed them. Linclot 
 was instructed to ascend the Illinois river as far as 
 Peoria, § cross the country to Wea, and proceed thence 
 to Yincennes. He was to go among the different na- 
 tions of Indians under pretense of visiting them as a 
 friend, receive their congratulations on the late suc- 
 
 * History of the Girtys, pp. 105-108. 
 
 t That the Spanish territory, at this time, afforded com- 
 plete protection for deserters from American forces, is shown 
 b)' a letter of Capt. George to Col. Brodhead, "25 Sept., 1779. 
 
 — Haldimand MSS. The four soldiers of the kings (or 8th) 
 regiment were not the only ones of Clark's prisoners taken 
 by him to Kaskaskia, who finally escaped from captivity. At 
 Rogers' defeat (before mentioned as occurring on the twenty- 
 seventh of September following); seven were rescued who 
 were being sent over the mountains, as had been those with 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton. (John Campbell to Lernoult, 
 Oct. -23. 1770 — Haldimand MSS.) 
 
 t Calendar of J^irginia State Paf^ers. vol. III. p. 501. 
 § That is, "Le Pe" or "the Pay." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 469 
 
 cess of the Americans upon the Wabash, encourage 
 such a desire to submit to the latter and desert the 
 EngHsh, but above all to get the latest intelligence 
 from Detroit. It was the Colonel's idea that this ma- 
 neuvre would result not only in attaching the Illinois 
 river Indians but also those upon the upper Wabash 
 more firmly to his interest and prevent meanwhile the 
 British and such savages as were their active allies 
 from taking the field and distressing the frontiers. 
 Linclot proved himself, as will presently be seen, a 
 most effective partisan. 
 
 John Todd from the time of his arrival at Kas- 
 kaskia in the first half of May was, as lieutenant and 
 commandant of Illinois county very busily engaged in 
 the discharge of his official duties. On the fourteenth, 
 he made out commissions for the militia officers ap- 
 pointed by him for the District of Kaskaskia. Richard 
 Winston v/as made commandant. There were organ- 
 ized two companies and one at Prairie du Rochen. 
 Two companies were also completed and properly offi- 
 cered at Cahokia. Courts were soon dispensing justice 
 at the first and last places mentioned, with Gabriel 
 Cerre as president in Kaskaskia and Godin Toranjean 
 at Cahokia.* 
 
 It was well understood by Todd that the act creat- 
 ing the county of Illinois was sufficient in its scope 
 to include not only the IlHnois villages but also those 
 on the Wabash ; it behooved him, therefore, so soon 
 as the machinery of civil government had been put in 
 motion in the towns just mentioned, that he should 
 repair to Vincennes to there organize the militia and 
 * Mason's Early Chicago and Illinois, pp. 294-296, 
 
i70 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 establish a court of justice. By the middle of June, 
 he was ready to leave Kaskaskia for that purpose ; but, 
 before starting-, he issued orders in writing to Wins- 
 ton : "During my absence," said he, "the command 
 will devolve upon you as commander of Kaskaskia. If 
 Colonel Clark should want anything more for his ex- 
 [)edition, consult the members of the court upon the 
 best mode of proceeding. If the people will not spare 
 willingly (if in their power) you must press for wdiat 
 is wanted, valuing the property by two men under oath. 
 Let the military have no pretext for forcing property. 
 When you order it and the people will not find it, theu 
 it will be time for them to interfere. By all means 
 keep up a good understanding with Colonel Clark and 
 his officers. If this is not the case, you will be un- 
 happy.""^ 
 
 Once at A'incennes and the County Lieutenant 
 addressed himself to the task of organizing the militia 
 of that place. Alajor Legras was advanced to the rank 
 of Lieutenant Colonel while Captain Bosseron was pro- 
 moted to ]\[ajor. The number of militia companies 
 formed was four. .\ court with Colonel Legras as 
 president was also organized. In July, Colonel Todd 
 returned to Kaskaskia. f 
 
 Early in June, Colonel ^Montgomery was dis- 
 patched from Kaskaskia, by Clark, to go by water to 
 Vincennes, with all the necessary stores,:|: including 
 it seems, seven pieces of heavy cannon and four nior- 
 
 * Id., p. 302. 
 
 t Id., pp. "205. 2lH). See, also, Dillon's Imiiana (ed. of 
 1859). p. 1(S9. 
 
 % Calendar of rirginia -State Papers, vol. Ill, p. 441. 
 (See, also. Mason's Early Chicago and Illinois, p. 353.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 471 
 
 tars ;*. while Major Bowman marched with the prin- 
 cipal force by land. The hopes of an actual organiza- 
 tion of the expedition rested wholly upon the promised 
 reinforcement of Colonel John Bowman from Ken- 
 tucky. But when the American commander learned, 
 as he did in due time, that the militia under that officer 
 had gone across the Ohio to attack the Shawanees, 
 he began to be apprehensive that the number to reach 
 him at Fort Patrick Henry would be small. On the 
 twenty-seventh, the Colonel with a party of horse 
 started for Vincemies, reaching there in four days, 
 where in a short time thereafter his whole force had 
 safely arrived. f Only a small force was left by the 
 commander in Fort Clarkif and in Fort Bowman,§ — 
 with Captain Lieutenant Harrison in command at the 
 post first mentioned.il 
 
 The intended undertaking against Detroit was in 
 reality, one of the movements which Clark had thought 
 of, as we know, even before starting on his campaign 
 against Kaskaskia. It is to be considered therefore as 
 much the result of the conquest of the Illinois as was 
 the expedition against Vincennes. First, the Illinois 
 towns, then, finally on to Detroit, — was his ambition 
 from the start. But how leisurely were the prepara- 
 tions — how much less the anxieties — how full of 
 hope the anticipations — now, in his setting out for 
 Vincennes, from those of a few months previous. 
 Now, the population and troops at the place just men- 
 
 * Lorraine to Lernoult, July 18, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 t Appendix to our narrative, Note CXXVII. 
 
 I At Kaskaskia. 
 § At Cahokia. 
 
 II Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, p. 324; also 
 Appendix to our narrative, CXXXI. 
 
472 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 tioned were all Americans at heart. Now, the weather 
 was warm and the streams were low. There was now 
 a plentiful supply of provisions taken along by Major 
 Bowman, for the march (including cattle on foot), 
 let the time be procrastinated as it might. And instead 
 of the many weary days of the preceding February 
 journey, four days now were enough for Clark, well- 
 mounted as he was, to reach the Wabash town."^ 
 
 Upon Clark's arrival at Vincennes (the first of 
 July), instead of there being in the place two or three 
 hundred Kentuckians that he was promised, he found 
 only about thirty volunteers. Their meeting with 
 (what was looked upon as) a repulse from the Shawa- 
 nese had discouraged the Kentuckians generally ;t and 
 it was not in the power of the Commander, Colonel 
 Bowman, to march them as militia to join Clark. J 
 
 In after years, Clark wrote : 'Tnstead of three 
 hundred men from Kentucky, there appeared about 
 thirty volunteers, commanded by Captain JMcGary." 
 
 The American commander had, under his imme- 
 diate orders at Vincennes, about three hundred and 
 
 * Appendix, Note CXXVIII. 
 
 t See History of the Girtys, p. 96. 
 
 X "Arriving there [at Vincennes] in July, 1779, he [Clark] 
 found only thirty from Kentucky of the three hundred prom- 
 ised him. There were no tidings of recruits from Virginia ; 
 and Major Bowman, his trusty companion in former cam- 
 paigns was fighting the Shawanese on the Ohio at a disad- 
 vantage." (Dr. William Frederick Poole, in Winsor's Nar- 
 rative and Critical History of America, vol. VI, p. 730.) 
 Major Joseph Bowman is here confounded with Col. John 
 Bowman, lieutenant of Kentucky county. And the latter did 
 not fight "the Shawanese on the Ohio,' but a good many 
 miles north of that river — "not far from the present Xenia, 
 Ohio. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 473 
 
 fifty men. A council of war was called, and all his 
 officers except two voted to go on with the expedition. 
 But Clark, after mature consideration, decided not to 
 undertake the campaign. The small number of troops 
 would not justify an undertaking of such magnitude, 
 although the chiefs of several Indian tribes solicited 
 the privilege of taking part with their warriors in the 
 enterprise — the result of the effective work done by 
 Linclot, who had previously reached Vincennes and of 
 the stirring and fearless "speech" sent among the vari- 
 ous nations by the Colonel."^ 
 
 Clark readily found an excuse to his officers for 
 his course. "I pretended it was on account of General 
 Sullivan's marching on Niagara (of which we had just 
 heard) that stopped us — that there was no doubt of 
 his success. Detroit would fall, of course, and conse- 
 quently it was not worth our while marching against 
 it ; although I knew, at the same time, Detroit would 
 not fall with Niagara, as they had an easy communica- 
 tion with Montreal through another channel by way 
 of Grand [Ottawa] river."t 
 
 The resolve of Colonel Clark to rendezvous at 
 Vincennes preparatory to marching against Detroit, 
 
 * Exactly what Indian chiefs were anxious to join Clark 
 is not known : but, of the Wabash tribes there was undoubt- 
 edly a portion of one — the Miami Indians, of Eel river — 
 which did not ask the privilege ; as they took a neutral atU- 
 tude towards the belligerents. {History of the Girtys, p. 107.) 
 
 t Clark to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 pp. 86, 87. (See Appendix to our narrative, Note CXXIX.) 
 As a 'matter of fact General Sullivan did not march "on 
 Niagara," but against Indians of the Six Nations, particu- 
 larly the Senecas. {Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 
 110 n.) 
 
474 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 should circumstances permit, seems to have been an 
 "open secret" at Kaskaskia, for, not later than the 
 twentieth of May, the news was on its way to Detroit 
 and Michilimickinac. 
 
 It was not a surprise to Captain Lernoult. It had 
 all along been if not really anticipated by him, at least 
 judged not to be impossible. He was prepared not 
 only for this emergency but for a movement against 
 his post from Pittsburg, — to the extent (in either 
 event) not only of having received the reinforcement 
 of two hundred regulars for his garrison but of having 
 made considerable progress on his new fort. Whether, 
 in case of an attack, he would abandon the old fort — 
 he would let circumstances determine. However, in 
 the end he found that, in all probability, he would not 
 be compelled to decide the question, — having received 
 what seemed to be reliable information that Clark had 
 abandoned the proposed expedition ; still, it was the 
 close of September before he ceased his watchful care, 
 having, as he says, "filled up my magazines in the new 
 fort that we may not be taken unawares should the 
 enemy advance this way, which they probably may to 
 burn and destroy the grain belonging to the [Indian] 
 nations."* The new fortification received the name of 
 "Fort Lernoult." 
 
 Naturally, the Captain had not at this juncture 
 slackened his efforts in repressing "rebels" in Detroit. 
 Depositions and declarations of those loyal to Britain 
 were taken implicating some who had indiscreetly ex- 
 pressed themselves as being in sympathy with the 
 
 * History of the Girtys, pp. 109, 110. Lernoult to Bolton, 
 Sept. 25, 1779. — Haldimand MSS, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 475 
 
 Americans, and informing against at least one other 
 who was giving aid to Colonel Clark.'^ And he soon 
 received from the Commander-in-Chief additional au- 
 thority to act at once when an invasion was imminent 
 — for the good of his Majesty's service and for the 
 protection of trade and of his Majesty's loyal subjects 
 and their effects. That this might be accomplished, he 
 was empowered to hold general courts martial for the 
 punishing of all offenders and transgressors of all de- 
 scriptions and degrees whatever, according to the na- 
 ture of their offenses, as they should appear upon trial 
 before the same. He had power to put in execution 
 all sentences pronounced by the court even to the 
 ''pains of death." But he must first declare martial 
 law on the approach of an enemy to attack Detroit or 
 any of its dependencies, before exercising such power 
 over the lives of persons. f 
 
 It was about the first of July that the news reached 
 De Peyster concerning the movement intended by the 
 Americans from Kaskaskia. "Having received intelli- 
 gence," he wrote to Haldimand on the ninth, "that an 
 attack is intended against Detroit by the rebels from 
 the Illinois, who are to march by the Wabash and St. . 
 Joseph, I have detached Lieutenant [Thomas] Ben- 
 nett with some traders and canoemen, twenty soldiers 
 and two hundred Indians to endeavor to intercept one 
 Linclot, who is to march with a body of horse by St. 
 Joseph." In another letter of the same date, he said : 
 "On the 29th of June I acquainted your Excellency 
 that I was sending off a party towards the Pee [Peo- 
 
 * Depositions of H. lago, John Laughton, William Miller, 
 John Cornwall, John Higgins, William Humphreys — all taken 
 in July and August, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
 fBrehm to Lernoult, July 29, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
476 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ria]. Since then I have received information from St. 
 Joseph [which they (the people there) had from the 
 IlHnois so late as the twenty-eighth of May], that the 
 rebels were in great forwardness to march with seven 
 hundred men to the Wabash against Detroit and that 
 one Linclot is to march four hundred horse by St. 
 Joseph.""^ 
 
 "In consequence of this intelligence," added De 
 Peyster, *'I have detached Lieutenant Bennett who 
 went off the next day with twenty soldiers and about 
 sixty traders and canoe Indians to endeavor to inter- 
 cept Linclot [by marching first to St. Joseph, then to 
 Chicago and crossing to the TUinois] or attempt any- 
 thing in that quarter which may be conducive to dis- 
 tress the rebels. The numbers of the Indians will 
 daily increase. Allowing the whole of this report to 
 be false, the movement will answer a good purpose, as 
 it will secure the wavering Indians, particularly the 
 Pottawattamies, keep up the spirit of the inhabitants 
 of Detroit settlement, and greatly deter the rebels from 
 any attempt that way, seeing they are much disturbed 
 in thinking that the Indians would remain neuter and 
 ■let them pass. I have purchased the Welcome [of John 
 Askin] and will let her stay [at the River St. Joseph] 
 with provisions and some goods to enable Mr. Bennett 
 to speak to the Pottawattamies, Mascoutins, Kicka- 
 poos, and Miamis." 
 
 De Peyster had already (on the first of July) is- 
 sued instructions to Langlade at "the Bay" to do his 
 utmost to raise the Winnebagos and Milwaukee In- 
 dians, also others living on the borders of Lake Michi- 
 
 * It will be noticed that the reports received by De Peyster 
 concerning Clark and his movements were in general exag- 
 gerated, especially as to the number of the Colonel's men. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 4:71 
 
 gan, and with them hurry and join Lieutenant Bennett 
 at Chicago, and in case the latter had "passed forward, 
 to follow him in forced marches, overtake him before 
 his arrival, and to travel with him for the good of the 
 service, in accordance with the orders" which he (the 
 Lieutenant) had received from the Michilimackinac 
 commandant. 
 
 On the twenty-first of the month De Peyster com- 
 plained to the Commander-in-Chief that no vessel since 
 the opening of navigation had been sent from Detroit 
 to his post. ''I once sent the sloop Welcome thither, 
 and she returned ; since which, I am obliged to em- 
 ploy her on Lake Michigan. It would be necessary 
 for the good of the service (if your Excellency thought 
 proper) to order a vessel to ply constantly between the 
 two places, in the situation we are in at present. The 
 Indians are in constant alarm, and are often so much 
 persuaded that Detroit is taken that they are ready to 
 leave their habitations — so much are they exposed to 
 the impositions of designing people, which I have not 
 in my power to contradict for want of more frequent 
 intelligence. The commanding officer at Detroit gives 
 me all the intelligence he receives ; but, to hear often, 
 that all is well, would be most esential service in the 
 management of the Indians." 
 
 The destination of Lieutenant Bennett under or- 
 ders from De Peyster, was, St. Joseph, as just inti- 
 mated, where he was to assemble the Pottawattamies 
 of that vicinity. He arrived out on the twenty-third 
 of July, and threw up an entrenchment sufficient to 
 oppose a superior number of savages, in case their in- 
 tentions were found to be hostile to British interests. 
 But the Pottawattamies who were first seen were found 
 
478 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 submissive and he sent out parties to endeavor to get 
 some intelligence of the enemy and if possible to bring 
 in some prisoners, or to distress the "rebels" in any 
 manner they might think could be most easily accom- 
 plished. He also dispatched an express to Captain 
 Lernoult at Detroit informing him of the disposition 
 of the savages (at least as it appeared to the Lieu- 
 tenant) and begged to know if he could render him 
 any service, either with his own party or in conjunc- 
 tion with any other the Captain might send to join 
 him from his post. 
 
 It was perhaps well that Lieutenant Bennett took 
 the precaution to throw up a fortification at St. Joseph, 
 for he soon wrote his superior officer a discouraging 
 letter. "In my last," said he, "I informed you what 
 fine speeches the Pottawattamies made me. Two days 
 afterwards, a chief called the Petit Bled, from Nipi- 
 cous, came at the head of the different bands of the 
 Pottawattamies and told me what was said before his 
 arrival was without any other design than mere com- 
 pliment ; but he was now come to give his pure senti- 
 ments ; that they returned the detested hatchet and pipe 
 which were brought here only to render their village 
 miserable ; he said they desired tranquility but still in- 
 sisted that he held sacred the hatchet of his former 
 father, the French King, and would never quit it. As 
 soon as he returned to his village, the others came and 
 made an apology for their insolence. I gave them an 
 answer such as I thought they deserved."* 
 
 Langlade reached St. Joseph with only sixty sav- 
 ages — Chippewas ; and . Lieutenant Bennett soon 
 
 * Lieut. Bennett to Major De Peyster, from St. Joseph, 
 Aug. 9, 1779. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 479 
 
 found that no dependence could be placed on the Ot- 
 tawas, as, upon their leaving Arbre Croche they were 
 determined to go ho further than St. Joseph ; also, that 
 the Pottawattamies were much disaffected. ''Our 
 scouts," he wrote to De Peyster, "have all been fright- 
 ened back by Indian reports. They seem all to be de- 
 bauched by the thoughts of a French war. We have 
 not twenty Indians in our camp who are not preparing 
 to leave us. . . Mr. Beaubien, an officer in Capt. 
 Lernoult's department at the Miamis, has joined us to 
 offer his service. He says there are not fifty rebels at 
 Vincennes. . . ''As v/e have no account of an 
 enemy near us unless treacherous Indians, I would 
 immediately return to Michilimackinac did I not think 
 myself obliged to wait Capt. Lernoult's answer whether 
 he wants us at or near Detroit. I have deceived him 
 much with respect to our numbers. I thought I could 
 depend more upon the Ottawas ; however, I have the 
 pleasure to tell you that French and English are all 
 well in spirits, and only wait for an order to march."* 
 Lieutenant Bennett finally, without hearing from 
 Captain Lernoult at Detroit, concluded to return to 
 Michilimackinac, which he reached the last of August, 
 assuring De Peyster, upon his arrival, that the Cana- 
 dians behaved with the greatest appearance of zeal for 
 the service possible and seemed greatly disappointed 
 at not having it in their power to distinguish them- 
 selves ; — "also of the soldiers who were of the party," 
 said he, "I flatter myself I need not inform you of 
 their eagerness to meet the enemy."f 
 
 t Lieut. Bennett's Report — Haldimand MSS. 
 
480 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "I have accounts," wrote De Peyster to General 
 Haldimand on the ninth of August, ''that Clark is on 
 the march to Wea with five hundred men followed by 
 two hundred oxen, the remainder of his provisions to 
 go up the Ohio and Wabash. Linctot marches with a 
 party from the Pay [Peoria], to join him at Wea or 
 Miamis. Their object is said to be Detroit. I believe 
 by this time we have five hundred Indians on the look- 
 out to harrass them on their march and endeavor to 
 draw them into an ambuscade, which I have ordered 
 to be laid for them." 
 
 It will thus be seen that De Peyster had received 
 an exaggerated account of the marching of Major 
 Bowman to Vincennes with the principal part of 
 Clark's force ; and it is also to be noted, that, had 
 Clark actually marched from that place towards De- 
 troit, he would doubtless have encountered much oppo- 
 sition from the savages on the way, notwithstanding 
 the friendly attitude of the Illinois river Indians toward 
 him and of those of the Upper Wabash — thanks to 
 the zeal and courage of Linclot. 
 
 It was not long after De Peyster had written the 
 letter just mentioned to the Commander-in-Chief be- 
 fore he became convinced that Clark's intended expedi- 
 tion against Detroit had, some time before, been aban- 
 doned. 
 
 The attachment previously of the Indians for the 
 French, the pains taken by the latter to renew it, the 
 apprehensions that the savages who were professed 
 allies had in contemplation to desert the British inter- 
 ests, the unfortunate miscarriage of Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor Hamilton against the Illinois, and the defection 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 48] 
 
 of many of the inhabitants of Detroit, — had all im- 
 pressed themselves strongly upon General Haldimand's 
 mind as events portending evil for his cause in the 
 West. He could plainly see that the causes mentioned 
 had strongly served to alienate the affections of the 
 Indians; and notwithstanding "they continue to pro- 
 fess their attachment to the King, they frame excuses 
 for not going to war, and discover upon all occasions 
 an indifference which indicates their intention to for- 
 sake us :" — such were his words to Lord George Ger- 
 main. 
 
 And the General added: "From every informa- 
 tion that has been received, it would appear that an 
 expedition against Detroit is certainly intended under 
 the command of a Colonel Clark who retook Vin- 
 cennes. I have reinforced Detroit ; and the forward- 
 ness of a most useful work now erecting there will, I 
 hope, insure the safety of that place, unless the rebels 
 should find means to make their way to it in great 
 force ; which, the growing slackness of the Western 
 nations may perhaps enable them to effect.""^ 
 
 It was a great relief to the British Commander-in- 
 Chief to learn, finally, that "a Colonel Clark" had given 
 up his plan of attacking Detroit.. 
 
 At the time when Clark had resolved to relin- 
 quish, for the time, all attempts against Detroit, the 
 Piankeshaw Indians, to show their esteem for him, 
 urged him to accept a gift of land two and one-half 
 leagues square in some portion of their territory. The 
 Colonel having previously refused any such present as 
 being contrary to the Virginia 'constitution, now 
 
 *Haldimand to Germain, Sept. 13th and 14th, 1779.--. 
 Haldimand MSS. 
 31 
 
482 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 thought it would be poHtic to accept the offer ; so, on 
 the sixteenth of June, the Tobacco's son, on behalf of 
 all the Piankeshaws, executed a deed to Clark for the 
 amount before mentioned, lying on the right bank of 
 the Ohio, at the Falls, Clark suspecting that he might 
 find it necessary to fortify there "for the convenience 
 of free intercourse."* 
 
 It was now the opinion of Clark that the interests 
 of the service required him to spend a few months at 
 the Falls of the Ohio, — hoping upon his arrival there 
 to be able to raise a sufficient force to punish the Shaw- 
 anese in a more signal manner than had been done by 
 Colonel Bowman. Having a number of supernumer- 
 ary officers, he sent them into the settlements of Ken- 
 tucky county to recruit for his battalion, at the same 
 time giving proper instructions for the direction of 
 the commands of the dift'erent posts. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Montgomery was to go to the 
 Illinois. Under him was placed the company of Cap- 
 tain John Williams ; which force, when joined by Cap- 
 tain Worthington's company, was to occupy Fort 
 Clark, at Kaskaskia ; — Captain Lieutenant Harrison, 
 then at that post, was to have charge of the artillery. 
 Montgomery was also to take with him Captain Mc- 
 Carty's command, which, after being reinforced by 
 Captain Quirk's company, was to be stationed at Ca- 
 liokia. The garrison at Fort Patrick Henry (Vin- 
 cennes) was to be composed of Captain Shelby's and 
 Captain Robert Todd's commands, to be joined by the 
 companies of Captains Taylor and Keller. Captains 
 Williams, McCartV, Todd and Shelby were to com- 
 mand their respective forces when augmented as stated. 
 
 * Appendix, Note CXXX, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 483 
 
 Major Joseph Bowman was to proceed with the 
 recruiting parties. Under him, upon that service, 
 were the supernumerary captains — Quirk, Evans, 
 Taylor, Worthington and Keller. Captain Robert 
 George and Lieutenant Robertson, with their artillery 
 company, were to go with Clark to the Falls, where 
 ''Headquarters" were to be established. Captain Helm 
 was made Indian agent for Fort Patrick Henry and 
 the Department of the Wabash. 
 
 Godefroy Linctot was directed to act as Agent 
 of the Illinois river Indians and other western and 
 northwestern tribes; and Antoine Gamelin, of the 
 Weas. Linctot was to report to Montgomery; and 
 Gamelin, although in Helm's Department, to "Head- 
 quarters" at the Falls, or to Kaskaskia. 
 
 "Captain Linctot will appoint," so ran the order, 
 ''an assistant for the upper part of the Mississippi, in 
 the Indian Department, near the Dogs plains [now 
 Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin], provided the appoint- 
 ment be approved of by Colonel Montgomen^ or the 
 commanding officer for the time being." These orders 
 were promulgated on the fifth of August.* 
 
 "The body of the battalion," afterward wrote 
 Montgomery, "marched back t o the Mississippi to gar- 
 
 * Appendix, Note CXXXI, where this last General Order 
 of Clark issued on his Illinois expedition is given in full. 
 On the 25th of Sept., 1779, Capt. George at the Falls of the 
 Ohio wrote to Col. Daniel Brodhead at Fort Pitt: "Col. 
 Clark has divided the men under my command into detach- 
 ments, which he has stationed at sundry places, so that there 
 is not at this time above ten or twelve with me at this 
 place .... Since my arrival in this country I have ac- 
 cepted a commission under the State of Virginia and conclude 
 myself more immediately under Col. Clark's orders," 
 
484 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 rison the towns of Kaskaskia and Cohokia. Colonel 
 Clark finding the public interest required that he 
 should reside at the Falls of the Ohio until provision 
 should be made for the ensuing campaign, I was or- 
 dered to take command of the troops in the Illinois; 
 to make, often, reports of the condition of that De- 
 partment to the Colonel ; and to be careful to have ex- 
 penses of Government as moderate as possible, draw- 
 ing bills of exchange on him or the treasury of Vir- 
 ginia for the payment of the expenses of the troops, 
 studying the general interest of the State, and tran- 
 quility of the inhabitants of the different posts, letting 
 all kind of oppression be the last shift. This is the 
 substance of the orders I received.""^ 
 
 ''At Vincennes, on the fifth of August, 1779," sub- 
 sequently wrote Clark, "the Western troops were as- 
 signed to different posts agreeable to a general order. 
 Lieutenant Colonel jNIontgomery was authorized by 
 me to draw bills of exchange on myself or the treas- 
 urer of the vState of A^irginia, for defraying the neces- 
 sary expenses of the troops in the Department, but not 
 on any other person. "f 
 
 When everything at Vincennes had been satisfac- 
 torily arranged, the American commander "set out for 
 the Falls," where he arrived on the twentieth of Au- 
 gust ; issuing his orders thereafter from "Headquar- 
 ters," as "Colonel of the Illinois Battalion, and Com- 
 
 * Montgomery to B'd. Com'rs. of Western Accts, Feb. 
 22, 1783 — Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. Ill, p. 441. 
 Montgomery left Vincennes for Kaskaskia on the 14th of 
 August. 
 
 t Clark to Colonel William Fleming, February 6, 1783. 
 {Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. Ill, p. 433.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 485 
 
 mander-in-Chief of the Virginia Forces in the West- 
 ern Department."* 
 
 After an absence of nearly fourteen months, he 
 now saw, upon the Kentucky shore, instead of a wil- 
 derness, as when he left the island, a considerable set- 
 tlement. The '"post" previously ordered by him to be 
 removed "to the main land," he found was a well- 
 built but small fort, with which he was much pleased. f 
 
 Previous to the establishing of his headquarters 
 on the Ohio, Clark was voted a sword by the General 
 Assembly of Virginia as a proof of their appreciation 
 of his "great and good conduct and gallant behavior." 
 It was purchased by the Governor "of a gentleman 
 who had used it but little and judged it to be elegant 
 and costly." In transmitting it to the Colonel (it was 
 sent in care of a Captain of the militia) the Lieutenant 
 Governor, John Page, wrote him a kind — almost 
 affectionate — letter dated the fourth of September, 
 congratulating him on his successes and wishing him 
 a continuation of them. The sword was received by 
 Clark at the Falls and was highly appreciated.^ 
 
 Clark expended during the time he was actually 
 engaged in the conquest of the Illinois and Wabash 
 towns of cash received from the treasurer of Virginia 
 and from Oliver Pollock, the State's financial agent 
 (and the United States' as well) in New Orleans, over 
 one hundred thousand dollars,— nearly one half being 
 provided and sent to the Colonel by the last mentioned^ 
 who, because of his trouble and responsibility in so 
 doing and for his activity an d zeal in promoting the 
 
 * Appendix, Note CXXXII. 
 t Same, Note, CXXXIII. 
 X Same, Note CXXXIV. 
 
486 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 interests of the country generally, is entitled to have 
 his name enrolled high on the list of those the nation 
 delights to honor. His genuine patriotism (for such 
 it was) contributed greatly towards making the expe- 
 dition a complete and permanent success-* 
 
 The grant made on the sixteenth day of June, 
 1779, by "Francis, son of Tobacco" to Clark, of two 
 and a half leagues of land lying on the right bank of 
 the Ohio opposite the Falls, being in contravention of 
 the constitution of Virginia formed in ^Nlay, 1776, was 
 of course void as soon as made. But, the instrument 
 of writing drawn up on the third of January, 1778, 
 by Wythe, Mason and Jefferson, wherein they prom- 
 ised to use their influence to obtain a liberal bounty 
 for each one joining Clark, in case of the success of 
 the Illinois expedition, was, it may be premised, more 
 than fulfilled as Virginia extended her liberality not 
 only to the privates, but to Clark himself and to his 
 officers, in a marked degree, by granting, in its act 
 of the second of January, 1781, to them one hundred 
 and fifty thousand acres of land, to be laid off on the 
 northern borders of the Ohio adjacent to the Falls. f 
 
 And this grant was, on the first day of March, 
 1784, confirmed, so far as Virginia was concerned, by 
 its deed of cession to the United States of all right, 
 title and claim to the country northwest of the Ohio. 
 
 This action was taken because by an act of the 
 second of January, 1781, the General Assembly of Vir- 
 ginia had resolved that, on certain conditions, they 
 
 * See Magamne of American History, vol. XII, pp. 415, 
 416 ; and Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. I, pp. 603-605. (Ap- 
 pendix to our narrative, Nofe CXXXIV.) 
 
 t Appendix, Note CXXXV. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 487 
 
 would cede to Congress, for the benefit of the United 
 States, all the right, title and claim which Virginia 
 had to the territory northwest of the river Ohio. Con- 
 gress, by an act of the thirteenth of September, 1783, 
 agreed to accept the cession of the territory ; and the 
 General Assembly of Virginia, on the twentieth of De- 
 cember, thereafter, passed an act authorizing their del- 
 egates in Congress to convey the same to the General 
 Government. 
 
 . The deed was duly executed wherein was a con- 
 dition that "a quantity not exceeding one hundred and 
 fifty thousand acres of land, promised by Virginia, 
 shall be allowed and granted to the then Colonel, now 
 General George Rogers Clark, and to the officers and 
 soldiers of his regiment, who marched with him when 
 the posts of Kaskaskia and Vincennes were reduced, 
 and to the officers and soldiers that have been since 
 incorporated into the said regiment, to be laid off in 
 one tract, the length of which not to exceed double the 
 breadth, in such place on the northwest side of the 
 Ohio as a majority of the officers shall choose and to be 
 afterward divided among the officers and soldiers in 
 due proportion, according to the laws of Virginia." 
 
 Now, by provisions of the acts of the General As- 
 sembly of Virginia, of the third of October, 1779, and 
 of the fifth of October, 1780, Clark and his officers and 
 men were entitled to receive as follows : 
 
 Brigadier-General 10,000 acres 
 
 Colonel Q,Qm 2/3 " 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel 6,000 " 
 
 Major 5,666 2/3 " 
 
 Captain 4,000 
 
 Subaltern 2,666 2/3 " 
 
 Non-commissioned officer 400 " 
 
 Soldier (private) 200 
 
488 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The deed of cession by Virginia having been duly 
 accepted by the United States, the General Government 
 were bound to see that Clark and his officers and pri- 
 vates received the several amounts which had been 
 granted them by Virginia ; and, finally, they obtained 
 (they or their heirs or assigns) their reward. 
 
 The conquest of the Illinois and of the Wabash 
 towns thus ended, was a glorious one for the originator 
 and those engaged in the undertaking under him. The 
 enterprise, divisible into two principal parts, (i) the 
 taking of the Illinois, and (2) the capture of Hamilton 
 and his garrison — two acts of a notable drama, of 
 which these events were the opening and closing — 
 must be considered as one campaign, in which the 
 efforts of Clark were great and effective and for which 
 America will ever cherish his memory. No other mil- 
 itia officer accomplished as much during tl;e Revolu- 
 tion ; and none other in that arm of the service achieved 
 so much renown. His success resulted greatly to the 
 advantage of Virginia, especially to that part of the 
 State organized into Kentucky county ',^ and, in the 
 end, it proved of signal importance to the United 
 States. t 
 
 * Appendix, Note CXXXVI. 
 t Appendix, Note CXXXVII. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 FOR over three years after his conquest of the 
 Ilhnois and Wabash towns and his return to 
 the Falls of Ohio, Clark led an active life. 
 He soon received an express from Governor Jeffer- 
 son bringing intelligence that a reinforcement would 
 be sent him, and that it was intended to erect a forti- 
 fication (as had already been mentioned by Governor 
 Henry in his private instructions to the Colonel) at 
 or near the mouth of the Ohio.* During the fall, 
 Clark busied himself in issuing orders looking to its 
 speedy commencement. All other plans in a military 
 way he was forced to lay aside owing to the low 
 stage of water in the river ; and, throughout the suc- 
 ceeding months of winter, he accomplished little so far 
 as public interests were concerned. 
 
 In April, 1780, the Colonel began operations 
 actively upon the fortification alluded to, locating it 
 
 * Jefferson's letter to Clark was dated June 28, 1779, not 
 1778, as stated by Butler {History of Kentucky, pp. 112, 113). 
 This mistake has caused some confusion. (See Henry's 
 Life of Patrick Henry, vol. I, p. 587.) It has been claimed 
 (Pitkin's United States, vol. II, p. 95) that the erection of 
 Fort Jefferson in conformity with instructions from Gov. 
 Jefferson was in order to fortify the claim of the United 
 States as to its western boundary being the Mississippi, 
 south of the Ohio (see also Butler's Kentucky, p. 112). That 
 it afterward did fortify, in a measure, the claim of the General 
 Government is true; but the immediate cause for the deter- 
 mination of Jefferson to build the fortification was for the 
 advancement of Virginia's claim of like nature, as evidenced 
 by its being garrisoned by that State alone, after being com- 
 pleted by he'r troops. 
 
 (489) 
 
490 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 on the left (east) bank of the Mississippi, about five 
 miles below the mouth of the Ohio. He named it 
 "Fort Jefferson" in honor of the Virginia governor. 
 
 Hearing of the approach of a considerable British 
 and Indian force against Cahokia and St. Louis, Clark 
 hastened with a party to the relief of the former 
 place, reaching there in time to repel the enemy. 
 Learning then that an army from Detroit was march- 
 ing to invade Kentucky, he returned hastily to Fort 
 Jefferson, marching thence to Louisville with what 
 men could be spared from his post ; but he arrived 
 there too late to prevent the reduction of two interior 
 stations and the securing by the enemy under Captain 
 Henry Bird of a considerable number of prisoners.* 
 Thereupon, he gathered about a thousand men, in- 
 vaded the Shawanese country north of the Ohio, de- 
 feating the Indians and laying waste two of their 
 villages. This was early in August.f 
 
 Before the close of the year Clark's attention 
 was again directed against Detroit. Going to the Vir- 
 ginia capital, he arranged with the \"irginia Governor 
 
 * For an account of Bird's invasion of Kentucky, see 
 History of the Girtys, pp. 118-120. Butler (History of Ken- 
 tucky, pp. 115, 116), gives currency to the absurd tradition 
 that Clark, on his way to Louisville, had but two companions ; 
 and that all three "painted themselves like Indians." His 
 account has been extensively copied. (See History of the 
 Girtys, p. 121.) "The apprehension of a large body of the 
 enemy in motion from Detroit towards the Falls of the 
 Ohio, has called him [Clark] there [from Fort Jefferson] 
 with what men he could well spare from this country, before 
 he had well breathed after the fatigues of an expedition up 
 the Mississippi." (John Dodge to Gov. Jefferson from Fort 
 Jefferson, Aug. 1, 1780 — Calendar of Virginia State Papers, 
 vol. 1, p. 368.) The italicising is mine. 
 
 f History of the Girtys,, pp. 121, 122, 406. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 491 
 
 and his Council for the undertaking, which met the 
 approval of Washington; but before anything could 
 be accomplished, Arnold's invasion of Virginia, in 
 January, 1781, occurred, when Clark temporarily 
 headed two hundred and forty riflemen and ambus- 
 caded a party of the enemy on James river. He then 
 (having been commissioned the twenty-second of the 
 month just mentioned a Brigadier General) made 
 strenuous efforts to carry forward the Detroit expe- 
 dition ; but because of the defeat of a portion of his 
 force under Colonel Archibald Lochrey while on its 
 way down the Ohio to join him on that river, and of 
 the passage of an act by Virginia, authorizing the 
 Governor to stop the expedition, the General was com- 
 pelled to abandon the undertaking after reaching 
 Louisville. This was in September.* 
 
 For the residue of the year 1781, after the aban- 
 donment of the expedition against Detroit, there was 
 nothing of particular note accomplished by Clark be- 
 yond watching and guarding the Kentucky settle- 
 ments. But in the Spring of 1782, he was busying 
 himself at the Falls in the erection of a new fortifi- 
 cation and later in building an armed boat to ply on 
 the river. His new and "formidable fortress" was 
 named 'Tort Nelson." 
 
 * Washington-Irvine Correspondence, pp. 53-56, 76, 77, 
 83, 154, 229-231. History of the Girtys, pp. 129-131. "From 
 this time forth," says Lewis Collins {Historical Sketches of 
 Kentucky, p. — ), "his [Clark's] influence sensibly decreased, 
 and the innate force and energy of his character languished 
 and degenerated." It is not to be presumed, however,^ that 
 the failure of this expedition was the only cause for this, if, 
 indeed, it was the principal one. Concerning his loss of pres- 
 tige, more will be said hereafter. 
 
492 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 In August, Captain William Caldwell with Rangers 
 and Indians gained a signal victory over the Ken- 
 tuckians at the Blue Licks, but Clark .was not in 
 command of the latter. This success of the enemy 
 induced the General, as a counter stroke, again to lead 
 a considerable force — over a thousand men — across 
 the Ohio. He attacked, in November, the savages on 
 the Great ^Hami and destroyed their villages and 
 means of subsistencec"^ This was his last important 
 military service during the Revolution. He had 
 already become tired of his command and had solicited 
 the Virginia governor to be recalled. f But it was 
 not because the northwestward Indians (except the 
 Piankesliaws and those near the settlements on the 
 Mississippi) had wholly engaged in the war against 
 the Americans, t nor was it because of the desperate 
 straits of Virginia in a financial way, causing him to 
 dispose of some lands he was possessed of to obtain 
 stores for his soldiers at Louisville. § He had, as he 
 believed, other reasons ; and he would in the early 
 spring, go over the mountains to confer with the Gov- 
 ernor ; but it was his intention to return, notwith- 
 standing, to Louisville, to reside there. 
 
 The Governor gave General Clark liberty to re- 
 linquish his command in the West, and the latter early 
 in the Spring wrote Harrison thanking him for the 
 
 * Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 401. 
 
 t Clark to Gov. Harrison, Oct. 22, 1782 : Calendar of 
 Virginia State Papers, vol. TIT, p 851. Same to same, Nov. 
 27, 1782, in the same vol., p. 381. 
 
 t Same to same, Oct. 18, same year • Calendar of Virginia 
 State Papers, vol. Ill, p. 345 Csvhete (Mark's initials are not 
 given, but the letter "V. ' appear b in their place). 
 
 § Same to same, Nov. 3o, same year (see the work last 
 cited, vol. Ill, p. 386). 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 493 
 
 permit, at the same time giving him his reasons for 
 the request he had made, which he declares were not 
 because of the smallness of his command, but quite a 
 different cause. Every exertion in his power had been 
 made for many years for the defense of his Depart- 
 ment he declared. Knowing that the safety of the 
 frontier down the Ohio and upon the Mississippi and 
 Wabash depended upon his activity, he says he took 
 pleasure in encountering the greatest fatigues, leaving 
 nothing in his power undone, either by dividing the 
 councils of the Indians by taking necessary steps to 
 keep large numbers in American interests, or by mak- 
 ing necessary excursions into their country to distress 
 the enemy and cause the friendly-disposed to remain 
 so. He spoke of a clan of partisans who resided in 
 Philadelphia (''pretended proprietors," as he calls 
 them), wdio were endeavoring to divide the counsels 
 of the people in the Kentucky settlements and to de- 
 stroy their interest at the seat of the Virginia gov- 
 ernment, "more effectually to complete their disaffec- 
 tion to the State." The General really believed their 
 efforts were in an especial manner directed against 
 him, whose desire above all things was to save the 
 country, but which, if the war continued, he would 
 be unable to effect because of their machinations. He 
 wished "to be clear" of their evil designs ; so he 
 would leave the West.* 
 
 In the first half of May, the General had reached 
 Richmond, then the Virginia seat of Government ; 
 
 * Clark to Gov. Harrison of Va., March 8, 1783, from 
 Lincoln county, Kentucky — Calendar of Virginia State Pa- 
 pers, vol. Ill, pp. 453, 454. (See Appendix to our narrative, 
 Note CXXXVIII.) 
 
494 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 but, from the following letter, it is evident he was 
 distressed for necessaries : 
 
 "Richmond, May 21st, 1783. 
 
 "Sir : Nothing but necessity could induce me to make 
 the following request of your Excellency, which is, to grant 
 me a small sum of money on account. I can assure you, Sir, 
 that I am exceedingly distressed for the want of necessary 
 clothmg, etc., and don't know of any channel through which 
 I could procure any except that of the Executive. The State, 
 I believe, will fall considerable in my debt. Any supplies 
 that your Excellency favors me with might be deducted out 
 of my accounts. I have the honor to be your Excellency's 
 obedient servant, 
 
 G. R. Clark. 
 
 "His Excellency Governor Harrison."* 
 
 The next day Clark gave to Governor Harrison, 
 at his request, a ''plan of such offensive measures" 
 as he believed the general interest required to be put 
 in e::ecution that season against the Indians. f How- 
 ever, the preliminary articles of peace had been signed 
 between the United States and Great Britain and the 
 latter power had made fair promises to call in her 
 savage allies and restrain them from farther hostilities 
 against the Americans. 
 
 We now come to the last act of Clark in a public 
 way while yet a Brigadier General. A meeting was 
 held in Richmond on the twenty-seventh day of May, 
 1783, of a number of State officers, "for the purpose 
 of endeavoring to get proper means adopted for locat- 
 ing, alloting and surveying their lands : to have their 
 certificates put . upon proper footing, and measures 
 taken to give them a sufficient credit; and to have 
 their claim to half-pay finally determined by the As- 
 
 * Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. HI, p. 487, 
 tid., pp. 488-490. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 495 
 
 sembly." General Clark acted as president of the meet- 
 ing. Resolutions were passed that a memorial be 
 presented to the Assembly requesting that officers and 
 soldiers of the State Line and Navy be put on the 
 same footing with the officers and soldiers of the Vir- 
 ginia Continental Line, with respect to land, bounties, 
 etc.; and stating that, in Ueu of their half-pay for 
 life, they preferred to receive full pay for five years 
 only. Clark and seven other (officers) were ap- 
 pointed to draw up the memorial. 
 
 The General (together with a like number of 
 officers as last mentioned) was also appointed to 
 superintend the surveyors employed to survey the 
 lands, in conjunction with the officers appointed by 
 the Continental Line for that purpose, and to see 
 that the regiments and corps that had served ''in the 
 westward" were duly provided for, as all other troops, 
 in the memorial to be prepared for the General As- 
 sembly. 
 
 The officers appointed to draw up the memorial 
 presented it according to order, which having been 
 signed by the president, was on the next day given to 
 the Assembly.* 
 
 Clark had not sent in his resignation even after 
 remaining in Richmond over two months; however, 
 nothing in his instructions to the officer left in com- 
 mand at Fort Nelson, or in letters to the County 
 Lieutenants of the counties of Jefferson and Lincoln^ 
 Kentucky, indicated his intention of returning to his 
 
 * See Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. Ill, pp. 
 492, 493. It will be noticed that, by Clark's appointment 
 as one of the committee to superintend the surveyors em^ 
 ployed to survey the lands which had been granted them in 
 the West, he intended to return to Kentucky, 
 
i% HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 command and again assuming the direction of mili- 
 tary affairs in the West. And now the State of \'ir- 
 ginia, for reasons set forth in a communication to 
 him from its Governor, had no longer a desire to 
 continue him in office: 
 
 'In Council, July 2d, 1783. 
 "Sir : The conchision of the war, and the distressed situ- 
 ation of the State with respect to its tinances. call on us to 
 adopt the most prudent economy. It is for this reason 
 alone I have come to a determination to give over all 
 thoughts for the present of carrying on an offensive war 
 against the Indians, which you will easily perceive will 
 render the ser\-ices of a general officer in that quarter un- 
 necessary ; and [you] will therefore consider yourself as 
 out of command ; but before I take leave of you, I feel 
 myself called upon in the most forcible manner to return j-ou 
 my thanks and those of my Council, for the very great and 
 singular services you have rendered your country in wrest- 
 ing so great and valuable a territory out of the hands of the 
 British enemy, repelling the attacks of their savage allies, and 
 carrying on successful war in the heart of their coimtry. This 
 tribute of praise and thanks so justly due, I am happy to 
 communicate to you as the united voice of the Executive. I 
 am, with respect. Sir. yours, etc., 
 
 "Benjamin Harrison."* 
 
 But Clark, although no longer in the service of his 
 
 State, lost none of his interest in affairs down the 
 
 Ohio. On the twelfth of October, before returning to 
 
 the Falls (Louisville), he wrote Governor Harrison: 
 
 "Sir : I have been informed that your Excellency hath 
 lately received despatches from the Westward. Being anxious 
 to know the success of the Commission to the Chickasaws in- 
 duces me to take the liberty of writing to you, hoping that 
 some moments of leisure might offer, and that your Excel- 
 
 * This letter of dismissal has been several times pub- 
 lished. Concerning Virginia's subsequent treatment of Clark, 
 see Appendix to oxir narrative. Note CXXXIX, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 497 
 
 lency would honor me with the information. From report, I 
 fear all is not well in that quarter. I hope, Sir, that you 
 will pardon this intrusion; and [I] beg' leave to subscribe 
 myself your Excellency's humble servant."* 
 
 After Clark had become a private citizen, the 
 General Assembly of his state recognized the fact of 
 his signal services, by the passage, in October, 1783, 
 of an act laying off a town on the opposite side of the 
 Ohio from Louisville, naming it "Clarksville," and 
 constituting him one of its trustees. 
 
 Clark's return in the latter half of the year last 
 mentioned to the West brought with it no particular 
 demonstration on the part of the citizens of Kentucky, 
 and he soon engaged at the Falls in private business. f 
 But the Congress of the United States honored him 
 with an appointment as ''commissioner plenipoten- 
 tiary," along with two others, to hold a treaty with 
 the Ohio Indians. As a result, "the treaty of Fort 
 Mcintosh" was concluded January 21, 1785, between 
 "George Rogers Clark, Richard Butler and Arthur 
 Lee," of the one part, and the sachems and warriors 
 of the Wyandot, Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa na- 
 tions, of the other. 
 
 Virginia, by her deed of cession of her claims to 
 the territory northwest of the Ohio in March, 1784, 
 to the United States, and the acceptance by the Gen- 
 eral Government of the same, confirmed the 'grant of 
 lands previously made to Clark and the soldiers who 
 were in the service under him ; yet, as it may be 
 premised, this did not result for a long time to their 
 
 * Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. Ill, p. 535. 
 
 t At least one of the employments he made arrangements 
 to engage in, was that of purveyor of "buffalo beef, bear's 
 meat, deer hams and bear oil," for the denizens of Louisville. 
 
 32 
 
498 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 advantage for the reason that the hostile savages 
 beyond the Ohio prevented surveys being made.* 
 
 The year 1786 found Clark still engaged on behalf 
 of the General Government as Commissioner to en- 
 deavor to bring the savages beyond the Ohio into 
 proper relations with the United States ; and another 
 treaty was conducted, — this time between "George 
 Rogers Clark, Richard Butler, and Samuel H. Par- 
 sons for the United States," with the Shawanese In- 
 dians, January 31, the year last mentioned, at the 
 mouth of the Great Miami river, where a fortifica- 
 tion was erected for that purpose, called Fort Finney.t 
 
 After the return of Clark from Fort Finney to 
 Louisville, much of his time for some months was 
 given up to a voluntary consideration of public af- 
 fairs because of the alarming increase of Indian hos- 
 tilities. The presence of imminent danger changed to 
 a considerable extent the feeling of the Kentucky 
 people who had harbored prejudice against him; J for 
 yet fresh in their minds w^ere his success over the 
 savages beyond the Ohio ; and they were now inclined 
 to look to him again for advice and aid, as they 
 saw he was in favor of marching against the Indians 
 — particularly those upon the Wabash. 
 
 Benjamin Logan, County Lieutenant of Lincoln 
 county, Kentucky, wrote the Virginia governor on the 
 nineteenth of April, giving an account of recent Indian 
 
 * Appendix, Note CXL. 
 
 t Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 
 vol. VII : Military Journal of Major Ehenezer Denny, p. 263. 
 
 X One of their complaints had been that Clark, as Com- 
 missioner, was trifling with the savages when the latter were 
 really plundering the settlers ; but, of course, there was no 
 truth in the accusation. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 499 
 
 marauds — adding, that he thought it his duty to in- 
 form the Governor of the circumstances and that 
 General Clark was- in the county of Jefferson, and had 
 recovered from a low state of health, and was ''likely 
 to be able to serve the public.""^ 
 
 ''I make no doubt," wrote Clark, in May, from 
 Louisville to Governor Henry, "you have long since 
 had a full account of the late Indian treaties at the 
 mouth of the Miami. . . . What future effect 
 they may have on the nations treated with it is im- 
 possible to tell ; but some good consequences hav^ 
 already appeared in the peaceable behavior of some 
 of those Indians. Notwithstanding, I do not think 
 that this country [Kentucky], even in its infant state, 
 bore so gloomy an aspect as it does at present. The 
 loss of Colonel Christian (whom the inhabitants had 
 great future hopes in) hath caused general uneasiness; 
 [and we can] add to this the certainty of a war already 
 commenced, and early this Spring declared, by the 
 Wabash Indians in general, amounting in the whole 
 to upwards of fifteen hundred warriors, encouraged 
 by the British traders from Detroit, and their own in- 
 clination. 
 
 "When you take a view of our situation," con- 
 tinued Clark, "circumstanced as we are — no prospect 
 of support, at best for several months ; so formid- 
 able and bloody an enemy to encounter; much irreg- 
 ularity in the [Kentucky] country; no power to 
 order the militia out of the State for its protection; 
 [because of these things] ... I doubt [not 
 a] great part of these beautiful settlements will be laid 
 to waste if they are not protected by volunteers pen- 
 
 * Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. IV, p. 120. 
 
500 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 etrating into the heart of the enemy's country. Noth- 
 ing else will do. Scouts and forts on the frontiers 
 answer but little purpose, and in the end cost more 
 than an army that would do the business effectually 
 at once. 
 
 "Were a sufficient force to appear in their coun- 
 try after a general action which I think should take 
 place, they would sue for peace, and agree to any 
 terms you pleased [to make] to save their country 
 from total destruction. Such an example would have 
 a great and good impression on those Indians already 
 treated with, as fear would cause them to be peace- 
 able, when presents make them believe we are afraid 
 of them, and [are] rather an encouragement for them 
 to make war upon us when they get poor. This is a 
 notorious truth well known by those that are ac- 
 quainted with their dispositions."* 
 
 But Clark's letter was not received until after the 
 Executive Council of Virginia had taken action for 
 the better protection of Kentucky. On the fifteenth 
 of the same month in which Clark wrote, the Board 
 determined that Governor Henr}- should direct the 
 field officers of the Kentucky militia to assemble and 
 take the necessary measures for the protection of the 
 settlements (that it would, when so assembled, take the 
 advice of Clark and order an expedition against the 
 Indians, was a foregone conclusion). The Governor 
 prepared instructions in accordance with orders re- 
 ceived from the Executive Council and sent them at 
 once to the County Lieutenants of Kentucky. 
 
 * Calendar of Virginia. State Papers, vol. IV, p. 122. 
 Col. Wm. Christian, spoken of by Clark, was killed by the 
 Indians about the middle of April previous (see the vol. just 
 cited, p. 119). 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 501 
 
 On the twelfth of July, Levi Todd, County Lieu- 
 tenant of Fayette County, wrote Governor Henry 
 acknowledging receipt of instructions. The field of- 
 ficers would have a meeting at Harrodsburg on the 
 second day of August. There would be an expedi- 
 tion determined upon against the Wabash and White 
 River Indians ; but Todd adds : 
 
 " 'Tis hard to say where we have the greatest 
 number of enemies. Within this three weeks past, the 
 whole of the north and west frontier of the District 
 [of Kentucky] has been struck by small parties [of 
 savages]. ]\Iuch mischief has been done in different 
 parts of the District this summer and much property 
 lost. I conceive that all our neighboring Indians are 
 just now commencing war avowedly. Much Kentucky 
 blood will be spilt, though I hope that vigorous oper- 
 ations the ensuing fall will make much in our favor. 
 The Wabash Indians have repeatedly said that the 
 Kentucky people dare not march to the Wabash. Our 
 patience hitherto has much encouraged and increased 
 the number of our enemies. Necessity compels us 
 now to pursue a different conduct. I fear it will be 
 difficult to get ammunition in time. Provisions, I 
 believe, may be procured. There is plenty in the Dis- 
 trict. ... I am of opinion it would have been 
 very agreeable to the District had General Clark been 
 commissioned a General Officer for the present oc- 
 casion."* 
 
 "The Americans living there [at Vincennes]," 
 wrote John May to Governor Henry, on the four- 
 teenth of July, "have been very much distressed by 
 the Indians ever since last winter, and have every 
 
 * Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. IV, p. 155. 
 
502 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 
 
 reason to believe that they [the savages] were en- 
 couraged to continue their hostihties by the French 
 inhabitants, who have not only refused the Ameri- 
 cans any assistance, but would not suiter them to 
 make use of the cannon which were left there for 
 their defense at a fort which they were obliged to 
 build ; and when they, the French, were written to 
 on the subject by General Clark, they returned for 
 answer that they had nothing to do with the United 
 States, but considered themselves as British subjects 
 and should obey no other power. I understand there 
 are British traders amongst them, who keep up this 
 idea : and as Congress seems to have totally neg- 
 lected them, it is not to be wondered at if they should 
 still think themselves under .the British government, 
 especially when they see that the several British posts, 
 which they were told were to be delivered up to the 
 Americans, are still in the possession of the British. 
 
 "The Americans were very lately attacked by the 
 Indians, but tliey repulsed them, whereupon Colonel 
 Legras . . . issued his proclamation ordering all 
 Americans to move away. They are now closely con- 
 fined within their fort or houses and have every 
 reason to expect the French will assist the Indians 
 against them, and are under the most dreadful appre- 
 hensions of being totally cut off. 
 
 "The Wabash Indians and most of the Shawa- 
 nese are all at war with us and put to death in 
 a most cruel manner all the prisoners who are so 
 unfortunate as to fall into their hands. 
 There are now letters here [in Lincoln county. Ken- 
 tucky] from Mncennes requesting in the most mov- 
 ing terms, that assistance may be sent the Americans 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 503 
 
 to enable them to move away, and offering to give 
 up every shilling's worth of property they possess in 
 order to defray the expenses of moving them. There 
 had a party of militia amounting to about one hun- 
 dred and thirty men marched a few days before 
 this intelligence came to hand to attack a party of 
 Indians who were encamped on the other side of the 
 Ohio, some distance below the Falls ; but, upon Gen- 
 eral Clark's receiving the letter, he sent expresses after 
 them and requested them to proceed immediately to 
 the post [Vincennes]. 
 
 "This country had determined to carry on a vol- 
 unteer campaign against the Indians in August next, 
 but your instructions have changed the plan, and they 
 are now preparing for a regular campaign. I find 
 that it is the unanimous opinion of the inhabitants 
 of this country that General Clark is the properest 
 person to take the command here, and (notwith- 
 standing the opinion which prevails below of his not 
 being capable of attending to business) I am of the 
 same opinion with the rest of the country. I have 
 been with him frequently and find him as capable 
 of business as ever, and should an expedition be car- 
 ried against the Indians I think his name alone would 
 be worth half a regiment of men. . . . Colonel 
 Logan is acquainted with the contents of this letter 
 and has authorized me to say that in case a general 
 officer should be appointed, he thinks General Clark's 
 abilities and experience entitle him to the appoint- 
 ment."* 
 
 * Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. IV, pp. 156, 
 157. Concerning what is meant in this letter by Clark "not 
 being capable of attending to business" as believed by some 
 people, will presently more fully appear. 
 
504 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Already, however, had it been determined by the 
 general voice of the people, that Clark (though with- 
 out any commission in the militia), was to lead a 
 strong force into the Indian country.* 
 
 On the tenth of August, Lieutenant Colonel Josiah 
 Harmar wrote from Fort Harmar, mouth of the Mus- 
 kingum river, that one of his officers had arrived 
 fromi the ]\Iiami (Fort Finney) and had brought in- 
 telligence that "an expedition was forming under the 
 command of General Clark, and authorized by the 
 State of Virginia, to attack the Indians. "f But the 
 authority spoken of was, in reality, confined to 
 measures for protection of the frontier, and there 
 was no power granted (nor could there be) by the 
 Executive of the State to compel the militia to march 
 across the Ohio, which now was the border line. 
 However, an opinion by the Attorney General and 
 Supreme Judges of the District of Kentucky that the 
 Executive of Virginia had delegated all their power 
 under the law and Articles of Confederation, so far as 
 they related to invasion, insurrections, and impress- 
 ments, to the field officers of the District, and that 
 these officers in consequence thereof had a right to 
 impress, if necessary, all supplies for the use of the 
 militia that might be called into service by their order 
 or orders under the order of - Council i — was con- 
 strued to authorize an expedition into the Indian 
 country. Therefore, "in consequence of the instruc- 
 tions from your Excellency and the advice of Coun- 
 
 * Compare Denny's JournaL p. 293. 
 
 t See the same vol., p. 490. 
 
 t Opinicn of the Attorney General and Supreme Judges 
 of the District of Kentucky. This may be found printed in 
 Dunn's ludiana, p. 171. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 505 
 
 cil, of the 1 6th of May," wrote Todd to the Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, on the twenty-ninth of August, 
 "the field officers assembled from every county and 
 a great majority of the whole, in the District. We 
 unanimously resolved that an expedition against the 
 Wabash and other inimical Indians in that quarter 
 was, at this time, justifiable and necessary. . 
 General Clark was appointed to command the army, 
 which is to rendezvous at Clarksville on the loth of 
 September. We expect our number will be between 
 1,500 and 2,000., A great part of the necessary sup- 
 plies is given up to the officers by consent [that is, 
 voluntarily by the people] with expectation of being 
 paid by government; and some [is] procured by 
 impressment."'^ 
 
 About one thousand men under Clark marched 
 from Clarksville for Vincennes and reached the 
 vicinity of that place early in October, where for nine 
 days they waited the arrival of provisions and stores 
 which had been shipped on keelboats from Louisville 
 and Clarksville. About one half the provisions was 
 spoiled when the boats arrived and what had been 
 moved by land was almost exhausted. The troops 
 were ordered to move up the Wabash (they having 
 been reinforced by a considerable number of the in- 
 habitants of Vincennes) to attack the Indian towns 
 on that river. On reaching the neighborhood of the 
 mouth of the Vermillion river, Clark found that the 
 villages of the savages on that river were deserted. 
 
 At this crisis, when the spirits of the officers and 
 men were depressed by disappointment, hunger and 
 fatigue, some persons circulated throughout the camp 
 
 *Levi Todd to Gov. Henry, from Fayette county — 
 Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. IV, p. 166. 
 
506 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 a rumor that General Clark had sent a flag of truce 
 to the Indians, with the offer of peace or war. This 
 report, combined with a lamentable change which 
 had taken place in the once temperate, bold, energetic, 
 and commanding character of Clark, excited among 
 the troops a spirit of insubordination which neither 
 the commands, nor the entreaties, nor the tears of the 
 General could subdue. Three hundred of his men 
 in a body left the army and marched homeward. 
 Clark then returned with the remainder to Vincennes.* 
 
 "Never had General Clark led so unfortunate a 
 party [as that of 1786, against the savages of the 
 \\'abash,]" writes one of Kentucky's historians; 
 "hitherto victory seemed to have hung with delight 
 upon his banner ; and for him to appear was to 
 conquer all opposing difficulties. At the same time, 
 mournful as the truth is, and reluctlantly as the record 
 is wrung from the author. General Clark was no longer 
 the same man, as the conquerer of Kaskaskia and the 
 captor of Mncennes."t Strong drink had conquered 
 him.t 
 
 Once again at \'incennes, Clark and his fellow- 
 officers agreed that to establish a garrison there would 
 be of essential service to Kentucky; and the Gen- 
 eral, assuming "supreme direction," at once began 
 to carry out the plan. However, in the end, his high- 
 handed assumption of what was really a doubtful 
 authority — his seizure of Spanish property in Vin- 
 cennes, his attempts to hold Indian treaties without 
 the direction of Congress, and other aggressions — 
 frustrated the design, the A'irginia Council disavow- 
 
 * Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 185, 186. 
 
 t iMann Butler: History of Kcufiicky. pp. 152, 153. 
 
 X But of this more will presently be said. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 507 
 
 ing all his acts and the United States ordering the 
 commanding officer of the troops of the General 
 Government on the Ohio to effectually put a stop to 
 the movement. This was in the spring of 1787. 
 
 The failure of Clark in his expedition against the 
 Wabash Indians and the course pursued by him in en- 
 deavoring to found a military post at Vincennes, 
 proved a blow to his influence from which he never 
 recovered. 
 
 On the seventh of March, 1791, "when Indian 
 hostilities were spreading terror through the West, 
 and the authorities were casting about for a satis- 
 factory commander for the frontier troops," Jefferson 
 wrote to Innis of Kentucky : "Will it not be possi- 
 ble for you to bring General Clark forward? I know 
 the greatness of his mind, and am the more mortified 
 at the cause which obscures it. Had not this un- 
 happily taken place, there was nothing he might not 
 have hoped : could it be surmounted, his lost ground 
 might yet be recovered. No man alive rated him 
 higher than I did, and would again, were he to be- 
 come again what I knew him."* But it was too late- 
 Such was the mastery intemperance had gained over 
 him that his advancement to such a command was 
 out of the question. f 
 
 Once again, however, an effort was made by Clark 
 to engage in public affairs, but it was both discred- 
 itable and transient — an attempt on his part in favor 
 of France against the Spanish on the Mississippi, when 
 Genet, the French minister, undertook to raise and 
 organize a force in Kentucky for a secret expedition 
 
 * Jefferson's Works, vol. Ill, p. 218. 
 t Appendix, Note CXLI. 
 
508 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 — Clark accepting in 1793 a commission as Major- 
 General to conduct the enterprise. But Genet was 
 recalled and Clark's commission annulled. After this, 
 he sunk into almost total obscurity, remembered only 
 as one of the most valorous of western patriots of 
 the Revolution. 
 
 Clark never married.* He was a stout, rather 
 short, square man, with a high broad forehead, sandy 
 hair, blue eyes, and heavy shaggy eye-brows. His 
 portrait indicates more than ordinary intellectual 
 ability. t Though of quick temper, he was very com- 
 panionable. His last 3^ears were spent all by himself 
 in a rude dwelling on Corn island, until a sister took 
 him to her home at Locust Grove near Louisville. 
 He was in infirm health a long time. He died Feb- 
 ruary 13, 1818, and was buried in Cave Hill ceme- 
 tery, in what is now a suburb of that city. Of the 
 Virginians, who nobly and unselfishly helped, during 
 the Revolution, in the cause of liberty, history names 
 with pride among the many), Washington and Jef- 
 ferson, Henry and Mason, Harrison and Clark. 
 
 * Appendix, Note CXLII. 
 t Appendix, Note CXLIII. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 (509) 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 NOTE I. 
 
 Clark's visit to Kentucky in 1775. 
 
 THE year 1775 was [is] memorable for the 
 arrival of that most daring and sagacious 
 officer, George Rogers Clark, who was soon 
 destined to intertwine his memory with honors," 
 . . . (Butler's Kentucky, pp. 3S^ 3^)' It is sug- 
 gested that not at the date given was Clark an officer ; 
 he held no office civil or military during that year.* 
 Again, that writer says (p. 37) • "Early in 1775 
 Clark visited Kentucky ... In this visit, he either 
 had a commission of major, or was, from his service 
 in Dunmore's war and prominent talents, voluntarily 
 placed at the head of the irregular troops then in Ken- 
 tucky." But there were no ''irregular troops" then in 
 Kentucky. 
 
 "During this visit [to Kentucky, in 1775] he 
 [Clark] was temporarily placed in command of the 
 irregular mihtia of the settlements ; but whether he 
 held a commission is not known." [Collins's Ken- 
 tucky ed. of 1877), p. I33-] Collins, in this, follows 
 Butler, only making the statement more erroneous 
 by substituting "irregular militia" for "irregular 
 troops." 
 
 * The spelling of Clark's name with an e at the end, by 
 Butler, was undoubtedly a typographical error; for that 
 writer afterwards gives, in most instances, the correct or- 
 thography. 
 
 (511) 
 
512 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE 11. 
 Clark's memoir. 
 
 The first suggestion of Clark's Memoir published, 
 was by Thomas Jefferson. In writingjto James Innes, 
 March 7, 1791, concerning Clark, lie said: "We are 
 made to hope he is engaged in writing the accounts 
 of his expeditions north of the Ohio. They will be 
 valuable morsels of history, and will justify to the 
 world thbse who have told them how great he was 
 [Jefferson's JJ\yrks, vol. Ill, p. 218]." From this 
 it would seem that Clark had intended to make his 
 Memoir more comprehensive — to include accounts of 
 all his "expeditions north of the Ohio" — than it was 
 finally written. 
 
 As to the exact date when the Memoir was com- 
 pleted, there is no information extant. If its heading 
 be taken literally, it must have been written after 
 the fourth of March, 18 17, and before the eighteenth 
 of February of the next year, as Monroe was inaugu- 
 rated on the day first mentioned and Clark died on 
 the day last given. It is clear, however, from the 
 wording, that the heading is no clue to the period when 
 the Memoir was composed. It is safe to conclude that 
 it was not written until near the close of the century; 
 and there are circumstances making it seem probable 
 that it was not finished until several years later. 
 
 The Alemoir was first used by Mann Butler in his 
 Koifiicky (in both editions of that work). In the 
 Preface to his first edition (1834), Butler says: 
 
 *Tn the first place are the papers of Gen. George 
 Rogers Clark; these contain a memoir by the great 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 513 
 
 western hero, of his public services, from 1775 to 
 1779. These periods embrace the most interesting 
 epochs; the papers also include an interesting cor- 
 respondence with Patrick Henry and Jefferson, the 
 early and distinguished governors of Virginia, as with 
 many military officers in the western country. These 
 documents are now, after more than the lapse of half 
 a century, for the first time submitted to the public."=^>. 
 
 "Butler's words, ''after more than the lapse of 
 half a century," refer, of course, to Clark's corres- 
 pondence — not to "his Memoir. That historian relies 
 implicitly upon all the statements of the latter, with 
 one or two exceptions; but what is more objectionable 
 is his frequent interpolation of unreliable traditions, — 
 with the result that most of these have been taken by 
 many subsequent writers of Western history as veri- 
 table accounts and frequently have been enlarged 
 upon. 
 
 The next to use the Memoir was James T. More- 
 head, in his address of May 25, 1840, at Boones- 
 borough. In the publication of his effort, in a note 
 appended thereto, Morehead says (p. 165) : 
 
 "The life and campaigns of General George Rogers 
 Clark would be a most valuable accession to our West- 
 ern history, and I am gratified to be able to state that 
 the materials for such a work are in a state of pre- 
 paration by L. BHss, Jr., Esq., of Louisville. That 
 gentleman has been so obliging as to submit to my 
 perusal the autograph memoir of the distinguished 
 
 * But these documents, in their entirety, are by no means 
 "submitted to the public" in that author's history. They are 
 used, simply, by him and, in some instances, not at all 
 judiciously. 
 
 33 
 
514 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 
 
 soldier, commencing with the period of his visit to 
 Kentucky in 1776 [1775] and closing with the year 
 1777 [1779]. I have drawn freely upon it, although 
 Mr. Butler's delightful narratives of the Illinois cam- 
 paigns covered pretty much the same ground." 
 
 Morehead condenses the jMemoir into about a dozen 
 pages of his Address, following the story without at- 
 tempting to add traditionary accounts, and adopting its 
 errors — to him of course unknown. 
 
 Dillon's publication of the ^Memoir, in his history 
 of Indiana (ed. of 1843, PP- 127-184; of 1859, pp. 
 1 15-167), is a literal copy of most of it. What he 
 leaves not copied, he generally essays to supply in a 
 condensed manner, in the nature of interpolations. 
 
 The three publications we have enumerated are, 
 it is believed, sufficient to give the real import of 
 every statement of any importance in this the labored 
 recital of Clark; but care must be taken, particularly, 
 to separate Butler's traditionary accounts from the 
 residue of the narrative ; which is not a difficult task. 
 
 Estimates, in detached sentences, of the general 
 character of Clark's Memoir,- are given by several 
 late writers. Roosevelt is perhaps, on the whole, 
 most severe in his strictures. In his TJic Winning of 
 the West, vol. II, he says : 
 
 [i.] "Clark has left a full MSS. memoir of the 
 events of 1777, 1778 and 1779. It was used exten- 
 sively by Mann Butler, . . . and is printed almost 
 complete by Dillon, on pp. 1 15-167 of his 'Indiana.' 
 It was written at the desire of Presidents Jefferson 
 and Madison ; and therefore some thirty or forty years 
 after the events of which it speaks. Valuable though 
 it is, . . . it would be still more valuable had it 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 515 
 
 been written earlier; it undoubtedly contains some 
 rather serious errors [p. 36n]." 
 
 [2.] "The 'Memoir/ written by an old man who 
 had squandered his energies and sunk into deserved 
 obscurity, is tedious and magniloquent, and sometimes 
 inaccurate [p. 55n]." 
 
 [3.] "The account written by Clark [that is, his 
 'Memoir'] in his old age, like Shelby's similar auto- 
 biography, is, in many respects, not very trustworthy. 
 It cannot be accepted for a moment where it conflicts 
 with any contemporary accounts [p. 57n]." 
 
 [4.] "When Clark wrote*his memoirs, in his old 
 age, he took delight in writing down among his ex- 
 ploits all sorts of childish stratagems ; the marvel is 
 that any sane historian should not have seen that these 
 were on their face as untrue as they were ridiculous 
 
 [p. 6311]." 
 
 [5,] "In the latter [that is, in his Memoir], Clark 
 makes not a few direct misstatements, and many de- 
 tails are colored so as to give them an altered aspect 
 [p.Sin]." 
 
 [6.] "Unfortunately, most of the small western 
 historians who have written about Clark have really 
 damaged his reputation by the absurd inflation of their 
 langua'ge. They were adepts in the forcible-feeble 
 style of writing. . . Moreover, they base his claims 
 to greatness not on his really great deeds, but on the 
 half-imaginary feats of childish cunning he related 
 [in his Memoir] in his old age [p. 8in]." 
 
 Although the Memoir* contains many errors, some 
 of which were without doubt intentionally made, it is, 
 nevertheless, of much value iri throwing light on dark 
 
516 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 passages to be found in Clark's early letters. It must, 
 however, always be consulted with care, and its asser- 
 tions closely scrutinized, to separate what is true from 
 that which is erroneous. Wherever are brought for- 
 ward his own deeds of valor or shrewdness, there is 
 the greater necessity for a more careful and critical 
 examination. As to the probable reason for most of 
 the short-comings of the Memoir, see this Appendix, 
 Note CLI. 
 
 N(^TE III. 
 
 DATE OF LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR HAMILTON'S ARRIVAL 
 
 AT DETROIT. 
 
 "In the month of April, 1775, I was appointed 
 Lieutenant Governor and Superintendent of the set- 
 tlement of Detroit at a salary of £200. In the month 
 of September following, Sir Guy Carleton sent me to 
 that post with verbal orders, the state of the Province 
 [of Quebec] at that time pressing my departure." 
 (Hamilton's Memorial to the Commissioners of His 
 Majesty's Treasury, MSS.) 
 
 . . . "Immediately on my arrival here (which 
 was on the 9th of November last)" . ,. . ar6 words 
 used by him to the Earl of Dartmouth from Detroit, 
 August 29 to September 2, 1776. (Haldimand MSS.) 
 
 Bancroft {History of the United States, ed. of 
 1885, vol. IV, p. 148) is ignorant of the date of Hamil- 
 ton's arrival. He speaks of him as seeking to influence 
 the Indians of the Northwest against the Colonies as 
 early as in April, 1775, — which, of course, is error. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 517 
 NOTE IV. 
 
 dodge's interview with the savages at SANDUSKY. 
 
 Dodge says a party of savages from the neighbor- 
 hood of the lakes came to his house on their way to 
 the frontiers to strike a blow. He inquired of them 
 why they had taken up the hatchet. They replied 
 that Governor Hamilton had told them that the Amer-. 
 icans were going to murder them all and take their 
 lands, but if they would join him they would be able 
 to drive them off ; and that he would give them twenty 
 dollars a scalp. On this, Dodge repeated to the war- 
 riors the Continental ''talk" held with the Indians 
 at Pittsburgh in October previous ; and, making them 
 a small present, they returned home, believing as he 
 told them, that the Governor was a liar and meant 
 to deceive them. 
 
 It is evident that the Indians practiced upon 
 Dodge's credulity in their relation, as an excuse for 
 their going upon the war path ; for it is certain that 
 Hamilton had not directed them to take up the hatchet, 
 nor had he offered a reward for American scalps. 
 And here it may be said that it is not beyond the bounds 
 of probability that Dodge does not adhere strictly to 
 the truth in his story. 
 
518 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE V. 
 
 GEORGE morgan's EARLY DESIGNS AGAINST THE ILLI- 
 NOIS HIS LETTER TO WINSTON AND 
 
 KENNEDY AT THAT PLACE. 
 
 "Lower Shawnese Town, 
 "July 6th, 1776. 
 "Gentlemen, 
 
 "This is all the paper I have left and this country affords 
 no more, therefore I cannot write so fully as I wish. 
 
 "The bearer, Silver Heels, I have promised sixty dollars 
 to carry this letter to you and bring your answer. What you 
 advance to him you must advise me of. 
 
 "I am now here on public business for the United Colonies. 
 I want to know the exact situation of affairs at the Illinois, 
 and what quantity of flour and beef you could furnish a 
 company or two of men with at Kaskaskia, the 25th of next 
 December. This information I will depend on you for by the 
 return of Silver Heels, who ought to be at Pittsburgh as early 
 in September as possible, as there is a great treaty to be 
 held in that month with all the Western Nations. If one 
 of you could come along with him it may be much to your 
 advantage, but you should be very secret with respect to your 
 business. 
 
 "From what passed between Mr. Kennedy and myself I 
 was in hopes you would have sent a parcel of horses and breed 
 mares (particularly the latter of the Spanish breed) by land 
 to Pittsburgh or Philada. I have never since then heard 
 from you. The conveyance between New Orleans and Philada. 
 is now blocked up by the misunderstanding between the 
 Colonies and Britain. We are contending for our liberties 
 and have hitherto succeeded beyond our hopes, for Quebec is 
 the only post now occupied by the British forces in America. 
 
 "I have now to request that you will purchase and send 
 to me at Pittsburgh so as to arrive there next October or 
 November fifteen, twenty or "thirty of the best mares and 
 geldings or horses you can purchase and in May following 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 519 
 
 as many more — always preferring breeding mares or fillies 
 of the Spanish breed and none to exceed 8 or 9 years old — 
 for all which I will either allow you the cost and charges, or 
 what they shall be valued at on their arrival at Pittsburgh by 
 two persons to be mutually chosen by us or our attornies as 
 you shall advise me by Silver Heels' return, 
 
 "I have some time since undertaken the disposal of the 
 lands in Indiana on the Retribution Grant for the proprietors ; 
 of whom your R. Winston is one and considerably interested. 
 I suppose his share will be near £3.000 sterling. They have 
 appointed me Secretary and Receiver General of the Land 
 Office, but the troubles prevent my proceeding further at 
 present, especially as I am much engaged as Superintendent 
 for Indian Affairs. But I think it will be well worthy your 
 R. Winston's making a trip this way with Silver Heels. — 
 By him I will expect at least 3 or 4 of the handsomest breed- 
 ing mares you can purchase and send to me. 
 
 ''Tomorrow I shall set out on my return to Pittsburgh 
 where I shall generally reside and hope to hear very particu- 
 larly from you if I do not see you with Silver Heels. 
 
 "I am with regard 
 
 "Your most obedient 
 
 "George Morgan. 
 
 "Whatever remittances you can make in the bill way will 
 be very acceptable. What could a few thousand pounds 
 weight of powder and lead be purchased for at the Illinois? 
 Do acquaint me with the price of dry goods in General. 
 Encourage your friends to send an adventure to Pittsburgh 
 this fall or next spring of Stroud, which sell there for £22.10 
 p. piece. IMatch coats are worth from £30 to £35. Linnens, 
 such as used to sell at 2/6 and 3/-, are now 6/- and 
 9/-. Powder and lead are in great demand. 
 
 "To Messrs. Winston and Kenned}^, Illinois."* 
 
 * From the Haldimand MSS. 
 
520 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE VL 
 
 THE HARRODSBURG MEETING OF JUNE 6, 1 776. 
 
 "All Kentucky was still considered as a part of 
 Fincastle county and the inhabitants were therefore 
 unrepresented at the capital. They determined to 
 remedy this; and after due proclamation, gathered 
 together at Harrodstown early in June, 1776. During 
 five days an election was held, and two delegates were 
 chosen to go to Williamsburg, then the seat of gov- 
 ernment. This was done at the suggestion of Clark." 
 (Roosevelt's The Winning of the West, vol. I, pp. 318, 
 319). But Clark expressly states the meeting contin- 
 ued but a single day. 
 
 It is generally stated by those writers who follow 
 Butler and who essay to give the particulars of the 
 Harrodsburg meeting that the two delegates were 
 aware they could not obtain seats in the Virginia As- 
 sembly ; but had this been the case, they would hardly 
 have pressed the matter for admission, which they sub- 
 sequently did, as will hereafter appear. Butler says: 
 
 "At this time, the claim of Henderson and Com- 
 pany, acquired under the treaty of Wataga, in March, 
 '75, with the Cherokees, made a great deal of noise, 
 and added no little to the perplexities of the settlers. 
 It became uncertain whether the south side of the 
 Kentucky river appertained to Virginia or to North 
 Carolina. These difficulties increased the necessity of 
 ascertaining the disposition of the former ; on the 6th 
 of June, at the suggestion of Clark, a general meeting 
 took place in Harrod's Town, at which he and Gabriel 
 John Jones were chosen members of the Assembly of 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 521 
 
 Virginia. This, however, was not the course intended 
 by Clark; he wanted the people to choose agents with 
 general powers to negotiate with the Government of 
 Virginia, and if abandoned by it, to employ the lands 
 of the country, as a fund to obtain settlers, and estab- 
 lish an independent State. The election had, however, 
 proceeded too far to change its object, when Clark, 
 who had been detained, arrived at the town ; the gen- 
 tlemen elected, although they were aware the choice 
 would give them no seat in the Legislature, proceeded 
 to Williamsburg; at that time the seat of Government 
 [History of Kentucky, pp. 37, 38]" It vv^ill be noticed 
 that Butler nozv sees in Clark's plan much more than 
 the simple defense of the Kentucky settlements. 
 
 NOTE VII. 
 
 WHY POWDER WAS ASKED FOR BY CLARK AND JONES. 
 
 The idea of getting a supply of powder for the in- 
 fant settlements of Kentucky, and of watching their 
 interests, were matters wholly foreign to the real object 
 of the mission of Clark and Jones. The Harrodsburg 
 meeting had not deputed them for that work. It was 
 clearly an after-thought of the two "delegates." And, 
 besides, it readily suggests the inquiry, why was the 
 powder asked for ? Naturally it would be inferred that 
 the reason was, the Indians, when Clark and Jones left 
 the settlements, were constantly on the war-path south 
 of the Ohio, and that ammunition was needed by the 
 settlers. To a certain extent this was true, as will 
 presently be shown. Enough savage aggressions had 
 taken place to induce a general (but erroneous) belief 
 that several of the Indian nations north of the Ohio 
 
522 HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOL'EST, ETC. 
 
 were then ''at open war" with the people on the bor- 
 ders of Pennsylvania and A'irginia. One of the prin- 
 cipal men in the Kentucky settlements — John Floyd 
 — the ablest of all Kentucky's early pioneers — re- 
 volved in his mind the propriety of an expedition being 
 carried forward across the Ohio to relieve the people 
 at the stations, in one of which (Boonesborough), he 
 was then living. "If," he wrote on the twenty-first 
 of July, "an expedition were carried on against those 
 natives [of Indians] who are at open war with the 
 people in general, we might be in a great measure re- 
 lieved, by drawing them off to defend their towns." 
 But, although it is altogether certain that the powder 
 was intended for the settlers in defence of themselves 
 and their families when attacked by lurking savages, 
 the danger as yet was not as great as the borderers 
 imagined or Clark apprehended. 
 
 "On reaching the county of Botetourt," says But- 
 ler, "it was found [by Jones and Clark] that the Leg- 
 islature had adjourned: upon which Islv. Jones re- 
 turned to the settlement on Holston, and left Clark to 
 attend to the Kentucky mission." — History of Ken- 
 tucky, p. 38. Here Jones is given too little credit and 
 Clark too much. There was an excellent reason for 
 Jones' return to Holston : and Clark was not "left to 
 attend to the Kentuckv mission." 
 
 NOTE VIII. 
 
 MANN BUTLER ON CLARK's PLAN OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Butler, absurdly enough, takes it for granted that, 
 had Clark carried out his determination, in the event 
 of the payment for the transportation of the powder 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 523 
 
 having still been refused, and returned to Kentucky, 
 the people would readily have fallen in with his plan, 
 and that Kentucky would have become an independent 
 State. : "This [the securing of the order for convey- 
 ing the gun powder to Pittsburg] is the first step in 
 the long and affectionate intercourse which has sub- 
 sisted between Kentucky and her parent Common- 
 wealth ; and obvious as the reflection is, it may not be 
 omitted, that, on the transportation of five hundred 
 weight of gunpowder hung- the connection between 
 Virginia and the splendid domain which she obtained 
 on the west of the Alleghany mountains [History of 
 Kentucky, p. 40]." 
 
 NOTE IX. 
 
 FORMATION OF THE COUNTY OF KENTUCKY. 
 
 The act as passed was entitled "An act for divid- 
 ing the county of Fincastle into three distinct counties, 
 and the parish of Botetourt into four distinct par- 
 ishes ;" but the law did not take effect until "from and 
 after the last day of December next ensuing ;" — in 
 other words, on the first day of January, 1777. All 
 that part of Fincastle county which lay "to the south 
 and westward of a line beginning on the Ohio, at the 
 mouth of Great Sandy creek, and running up the same 
 and the main or northeasterly branch thereof to the 
 Great Laurel Ridge, or Cumberland Mountain, thence 
 southwesterly along the said mountain to the line of 
 North Carolina, shall be one distinct county and called 
 and known by the name of Kentucky." (Hening's 
 Virginia Statutes at Large, Vol. IX, pp. 257, 258). 
 Fincastle countv became extinct. 
 
S24 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "At the fall session of the Legislature of Virginia, 
 Messrs. Jones and Clark laid the Kentucky petition 
 before that body ; they were of course not admitted 
 to Legislative seats, though late in the session, in de- 
 spite of the exertions of Cols. Henderson and Campbell, 
 they obtained the erection of the County of Kentucky, 
 which then embraced the limits of the present State 
 of that name. Thus our political organization was 
 principally obtained by the generous daring of George 
 Rogers Clark, who must be ranked as the earliest 
 founder of the Commonwealth/' (Butler's Kentucky, 
 p. 40.) But the "generous daring" of Clark was not 
 great, and his exertions were no more than those of 
 his companion Jones ; besides, both were simply car- 
 rying out instructions received from the people of the 
 Kentucky settlements, which were in fact, as we have 
 seen, not what Clark really desired. Neither Clark nor 
 Jones was the earliest founder of Kentucky ; that honor 
 belongs to no person or persons in particular, unless 
 to the Transylvania Company. 
 
 NOTE X. 
 
 ON THE SUPPRESSION OF JOHN GABRIEL JONES S NAME 
 IN KENTUCKY HISTORY. 
 
 Roosevelt (The Winning of the West, Vol. I, p. 
 321), although giving a circumstantial account of the 
 Harrodsburg meeting — of the selection of the "two 
 delegates" — of their journey over the mountains — 
 of the securing of the five hundred pounds of powder 
 
 — of the formation of Kentucky as a separate county 
 
 — of the transmission of the powder to Limestone 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 525 
 
 creek — does not once mention the name of Jones : 
 "Clark took the powder down the Ohio river" — 
 "Clark's fellow delegate being among the killed," — 
 "Before returning, Clark had attended the fall meeting 
 of the Virginia Legislature" — "he [Clark'] procured 
 the admission of Kentucky as a separate county." 
 [The italicising is mine] ." 
 
 And thus Bancroft {History of the United States, 
 edition of 1885, Vol. V, p. 309) : 
 
 "On the sixth of June, 1776, the emigrants to the 
 region west of the Louisa river, at a general meeting 
 in Harrodston [sic,] elected George Rogers Clark, then 
 midway in his twenty-fourth year, and one other, to 
 represent them in the assembly of Virginia, with a re- 
 quest that their settlements might be constituted a 
 county. Before they could cross the mountains, the 
 legislature of Virginia had declared independence, es- 
 tablished a government, and adjourned. In a later 
 session they [Clark 'and one other'] were not admitted 
 to seats in the house ; but on the sixth of December, 
 1776, the westernmost part of the State was incorpor- 
 ated by the name of the county of Kentucky.' " 
 
 Other writers also give (strange as it may seem) 
 the whole credit to Clark for the favorable termination 
 of the mission — the formation of a new county : 
 "Our first political organization [the creation of Ken- 
 tucky county] was . . . obtained through the sa- 
 gacity, influence and exertions of George Rogers Clark, 
 who must be ranked as the earliest founder of .this 
 commonwealth [that is, of Kentucky]." [Collins' 
 Kentucky (Ed. of 1877), P- I35-] But that the suc- 
 cess met with by the two "delegates" in the object at- 
 tained — that is, in getting a new county created was 
 
526 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 as much due to the labor and influence of Jones as of 
 Clark there is not a doubt. 
 
 "Early in 1775, Clark went to Kentucky and was 
 occupied in surveying; but, as the western Indians 
 were induced by the British to take up the tomahawk, he 
 became the natural leader of the people in the defence 
 of their infant settlements, was made a major of the 
 militia in 1776, and chosen as a delegate to the Vir- 
 ginia Convention, to urge upon the State authorities 
 of the colony for government and defense. He arrived 
 at Williamsburg just after the convention had ad- 
 journed but succeeded in procuring the formation of 
 the new county of Kentucky and a supply of ammuni- 
 tion for the defense of the frontier." (Draper, in 
 Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography Art. 
 ''George Rogers Clark.") 
 
 This writer, during a period of nearly half a cen- 
 tury, several times announced to the public that he was 
 gathering materials for a life of Clark ; but the "Life" 
 never appeared. It is perhaps fortunate that it did 
 not. The errors in the lines quoted are, ( i ) that Clark, 
 in 1775, because of Indian marauds became the natural 
 leader of the Kentuckians in the defense of their in- 
 fant settlements; (2) that he was made a major of 
 militia in 1776; and (3) that he alone (this is the in- 
 ference) procured the formation of the county of Ken- 
 tucky. 
 
 "A great leader was needed on the frontier and 
 one was at hand. George Rogers Clark, a young 
 Virginian of extraordinary character, had settled in 
 Kentucky in 1776. He had secured the organization 
 of KentucHy as a county of Virginia ; he had persuaded 
 the Executive Council to contribute 500 pounds of 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 527 
 
 powder to the defense of the frontier; and now his 
 fertile brain was developing a great project." — 
 Dunn's Indiana, p. 132. (The italicising is mine.) 
 
 ''At the ensuing session of the General Assembly, 
 Clark and Jones presented the memorial of the inhabit- 
 ants of Kentucky, requesting that their delegates might 
 be permitted to take seats in that body. It prayed also 
 that the settlements on the western frontier might be 
 considered as included within the territorial limits of 
 Virginia, and that a company of riflemen should be 
 sent to their relief. The petition setting forth their 
 causes of complaint against the government of Tran- 
 sylvania was offered at the same time. The General 
 Assembly took all these subjects into earnest consider- 
 ation. They did not, of course, recognize the delegates 
 as legislators, but they were received and treated with 
 great civility as citizens, and the grievances of their 
 constituents were most respectfully heard. Col. Hen- 
 derson was himself at Williamsburg, maintaining the 
 validity of his purchase, and consequently of the title 
 of the company to the land contained in the deed from 
 the Cherokees. He was a man of considerable abilities, 
 of persuasive eloquence, of interesting manners, and 
 wielded an influence which was not^ without its weight 
 in the councils of Virginia. But Clark was a compet- 
 itor whose powers were not easily overcome. After a 
 severe contest, the General Assembly declared against 
 the title of the Transylvania company, and on the 7th 
 of December, 1776, passed a law to establish the 
 "County of Kentucky." — Morehead's Address, pp. 
 55, 56. The injustice of naming Jones but once in this 
 relation is manifest. The account w^s written after 
 Clark became famous* 
 
528 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE XL. 
 
 AS TO THE TRANSMISSION OF THE GUNPOWDER DONATED 
 BY VIRGINIA^ TO THE KENTUCKY SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 While it is true that, during the absence of Jones 
 and Clark from the Kentucky settlements, Indian dep- 
 redations had somewhat increased, nevertheless, most 
 accounts of the return of these men depict, in too 
 strong colors, the dangers which beset them on their 
 journey from Pittsburg down the Ohio. Thus, in Col- 
 lins's Kentucky (ed. of 1877), P- ^35' we read: 
 
 "Having obtained these important advantages 
 [that of a prospective representation in the Virginia 
 Assembly, and a judicial and military establishment, 
 by the creation of the county of Kentucky] from their 
 mission, they [Clark and Jones] received the intelli- 
 gence that the powder was still at Pittsburg, and they 
 determined to take that point in their route home, and 
 bring it with them. The country around Pittsburg 
 swarmed with Indians, evidently hostile to the whites, 
 who would no doubt seek to interrupt their voyage. 
 These circumstances created a necessity for the utmost 
 caution as well as expedition in their movements, and 
 they accordingly hastily embarked on the Ohio with 
 only seven boatmen. They were hotly pursued the 
 whole way by Indians, but succeeded in keeping in 
 advance until they arrived at the mouth of Limestone 
 creek, at the spot where the city of Maysville now 
 stands. They ascended this creek a short distance with 
 their boat, and concealed their cargo at different places 
 in the woods along its barrks. They then turned their 
 boat adrift, and directed their course to Harrodstown, 
 intending to return with a sufficient escort to insure the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 529 
 
 safe transportation of the powder to its destination. 
 This in a short time was successfully effected, and the 
 colonists were thus abundantly supplied with the means 
 of defense against the fierce enemies who beset them 
 on all sides." Afterward, in the same work, we have 
 the following account (pp. 466, 467) : 
 
 "The five hundred pounds of powder which Maj. 
 George Clark and John Gabriel Jones procured, by 
 order of the Council of Virginia, on August 23, 1776, 
 at Pittsburg, for the relief of the settlers in Kentucky, 
 they brought down the Ohio and secreted at the Three 
 Islands in what is now Lewis county, near Manchester, 
 Ohio, and about eleven miles above Limestone (Mays- 
 ville). Col. John Todd and a party of men were sent 
 after this powder under the guidance of [John] Ga- 
 briel Jones ; but, on December 25, 1776, when near the 
 Lower Blue Lick, being attacked by Indians and Jones, 
 William Graden and Josiah Dixen killed, [they] aban- 
 doned the expedition. January 2, 1777, at Harrods- 
 burg. Col. James Harrison raised a company of about 
 thirty men to go after the powder. . . They went 
 by McClellan's fort (now Georgetown), the Lower 
 Blue Lick and May's Lick, then turned to the right a 
 little and struck the Ohio at or near the mouth of 
 Cabin creek." (See, also, pp. 552 and 656 of the same 
 work). On the page last mentioned are some addi- 
 tional facts. One account makes the place where the 
 first party started for the powder as McClelland's 
 station, — the attack as having been on Johnson's Fork 
 of Licking, and that Joseph Rogers was taken pris- 
 oner. But it gives the number of the party erroneously 
 as nine, and the date of the encounter as the 28th of 
 December. 
 34 
 
530 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 
 
 Tradition has caused the most absurd mixing of 
 facts with error concerning the journey of Jones and 
 Clark from Pittsburg: 
 
 "Having at length performed the whole of his 
 mission, Clark proceeded, early in the spring of 1777, 
 to Fort Pitt, in order to attend personally to the trans- 
 portation of the powder, which still remained at that 
 point waiting his orders. This he embarked on a flat 
 boat, and in company wdth. jNIr. Jones and four other 
 men, committed himself and his treasure to the current 
 of the beautiful river [the Ohio]. But scarcely had 
 they floated out of sight of the garrison flag when they 
 saw a canoe stealing forth from the bank, and knew 
 at once they were watched by the savages. From this 
 point the pursuit was unremitting, for the Indians had 
 learned that the solitary ark bore the fortune of the 
 detested Big Knives of Kentucky. 
 
 *'We know of nothing that shows more strikingly 
 by the tireless perseverence of these people than this 
 long chase from Pittsburg into the heart of Kentucky, 
 a distance of five hundred miles ; at the end of which 
 they were so close upon their prey that Clark himself 
 was only saved from death or captivity by an uncon- 
 scious exercise of his characteristic promptitude. For 
 after, upon one occasion, concealing the powder upon 
 the bank and setting the boat adrift, he had set off 
 with his little party for Harrod's fort, intending to 
 return immediately with a large force, and convey 
 it away. The next day they arrived at a cabin on a 
 branch of the Licking, where he was informed that 
 Colonel Todd was then in the vicinity with a number 
 of men sufiicient for his purpose. He remained here 
 a few hours and then pushed on, not' choosing to wait 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 531 
 
 an indefinite time for assistance, which he could cer- 
 tainly obtain by an additional tramp of fifty or sixty 
 miles through the wilderness. Jones, unlucky for him- 
 self, chose to consult his ease by remaining behind. 
 Clark had departed but a few hours when Todd came 
 up with ten or twelve men, and thinking himself strong 
 enough for the service, determined to transport the 
 powder into the settlements without delay, taking Jones 
 and' his two companions as guides, the other two hav- 
 ing accompanied the Colonel [Clark]. They had ad- 
 vanced but a few miles when they met a large party 
 of Indians following swiftly upon Clark's trail, and a 
 sharp fight at once commenced, in which the whites 
 were quickly overpowered, Todd and Jones being 
 killed, together with more than half their men and the 
 rest made prisoners. Fortunately they proved true to 
 their friends, and did not betray the secret of the con- 
 cealed powder, which, in a few days was safely re- 
 moved by Clark and distributed among the settlers, 
 who were thus enabled to carry on the war with 
 greater vigor than before." — Coleman, in Harper's 
 Magazine, vol. XXII, p. 787. 
 
 A somewhat different narrative is given in More- 
 head's Address (pp. 56, 57), which says: 
 
 ''Hearing that the powder which the Council had 
 furnished was still at Pittsburg, they [Clark and 
 Jones] resolved to take that place in their route, and 
 superintend in person the transmission of an article so 
 necessary to the safety of the people of the stations. 
 On their arrival at Pittsburg, they discovered that a 
 body of Indians had collected there, ostensibly for the 
 purpose of negotiation, but employed, as they believed, 
 in acquiring information of the movements of the em- 
 
HISTORY OF CL.-IRK'S COXOCEST, ETC. 
 
 igxants. to enable them to intercept the passage of 
 boats down the Ohio river. ^Yhich was then. . . the 
 principal thoronghfare of trade and transportation 
 from the east to the west. It became important, there- 
 fore, that Clark and his coUeagtie should counteract by 
 the celerity of their movements, these mischievous de- 
 signs of the Indians. They procured and manned a 
 boat — descended the river with all possible expedi- 
 tion — landed at Limestone creek, the present site of 
 the city of ^laysville — carefully concealed the powder 
 on its banks — and set out immediately to Harrods- 
 burg" for an escort to convey it to the stations. Thus 
 far. they had met with no interruption : but they were 
 now about to penetrate the haimted wilds of Kentucky, 
 and who could answer for their safety? Halting on 
 their journey at a cabin that sheltered a settler whose 
 name was Hinkston, they ascertained from a party of 
 surveyors that Col. John Todd was in the vicinity with 
 a small company under his command. On the recep- 
 tion of this intelligence, Clark waited a short time for 
 his arrival, but becoming hopeless of meeting him, he 
 resumed his journey with two of his men, lea^^ng the 
 remainder of his little party with his colleague. Soon 
 after his departure. Col. Todd arrived at Hinkston 's, 
 and contident of the sutficiency of his force, although 
 he had but ten men along with him, he resolved upon 
 an attempt to remove the pOAvder from Limestone. 
 The historian has not detined the position of Hinks- 
 ton's cabin : it was probably not remote from the 
 stream which now bears his name in the county of 
 Bourbon. Todd marched on until he approached the 
 Blue Licks . . . and was attacked by a party of 
 Indians who were in pursuit of Clark. A skirmish 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 533 
 
 ensued which resulted in the defeat of Col. Todd, and 
 the loss of several of his men. Jones, who had attached 
 himself to the company, was among the number of the 
 slain. Clark pushed on to Harrodsburg, from whence 
 he sent a detachment to Limestone for the powder, 
 which was conveyed safely to the station." This ac- 
 count is substantially the same as had previously been 
 published by Butler {History of Kentucky, pp. 40, 
 42). 
 
 In Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biogra- 
 phy, Art.. "George Rogers Clark," it is said, by Dra- 
 per that, ''The 500 pounds of powder . . was con- 
 veyed by land to the Monongahela and thence by water 
 to the Three Islands a few miles above where Mays- 
 ville now is, and there secreted while Clark and his 
 escort went to Harrodsburg for horses and a guard for 
 its conveyance to that station." This contains, by in- 
 ference, an error — that Clark went on to Harrods- 
 burg after the powder was secreted, not to complete 
 his journey, but "for horses and a guard for its con- 
 veyance to that station." The facts are that he and 
 Jones went on to McClelland's station ; and, from that 
 place, the first party, with Jones as a guide, set out for 
 the powder ; it was the second party that went from 
 Harrodsburg. 
 
 One of the latest accounts concerning Clark's ob- 
 taining the powder and returning with it to Kentucky 
 is the following: 
 
 "In the midsummer days — after the marriage of 
 Samuel Henderson and Elizabeth Callerray by Squire 
 Boone (the brother of Daniel, and a sort of amateur 
 Baptist preacher) — George Rogers Clark returned 
 from Virginia, bringing with him five hundred pounds 
 
bU HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXOi'EST,, ETC. 
 
 of powder. This he had extorted from the Legislature 
 for the defense of Kentuck}- ; for by this time the 
 forests were full of Indians, seeking Yankee scalps, 
 for which the British had offered rewards. 
 
 '' T told the Virginia folks,' said Clark, 'that Ken- 
 tuck}' would wait a reasonable length of time and then 
 look elsewhere for assistance. I told them that a coun- 
 try that was not worth defending was not worth hav- 
 ing.' '* — Emma ]\I. Connelley's The Story of Ken- 
 tucky, p. 57. 
 
 The idea of Clark "extorting" the powder from 
 the A'irginia Legislature which was not then in session 
 seems to be an original one with that writer. 
 
 It seems the powder was put up in twenty-five 
 kegs, twenty pounds only in each keg: '*A volunteer 
 with Robert Patterson and twenty-eight other pioneers 
 of Kentucky, he [Kenton] accompanied ]^Iajor George 
 Rogers Clark from Harrod's Station to the mouth of 
 Limestone creek, for the purpose of escorting and 
 transporting on foot twenty-five kegs of powder to the 
 stations on Kentucky river.'' (^^lonnett's Valley of 
 the Mississippi, vol. IL p. 63. ) 
 
 NOTE XII. 
 
 HAMILTON AUTHORIZED TO EMPLOY INDIANS. 
 
 *'Tn the month of June [^lay], 1777, Lieut. Gover- 
 nor Cramahe' [it was Governor Carleton] wrote me a 
 letter containing a copy of Lord George Germain's 
 orders and instructions, by which I was authorized to 
 appoint proper officers and interpreters and to send 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 535 
 
 them with the Indians against the rebels with the 
 strictest injunction to discourage and restrain them 
 from their usual barbarities." — Hamilton to Haldi- 
 mand, July 6, 1781. — Germain AIss. 
 
 "In the month of June, [the month in which the 
 letter was received], 1777, I was authorized to raise 
 and employ the Indians, till which time I had exerted 
 myself to restrain these people from taking an active 
 part." — Hamilton to the Commissioners of His Maj- 
 esty's Treasury, 1783, j\IS. Carletion's letter was re- 
 ceived by Hamilton on the sixteenth day of June. 
 
 NOTE XIII. 
 
 MOORE AND LINN GO AS MILITIA TO THE ILLINOIS. 
 
 INIost writers who have mentioned the two young 
 men sent to the Illinois by Clark give the name of 
 Linn incorrectly as "Dunn" — following Butler, in his 
 History of Kentucky, p. 46. The words of Clark, in 
 his diary, as to sending these men — that they went as 
 an "express to the Illinois" — imply they were dis- 
 patched by him as an officer of the militia and were to 
 be paid by the State. They were both serving under 
 Clark, and Linn was a lieutenant. 
 
 NOTE XIV. 
 
 MYTHICAL ACCOUNTS OF INDIAN SIEGES OF HARRODS- 
 
 • BURG AND Logan's fort, 1777. 
 
 It is doubtful whether in the whole list of traditions 
 preserved in Kentucky history one can be found more 
 
bS6 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 completely mythical than that given at length in Har- 
 per's Maga.ci}ie^ vol. XXII, pp. 787-789, concerning 
 a supposed siege, in 1777, of Harrodsburg. After re- 
 lating the exploits of young Ray and the part taken 
 by Clark, the ^vriter says : 
 
 "What the number of the besiegers had been was 
 now first seen; for, at the distance of four or five 
 hundred yards from the fort, the whites came upon a 
 camp, which, from every appearance, had been used 
 the whole summer by at least five or six hundred 
 warriors. Yet so closely had the settlers been con- 
 fined during all that time that they had never sus- 
 pected the existence of such an extensive establish- 
 ment, though almost within sight of their own block- 
 houses. 
 
 "These incidents give a vivid picture of the state 
 of the country at that period, and of the kind of ser- 
 vice in which Clark was occupied during the year. . . 
 Besides, this siege of Harrodsfort is remarkable in 
 the early history of Kentucky as the first instance in 
 which the impatient warriors of the forest had so far 
 deviated from their usual habits as to sit down for 
 anv great 'length of time before a fortified post" (p. 
 
 7S9)- 
 
 At no time during the year 1777 were there as 
 many as fifty Indians in one party near Harrodsburg, 
 so far as known : and the visit of a savage band was 
 alwavs of brief duration. Thev came suddenlv and 
 quickly disappeared. This whole story of a siege is 
 an exaggerated outgrowth of the various skirmishes 
 with the Indians during the year. (Compare, in this 
 connection, Butler's Kentucky, pp. 42-45.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 537 
 
 In Collins' Kentucky (ed. of 1877), p. 469, may be 
 found a circumstantial account of the attack on Logan's 
 fort May 30, 1777; but the date as there given (May 
 20) is error. However, the principal mistake in the 
 account is that which makes the Indians remain 
 around the fort until the appearance of Col. Bowman. 
 
 NOTE XV. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM CLARK's DIARY, 1777- 
 
 "April 20. — Ben. Linn and Samuel Moore sent 
 express to the Illinois. 
 
 "April 24. — Forty or fifty Indians attacked Boones- 
 borough, killed and scalped Daniel Goodman, wounded 
 Capt. Boone, Capt. Todd, Mr. Hite, and Mr. Stoner. 
 Indians, 'tis thought, sustained much damage. 
 
 "April 29. — Indians attacked the fort [Harrods- 
 burg] and killed Ensign McConnell. 
 
 "May 6. — Indians discovered placing themselves 
 near the fort [Harrodsburg]. A few shots exchanged 
 — no harm done. 
 
 "May 12. — John Cowan and Squire Boone arrived 
 from the settlement [that is, from over the mountains]. 
 
 "May 18. — McGary and Haggin sent express to 
 Fort Pitt. 
 
 "May 23. — John Todd and company set off for the 
 settlement [i. e., for the settled portions of Virginia 
 over the mountains, — Todd's destination as burgess- 
 elect being A¥illiamsburg]. 
 
 "May 23 [?]. — A large party of Indians attacked 
 Boonesborough fort ; kept a warm firing until eleven 
 
538 HISTORV OF CLARKS CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 o'clock at night ; began it next morning and kept a 
 warm tiring until midnight, attempting several times 
 to burn the fort ; three of our men were wounded — 
 not mortally : the enemy sutTered considerably. 
 
 "May 26. — .V party went out to hunt Indians; one 
 wounded Squire Boone and escjiped. 
 
 "May 30. — Indians attacked Logan's fort; killed 
 and scalped William Hudson, wounded lUirr Harrison 
 and John Kennedy. 
 
 "June 5. — Harrod and Elliot went to meet Colonel 
 Bowman and company ; Glen and Laird arrived from 
 Cumberland ; Daniel Lyons, who parted with them on 
 Green river, we suppose was killed going* into Logan's 
 Fort. John Peters and Elisha Bathey we expect were 
 killed coming home from Cmnberland. 
 
 "June 13. — Burr Harrison died of his wounds re- 
 ceived the 30th of May. 
 
 "June 22. — Ben Linn and Samuel Moore arrived 
 from the Illinois. r>arney Stagner, Sen., killed and 
 beheaded half mile from the fort [Harrodsburg]. — A 
 few gnus tired at Boone's. 
 
 "July (). — Lieutenant Linn married — ^i^;V(7^ mcrri- 
 inciil. 
 
 "July 11. — Harrod returned. 
 
 "July 23. — Express returned from Pittsburgh. 
 
 ''August T. — Col. Bowman arrived at Boonesbor- 
 ough. 
 
 "August 5. — Surroimded ten or twelve Indians 
 near the fort [Harrodsburg] — killed three and wound- 
 ed others ; the plunder was sold for upwards of £70. 
 
 ''August II. — John Higgins died of a lingering 
 disorder. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 539 
 
 "August 25. — Ambrose Grayson killed near Lo- 
 gan's Fort, and [the savages] wounded two others; 
 Indians escaped. 
 
 ''September 2. — Col. liowman and company ar- 
 rived at this place [Harrodsburg] ; court held, etc. 
 
 "September 8. — Twenty-seven men set out for the 
 settlement [i. e., for the settlements east of the moun- 
 tains ] . 
 
 "September 9. — Indians discovered [at Harrods- 
 burg] — a shot exchanged — nothing done [that is, 
 no one hurt]. 
 
 "September 11. — Thirty-seven men went to Joseph 
 Bowman's for corn; while shelling they were fired on; 
 a skirmish ensued ; Indians drew off, leaving two dead 
 on the spot and much blood ; Eli Gerrard was killed 
 on the spot and six others wounded. 
 
 "September 12. — Daniel Bryan died of his wounds 
 received yesterday. 
 
 "September 17. — Express sent to the settlement 
 [i. e., over the mountains] ; Mrs. Sanders died. 
 
 "September 23. — Express arrived from Boone's 
 and says that, on the 13th Captain Smith arrived there 
 with 48 men — 150 more on the march for this [place 
 — that is, for Harrodsburg] : also, that General Wash- 
 ington had defeated Elowe — joyful nezus, if true. 
 
 "September 26. — Brought in a load of corn — 
 frost in the morning." 
 
 NOTE XVI. 
 
 CLARK PERMANENTLY MADE A HERO. 
 
 "The Space allotted to this brief sketch [of Clark] 
 will not admit of a detailed narrative of the adventures 
 
540 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 of Major Clark after his return to Kentucky [from 
 Williamsburg with his associate, Jones] Let it suffice 
 to say, that he was universally looked up to by the 
 settlers as one of the master spirits of the time, and 
 [was] always foremost in the fierce conflicts and des- 
 perate deeds of those wild and thrilling days." — Col- 
 lins's Kentucky (ed. of 1877), P- I35- The same 
 writer says that Clark "appears to have taken a pecu- 
 liar pleasure" in that series of private and solitary ad- 
 ventures [in 1777] in which he embarked after he 
 returned from Virginia [late in December, 1776]." 
 
 But these statements are too inflated. There is 
 no cotemporary evidence that he was "universally 
 looked up to by the settlers as one of the master 
 spirits of the time ;" besides, it is certainly not true 
 that he was "always foremost in the fierce conflicts 
 and desperate deeds of those wild and thrilling days." 
 The writer of these sentences had considerable knowl- 
 edge of Clark's subsequent career, and he makes him a 
 hero permanently. 
 
 NOTE XVII. 
 
 OF Clark's letter to george mason, nov. 19, 1779. 
 
 "From this letter [of Clark] to George Miason, pre- 
 sented by him to the Kentucky Historical Society, we 
 learn of the almost paternal relation which Mason 
 seemed to hold to the impetuous and gallant young 
 soldier and of the warm regard and esteem that sub- 
 sisted between the two friends. . . . He wrote 
 from Louisville on the I9tli of November, 1779, and 
 prefaces his recital with the following respectful and 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 541 
 
 affectionate apology for former negligence : 'My dear 
 Sir : Continue to favor me with your valuable lessons. 
 Continue your reprimands as though I were your son ; 
 when suspicious, think not that promotion or conferred 
 honor will occasion any unnecessary pride in me. You 
 have infused too many of your valuable precepts in 
 me [for me] to be guilty of the like, or to show any 
 indifference to those that ought to be dear to me. 
 It is with pleasure that I obey in transmitting to you 
 a short sketch of my enterprise and proceedings in the 
 lilincis, as near as I can recollect or gather from mem- 
 orandums'." (Kate Mason Rowland's Life of George 
 Mason,, Vol. I, pp. 310, 311. See, also, Clark's Cam- 
 paign in the Illinois, p. 21.) 
 
 NOTE XVIII. 
 
 CLARK AS A HORSE TRADER. 
 
 Clark purchased a horse for ii2, and traded with 
 Isaac Shelby for another, getting iio "to boot." But 
 his diary is silent as to the value of the Shelby equine. 
 We may surmise, however from what subsequently 
 took place that even at £2, (the sum the second horse 
 really cost him) there was no great bargain in the 
 trade; for he subsequently "swapped" again, giving 
 this time (instead of receiving) "boot money," to the 
 amount of £y, los. 
 
 A late writer cannot brook the idea that Clark — 
 his hero — could have been cheated ; so he declares 
 "he evidently knew how to make a good bargain, and 
 had the true backwoods passion for barter" (Roosevelt : 
 
542 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The Winning of the West, vol. II. p. 34). But Shelby 
 may have had the "true backwoods passion" as largely 
 developed as Clark. 
 
 In his diary, under date of September 29, Clark 
 also speaks of having purchased eighteen pounds of 
 powder and twenty-two of lead, from Silas Harland 
 and James Harrod : but this ammunition was probably 
 for public use. not to sell or barter as his own property. 
 
 NOTE XIX. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF CLARk's ACCOUXT AS MAJOR. 
 
 In referring the matter of the payment of the Ken- 
 tuck}- militia for their services to the \'irginia House 
 of Delegates. Governor Henry wrote as follows: 
 
 "Williamsburg, Xovember 11th, 1777. 
 "Sir: Pay rolls for the militia of Kentucky have been 
 laid before the auditors, in order to obtain warrants for pay- 
 ment. The auditors have scrupled to allow this militia the 
 pay fixed by law for those on actual duty, because the}- were 
 obliged for their own personal safety and the security of 
 their wives and children, to keep themselves in forts and re- 
 main on the defensive against parties of Indians continually 
 infesting that country, too numerous to permit the inhabitants 
 to return to their plantations. The pay rolls are properly 
 authenticated by the commanding officer [Major George 
 Rogers Clark] under whose orders the men acted. In this 
 state of the case, the advice of the Executive power is re- 
 quested, and as I am in doubt on the subject, I am to pray. 
 Sir, to take the sense of the Assembly on it. I am sensible 
 that many instances have occurred similar to this, in which 
 pay has been allowed, and I- wish to put a stop to such a 
 practice if it is wrong, and that no doubt of its rectitude 
 may remain if it is proper. It may be observ'ed, that 250 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 543 
 
 men have been ordered by government from the more interior 
 counties to that place for its protection, the time of whose 
 arrival there I cannot ascertain. 
 "I have the honor to be, 
 
 "Sir, Your Most humble Servant, 
 
 "P. Henry. 
 "The Honble George Wythe, Esq., 
 
 "Speaker of the House of Delegates." 
 
 Clark's entries in his diary for the seventh, eighth, 
 ninth and tenth of November are somewhat vague. 
 (See Note XX, following.) On the first day men- 
 tioned, he says he called upon the auditors and laid 
 before them the Kentucky accounts ; the auditors re- 
 fused to settle them without the consent of the Council. 
 So far his entries are correct; but, on the eighth, his 
 entry is, "Got an order from the Council to settle 
 them [the accounts]." This is probably an error in 
 the date. Again, on the tenth, he writes : ^'Passed the 
 accounts with the auditors, except my own, which 
 they refuse to settle without consent of the Council. 
 This, too, is probably an error in the date. Both in- 
 cidents mentioned took place after the eleventh, as 
 shown by the letter of Governor Henry ; however, it 
 is possible that the mistake is in the letter and not in 
 the diary, but this is not probable, as a careful study 
 of the diary sufficiently discloses. 
 
 It is evident that when his own accounts were 
 settled, the Major resigned his commission, although 
 there is no record evidence extant of the fact. There- 
 upon he immediately replenished his stock of clothing, 
 — purchasing "a piece of cloth for a jacket, price £4, 
 15s; buttons, etc., 3s." (See Note XX, following.) 
 
544 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE XX. 
 
 ADDITIONAL EXTRACTS FROM CLARK^S DIARY, 
 OCT. 14 — NOV. .22, 1777. 
 
 The following extracts include the entries made 
 by Clark on his way to Williamsburg, after leaving the 
 Wilderness Road: 
 
 "Oct. 14. — Left Capt. Pawling; marched 15 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 15. — Crossed Powell's river; marched 20 
 miles ; camped on the south side of Powell's mountain. 
 
 "Oct. 16. — Got to the 'rye cocks', — 9 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 17. — [Got] to Blackamoore's, — 6 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 18. — Parted with the company; lodged at 
 More's fort, — 20 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 19. — Lodged at Capt. Kincaid's, 22 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 20. — Crossed Clinch mountain ; met Mr. 
 Maulding; and heard from my friends; lodged at 
 Col. Campbell's, — 24 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 21. — Lodged at Jasper Kindser's ; got my_ 
 horse shod on the way; breakfast and feed, is, 3d., — 
 22 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 22. — Cloudy morning, no rain ; lodged at 
 Sawyer's ; expenses is. 3d., — 28 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 23. — Falling in company with Capt. Camp- 
 bell, an agreeable companion, we travelled 33 miles; 
 lodged at Cook's ; poor fare ; expenses 6s. 6d. 
 
 "Oct. 24. — Sold my gun to Mr. Love [for] £15; 
 swapped horses with L Love; gave £y, los. boot; 
 lodged at H. Neelie's, 25 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 25. — Received a letter from Capt. Bowman, 
 informing me that he had an order of court to carry 
 salt to Kentucky ; .... lodged' at Botetourt, — 
 25 miles: 412 miles from Harrodsburg. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 545 
 
 "Oct. 26. — Rain, staid at Lockhart's tavern. 
 
 "Oct 27. — Rain; expenses £1. 4s. 
 
 "Oct. 28. — Rain ; started after breakfast ; rained 
 slowly all day; lodged at Bartlett's, expenses 4s., — 
 25 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 29. — Parted with my companion, Capt. 
 Campbell ; lodged at J. McClung's ; 5s., — 28 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 30. — Crossed the Blue Ridge ; lodged at 
 Black's at foot of the mountain ; 5s., — 23 miles. 
 
 "Oct. 31. — Bought a pair of shoes in Charlotts- 
 ville; lodged at . . . , — 35 miles — (15 miles 
 from Charlottsville). 
 
 "Saturday, Nov. i. — Got to my father's at about 
 10 o'clock at night — all well — 55 miles: in the 
 whole, 620 miles from Harrodsburg. 
 
 "Nov. 2. — Staid at my father's. 
 
 "Nov. 3. — Started for Williamsburg; lodged af 
 Mr. Gwathmey's, — 40 miles. 
 
 "Nov. 4. — Lodged at Warren's ; is. 6d. — 29 miles. 
 
 "Nov. 5. — Got to Williamsburg; lodged at Ander- 
 son's ; had a confirmation of Burgoyne's surrender. 
 
 "Nov. 6. — Bought a ticket in the State Lottery, 
 £3, number 10,693, fi^st class. 
 
 "Nov. 7. — Went to the auditors ; laid before them 
 the Kentucky accounts ; they refused to settle them 
 without the consent of the Council. 
 
 "Nov. 8. — Got an arder from the Council to settle 
 them. 
 
 "Nov. 9. — Sunday, went to church. 
 
 "Nov. 10. — Passed the accounts with the auditors, 
 except my own, which they refused to settle without 
 the consent of the Council. 
 
 9,^ 
 
546 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 
 
 "Nov. 1 8. — Settled with the auditors : drew the 
 money of the treasurer, £'/26\ bought a piece of cloth 
 for a jacket, price £4. 15s.; buttons, etc., 3s. 
 
 "Nov. 19. — Left Williamsburg after breakfast — 
 expenses £9. i8s. ; lodged at Warren's. 
 
 "Nov. 20. — Got to "\Ir. Gwathmey's, — expenses, 
 13s. 
 
 "Nov. 21. — Staid at Gwathmey's. 
 
 "Nov. 22. — Came to my father's." 
 
 NOTE XXL 
 
 coxcERXixG Clark's purpose ix leavixg kextucky 
 
 IX 1777. 
 
 Most historians who have written of Clark's re- 
 solve, made in the summer of 1777, to return over 
 the mountains from Kentucky^, have concluded his 
 object was to try to induce, if possible, the Virginia 
 authorities to undertake the conquest of the Illinois. 
 Now, in his Memoir, he does not state in so many 
 words that the object of his leaving Kentucky for 
 Williamsburg, in the fall of the year just mentioned, 
 was to promote an expedition against that country, 
 but such is the fair inference to be drawn from what 
 lie says ; 
 
 "The commandants of the different towns of the 
 Illinois and Wabash, I knew were busily engaged in 
 exciting the Indians. Their reduction became my 
 first object — expecting probably that it might open 
 a field for further action." Following this, he mentions 
 the sending of the "tw^o young hunters" to those 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 547 
 
 places (including, as he says, the Wabash towns as 
 well as the Illinois) "as spies, with proper instruc- 
 tions for their conduct, to prevent suspicion." "Neither 
 did they," he adds, "nor any one in Kentucky ever 
 konw my design until it was ripe for execution. They 
 returned to Harrodstown with all the information I 
 could reasonably have expected." Then he recites 
 briefly what the two "spies" reported ; following it 
 by declaring that when he left Kentucky he saw 
 plainly that every eye was turned toward him as if 
 expecting some stroke in their favor (see Dillon's 
 Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 118, 119). Then he adds: 
 "Some doubted my return, expecting I would join the 
 army in Virginia. I left them with reluctance promis- 
 ing them that I would certainly return to their as- 
 sistance, which I had predetermined." 
 
 In the foregoing there are several erroneous state- 
 ments. Rocheblave in the Illinois and Abbott at Vin- 
 cennes were not busily engaged in exciting the In- 
 dians against the Americans. Before sending the two 
 "spies" on their journey, Clark had not planned an 
 undertaking for the reduction of the different towns 
 of the Illinois and Wabash ; nor were his "spies" 
 sent "to those places," but only to Kaskaskia. He 
 had no design of conquest while in Kentucky to keep 
 from the people there which, in the future, it was in- 
 tended by him should, if possible, ripen into execu- 
 tion. He had formed an opinion, simply, as already 
 explained, that the conquest of the Illinois was feas- 
 ible — that was all. When he left Kentucky he was 
 not burning with an ambition to lead an expedition 
 across the Ohio, either to the Illinois towns or to 
 Vincennes upon the Wabash, On the contrary, he 
 
548 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 declared, as already shown, he would accept no com- 
 mand whatever unless he should find a very great call 
 for troops and his country m danger. 
 
 Now, even before the Memoir had been used by 
 any historian, Marshall, one of the earliest Kentucky 
 writers, said : . "The possibility of making conquests 
 so important to the future security of the western 
 boundary of the state derived considerable proba- 
 bility and vivacity from the ardent and confident rep- 
 resentations of the Mr. Clark, whose name has been 
 previously mentioned as being in Kentucky the pre- 
 ceding year [1776]. While there it appeared that 
 he, afifected by the scene of hostility in which he found 
 himself, and hence induced to reflect on its causes 
 and the means of removing the effects, had instituted 
 inquiries into the situation and condition of the In- 
 dians and the posts most contiguous to Kentucky — 
 about which he had received extensive information, 
 and which he, prompted by an ardent passion for 
 military fame, propagated with the zeal of one who 
 had a presentiment of being employed. It was cer- 
 tainly his desire. x\nd no less certain that his infor- 
 mation and representations contributed much to excite 
 and confirm the public sentiment in favor of an enter- 
 prise which was probably suggested by him, but 
 thought both hazardous and eventful by those who 
 could alone authorize its execution. [History of Ken- 
 tucky, vol. 71, p. 66]." But all this was the out- 
 growth of the knowledge possessed by that writer as 
 to the outcome of Clark's undertaking. 
 
 A later Kentucky historian declares : *'So strongly 
 was he [Clark] impressed with the importance of 
 this movement, that in the summer of 'yy, he had 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 549 
 
 dispatched two spies of the names of Moore and Dunn 
 [Linn], to reconoitre the situation of these remote 
 parts of the enemy. These emissaries reported great 
 activity on part of the mihtia, as well as the most 
 extended encouragement to the Indians in their bar- 
 barous depredations upon the Kentucky frontier ; yet, 
 notwithstanding the enemy had essayed every art of 
 misrepresentation to prejudice the French inhabitants' 
 against the Virginians, by telling them that these 
 frontier people were more shocking barbarians than 
 the savages themselves, still the spies reported strong 
 traces of affection for the Americans, among some of 
 the inhabitants. Not that the spies, or anybody else, 
 were acquainted with the contemplated expedition till 
 it was ripe to be laid before the governor and coun- 
 cil of Virginia. To this body he determined to submit 
 the matter; when, on the ist of October, 1777, he 
 left Kentucky." . . . (Butler: History of Ken- 
 tucky, p. 46.) 
 
 But, when this was written its author had not seen 
 Clark's letter to Mason, which so conclusively shows 
 that his resolution to "to submit the matter," was 
 not fixed upon until sometime after his arrival in Wil- 
 liamsburg. And it may here be well to notice, also, 
 that "these emissaries" did not report "extended en- 
 couragement to the Indians in their barbarous depre- 
 dations upon the Kentucky frontier." It will be seen 
 that while Butler essays to follow Clark in his Memoir, 
 he at the same time adds unwarrantable statements. 
 
 Some years after the appearance of the foregoing, 
 the following statement was published by another Ken- 
 tucky writer who gives as a prelude the convictions 
 of Clark as to the purposes of the British commanders 
 
550 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 at their posts beyond the Ohio ; of their instigating 
 the savages against Kentucky ; and of the necessity 
 of attacking their stronghold : "With these convictions 
 deeply impressed upon his [Clark's] mind, he deter- 
 mined to recommend to the Governor and Council of 
 Virginia, an immediate expedition into Illinois. Not 
 sufficiently assured of a favorable reception of his 
 views, in his absence from the seat of government, 
 he left Kentucky on the first of October, 1777, and 
 repaired in person to Williamsburgh, to enforce f)y 
 argument, and if need be by entreaty, the policy of 
 his scheme." — Morehead's Address, pp. 60, 61. That 
 writer,, too, had not, it is evident, seen Clark's letter 
 to Mason. (See Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 compare, in particular, in this connection, pp. 21, 22). 
 In Coleman's article in Harper's Magazine, vol. 
 XXII, p. 789, it is stated that ''he [Clark], on his 
 own account, sent two spies to Kaskaskia and Vin- 
 cennes whose reports were at once favorable and 
 alarming. Favorable, because he learned that a neg- 
 ligent guard was kept over the fortifications, and 
 that the sentiment of the French inhabitants were 
 secretly not at all hostile to the American cause. 
 Alarming, because he was informed that preparations 
 were, already on foot for a combined invasion of Ken- 
 tucky by the British and Indians, to be commenced 
 the next summer. This was to be anticpated, and 
 Clarke [sic.'\ resolved to hasten once more to Vir- 
 ginia and lay his plans before the Governor and Leg- 
 islature. For this purpose he set forth on his third 
 journey through the forest, which lay unbroken by a 
 single habitation between Licking River and the fron- 
 tiers of Virginia. The people saw him depart with 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEIST, ETC. 551 
 
 regret and fear. Knowing his great qualities so well 
 themselves, they dreaded lest such inducements might 
 be held out as would tempt him to remain in the 
 East, or that the threatened storm might burst upon 
 them in his absence." 
 
 In reply to the last, it may be said (i) that Clark 
 did not send his two "spies" to Vincennes at all; (2) 
 that he did not learn that the French inhabitants were, 
 secretly, not at all hostile to the American cause; (3) 
 that he was not informed that preparations were 
 already on foot for a combined invasion of Kentucky 
 by the British and Indians, to be commenced the next 
 summer; (4) that Clark did not resolve to hasten 
 once more to Virginia and lay his plans before the 
 Governor and Legislature; and (5) that he did not 
 for that purpose set forth on his third journey through 
 the forest for Williamsburg. That some of the set- 
 tlers saw him depart "with regret" is probably true ; 
 but none saw him go with "fear." None of them 
 "dreaded lest such inducements might be held out as 
 would tempt him to remain in the East," for the 
 reason that it must have been known he did not in- 
 tend to return. 
 
 Now, many other writers (those who have read 
 but not sufficiently considered Clark's words to Ma- 
 son) have been entrapped by his Memoir. Of these, 
 no one expresses himself with more directness than 
 one of the latest to record the doings of Clark in 
 1777,. already cited in this connection: 
 
 "On the first of October, having matured his 
 plans for the Illinois campaign, he [Clark] left for 
 Virginia to see if he could get- the government to 
 help him put them into execution." (Roosevelt — The 
 
552 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Winning of the West, \o\. II, p. 17.) Again: "Clark 
 knew he could get from among his fellow-settlers [in 
 Kentucky] ^ some men peculiarly suited for his pur- 
 pose [of attacking the Illinois] ; but he also realized 
 that he would have to bring the body of his force 
 from Virginia. Accordingly, he decided to lay the 
 case before Patrick Henry, then Governor of the State 
 of which Kentucky was then only a frontier county." 
 (Roosevelt, in the \"ol. last cited, p. 34.) 
 
 Another writer, who has evidently noticed the var- 
 iance between Clark's declaration in his letter to Mason 
 and that given in his Memoir, cautiously says : 
 
 ''With this information [that obtained from the 
 two men from Kaskaskia, sent from Kentucky] Clark 
 set out for Williamsburg in the fall of 1777, having 
 for his main object the settlement of his accounts in 
 reference to the Kentucky militia, of which he was 
 the commander. Some of the Kentuckians looked to 
 him for an enterprise for their relief, others expected 
 him to join the army in A'irginia, and never to return 
 to them. He left the country reluctantly, and with 
 promise of return to their assistance." (Henry's 
 Patrick Henry, vol. I, p. 582. Compare, in this con- 
 nection, Appleton's Encyclopedia of American Biog- 
 raphy, art. "George Rogers Clark," by Draper.) 
 
 A Kentucky author we have frequently mentioned, 
 declares that hitherto [that is, previous to Clark's 
 arrival at Williamsburg, in November, 1777], the war 
 in Kentucky had been carried on by the perseverance 
 and the gallantry of the backwoodsmen themselves, 
 with little assistance from the power of Virginia, ex- 
 cepting that which was procured by the devotion of 
 Messrs. Clark and Jones. The tremendous struggle 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 553 
 
 of the Revolution, involving everything dear to a 
 free and. generous people, demanded all the energies 
 of the Commonwealth. The State had not disposable 
 means to act on so remote a frontier." (Butler: His- 
 tory of Kentucky, p. 45.) 
 
 But before Clark started on his journey from the 
 Kentucky settlements. Captain Smith, as we have seen, 
 arrived at Boonesborough with forty-eight Virginia 
 militia to assist the settlers in repelling savage ag- 
 gressions and Captain ^^lontgomery reached Logan's 
 fort with thirty-eight; besides these, he soon met 
 fifty more men under Captain Watkins, on their way 
 to Boonesborough; so that, it is clear, Virginia was 
 then protecting, with at least a respectable force, ''her 
 remote frontier;" and that then the war was not 
 carried on by the backwoodsmen alone. It is the 
 testimony of Governor Henry, as hereafter seen, that 
 250 men had been ordered by Virginia from more 
 interior counties of the State, to the county of Ken- 
 tuck}^ for the protection of the settlements there. 
 
 "The government of Virginia [did not] appear," 
 continues the writer just quoted," to have been dis- 
 tinctly aware of the important diversion of the Indian 
 force which might be effected by supporting the exer- 
 tions of Kentucky. As little did she perceive the rich 
 acquisitions offered to her military ambition in the 
 British posts in the Western country. Yet every In- 
 dian engaged on the frontier of Kentucky was saved 
 to the nearer frontier of the parent state. These com- 
 bined views acquired greater weight with the progress 
 of the Revolution, and the increasing population of 
 Kentucky ; they were particularly aided by the ardent 
 and impressive representations of Major Clark. He 
 
554 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 had witnessed the rise and growth of this section of 
 the country from its earliest buddings ; he had pene- 
 trated its condition and its relations with the in- 
 stinctive genius which stamped him the most con- 
 summate of the western commanders. He had seen 
 at a glance that the sources of the Indian devasta- 
 tions were to be found in the British possessions of 
 Detroit, St. Vincents [Vincennes] and Kaskaskia. The 
 heart-rending ravages spread by the barbarians of the 
 western hemisphere . . . were stimulated by the 
 ammunition, arm.s and clothing supplied at these mili- 
 tary stations. If they could be taken, the streams 
 of hostility which had overflown Kentucky with 
 horrors would be dried up and a counter influence 
 established over the savages."* 
 
 But the assertions here made are by far too sweep- 
 ing in their character. Virginia fully appreciated 
 what would be "the rich acquisitions offered to her 
 military ambition," by the capture of the British posts 
 in the Western country. Vincennes and particularly 
 Kaskaskia had done little to encourage aggressions of 
 the Indians against Kentucky; and even Clark him- 
 self believed that more mischief was concocted in these 
 places than there really was. The fact was the chief 
 source of trouble was Detroit, as the General Govern- 
 ment and the Virginia authorities well knew, and as 
 was known by Clark himself ; nevertheless, could Kas-' 
 kaskia be taken, much good, it was evident, would be 
 accomplished. But an expedition to reduce the Illi- 
 nois was not to be recommended simply for the bet- 
 ter protection of the Kentucky settlements. Clark's 
 idea was that it would redound, if successful, to the 
 
 * Ibid. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 555 
 
 greater security of the whole Western frontier, es- 
 pecially as it might lead to the conquest of Vincennes 
 and Detroit. 
 
 A recent writer (E. A. Bryan, in Magazine of 
 American History, vol. XXI, p. 399) not only sees 
 in the sending of the two spies a purpose to reduce 
 Vincennes as well as the Illinois villages, on part of 
 Clark, but dispatches the latter to Virginia to lay the 
 matter before the Virginia governor. These are his 
 words : 
 
 "The name of George Rogers Clark, misrepre- 
 sented, belittled, maligned though it has been, is as 
 fair a name as adorns the roll of our Revolutionary 
 heroes. He was a man of strong will, of lofty imagi- 
 nation, of unconquerable courage, of great daring com- 
 bined with wonderful shrewdness, a lover of freedom 
 and of his native land. A Virginian by birth, soon 
 after attaining his majority he had cast his fortunes 
 with the handful of settlers in Kentucky. It was here 
 that the Indian massacres, which had been incited 
 by British gold, led him to the conviction that Post 
 Vincennes must be conquered, not only for the sake of 
 controlling the Indians and protecting the frontier, 
 but also for the sake of wresting this vast and fertile 
 territory from England. Having dispatched two spies 
 to learn the temper of the French and Indian popu- 
 lation of the posts, and to ascertain the strength of 
 the forts and garrisons, he goes to Virginia, lays the 
 matter before Governor Patrick Henry, who, as does 
 also Jefferson, sees the far-reaching importance of the 
 scheme." 
 
 The whole matter may be summed up in this way : 
 Clark being fully advised of the "alarming situation" 
 
556 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 — that "the Americans were as sorely pressed by the 
 EngHsh from the seaside as they were by the Indians 
 from the western wilderness," as a recent writer hap- 
 pily expresses it — he was fully imbued with the 
 idea that a decisive movement across the Ohio would 
 be a most opportune undertaking; he would, there- 
 fore, encourage it. 
 
 In after years, with a treaclterous memory to guide 
 him, his "design," he says, was made known because 
 Burgoyne's army had been captured and things seemed 
 to wear a pleasing aspect [see his Memoir — Dillon's 
 Indiana (Ed. of 1859), p. 119]. Many writers have 
 copied this error. 
 
 "The capture of Burgoyne, however, put a dif- 
 ferent aspect upon affairs, and induced him [Clark] 
 to suggest to a few leading men — George Wythe, 
 George Mason, and Thomas Jefferson — the plan of 
 attacking the British posts in the Illinois country." 
 (Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. I, p. 583.) As a mat- 
 ter of fact, however, it was according to Clark in his 
 letter to Mason, not Burgoyne's surrender that fixed 
 his (Clark's) resolution to promote the expedition, 
 but, as before mentioned, the desperation of the British 
 on the seaboard and of their savage allies in the West. 
 
 In his Memoir he states : "On the tenth of De- 
 cember I communicated my design to Governor 
 Henry ;" yet, as a matter of fact, his suggestion was 
 not made to the latter, but, as may be premised, "to 
 a few gentlemen," who laid the subject before the 
 Governor. 
 
 That any one while djenouncing Clark's Memoir 
 should adopt, and even add to its errors in writing 
 of the expedition planned against the Illinois, is, to 
 
HISTORV 01' CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 557 
 
 say the least, very strange. But this is what occurs 
 in the following- extract : 
 
 "After a week's rest | al his father's hcnise], he 
 [Clark] went h.iek to the capital | WillianishnrgJ , 
 laid his plans hetore Patrick I ienry, and in"L;e(l their 
 adoptiiMi with tierv enthusiasm. (Roosevelt — Tlic 
 //'//////// i^' ()/" ///(' li'rs/, vol. 1 1, p. ^V).) And that author 
 previously declares that he (Cdark) had "decided" 
 hefore lea\ini^- Kenlucky "to la)' the case hefore Pat- 
 rick llcnry" (same vol., p. 34), and that "Clark 
 knew he could qet t"rom auK^n^- his lellow-settlers 
 I in i\entuck\ |. S(Mne men peculiaidy suited for his 
 pur]>ose, hut he also realized that he would have to 
 brini;' the hody of his force from Virginia." 
 
 NOTE XXII. 
 
 ACT 01- Till-: (a':NKRAL ASSEMBLY OK VlKdlNlA AUTH.OR- 
 I/INO AN l':xi'i:i)IT10N AGAINST WESTERN ENEMIES 
 
 (under which Clark organized his Undertaking 
 against Ivaskaskia), passed at the October scs- 
 si<in, i///. (See llening's i'iri^inia Statutes at 
 Laro;r, vol. IX, j^p. 374, 375).' 
 
 An act i"or better securing the commonwealth, and for 
 the farther i)rotection and defence thereof. 
 
 For more effectually securing the commonwealth 
 against the designs and attempts of certain evil- 
 minded ]-)ersons, now or lately in the counties here- 
 inafter mentioned, who, lost to all sentiments of 
 virtue, honor or regard for their country, have been 
 induced to aid the enemy: 
 
558 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That 
 Samuel Washington, Gabriel lones, and Joseph Reed, 
 esquires, commissioners appointed by the United States 
 of America in Congress assembled to repair to Fort 
 Pitt in order to investigate the rise, progress, and ex- 
 tent of the disaffection in that quarter, or such other 
 persons as shall be appointed in their room and shall 
 undertake to execute the office, be authorized and em- 
 powered and they are hereby authorized and em- 
 powered, at any time within six months after the 
 passing of this act, to apprehend such inhabitants 
 of the counties of Ohio, Monongalia and Yohogania 
 as shall appear to the said commissioners to have been 
 concerned in any conspiracy or plot against the said 
 states, or any or either of them, and to deliver the 
 offenders over to the proper civil offfcer to be prose- 
 cuted according to law. And to provide for the farther 
 protection and defence of the frontiers. Be it farther 
 enacted, That the governor, with the advice of the 
 privy council, may order such part" of the militia as 
 may be most convenient, and as they shall judge 
 necessary, consistently with the safety of the com- 
 monwealth, to act in conjunction with any troops on 
 any expedition which may be undertaken by desire 
 of the United States of America, in congress assem- 
 bled, against any of our western enemies; and also 
 that the governor, with advice of the privy council, 
 at any time within nine months after the passing of 
 this act, may empower a number of volunteers, not 
 exceeding six hundred, to march against and attack 
 any of our social enemies, and may appoint the proper 
 officers and give the necessary orders for the expedi- 
 tion. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 559 
 NOTE XXIII. 
 
 GOV. henry's order to "secure" linn and MOORE. 
 
 The whole clause, in which "the two men from 
 Kaskaskia" are mentioned by Governor Henry in his 
 Private Instructions to Clark, reads as follows : "For 
 the transportation of the troops, prisoners, etc., down 
 the Ohio, you are to apply to the commanding officer 
 at Fort Pitt for boats ; and during the whole trans- 
 action you are to take especial care to keep the true 
 destination of your force secret. Its success depends 
 upon this. Orders are therefore given to Captain 
 Smith to secure the two men from Kaskaskia. Sim- 
 ilar conduct will be proper in similar cases." Who 
 Captain Smith was, and why he was selected for that 
 particular service will soon appear. 
 
 That, "to secure the two men from Kaskaskia," 
 implied that they were to be arrested, there can be 
 no doubt ; but this does not necessarily -convey the 
 idea that Clark had actually communicated to Linn 
 and Moore any particular reason for sending them 
 to the Illinois and that he had informed Governor 
 Henry what that reason v/as. But the latter could not 
 fail to see that both these men might, upon learning 
 that Clark was on his way down the Ohio with a 
 considerable force, conclude he was going on an ex- 
 pedition to the country they had visited as "spies ;" 
 and for fear their suspicions might be mentioned in 
 the Kentucky settlements, it was thought best by the 
 Virginia governor, to have them "secured," 
 
560 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE XXIV. 
 
 ERRORS IN THE PRIVATE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY GOV. 
 HENRY TO CLARK^ AS FOUND IN "cLARK's CAM- 
 PAIGN IN THE ILLINOIS," pp. 96, 97. 
 
 In second paragraph, for ''expectation" read "ex- 
 pedition;" in third paragraph, for "&c," read "&;" 
 in fourth paragraph, for ''way," read "ways ;" in 
 fifth paragraph, for "of Ohio," read "of the Ohio." 
 
 The Private Instructions, as printed in Monnette's 
 History of the Mississippi Valley, vol. II, p. 41 5n, are 
 witli less errors than are to be found in the document 
 given in the work above mentioned. In Henry's Pat- 
 rick Henry, they are printed with literal exactness as 
 to capitals, etc., which Butler does not attempt. 
 
 NOTE XXV. 
 
 CONCERNING THE DISCRETIONARY POWER GIVEN CLARK. 
 
 The concluding words of the following from Ban- 
 croft's History of the United States (ed. of 1885) 
 vol. V, p. 310., indicating that Clark was given a dis- 
 cretionary power to attack "the British dominion 
 on . . . the Wabash," is misleading, and is 
 doubtless the result of that historian following Clark's 
 Memoir (the italicising is mine) : 
 
 "In the latter part of 1777 Clark took leave of 
 the woodsmen of Kentucky and departed for the East. 
 To a few at Williamsburg, of whom no one showed 
 more persistent zeal than George Mason and Thomas 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 661 
 
 Jefferson, he proposed a secret expeditioji to the 
 Ilhnois. Patrick Henry, the governor, made the plan 
 his own, and, at his instance, the house of delegates, 
 by a vote of which 'few knew the intent,' empowered 
 him to aid 'any expedition against their western 
 enemy.' On the second of January, 1778, Clark re- 
 ceived from the governor and council a supply of 
 money, liberty to levy troops in any county of Vir- 
 ginia, and written and verbal instructions clothing 
 him with large discretionary authority to attack the 
 British dominion on the Illinois and the W abash.'' 
 
 NOTE XXVI. 
 
 GEORGE WYTHE, GEORGE MASON AND THOMAS JEFFER- 
 SON^S PLEDGE TO CLARK ON THE 3D OF JANUARY^ 
 
 1778. 
 
 The letter written by George Wythe, George 
 Mason, and Thomas Jefferson (the first mentioned, 
 speaker, and the others, members, of the House of 
 Delegates), pledging themselves in exerting their in- 
 fluence to obtain from the legislature of Virginia a 
 bounty of three hundred acres of land for each re- 
 cruit in the expedition, in the event of its success, 
 has been lost. The words of Clark, in his Memoir 
 (Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 119, 120), are 
 — "as an encouragement to those who would engage 
 in said service [meaning the service against the Illi- 
 nois towns] an instrument of writing was signed, 
 wherein those gentlemen promised to use their in- 
 fluence to procure from the assembly three hundred 
 
 36 
 
562 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 acres of land for each irf case of success." But, in 
 this writing, the real object of the expedition could 
 not have been mentioned, else the secret would have 
 been disclosed as to what service was expected of those 
 who enlisted. 
 
 Roosevelt {The Winning of the West, vol II, 
 p. 37) says the three gentlemen ''agreed in writing 
 to do their best to induce the Virginia Legislature to 
 grant to each of the adventurers three hundred acres 
 of the conquered land, if they were successful." (The 
 italicising is mine). To have made such an explana- 
 tion would have disclosed the secret as to the des- 
 tination of the expediton. What Butler says (and he 
 had the letter in his possession doubtless when he 
 wrote) is this : "The result of these deliberations 
 [with Clark as to the plan of attacking the Illinois] 
 was, a full approbation of the scheme, and in order 
 to encourage the men, those patriotic gentlemen 
 [George Wythe, George Mason and Thomas Jeffer- 
 son], like worthy sons of Old Virginia, pledged them- 
 selves by an instrument of writing in case of success, 
 to exert their influence to obtain from the Legislature 
 a bounty of three hundred aCres of land for every 
 person in the expedition [History of Kentucky, p. 
 
 47-]" 
 
 In a recent work is to be found the following: 
 "It was during this winter of 1777-8 that Col. George 
 Rogers Clark visited Williamsburg, and in interviews 
 with Governor Henry and the leading men of the 
 Assembly, the famous Illinois campaign was projected. 
 George Mason was an intimate and revered friend 
 of the gallant young soldier, and he was one of the 
 kaders with whom Henry conferred on the subject 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 563 
 
 of Clark's plans. A letter was written by George 
 Wythe, George Mason and Thomas Jefferson, on the 
 3d of Januai'y, 1778, in which these gentlemen pledged 
 themselves, in case of the success of the expedition, 
 'to exert their influence to obtain from the legisla- 
 ture a bounty of three hundred acres of land for every 
 person in the expedition [Butler's History of Ken- 
 tucky,' p. 47 (and foot-note)]. The papers of G. R. 
 Clark were in 1834, in possession of his brother, 
 General William Clark, and they were used by Mann 
 Butler in his his'tory of Kentucky. Copies of some 
 of these papers were given by Butler to the Hon. 
 Lyman C. Draper of Wisconsin, for his contemplated 
 biography of George Rogers Clark. The letter signed 
 by Wythe, Mason, and Jefferson was, however, never 
 seen by Mr. Draper." (Kate Mason Rowland's Life 
 of George Mason, vol I, p. 290.) 
 
 NOTE XXVH. 
 
 AS TO WILLIAM HARROD AND WILLIAM B. SMITH. 
 
 Although a former resident of the Redstone ccir.:- 
 try, William Harrod had been for some time locale I 
 in Kentucky, but had now, for some reason unknown, 
 returned to the Monongahela region. (As to his 
 residence in Kentucky, see Hall's Romance of Western 
 History, p. 384. Compare, also : Monnette's History 
 of the Mississippi Valley, vol. I, p. 398,) 
 
 Bancroft [Llistory of the United States (ed. of 
 1885), vol. V, p. 310] says: 'Tt was probably there 
 [at Redstone] that he [Clark] met with Captain Wil- 
 
564 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Ham Harrod and his company;" and he (Bancroft) 
 gives, as authority for this "probabiHty," a MS. mem- 
 orandum of L. C. Draper. But it is clear, if Captain 
 Harrod had there a company, it was the result of his 
 recruiting as mentioned by Clark. In any event, there- 
 fore, to say that the latter probably met zvith Captain 
 Harrod and his company at Redstone, conveys an 
 erroneous impression. 
 
 Clark, in his Memoir, erroneously speaks of Wil- 
 liam B. Smith as "Major." He was only a cap- 
 tain. He was the one who was ordered by Gover- 
 nor Henry "to secure the two men from Kaskaskia," 
 as he was expected to reach Kentucky in advance 
 of Clark. Smith could not have been told zvhy he 
 was to secure these men. If he had been, he would 
 have been put in possession of the secret as to Clark's 
 true destination. It is certain, however, that Clark's 
 officers as well as his enlisted men knew nothing of 
 the real object of the expedition mitil some time after. 
 
 NOTE XXVIII. 
 
 MANN BUTLER ON CLARK's RECRUITING TROUBLES. 
 
 [Ante Chap. V, p. — .] 
 
 Butler {History of Kentucky, p 48) says : "At 
 Fort Pitt [it was at Redstone], he [Clark] met with 
 some difficulties arising from the disputed dominion, 
 which then agitated the friends of Pennsylvania and 
 Virginia ; many thought "the detachment of troops to 
 Kentucky was a wanton dispersion and division of 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 565 
 
 strength. The secrec}^ of his real destination and 
 the ostensible one of Kentucky, led many to declare 
 it better to remove the Kentuckians than weaken the 
 country by undertaking their defence. Little did these 
 objectors know the innate vigor, the indomitable 
 energy of the backwoodsmen of Kentucky and of 
 the West, when they talked of removing them like so 
 many chatties." This is certainly pardonable in But- 
 ler, being himself a Kentuckian ; but only a year 
 before, the Governor of Virginia, it will be remem- 
 bered, said to an officer of militia he was about to 
 send out there, — ''in case it shall be judged im- 
 possible to hold the country . . . they [the 
 militia] are to escort all the people, with their effects 
 to the nearest place of safety." (Instruction of Gov. 
 Henry to the Lieutenant of Montgomery County, 
 March lo, 1777.) 
 
 NOTE XXIX. 
 
 THE FALLS OF THE OHIO TO BE CLARK's FINAL REN- 
 DEZVOUS. WHEN THE EMBARKATION TOOK PLACE 
 
 FROM REDSTONE. WHO PROPERLY TO SHARE WITH 
 
 CLARK THE CREDIT OF PLANNING THE EXPEDI- 
 TION. 
 
 Clark, in his letter to Mason {Clark's Caifupaign in 
 the Illinois, p 25), says he ''set sail for the Falls [of 
 the Ohio]" and that he had previously received let- 
 ters from Captain Smith, informing him that he would 
 meet him at that place. This makes it certain that the 
 final rendezvous had been fixed upon, and that it was 
 the Falls, 
 
566 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The Colonel, it will be noticed, had been in Red- 
 stone, active in collecting men — some of whom were 
 Pennsylvanians, but most of them Virginians — for 
 over two and a half months. In his Memoir, he says it 
 was late in May before he could leave the Redstone 
 settlement ; but this is certainly error. The date — 
 twelfth of May — is sufficiently corroborated by cir- 
 cumstances afterward transpiring, which are spoken of 
 by the Colonel in his letter just cited. 
 
 "Early in the ensuing spring, at the age of twenty- 
 six, he [Clark] embarked, sole commander of an 
 enterprise wholly his own in conception and plan, 
 which had been for three years the daring object 
 of his ambition." (Harper's Magazine, vol. XXII, 
 pp. 789, 790.) But the enterprise, while it was his 
 (Clark's) own conception, was by no means, as already 
 shown, wholly his own plan. Aluch of the credit of 
 arranging the details of the expedition is due Gov. 
 Henry and his Council. To say that the undertak- 
 ing had been for three years the daring object of 
 Clark's ambition, is stating for him what he, at the 
 time, did not claim. 
 
 NOTE XXX. 
 
 Clark's force upon leaving Redstone. 
 
 As Captains Bowman and Helm brought to the 
 Colonel only about thirty-five men, he must have ob- 
 tained at Redstone about one hundred and fifteen. 
 That the whole force was formed into three com- 
 panies, see Butler's Kentucky, p. 48, And the same is 
 to be inferred from Hamilton to Haldimand [Sept. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 567 
 
 5], 1778 — Haldimand MSS., where a deserter gives 
 the information of the arrival in Kentucky of that 
 number, but erroneously states (designedly it may 
 be) that there were seventy men in each company. 
 
 Singularly erroneous is Monnette's account {His- 
 tory of the Valley of the Mississippi, vol. I, p. 416) 
 as to Clark's force just before leaving Redstone: 
 
 "Selecting from his whole force four companies 
 of picked men, under well-known captains, he [Clark] 
 prepared to descend the [Ohio] river upon the hazar- 
 dous enterprise. The companies were commanded by 
 Captains Montgomery, Bowman, Helm and Harrod." 
 But the Colonel was only too glad to get almost any 
 kind of recruits, without stopping to "pick" them; 
 and, besides. Captain Montgomery was then in Ken- 
 tucky. 
 
 "Proceeding to Pittsburg, on Feb. 4, he [Clark] 
 succeeded, after extraordinary exertions, in raising 
 three companies." — Moser's Illinois, vol. I, p. 147. 
 The inference from this is that Clark left Williams- 
 burg on February 4th; that he proceeded thence to 
 Pittsburgh ; and that, at the place last mentioned, he 
 succeeded in raising three companies. But, as already 
 shown, all this is error, but Moses follows, substan- 
 tially, Butler's Kentucky, p. 48. 
 
 NOTE XXXI. 
 
 A NUMBER OF FAMILIES FOLLOW CLARK. ■ 
 
 In his Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 
 121 — Clark says there went with him "a considerable 
 
568 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 number of families and private adventurers." This 
 is foUow^ed by Butler {History of Kentucky, p. 50). 
 
 A remark afterwards made by Clark makes it prob- 
 able that there were about twenty of these families, 
 as stated in the text. See, also, Col. R. T. Dur- 
 rett, in The Southern Bivouac, for January, 1884. 
 
 Roosevelt {The Winning of the West, vol. II, p. 
 39) erroneously remarks that ''the presence of these 
 families shows that even this [Clark's] expedition 
 had the usual peculiar western character of being 
 undertaken half for conquest, half for settlement." 
 Surely, enough has already been disclosed to show 
 the fallacy of this. It was an undertaking wholly for 
 conquest. The families collected at Redstone did not 
 belong to the expedition ; and their desire to go along 
 with the Colonel down the Ohio, was for the protec- 
 tion which his force would give them from attacks 
 by the savages. 
 
 NOTE XXXII. 
 
 CLARK AND HIS RECRUITS AT PITTSBURGH AND 
 WHEELING. 
 
 It is evident that Colonel Clark, upon reaching 
 Fort Pitt, must have informed General Hand of the 
 true object of his expedition. Bancroft [History of 
 the United States (ed. of 1885), vol. V, p. 310] says: 
 "At Redstone — old-fort, with the cordial aid of Hand, 
 its commander, he [Clark] collected boats, light ar- 
 tillery, and ammunition." General Hand extended 
 no aid to Clark at Redstone ; and the latter collected 
 no light artillery here or elsewhere, as he took none 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 569 
 
 with him.* What help he received from the com- 
 mander of the Western Department was at Fort Pitt 
 and Wheehng. • 
 
 "He [Clark] tried to raise recruits at Fort Pitt 
 with but little success; but while here [there] he re- 
 ceived information that his subordinate officers were 
 progressing more rapidly." (Dunn's Indiana, p. 133.) 
 It is evident that "Redstone" ought to have been sub- 
 stituted for "Fort Pitt" by Mr. Dunn. And it was 
 only one subordinate — Captain .Smith — who sent 
 news, particularly, of a more rapid progress; and 
 even what he sent was not an accomplished fact ; — 
 the Captain intended to do much. 
 
 "Under authority from the State of Virginia, and 
 with some aid from that state in money and sup- 
 plies, Clark enlisted two hundred men for three months, 
 with whom he embarked at Pittsburg." [The History 
 of the United States of America. By Richard Hil- 
 dreth (First Series), vol. Ill, p. 260.] There is in 
 this statement not only an error as to the number 
 of men who embarked with Clark, but also as to the 
 place of embarkation, when starting upon his expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 We quote again from Bancroft: "These ["Cap- 
 tain Leonard Helm of Farquier {sic), and Captain 
 Joseph Bowman of Frederic {sic.) each with less 
 than half a company'] and the adventurers of his 
 [Clark's] own enlistment, together only one hundred 
 and fifty men, but all of a hardy race, self-relying, 
 and trusting in one another, he [Clark] was now to 
 lead near a thousand miles from their former homes 
 
 * This error of Bancroft has been frequently followed. 
 As an instance, see History of the Girfys, p. 72. 
 
570 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 against a people who exceeded them in number and 
 were aided by merciless tribes of savage allies." {His- 
 tory of the United States (ed. of 1885), vol. V, p. 
 310.] That they were in reality marching against a 
 people exceeding them in number is true ; but that 
 the latter "were aided by merciless tribes of sav- 
 age allies" is not strictly correct, as will hereafter 
 be shown. Why Bancroft speaks of the former homes 
 of Clark's men, it is impossible to understand. 
 
 As General Hand furnished the Colonel "with 
 every necessary" he wanted, it must have included the 
 prime one — powder. The "stores" taken in at Wheel- 
 ing included, probably, a portion of what were fur- 
 nished him by the Fort- Pitt commandant, as that 
 post was supplied by the latter. The "Linn pow- 
 der," mentioned by Governor Henry in his private 
 instructions to Clark, was secreted either at Wheel- 
 ing or near there, but was not disturbed by the 
 Colonel. One writer — Horace Edwin Hay den {Mag- 
 azine of American History, vol. XXH, p. 415) — 
 erroneously concludes that Clark supplied himself with 
 it. 
 
 NOTE XXXHI. 
 
 CAPTURE OF DANIEL BOONE AND PARTY AT THE BLUE 
 
 LICKS. 
 
 "On the first day of January, 1778, I went," says 
 Boone, "with a party of thirty men to the Blue Licks, 
 oh Licking river, to make salt for the different gar- 
 risons in the country. On the seventh day of Feb- 
 ruary, as I was hunting to procure meat for the com- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 571 
 
 pany, I met with a party of one hundred and two 
 Indians and two Frenchmen, on their march against 
 Boonesborough, that place being particularly the ob- 
 ject of the enemy. They pursued and took me, and 
 brought me on the eighth day to the Licks, where 
 twenty-seven of my party were, three of them hav- 
 ing previously returned home with salt. I, knowing 
 it was impossible for them to escape, capitulated with 
 the enemy; and, at a distance, in their view, gave 
 notice to my men of their situation, with orders not 
 to resist, but surrender themselves captives." [Boone's 
 Narrative (by Filson), added to The Discovery, Set- 
 tlement^ and Present State of Kentucky, in Imlay's 
 Topographical Description of the Western Territory 
 of North America (London: 1793), p. 340. Hamilton 
 to Carleton, Jan. 25 — Apr. 25, 1778: Haldimand 
 MSS.] 
 
 I have followed Boone as to the number of the 
 Indians of Beaubien's party, his specific statement be- 
 ing the result, doubtless, of actual count. Hamilton 
 says four-score Shawanese had been engaged; but 
 some Miami Indians were also in the expedition. 
 
 There is again a variance between Boone's state- 
 ment and Hamilton's — this time as to the number 
 of men captured ; the former says there were twenty- 
 seven; the latter gives twenty-six. Boone would 
 hardly have made a mistake in their number. 
 
 There are a number of manifest errors in the Nar- 
 rative of Boone. It is always to be cited with caution. 
 Beaubien first went to Piqua and Chillicothe with his 
 twenty-two Miami Indians, where he succeeded in 
 persuading eighty Shawanese to accompany him; 
 and the whole force marched thence to the vicinity 
 
572 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 of the Blue Licks, on their way to attack Boones- 
 borough, when they came upon Boone. Then fol- 
 lowed the capture of the latter and his men. And 
 because the Indians, particularly the IMiamis, would 
 not continue the march and attack Boonesborough, 
 Beaubien was offended, and soon left the Miami vil- 
 lage for Detroit. 
 
 NOTE XXXIV. 
 
 "loose notes" of LIEUT, JACOB SCHIEFFELIN. 
 
 These "Notes'' were first printed in the Royal Ga- 
 zette. They refer mostly to the principal subject of 
 our narrative — the conquest of the Illinois and Wabash 
 towns and the immediate consequences resulting there- 
 from to a number of British and their allies who, 
 as will hereafter be seen, fought against the American 
 forces. 
 
 In the Magazine of American History, vol. I, these 
 ''Notes" are reprinted from the Gazette and erron- 
 eously credited to Hamilton (p. 192). Roosevelt 
 {The Winning of the West, vol. II, p. 86n) blindly 
 adopts the error, citing the Gazette evidently without 
 having seen that periodical. 
 
 NOTE XXXIV. 
 
 CAPTAIN o'hARRA^S VIRGINIA COMPANY. 
 
 The history of this [Captain O'Harra's] Virginia 
 Company is faintly traced in Jefferson's Works (The 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 573 
 
 Writings of Thomas Jefferson. Edited by H. A. 
 Washington. New York: 1854), vol. i, p. 236, and 
 in Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, vol. XII, pp. 
 126, 165, 167, 198. 
 
 Says Bancroft [History of the United States (ed. 
 of 1885), vol. V, p. 310]: "At Fort Kanawha, in 
 May, they [Clark and his men] were reinforced by 
 Captain O'Harra and his company." This is mis- 
 leading. It carries the idea that Captain O'Harra 
 and his company joined Clark to go upon the expedi- 
 tion to the Illinois ; whereas, they were only to accom- 
 pany him down the Ohio, intending to leave him 
 where he should first land.* And this they did. Just 
 here it may be said, that there was no ''Fort Kanawha ;" 
 it was 'Tort Randolph." 
 
 Singularly enough, in Henry's Henry, p. 590, Cap- 
 tain O'Harra's company is mentioned as "Captain 
 Harrod's." 
 
 At least one writer has supposed that Captain 
 Willing's company of mariners, which preceded Clark's 
 force down the Ohio only three or four months, was 
 connected with the latter — that is, that it was under 
 Clark's command (see the statement of Isaac Craig, 
 in Magazine of American Hisory, vol. Ill, p. 513) ; 
 but this is error. Compare also Monnette's History of 
 the Valley of the Mississippi, vol. I, pp. 416, 417. 
 
 * This error has been frequently copied. See, as an 
 instance, History of the Girtys, p. 72. 
 
574 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE XXXV. 
 
 NO POST INTENDED TO BE ERECTED BY CLARK AT THE 
 MOUTH OF THE KENTUCKY. 
 
 Whatever were the declarations of Clark in after 
 years as to his having, when reached the mouth of the 
 Kentucky, some thoughts of fortifying a post there, 
 it is evident from his assertions made soon after his 
 expedition took place, that he had no such inten- 
 tions — that he did not seriously consider any such 
 plan — at any time while moving down the Ohio. 
 What he really meant in informing County Lieutenant 
 Bowman of his resolve to erect some kind of a forti- 
 fication at the Falls will hereafter be fully discussed 
 (see Note XXXIX of this Appendix). 
 
 NOTE XXXVI. 
 
 ESCAPE FROM THE ISLAND OF THE HOLSTON RECRUITS. 
 
 Roosevelt says {The Winning of the West, vol. II, 
 p. 40) that "the Kentuckians who had horses pur- 
 sued the deserters." This carries the idea that some 
 of the Kentuckians who had joined Clark brought 
 horses along; and that these recruits were the ones 
 that pursued the malcontents ; but, the statement, as 
 made by, Butler, does not imply this (see his Kentucky, 
 p. 50). The following, also, conveys an erroneous 
 impression — Captain Dillard's men not having pre- 
 viously "shown a disinclination to the service" : "These 
 [Clark's men] were encamped on what is now known 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 575 
 
 as Corn Island, in order to prevent the desertion of 
 Captain Dillard's company, which had shown a dis- 
 inclination to the "service." — Harper's Magazine, vol. 
 XXII, p. 790. Other published statements inaccurate 
 in a greater or less degree, may now be considered. 
 
 "They [those of Captain Dillard's company who 
 escaped] suffered greatly for their crime, and endured 
 every degree of hardship and fatigue; for the Ken- 
 tuckians spurned them from the gates of the wooden 
 forts, and would not for a long time suffer them to 
 enter." — Roosevelt : The Winning of the West, vol. 
 II, p. 40. And that writer adds that they were hounded 
 "back to the homes they had dishonored" after they 
 had "suffered greatly for their crime" ; and that "their 
 action [in leaving Clark] was due rather to wayward 
 and sullen disregard of authority than cowardice." 
 It is suggested, however, in view of the fact that they 
 had enlisted, as they -doubtless supposed, to go no 
 farther than Kentucky, that their "deserting" was not, 
 in their minds, a crime, nor were their homes dis- 
 honored by their leaving. Their act, they believed, 
 was neither cowardice nor a wayward and sullen dis- 
 regard of authority. 
 
 Another record says : "Only a very few [of Cap- 
 tain Dillard's men who escaped from the island] were 
 recaptured, while the rest, with the lieutenant, made 
 their way to Harrodsfort, where the garrison for a 
 long time refused them admittance. Many of these 
 cowardly fellows perished from lexhaustion or by 
 the hands of the Indians, on their way home through 
 the wilderness, the settlers everywhere refusing indig- 
 nantly either to receive or hold communication with 
 them" {Harper's Magazine, vol. XXII, p. 790). This, 
 
576 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 of course, is an exaggerated statement : none died so 
 far as known. 
 
 Dunn, in his Indiana (p. 134), says: "Here [on 
 the island] Clark first informed his men of the real 
 design of the expedition, and naturally enough it put 
 a damper on the ardor of many of them. A number 
 of the Tennessee men asked leave to return home but 
 were refused; guards were placed over the boats to 
 prevent desertion. In the night a part of the Ten- 
 nessee men evaded the sentinels, waded to the Ken- 
 tucky shore, and started for the settlements." But none 
 of Dillard's men were from Tennessee; they were 
 all Virginians. 
 
 ''The island on which the landing [by Clark] was 
 made, since known as 'Corn Island,' was not, a hundred 
 years ago, the little pile of rocks and sand which we 
 now see at low water only^ on the upper side of the 
 great railroad bridge across the Ohio just above the 
 rapids. It was then a large island, extending from 
 about the present Fifth to Thirteenth street [of Louis- 
 ville], some four thousand feet in length, with an 
 average breadth of about one-fourth its length. Its 
 upper end was principally rocks, but the lower third 
 was covered with large trees and cane. Here were 
 sycamores and cottonwoods that ranked with the giants 
 of the forests, and here little cane-brakes, from among 
 Vv^hose stalks peeped wild flowers of the brightest 
 colors." (E. T. Durrett, in The Courier- Journal of 
 August 2, 1883.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 577 
 NOTE XXXVIL 
 
 OF THE KENTUCKIANS \VHO JOINED CLARK. 
 
 Butler says that the Kentiickians who joined Clark 
 consisted of one company and part of another {History 
 of Kentucky, p. 49). Clark speaks of them as "a few 
 Kentuckians," — see his letter to Mason : Clark's 
 Campaign in the Illinois, p. 26. As to their being but 
 twenty, see Monnette's History of the Valley of the 
 Mississippi, vol. I; p. 4i8n;' — vol. II, p. loi. 
 
 "Clark was organizing an expedition against . . . 
 Kaskaskia and invited as many settlers at Boones- 
 borough and Harrodsburg as desired to join him. 
 The times were so dangerous that the women, espe- 
 cially, in the stations objected to the men going on 
 such a distant expedition." — Collins' Kentucky (ed. 
 of 1877), p. 446. But Clark sent out no invitations 
 to settlers to join him in a movement "against Kas- 
 kaskia," and no women in the settlements knew of the 
 real object of his undertaking until after Colonel Bow- 
 man reached the island in answer to Clark's call, — 
 bringing with him what militia he could well take 
 along. 
 
 As already mentioned, Monnette {History of the 
 Valley of the Mississippi) is relied upon as giving the 
 correct number of Kentuckians who were retained or, 
 rather, accepted by Clark. I have not hesitated to 
 give credence to that author so far as that number 
 is concerned, as a tradition (seemingly reliable) gives 
 the same ; but Monnette, in some other statements, 
 is wholly unreliable. For instance, in vol. I, (p. 
 4i8n), he says that "he [Clark] succeeded in recruit- 
 
 37 
 
578 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ing only four companies at his rendezvous on Corn 
 Island." And he further asserts (forgetting that he 
 had previously (though erroneously) stated that 
 Montgomery was one of the captains at Redstone 
 under Clark) that it was ''here [on the island] he 
 became acquainted with the brave Captain Montgom- 
 ery, 'an Irishman and full of fight,' who engaged in 
 the enterprise with great ardor." 
 
 The American commander speaks of Montgomery 
 as "Colonel," but he went to Kentucky only as Cap- 
 tain, as already shown ; but, at date of Clark's letter 
 to Mason, he was a Colonel. It is evident that the 
 time for which his original company had enlisted had 
 expired. He did not bring these men to Clark; he 
 had "Kentuckians" with him, according to the Colonel's 
 statement to Mason. 
 
 Clark no where in his correspondence of the period 
 mentions the name of Kenton ; but the evidence is 
 overwhelming that he went upon the expedition. That 
 he was with Captain Montgomery when he joined 
 Clark's force is not so certain; but, 'as the Colonel 
 mentions no other Kentuckians except those under the 
 Captain, it is probable that such was the fact. In 
 a traditionary account (which is, of course, errone- 
 ous), it is stated that Kenton and one Haggin were 
 the only ones who went from Kentucky. See Collins's 
 Kentucky (ed. of 1877), p. 446, for this, as follows: 
 
 "Clark was organizing an expedition against Kas- 
 kaskia and invited as many of the settlers at Boones- 
 borough and Harrodsburg as desired to join him, 
 The times were so dangerous that the women, especi- 
 ally, in the stations objected to the men going on 
 such an expedition ; consequently to the great morti- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 579 
 
 fication of Clark, only Kenton and Haggin left the 
 stations to accompany him." 
 
 NOTE XXXVIII. 
 
 CONCERNING CAPTAIN LINN's JOURNEY DOWN THE 
 OHIO WITH A LETTER FOR CLARK GIVING INFOR- 
 MATION OF THE FRENCH ALLIANCE WITH 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Hall Speaks of Linn as having been "allured by 
 the kindred spirit of Clark and the prospects of 
 gathering laurels in a distant field," and gives these 
 as the reasons for his going down the Ohio with 
 Campbell's letter to Clark. Now, evidently, "a distant 
 field" refers to the Illinois ; but Linn, until he reached 
 Clark and the latter had divulged his secret, knew 
 nothing of the Colonel's real destination. It is highly 
 probable that Linn was sent by Campbell expressly to 
 convey the news to Clark and the Kentucky settlements 
 generally, of the French alliance. Butler intimates 
 (History of Kentucky, p. 50), basing his conclusion 
 upon what he supposes is the statement of Clark in 
 his Memoir (Dillon's Indiana, ed. of 1859, P- 122), 
 that the Colonel received the news while going down 
 the Ohio after leaving th^ island. It is evident, how- 
 ever, that ' such was not the case. The rapidity of 
 the Colonel's movement precludes this idea. 
 
 Campbell was a Continental officer: "They [the 
 'rebels'] intend erecting forts at the Falls and other 
 places on the Ohio to secure a communication down 
 the Mississippi. One John Campbell, of Fort Pitt, 
 
580 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 received a commission from the Cengress last winter 
 with orders to collect or raise men for that purpose." 
 — Hay to Brehm [Sept. — , 1778]. — Haldimand 
 MSS. 
 
 NOTE XXXIX. 
 
 FICTION OF CLARK HAVING SELECTED THE FALLS OF 
 
 THE OHIO AS A PLACE FOR A MILITARY POST 
 
 WHILE ON HIS EXPEDITION AGAINST THE 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 Butler {History of Kentucky, p. 49) declares that 
 Clark fixed upon the Falls as a more desirable posi- 
 tion for a fortification than the mouth of the Kentucky 
 (where, for some time after landing, he had thoughts 
 of "fortifying a post") not only because of its more 
 western locality but for the reason that there the 
 craft in the river trade would be compelled to stop 
 in order to prepare for the passage of the rapids, and 
 which without fortification would be much exposed 
 to the hostilities of the Indians. But there was no 
 river trade at that time. And it was far from the 
 ColoneFs intention to undertake, at that time, the 
 "fortifying of a post" anywhere on the Ohio, or even 
 to select a place for a fortification, to protect the pros- 
 pective river trade or the Kentucky settlements. 
 
 Roosevelt {The Winning of the West, vol. II, p. 
 39), in attempting to follow Butler, travels farther into 
 the realm of fiction: "This spot he [Clark] chose, 
 both because from it he could threaten and hold in 
 check the different Indfan tribes, and because he 
 deemed it wise to have some fort to protect in the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 581 
 
 future the craft that might engage in the river travel 
 when they stopped to prepare for the passage of the 
 
 rapids." 
 
 Another historian declares: ''On arriving with his 
 forces at the Falls of the Ohio, Colonel Clark took 
 possession of an island which contained about seven 
 acres. He divided this island among a small num- 
 ber of families, for whose protection he constructed 
 some light fortifications." [Dillon's Indiana, (ed. of 
 1859) p. 121.] The last half of this extract conveys 
 an erroneous impression, — the inference being that 
 the "light fortifications" were "constructed" solely for 
 the "small number of families" on the island. 
 
 "In 1778 . . . Gen. George Rogers Clark, 
 with a few families and adventurers located at the 
 Tails' [of the Ohio], which was then probably the 
 frontier settlement in 'the dark and bloody ground.' " 
 (Isaac Smucker, in The. American Historical Register, 
 vol. II, p. 60.) But Clark did not settle at the Falls 
 of the Ohio during that year. And the same writer 
 still further confuses matters by stating (p. 61) that 
 Clark settled permanently in Kentucky in 1776. 
 
 NOTE XL. 
 
 NUMBER OF CLARk's MEN ON LEAVING THE ISLAND. 
 
 As to the number of men under Clark who started 
 down the Ohio from the island, Captain Bowman, in 
 his letter to Hite, of July 30, 1778 says: "The force 
 consisted of about 170 or 180 men"; and the Virginia 
 governor, Patrick Henry, in his letter to the delegates 
 
oSJ HISTORY OF CLARK S COXQCEST, ETC. 
 
 in Congress from his state, of the fourteenth of No- 
 vember, following', says the same — at least by infer- 
 ence. [See this last mentioned letter in Butler's Ken- 
 tucky (2d ed.), p. 533: also, in Moses Coit Tyler's 
 Life of Patrick Henry, p. 230 : and in Henry's Patrick 
 Henry, vol. II, p. 16 and vol. Ill, p. 200: before cited. 
 See. too, George ^lason's Plan for Cession of the Ter- 
 ritory of the North'zvest to the United States, dated 
 July 2y, 1780 (Kate ^lason Rowland's Life of Mason, 
 vol. I. p. 365). ^lason says there were "about one 
 hundred and eighty" officers and men.] 
 
 Allowing- one hundred and fifty men as the num- 
 ber that came with Clark down the Ohio, and adding* 
 the twenty men wlio came to him and were put imder 
 Captain ^lontgomery, and the result is a force of one 
 himdred and seventy. There were, it is true, a few of 
 Dillard's men. those that did not desert, and six or 
 eight more who did. but were brought back : but from 
 these we must deduct the number left behind on the 
 island, as stajted in the next paragTaph in the text 
 and in the foot-note thereto. There could not have 
 been less, therefore, than 170 men and. probably, there 
 were a few more — in all. as stated in the text, about 
 180 including- officers. 
 
 It was afterward the positive declaration of Ken- 
 ton that Clark's force when it tinally left the island 
 amotmted to "one hundred and fifty-three fighting 
 men." (Compare ^IcDonald's Sketches, p. 219; 
 IMonnette's History of the Mississippi T^alley, vol. I, 
 p. 418, note.") But it is e^-ident his memory, in this 
 reo^ard, was at fault. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 58;] 
 
 NOTE XLL 
 
 AS TO THE FAMILIES AND SOLDIERS LEFT UPON THE 
 
 ISLAND. 
 
 "About twenty families that had followed me much 
 against my inclination 1 found now to be of service to 
 me in guarding a block-house that I had erected on 
 the island to secure my provisions." (Clark to Ma- 
 son — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 27. ) This 
 is calculated to mislead. Standing, as it does, alone, 
 without any reference to a detachment of soldiers 
 having been left on the island, the inference is, that 
 the men of these families were the only ones remaining 
 as guards for the post, which is error. The Colonel 
 had also forgotten that a number of the families had 
 gone into the settlements. 
 
 "We left ten or twelve families with a quantity of 
 provisions and a few men to guard them." — Bowman 
 to Hite. Some traditions give thirteen as the num- 
 ber of families left on the island. (See Marshall's 
 Kentucky, vol. I, p. 6y.) 
 
 The detail of soldiers was composed of Isaac 
 Ruddle, James Sherlock, Alexander Mclntyre, Wil- 
 liam Foster, Samuel Finley, Neal Doharty, and Isaac 
 McBride. (Durrett, in The Southern Bivonac, Jan., 
 1884.) 
 
 "Clark had weeded out all those whom he deemed 
 unable to stand fatigue and hardship ; his four little 
 companies were of picked men, each with a good 
 captain." (Roosevelt — The Winning of the West, 
 vol. II, p. 41.) But this conveys a wrong impres- 
 sion ; Clark simply left behind those he thought clearly 
 
584 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 unable to bear the toil which he was satisfified would 
 be the lot of all. 
 
 Tradition gives this description of the depository 
 and defensive work left by Clark on the island : 
 
 "The highest ground on the northwest corner . . . 
 was chosen for the site of the buildings. The huge 
 Cottonwood trees were felled, cut into sections and 
 split into large rails for making the walls of the 
 houses. Two rows of one-story double cabins, four in 
 each row, were erected, with a wide road between 
 them; one row facing the Indiana, the other the 
 Kentucky shore. On the eastern front of these were 
 erected two triple cabins, or cabins with three rooms 
 each ; so that the ground-plan of the whole was in 
 the form of an Egyptian cross. The buildings had 
 no floors and the roofs were of riven boards, held on 
 by skids. The doors were puncheons, with wooden 
 hinges, and the windows simply holes in the walls, 
 from which logs had been removed." And these 
 structures, with some picketing, formed the fort. 
 (Durrett.) 
 
 "From thence [that is, from the mouth of the 
 Great Kanawha]," wrote Captain Bowman (letter to 
 Hite), "we continued down to the Falls of the Ohio, 
 where we erected a small garrison upon an island." 
 This implies rather more than a mere depository for 
 provisions. It is probable that work continued on 
 the buildings for some time after Clark's departure. 
 Hamilton afterward wrote that, from what he could 
 learn, "it was very insignificant in its present state." 
 (Hamilton to Haldimand, Dec. 4, 1778.^ — Haldimand 
 ?vlSS.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 585 
 NOTE XLII. 
 
 CLARK LEAVES THE ISLAND FOR KASKASKIA. 
 
 Concerning Clark's starting from the island, and 
 of the eclipse of the sun which happened immediately 
 thereafter and of its effects upon the ignorant ones 
 of his force, much has been written. In his Memoir, 
 Clark says the eclipse caused various conjectures 
 among the superstitious of his men. Butler {History 
 of Kentucky, p. 50) follows the Memoir substantially: 
 "The next dav, when the sun was in a total eclipse, the 
 boats passed the Falls. This circumstance divided the 
 men in their prognostications, but not quite with the 
 terror and alarm we read of in ancient armies." But 
 Roosevelt (The Winning of the West, vol. II, p. 41) 
 improves on Clark: "On the 24th of June Clark's 
 boats put out from shore, and shot the falls at the 
 very moment that there was a great eclipse of the 
 sun, at which the frontiersmen wondered greatly, but 
 for the most part held it to be a good omen [the 
 italicising is mine]." 
 
 Bancroft [History of the United States (ed. of 
 1885), vol. V, p. 310] makes a confused statement 
 of Clark's leaving the island : 
 
 "On the day of an eclipse of the sun they ghded 
 over the falls of the Ohio, below which they were 
 'joined by a few Kentuckians' under John Mont- 
 gomery. On the twenty-sixth of June, Clark and his 
 companions, Virginians in the service of Virginia, 
 set off from the falls, and with oars double-manned, 
 proceeded night and day on their ever-memorable 
 enterprise." 
 
586 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 By this it will be seen that Bancroft supposed 
 Clark and his men "glided over the falls" before 
 stopping on the island ; and that they started for the 
 Illinois two days after the eclipse. 
 
 "About the 24th of June, he [Clark] commenced 
 his voyage down the river [from the island], after 
 communicating to his officers the object and design of 
 the expedition. 
 
 "Arrangements for additional supplies had been 
 made by the Federal authorities, through Captain 
 William Lynn and Captain James Willing, to be ob- 
 tained from the Spaniards in New Orleans for the 
 supply of all the posts in the region of the Ohio, as 
 well as for the expedition to the upper ^Mississippi." 
 (]\Ionnette's History of the Valley of the Mississippi, 
 vol. I, pp. 416, 417.) But, as we have seen, Clark 
 communicated not only to his officers but to the rank 
 and file "the object and design of the expedition" be- 
 fore leaving the island for Kaskaskia. Neither the 
 Federal nor the \"irginia authorities made any ar- 
 rangements through "Lynn" or \\^illing, for Clark's 
 expedition : — that is, for "the expedition to the upper 
 Mississippi." 
 
 NOTE XLIIL 
 
 Clark's erroneous assertion that he had 
 thoughts of first attacking vincennes. 
 
 "My force [on the island] being so small to what 
 I expected," are the words of Clark years after, 
 "owing to the various "circumstances already men- 
 tioned, I found it necessary to alter my plans of oper- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 587 
 
 ation. As Post Vincennes, at this time, was a town 
 of considerable force, consisting- of near four hundred 
 mihtia, with an Indian town adjoining,, and [with] 
 great numbers [of savages] continually in the neigh- 
 borhood, and in the scale of Indian affairs of more 
 importance than any other, I had thought of attacking 
 it first ; but now found I could by no means venture 
 near it. I resolved to begin my career in the Illinois, 
 where there were more inhabitants, but scattered in 
 different villages, and less danger of being imme- 
 diately overpowered by the Indians : in case of nec- 
 essity, we could probably make our retreat to the 
 Spanish side of the Mississippi, but if successful, we 
 might pave our way to the possession of the Post 
 Vincennes. 
 
 "I had fully acquainted myself that the French 
 inhabitants in those western settlements had great in- 
 fluence among the Indians in general and were more 
 beloved by them than any other Europeans ; that their 
 commercial intercourse was universal throughout the 
 western and northwestern countries ; and that the 
 governing interest on the lakes was mostly in the 
 hands of the English, who were not much beloved by 
 them. These, and many other ideas similar thereto, 
 caused me to resolve, if possible, to strengthen myself 
 by such train of conduct as might probably attach 
 the French inhabitants to our interest, and give us 
 influence at a greater distance than the country we 
 were aiming for." Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana 
 (ed. of 1859), P- 122. But it could not have been that 
 Clark, on the island, changed his "plans of operation." 
 He was on his way to Kaskaskia direct, before he 
 descended the Ohio at all ; and this plan to have de- 
 
588 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 viated from, and first to have marched against Vin- 
 cennes, would have been certainly, in violation of his 
 Private Instructions. As to what Clark says about 
 the influence of the French with the Indians and as 
 to their commercial intercourse throughout the North- 
 west, — it is probable he drew on subsequent infor- 
 mation, largely, for that ; so, also, as to the govern- 
 ing interest on the lakes being mostly in the hands 
 of the English, who were not much beloved by the 
 savages. 
 
 "Colonel Clark for some time meditated a blow 
 against St. Vincennes [Vincennes], but on reviewing 
 his little body ... he determined to prosecute the 
 original object of his expedition. The facility of re- 
 treat to the Spanish possessions, as well as the more 
 dispersed state of the French settlements in the Illi- 
 nois, as it was called, seem to have had great weight 
 in this selection. To this was added a hope that he 
 might attach the French to the American interest, 
 whose influence over the Indians throughout these 
 extensive territories was strengthened by time, and 
 maintained by a tact and versatility which have been 
 undiminished for two centuries." (Butler's Kentucky, 
 p. 50.) It will be seen that that writer entirely over- 
 looks the Private Instructions given by Gov. Henry 
 to Clark, which he publishes in full on p. 395 of his 
 history (ed. of 1834). Nor is there any evidence ex- 
 tant, that, in any oral instructions given by Governor 
 Henry to the Colonel, the latter was authorized to 
 attack Vincennes before going to Kaskaskia. "I was 
 ordered to attack the Illinois/' are the words of Clark 
 to Mason (Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 23), 
 and ''in case of success, to carry my arms to any 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 589 
 
 quarter I pleased [the italicising is mine]." And see, 
 also, pp. 31 and 32 of the same work. 
 
 It is clear that the clause in the Memoir, there- 
 fore, which we have quoted, is mostly erroneous. The 
 writer, who, of all others, has builded most upon these 
 errors is E. A. Bryan, in his article, "Indiana's First 
 Settlement," in Magamne of A\inerican History, 
 vol. XXL 
 
 NOTE XLIV. 
 
 AS TO THE HUNTERS CAPTURED BY CLARK; ALSO CON- 
 CERNING FORT MASSAC. 
 
 ''He [Clark] doubled-manned his oars and rowed 
 night and day until he reached a small island off the 
 mouth of the Tennessee, where he halted to make his 
 final preparations, and was there joined by a little 
 party of American hunters, [the italicismg is mine]." 
 (Roosevelt, in The Winning of the West, vol. II, pp. 
 41, 42.) But it is evident the island was not off 
 the mouth of the Tennessee (i. e., in the Ohio), but 
 in that river. As to these hunters being ''American" 
 in sentiment — that is not altogether certain. Clark in 
 his letter td Mason says they "appeared to be in our 
 interest" ; nevertheless, he required them to take the 
 oath of allegiance. They having just come from Kas- 
 kaskia, is a circumstance militating against the idea 
 of their being in favor of the independence of America, 
 even though they formerly came, as Clark says in 
 his Memoir they did, "from the States." However, 
 they now resolved, possibly from a love of adventure, 
 to cast their lot with Clark. 
 
590 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Roosevelt, also, same volume, (p. 42), in attempt- 
 ing to follow Clark's Memoir travels outside of it 
 in stating that Rocheblave's militia were not only 
 well drilled but "in constant readiness to repel attack" ; 
 and that ''the Indians and the coureurs des hois were 
 warned to be on the look-out for any American force." 
 In view of the fact that some of the Illinois hunters 
 were English, the substitution of "coureurs des bois" 
 for the word "hunters" is of course absurd. 
 
 A writer in The North American Review, vol. 
 XLIII, (July, 1836), p. 15, already cited, adds to 
 what is said by Clark in his Memoir as to his deter- 
 mination to improve upon the information received of 
 the hunters, in these words : 
 
 ''Colonel Clark saw, that by wisely managing this 
 prejudice [which he was told by the hunters existed 
 in the Illinois against Americans], and the informa- 
 tion he had received on the [Ohio] river, of the treaty 
 between France and the United States, he might be 
 able to secure the assistance of the French; without 
 this he could have little hope of ultimate success." 
 
 "Clark had a hard winter's work in enlisting men, 
 but at length, in May, 1778, having collected a flotilla 
 of boats and a few pieces of light artillery, he started 
 from Pittsburg with 180 picked riflemen, and rowed 
 swiftly down the Ohio river a thousand miles to its 
 junction with the Mississippi." — ^ Fiske : The Amer- 
 ican Revolution, vol. II, p. 105. That was about sixty 
 miles farther upon the river than the Colonel actually 
 rowed, as already shown. He did not reach the Mis- 
 sissippi by about that distance, As to artillery, Clark 
 took none down the Ohio, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 591 
 
 Fort Massac was on the north side of the Ohio, 
 ten miles below the mouth of the Tennessee river. Its 
 official name — giyen by the French when they built it 
 and who then occupied the valley of the Ohio — was 
 "rAssomption." It was erected in 1756 (some writers 
 claim it was only strengthened, and was built much 
 earlier) to counteract the building, by the English, 
 of Fort London on the upper waters of the Tennessee. 
 A description of the fort is in the Archives of the 
 Marine, Paris, France. (See Douglas Brymner's Re- 
 port on Canadian 'Archives, 1887, p. ccxviii.) It was, 
 of course, unoccupied at date of Clark's visit. For 
 additional mention of this fortification, see N. Y. Colo- 
 nial Documents, vol. X, p. 1092; Monnette's Mis- 
 sissippi Valley, vol. I, p. 317; Pownalls' Topographical 
 Description of the Middle British Colonies, pp. 3, 5 ; 
 Bouquet's Expedition (Cincinnati: Robert Clark & 
 Co's reprint, 1868) p. 143; Hutchin's Topographical 
 Description of Va., etc., p. 12 ; Washburn's Edwards 
 Papers, p. 55 ; Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 28; 
 Scharf's St. Louis, vol. I, p. 71. Consult, also, Collot's 
 Journey in North America; McBride's Pioneer Bio- 
 graphy, vol. II ; and Nicollet's Report. In subsequent 
 years, the fortification was occupied by U. S. troops, 
 for a time. 
 
 NOTE XLV. 
 
 Clark's route from the ohio to kaskaskia. 
 
 Both in his letter to Mason {Clark's Campaign in 
 the IllinQis, p, 29) and in his Memoir (Dillon's 
 
592 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Indiana, p. 124) Clark speaks of starting- in a north- 
 west course : ''took a route to the northwest" — ''set 
 out [in J a northwest course" (not in a northeast 
 direction, as some writers affirm). 
 
 The distance from where the Colonel left the Ohio 
 lo Kaskaskia is given by Rochehlave as sixty leagues 
 (see his letter to Carleton of August 3, 1778, from the 
 Ilaldimand MSS., in Mason's Early Chicago and Ill- 
 inois, p. 418). These were French leagues — two and 
 four-tenths miles each — making the whole e(|ual to 
 one liiindri'd .iiid forty-four miles. 
 
 Clark did nol, as many have supposed, follow the 
 "(jid I 'oil Massac trail" leading to Kaskaskia and Fort 
 (!hartres. This trace, at that time, had, in some places, 
 from disuse, wholly disappeared. 
 
 1 1 to(jk the hTencli four days brisk travel on horse- 
 back lo go from Fort Massac to Kaskaskia by that 
 Irail. This trace is distinctly laid down on Thomas 
 I liil( bins' New Map of the Western Parts of Virginia, 
 Pennsy/rania," etc., London, 1778. 
 
 "A military road," says an early Illinois writer, 
 "was opened and marked, each mile on a tree, from 
 Massac to Kaskaskia. Idie numbers of the miles were 
 cut in ci])hers with an iron and painted red. Such 
 I saw there in 1800. This road made a great curve to 
 till' north to avoid the swanps and rough country on 
 the sources of Cash river, and also to obtain the prairie 
 country as soon as possible. This road was first made 
 by the French when they had dominion of the country 
 and was called the Old Alassac road" [by the Ameri- 
 cans]. — John Reynolds | '///(' Pioneer History of 
 Illinois, p. 281 (ed. of i8S7)|. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S COA'QUllST, ETC, &93 
 
 it is evident that the description of this ro:\(\ as 
 sjiven l>v Reynolds does not agree with what Clark 
 sa\s as lo his rcuite in so far as niarkini; trees is con- 
 cerned, after ahoiit lifty miles — when he reached 
 "level plains;" ihal is. the prairies. Ol course, there 
 were no trees to he l\unul "'each niile," to be marked, 
 as the Illinois author describes. Mis own statement 
 immediately after, disproves this, as the route "made 
 a i^reat bend to the north . , . to obtain the prairie 
 country as soon as possible." 
 
 Some writers of Western history slate that the 
 route taken by Clark was wholly a new one. One ol 
 these historians (John Aloses, in his Illinois, vol. 1, p. 
 148) has the followino-: "Kaskaskia . the objective 
 point, was one hundred ami twenty miles awa\ and 
 the hitherto untrodden nnUe lay throui;h wilderness 
 and swamp." lu'iilently this is error, as "mUrodden" 
 her«.> applies to the entiie distance, and we have Clark s 
 statement (by inference) that the last part was alono- 
 tlu^ "hunters' road" | Oillon's hhliaiiii (ed. of l85()). 
 \oc. cit. I 
 
 knfiis r.lanchard {^History of Illinois, to .Ici-oin^ 
 pony an llistoriail Map of the Stafi\ pi>. 121, 122) 
 savs: "The trail of Georj^'e Roj^-ers Clark from luut 
 Massac to Kaskaskia marks an epoch in American 
 history of transcendeiU import. It passed close by the 
 present site of Marion |lllinois|. and afterward be- 
 came a well freipiented trail between (K^lconda and 
 Kaskaskia." Mr. lUanchard also has laid lUnvn on 
 the mai> accompany inj;- his "History," the supposed 
 •Hrail." 
 
 Rut Clark and the few men constitutino- his force, 
 all on foot as thev were and traveling- the last of lime 
 38 
 
594 HISTORY OF, CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and the first days of July, left no signs behind them, 
 after the prairie country was reached, that could be 
 relied upon as pointing out subsequently their route 
 to the "hunters' road." If, therefore, we are to con- 
 sider what Blanchard marks, to be the route, never- 
 theless it must be wholly an imaginary one after about 
 fifty miles from the Ohio, until the "hunters' road" 
 is reached; and just where that was, is unknown. 
 
 An early Kentucky historian says : 
 
 "The route to be pursued from this place [where he 
 (Clark) hid his boats] lay in a direction somewhat to 
 the north of west through a low, uncultivated region, 
 interspersed with ponds of various dimensions — 
 with the geography and general character of which, 
 Colonel Clark was not unacquainted. At the head of 
 his regiment, he took up his line of march, on foot, 
 with a rifle in his hand and his provisions on his back." 
 f Marshall's Kentucky, vol. I, p. Gy.) 
 
 Another Western writer gives this relation con- 
 cerning the route: 
 
 "He [Clark] was now [at the point where he hid 
 his boats] distant from Kaskaskia about one hundred 
 and thirty miles, and the intervening country — with 
 which the writer is familiarly acquainted — must have 
 been at that period, when in a state of nature, almost 
 impassable." (Hall: The Romance of Western His- 
 tory, p. 295.) 
 
 See further as to mention of the route from the 
 Ohio to Kaskaskia, the next Note of this Appendix. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 595 
 
 NOTE XLVI. • 
 
 CONCERNING CLARK^S TROUBLE WITH HIS GUIDE IN 
 MARCHING FROM THE OHIO TO KASKASKIA. 
 
 The statement by Clark in his Memoir concerning 
 the difficulty he had with his guide is that he asked 
 him (Saunders) various questions, and from his an- 
 swers he could scarcely determine what to think of 
 him; — whether he was lost or was attempting to de- 
 ceive. The cry of the men was that he was a traitor. 
 He begged that he might be suffered to go some dis- 
 tance into a prairie that was in full view, to try and 
 make some discovery whether or not he was right. 'T 
 told him [Saunders]," says Clark, ''he might go, but 
 that I was suspicious of him from his conduct ; that, 
 from the first day of his being employed, he always said 
 he knew the way well ; that there was now a different 
 appearance; that I saw the nature of the country was 
 such that a person once acquainted with it, could not 
 in a short time forget it; that a few men should go 
 with him to prevent his escape ; and that if he did not 
 discover, and take us into, the hunters' road that led 
 from the east into Kaskaskia, which he had frequently 
 described, I would have him immediately put to death, 
 which I was determined to have done; but after a 
 search of an hour or two he came to a place that he 
 knew perfectly, and we discovered that the poor fellow 
 had been, as they call it, bewildered." The only vari- 
 ance of any note in this account with that given by 
 Clark to Mason is where he speaks of letting Saunders 
 go in search of the hunters' road having with him a 
 few men. 
 
596 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Bancroft [History of the United States (ed. of 
 1885), vol. V, p. 311] says: 
 
 Apprised of the condition of Kaskaskia by a band 
 of hunters, Clark ran his boats into a creek a mile 
 above Fort Massac, reposed there but for a night, and 
 struck across the hills to the great prairie. On the 
 treeless plain his party 'in all about one hundred and 
 eighty' could be seen for miles around by nations of 
 Indians, able to fall on them with three times their 
 number ; yet they were in the highest spirits, and he 
 felt as never again in his life a flow of rage/ an in- 
 tensity of will, a zeal for action." 
 
 These words convey several erroneous ideas, some 
 directly ; others by inference : ( i ) that, because of 
 the information received from the band of hunters, 
 Clark ran his boats into a creek a mile above Fort 
 Massac; (2) that he struck across the hills (by infer- 
 ence near the Ohio) to the great prairie; (3) that the 
 nations of Indians in the country around could muster 
 about three times as many as Clark's men and, would 
 do so if they knew of his coming; (4) that Clark's 
 flow of rage was against the British and their Indian 
 allies. 
 
 Clark intended zuhen he left the island to strike 
 across the country from a point at or near the site of 
 Fort Massac. He did not reach the great prairie for 
 fifty miles after leaving the Ohio. The various In- 
 dian nations within striking distance had not generally 
 taken up the hatchet against the Americans. And 
 Clark's rage was only against his guide. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 597 
 
 NOTE XLVII. 
 
 THE SUFFERING FROM HUNGER OF CLARK's FORCE 
 ON THE MARCH. 
 
 It is altogether certain that Clark expected to reach 
 Kaskaskia after leaving the Ohio, in four days and 
 had only taken along provisions for that length of 
 time; but, as his journey was protracted to six days, 
 the last two were days of fasting. 
 
 In his Memoir, Clark says : "The weather was 
 favorable; in some parts water was scarce, as well as 
 game ; of course we suffered drought and hunger, but 
 not to excess." (Dillon's Indiana, ed. of 1859, p. 
 124.) But as Bowman in his letter to Hite, cited in 
 the text, wrote only a few weeks after the march, his 
 recollection would be vivid as to the hunger ; and 
 he plainly indicates that it caused considerable distress. 
 In his letter to Mason, Clark is silent upon the subject. 
 A recent writer says : 
 
 "On the evening of the fourth of July, weary, foot- 
 sore and hungry, Colonel Clark and his little army 
 came within sight of Kaskaskia. Only the river flowed 
 between them and the fort, of which they hoped soon 
 to take possession." [Mary Cone, in "The Expedition 
 and Conquests of General George Rogers Clarke, in 
 1778-9": Magasine of Western History, vol. II. (May, 
 1885). p. 143]. But Clark does not say that, at their 
 first halt, they were in sight of Kaskaskia as this ex- 
 tract implies ; it is evident they were not; nor had they 
 yet reached the river Kaskaskia. But this lady truly 
 affirms, "the river flowed between them and the fort, 
 of which they hoped soon to take possession." That 
 
598 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 fortification was Fort Gage; and Clark and his army 
 were on the east side of the stream. (See next note 
 in this Appendix.) 
 
 NOTE XLVIIL 
 
 AS TO THE CROSSING OF THE KASKASKIA RIVER^ THE 
 
 LOCATION OF FORT GAGE AND ITS CAPTURE, AND 
 
 THE TAKING OF THE TOWN. 
 
 The language of Clark both in his letter to Mason 
 and in his Memoir plainly indicates that after reaching 
 the Kaskaskia, it was the next step to secure boats for 
 the Colonel and his men — not a part of them — to 
 cross over the river to the town. A recent writer 
 (Mary Cone) truthfully says: 
 
 "They waited under cover until darkness, whose 
 friendly hand should spread its veil over the scene and 
 conceal them from the eyes of the enemy. When the 
 shades of night had thickened so as to render them in- 
 visible they marched to a farm-house which was less 
 than a mile from the fort and making the family 
 prisoners, took possession of the house. Here they 
 found boats to cross the river, and, having crossed in 
 silence and stillness, they took up their line of march 
 for the fort. They approached so noiselessly that 
 neither the town, nor the fort was aware of his com- 
 ing." {Magazine of Western History, article "George 
 Rogers Clark," vol. IL) 
 
 Butler (History of Kentucky, p. 52) erroneously 
 writes : 
 
 "A sufficient quantity of boats for transportation 
 of the troops was soon procured ; two divisions of the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 599 
 
 party crossed the river with orders to repair to different 
 parts of the town, while Colonel Clark, with the third 
 division took possession of the fort . . , on this 
 [the east] side of the river in point blank shot of the 
 town." Here, for the first time, Butler refuses to fol- 
 low Clark's Memoir ; but the latter is correct in this 
 regard, and Butler is in error. 
 
 Reynolds {Pioneer History of Illinois (ed. of 1887, 
 P- 93) goes still farther astray: 
 
 "Two parties were to cross the Kaskaskia river and 
 the other was to remain on the east side so as to cap- 
 ture the town and fort at the same time. The fearless 
 Captain Helm commanded the troops [which were] 
 to cross the river and take the village; while Clark 
 himself commanded the other wing to capture the fort. 
 Boats and canoes were procured to cross the river." 
 
 The importance attached to the exact location of 
 Fort Gage, and the fact that it is a matter of contro- 
 versy, justify the bringing forward proofs that are at 
 command — all showing unmistakably that it was not 
 on the east side of the Kaskaskia, but on the west side, 
 and in the village. Until a late date, this fort, ever 
 since the Revolution, has been by all writers of West- 
 ern history (as well as by tradition) confounded with 
 the fort built by the French — ■ the same which pre- 
 vious to its destruction by fire in 1766, stood upon the 
 east bank of the Kaskaskia river. 
 
 "It is now [1887] the popular belief of the resi- 
 dents in the vicinity and it has been the positive state- 
 ment of all writers on the subject [except that of Mary 
 Cone, in the Magazine of Western History, vol. H, 
 p. 153] that the fort in which Colonel Clark captured 
 Rocheblave was on the high bluff opposite the town, 
 
600 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 where there is still abundant evidence that a fort once 
 existed, and now is known by the name of 'Fort Gage,"* 
 The spot is daily pointed out to visitors as perhaps the 
 most noted locality in the Western country. During 
 the past year [1886] a historical painting (40 x 30 
 feet), illustrating Col. Clark's capture of Kaskaskia 
 has been placed on the walls of the State House at 
 Springfield, 111. In the centre of the picture is the site 
 of the old fort on the bluff, and near it stands the 
 Jesuit church. In the foreground is Col. Clark 
 addressing a council of Indians." (William Frederick 
 Poole, in "The West," in Winsor's Narrative and 
 Critical History of America, vol. VI, p. 719 n.) 
 
 In a criticism upon Mary Cone's assertion that the 
 fort was upon the west side of the river — -that "only 
 the river [Kaskaskia] flowed between them [Clark and 
 his men] and the fort of which they hoped soon to 
 take possession" — Mr. John Moses (in the same 
 Magazine, vol II, pp. 268, 269) says : "But the river 
 did not flow between the Colonel and the fort. Fort 
 Gage was on the left or eastern side of the river, which 
 'flowed' between it and the village [of Kaskaskia]. 
 And so was Colonel Clark. Now it might not make 
 much dift'erence to any one at the present time to 
 place the great Caesar on the wrong side of the Rubi- 
 con, so far off, and which he crossed so long ago, but 
 to place Washington on the wrong side of the Dela- 
 ware, or Colonel George Rogers Clark on the wrong 
 side of the Kaskaskia, will hardly be permitted with- 
 out objection and complaint." But Mr. Moses soon 
 changed his views on the subject; for, in his Illinois, 
 vol. I, p. 151, he ingeniously writes: "There is no evi- 
 dence, indeed, that Col. Clark ever occupied the old 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 601 
 
 fort on the hill [on the cast side of the Kaskaskia]"; 
 — a safe proposition as there was no fort there to be 
 occupied, nor had there been for twelve years prior 
 to Clark's appearance. 
 
 "It [the French fort] was an oblongular quad- 
 rangle," wrote one who visited Kaskaskia a short time 
 after its destruction, ''290 by 251 feet" and was built 
 of very thick squared timber. "An officer and twenty 
 men [British]," he adds, "are quartered in the vil- 
 lage."'^ An account written before the British took 
 possession of the Illinois — that is, before 1765, says: 
 
 "Two leagues up this [the Kaskakia] river, on the 
 left, is the settlement of the Kaskasquias [Kaskaskia] 
 which is the most considerable of the Illinois. There 
 is a fort built upon the height on the other side of the 
 river, over against Kaskasquias; which, as the river 
 is narrow, commands and protects the town. I don't 
 know how many guns there may be, nor how many 
 men it may contain. There may be about 400 inhabit- 
 ants [in the town]."t 
 
 The site of the old fort (which fortification never 
 had any specific name, it being designated, along with 
 the tovv^n, simply as "the Kaskasquias") was 500 yards 
 from the river, and after being burned down, as just 
 mentioned, was not rebuilt, although a plan "which 
 would cost a good deal of money," was submitted to 
 General Haldimand in 1767, for a new one.$ 
 
 * Pittman : Present State of the European Settlements on 
 the Mississippi, loc. cit. 
 
 ■\ Bouquet's Expedition against the Ohio Indians, pp. 
 145, 146. 
 
 J Haldimand to Gage, April 31 [30 ?], 1767, from Pensa- 
 cola — Haldimand MSS. : "L't. Pittman has arrived from 
 
602 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The French fort (that is, the fort which was on the 
 east side of the Kaskaskia river previous to 1766) 
 must have had an Enghsh garrison only a short time, 
 as it was burned the next year after the British took 
 possession of the lUinois.* It is not a little remark- 
 able that a citizen of Illinois, who, as early as 1800, 
 resided in Kaskaskia, should have left this record: 
 "The English government [in 1772] abandoned Fort 
 Chartres and established its authority at Fort Gage, 
 on the bluff east of Kaskaskia." [Reynolds: My 
 Own Times (ed. of 1879), p. 31.] Again: The Brit- 
 ish garrison occupied Fort Gage, which stood on the 
 Kaskaskia river bluffs opposite the village." [Pioneer 
 History (ed. of 1887), p. 81.] He adds: "This fort 
 continued the headquarters of the British while they 
 possessed the country. Fort Gage was built of large 
 square timbers and was an oblong, measuring 290 by 
 251 feet. There were in this fort, in the year 1772 an 
 officer and twenty soldiers. In the village of Kaskas- 
 kia there were two French companies organized and 
 in good discipline ready to march at a moment's warn- 
 ing." And in reference to Clark's movements when 
 the Colonel reached the stream his words are (p. 94) : 
 "Two parties crossed the river; the other party re- 
 mained with Colonel Clark to attack the fort." 
 
 The declaration in Butler's Kentucky (p. 52) that 
 two divisions [of Clark's force] crossed the river, while 
 
 Illinois; sends the plan of a fort to cost a good deal of 
 money." 
 
 * Mr. Moses, in his Illinois, vol. I, pp. 149-151, supposes 
 that the fort built by the French, was, after its occupation by 
 the British, known as "Fort Gage." But the words of Hamil- 
 ton to Carleton, June 26, 1777, hereafter given in this Note, 
 imply the contrary. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 603 
 
 Clark with the third division took possession of the 
 fort on this [the east] side of the river, in point-blank 
 shot of the town," is an error which may be found re- 
 peated, with slight variations or additions in many 
 works of Western history. It may also be stated that 
 Blanchard, in his Historical Map of Illinois which is 
 attached to his History of Illinois (Chicago: 1883), 
 marks Fort Gage erroneously on the east side of the 
 Kaskaskia — making it identical with the position 
 formerly occupied by the French fort. 
 
 It may be said here that Clark's Memoir when pub- 
 lished in Dillon's Indiana and his letter to Mason when 
 printed by Robert Clark & Co., were both calculated 
 to direct public attention to the fact that the fort cap- 
 tured by Clark (Fort Gage) was not on the east side 
 of the Kaskaskia ; nevertheless, Mary Cone's article in 
 the Magamne of Western History, already cited, gave 
 it such prominence as to awaken, for the Urst time, 
 the spirit of inquiry concerning its true location ; and 
 this, under the intelligent examination of William 
 Frederick Poole, soon determined not only that the 
 fortification was on the zvest side, but that it was the 
 real "Fort Gage." 
 
 "The fort, in which resided the commandant. . . 
 stood on the western bank of the stream." (Coleman, 
 in Harper's Magazine, vol. XXII, p. 790.) This is 
 true as to the fort ; but he complicates matters by add- 
 ing that it was "opposite to and within point-blank 
 range of the town ;" while, as already mentioned, it 
 was actually in Kaskaskia. 
 
 There are several statements in Clark's letter to 
 Mason and in his Memoir, referring to events which 
 transpired subsequent to his capture of Fort Gage, 
 
604 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 which clearly show it to have been located in Kaskas- 
 kia. - Other authorities are not wanting proving beyond 
 a peradventure that such was its position."^ 
 
 It was about the middle of the eighteenth century 
 that the Jesuits built the stone building in Kaskaskia, 
 known as their seminary, or college. But their order 
 was suppressed in France and its colonies in 1763, and 
 their property confiscated to the Crown. What they 
 were possessed of in and near Kaskaskia consisted of 
 two hundred acres of cultivated land, a very good 
 stock of cattle, and a brewery. They had, too, their 
 college in the southeast portion of the village, while 
 their church edifice (also of stone) was near the center, 
 both of which, considering the out-of-the-way region 
 in which they had been erected, made "a very good 
 appearance." Such of the property of the Jesuits as 
 was needed for public use was retained, and the re- 
 mainder sold. 
 
 [Philip Pittman's Present State of the European 
 Settlements on the Mississippi (London: 1770), p. 43. 
 Compare William Frederick Poole's article "The 
 West," in Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of 
 America, vol. VI, pp. 719-722.] One portion not dis- 
 posed of was the college building and grounds, and it 
 was this edifice that was afterward fortified and named 
 "Fort Gage," as the following extracts sufiiciently 
 prove : 
 
 "Fort Gage — the Jesuits' House at Kaskaskia — 
 [was] so named by Captain Lord of the Royal Irish, 
 who, in 1772, surrounded it with stockades 15 feet 
 
 * Among these are the Letter of Captain Bowman to Hite 
 (before cited) and "Bowman's Journal" (hereafter to be 
 described). 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 605 
 
 high. It is in the town of Kaskaskia." (Hamilton 
 to Carleton, June 26, 1777: Haldimand MSS.) 
 
 "I must inform- you that the roof of the houst of 
 the fort, which is of shingles, is entirely rotten, being 
 made twenty-five years ago, and that it rains in ever}' 
 where, although I am continually patching it up. If 
 there is much longer delay in putting on a new roof, 
 a house which cost more than forty thousand piasters 
 to the Jesuits will be lost." (Rocheblave to Carleton, 
 February 18, 1778.) 
 
 Subsequently to' the captain of Fort Gage — that is 
 in June, 1779 — De Peyster at Michilimackinac, wrote j 
 
 "The Kaskaskias no ways fortified; the fort being 
 still a sorry picketted enclosure round the Jesuits' col- 
 lege." 
 
 The words of Clark that he "broke into the fort," 
 make it certain that some obstacle was overcome in 
 getting inside; — that he did not enter "by a. western 
 gate that had been left open," as stated by Mann Butler 
 in his "Valley of the Ohio." in The Western Journal, 
 vol. XII, p. 167. And in his History of Kentucky, 
 (p. 53), Butler also says: 
 
 "The fort was taken ; Clark entered it by 'a postern 
 gate left open on the river side of the fortification,' 
 which was 'shown by a hunting soldier, v/ho had been 
 taken prisoner the evening before.' (Judge David 
 Todd, of Missouri, obligingly communicated this cii- 
 cumstance from the papers of the late General Levi 
 Todd, who acted as aid to Colonel Clark." 
 
 Upon this subject, Bowman, in his letter to Hite, 
 is silent. He only says : "About midnight we marched 
 into the town without being discovered; our object was 
 
606 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, ' 
 
 the fort, which we soon got possession of." — Almon's 
 Remembrancer (1779), vol. VIII, p. 82. 
 
 The honor of being the first one of Clark's men to 
 enter the fort is claimed for John Todd : 
 
 ''The following year [1778] he [Todd] accom- 
 panied George Rogers Clark in his expedition to the 
 Illinois and was the first man to enter Fort Gage at 
 Kaskaskia when it was taken from the British." . . . 
 [Mason's Illinois in the Eighteenth Century, p. 51. 
 See likewise, Davidson and Struve's Illinois, p. 202]. 
 Compare, also, that writer's article in Magazine of 
 American History, vol. VIII, p. 587 and his Early 
 Chicago and Illinois, p. 286, already referred to. (But 
 whether John Todd was in the army at all, doing ser- 
 vice under Clark, will hereafter be considered.) 
 
 Some Western writers have asserted that, at its 
 capture, Fort Gage was occupied by a considerable 
 force and that all, with Rocheblave, were made prison- 
 ers ; but this is error. 
 
 In the Magazine of Western History, vol. II, p. 
 144, Mary Cone, in her article on the "Expedition and 
 Conquest of George Rogers Clarke" says that "the 
 garrison was well prepared for resistance." This is 
 successfully criticised by John Aloses in the same peri- 
 odical (vol. iii, p. 269) : "There was no garrison to 
 speak of there." What the first mentioned writer 
 says, is this : "The garrison was well prepared for 
 resistance, and but for the suddenness and unexpected- 
 ness of the attack together with their ignorance in re- 
 gard to the very small number of the attacking force, 
 the taking of the fort would apparently have been im- 
 possible." But, from what is known of Clark's subse- 
 quent valor and of that of his men, under conditions 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 607 
 
 similar to what would have existed had his coming 
 been known to Rocheblave, it is not very apparent that 
 he would not have captured the fort. 
 
 Tradition has erroneously given Simon Kenton 
 credit for leading a detachment into the fort and cap- 
 turing Rocheblave. The substance of this tradition is 
 that Colonel Clark, leading his column, was conducted 
 silently by a guide he had captured, through a postern 
 gate into the open fort, and while with his sturdy 
 warriors he surrounded the sleeping garrison and con- 
 trolled the defenses of the post, the fearless Simon 
 Kenton at the head of a file of men, advanced softly 
 to the apartment of the commander. While quietly 
 reposing by his wife, he was aroused by a gentle 
 touch, only to behold his own captivity, and to order 
 the unconditional surrender of the fort and its defend- 
 ers. (See for this fiction and more, Hall's Sketches 
 of the West, vol. II, pp. ii8, 119; Butler's Kentucky, 
 p. 53 ; Monnette's History of the Mississippi Valley, 
 vol. I, p. 418; Magazine of Western History, vol. Ill, 
 p. 269.) 
 
 That Kenton was the first man to enter Fort Gage 
 is not impossible, though improbable ; and it is certain 
 he did not lead any detachment against the fort. 
 Clark's own words show the fallacy of that assertion : 
 "With the other [division] / broke into the fort [the 
 italicising is mine]". 
 
 Another version of the tradition is, that a Pennsyl- 
 vanian had just been captured in one of the houses, 
 "who entertained but little affection for the English 
 name" and who cheerfully acted as guide to Kenton's 
 detachment. But it is clear no house in Kaskaskia 
 was entered before Clark "broke into the fort.'* 
 
608 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 One among the earliest of Illinois historians helps 
 to perpetuate the Kenton error : 
 
 "Simon Kenton was with Colonel Clark in the cam- 
 paign of 1778 to Kaskaskia and headed a party on the 
 night of the 4th of July of that year, who entered 
 Fort Gage and captured Lieut.-Governor Rocheblave 
 in his bed." [Reynolds, Pioneer History of Illinois 
 (ed. of 1887), p. 87.] 
 
 But this is not all the fiction that has found its way 
 into print concerning incidents said to have transpired 
 at the time Clark captured Fort Gage. We quote: 
 
 "The night on which his [Clark's] little party from 
 Kentucky reached the Kaskaskia river at Menard's 
 Gap, they saw, on the opposite bank, the Jesuits' sem- 
 inary lighted up, and heard issuing from it the sounds 
 of the violin. Clark, leaving his horses and most of 
 his men on the eastern side, waded across at the warm 
 ford. It was a ball given by the British officers to 
 the French inhabitants. He placed one of his men 
 quietly at each door, ouside, with orders to let none 
 pass. He himself, wrapped in his blanket capot, his 
 arms folded, leaning against the door-cheek, looked 
 in upon the dance. An Indian who lay on the floor 
 of the entry, intently gazing at his features in the light 
 reflected from the room, suddenly sprang to his feet 
 and gave the war-whoop. The dancing ceased, the 
 ladies screamed, and the Frenchmen rushed to the door. 
 Clark, without moving from his position., or changing 
 his grave expression, desired them to go on with the 
 dance. 'The only difference is', said he, 'you now 
 dance under Virginia, instead of Great Britain.' At 
 day-light he and his mounted men were opposite to 
 Fort Chartres, on the crest of the bluff, and by march- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 609 
 
 ing along its profile so as to be seen from the fort, 
 countermarching out of sight and again showing them- 
 selves in a continuous file, his force appeared so large 
 that the much more numerous enemy capitulated with- 
 out a shot." From a Memoir of Ehenezer Denny, by 
 William H. Denny, prefixed to the Military Journal 
 of the former, in the Memoirs of the Historical 
 Society of Pennsylvania, vol. VII. pp. 217, 218.) 
 That this ridiculous story should have been inspired 
 by Clark himself would indeed be beyond belief were 
 it not that there is sufficient reason showing such to be 
 the fact. (See Note CLI of this Appendix, third 
 paragraph.) 
 
 That the Colonel crossed the Kaskaskia river be- 
 fore reaching the fort — ''the Jesuits' seminary," is 
 the only reliable statement in the whole story. 
 
 A recent writer in combining a small portion of 
 the Kenton fiction with a large part of the erroneous 
 relation last given, says : 
 
 "Inside the fort the lights were lit, and through 
 the windows came the sounds of violins. The officers 
 of the post had given a ball, and the mirth-loving 
 Creoles, young men and girls, were dancing and revell- 
 in^r within, while the sentinels had left their posts. 
 One of his captives showed Clark a postern gate by 
 the river-side, and through this he entered the fort, 
 having placed his men round about at the entrance. 
 Advancing to the great hall where the revel was held, 
 he leaned silently with folded arms against the door- 
 post, looking at the dancers. An Indian, lying on the 
 floor of the entry, gazed intently on the stranger's face 
 as the light from the torches within flickered across 
 it, and suddenly sprang to his feet uttering the un- 
 39 
 
610 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 earthly war-whoop. Instantly the dancing ceased ; the 
 women screamed, while the men ran towards the door. 
 But Clark, standing unmoved and with unchanged 
 face, grimly bade them continue their dancing, but to 
 remember that they now danced under Virginia and 
 not Great Britain. At the same time his men burst 
 into the fort, and seized the French officers, including 
 the commandant, Rocheblave." (Roosevelt: The Win- 
 ing of the West, vol. II, pp. 45, 46.) That writer, 
 after giving as fact what is quoted above (which is as 
 we see, not a small part of the story), says in a foot- 
 note: "The story was told to Major Denny by Clark 
 himself, some time in '87 or '88 [it was in 1785] ; in 
 process of repetition it evidently became twisted, and, 
 as related by Denny, there are some very manifest in- 
 accuracies, but there seems no reason to reject it en- 
 tirely." By a careful comparison of the relation as 
 first published with Roosevelt, some additional rhet- 
 orical "twists" will readily be discovered. Under the 
 Roosevelt version, the lights are "torches" ; the dancers 
 are restricted to "the mirth-loving Creoles, young men 
 and girls ;" a "great hall" is introduced "where the 
 revel was held"; the Indian war-whoop becomes (as 
 well it might! (an "unearthly" one; and Clark's desire 
 to have the dance continued is now a command — 
 "grimly bade them continue their dancing." "At the 
 same time," Clark's "men burst into the fort, and seized 
 the French officers, including the commandant, Roche- 
 blave" — which last relation Roosevelt does not credit 
 Denny w4th, but gives it as his own — a "twist" nearly 
 pqual to any given by the Major. 
 
 Butler, in his History of Kentucky (p. 53), errone- 
 ously deckres that the public papers in the fort were 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 611 
 
 not captured, out of delicacy to the wife of the com- 
 mander, she "presuming a good deal on the gallantry 
 of our countrymen by imposing upon their delicacy 
 towards herself". . . . "Better, ten thousand times 
 better," Butler adds, "were it so, than that the ancient 
 fame of the sons of Virginia should have been tarn- 
 ished by insult to a female." 
 
 And Reynolds (Pioneer History of Illinois, 2d ed. 
 p. 95)' says: "the gentlemanly bearing of Col. Clark 
 made him respect female prerogative, and the lady 
 [Mrs. Rocheblave] 'secured the [public] papers in that 
 adroit manner peculiar to female sagacity." 
 
 In another history of that state, the men who cap- 
 tured Rocheblave — "the British governor" — are men- 
 tioned as "Kentuckians" ; and it is asserted they cap- 
 tured a few of his public papers only, "as they were 
 secreted or destroyed by his wife, whom the Kentuck- 
 ians were too polite to molest." [Collins's Kentucky 
 (ed. of 1877) p. 137.] But Bowman declares all were 
 secured by Clark ; and such undoubtedly was the fact, 
 still, we will add what Coleman says (Harper's Maga- 
 zine, vol. XXII, p. 791 ) : "There were important papers 
 in this gentlemen's [Rocheblave's] possession which 
 Clark was anxious to obtain ; but Madame Rocheblane 
 [Rocheblave] resolutely seated herself upon the chest 
 that contained them in order to prevent a search; in 
 which she was more successful than the Queen of 
 Poland, who tried the same maneuvre with Frederick 
 the Great, when that ungallant monarch captured 
 Dresden. But Clark had not got rid of his American 
 respect for the sex." 
 
 Much has been written concerning the taking of 
 Kaskaskia. One writer says : 
 
612 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "But, although the town was taken, the work was 
 hardly begun. The object was to act on the minds 
 of the inhabitants. For this purpose, not force, but 
 judgment and tact were necessary. . . . Let us 
 imagine then the situation of this ancient place, 
 which contained about two hundred and fifty houses, 
 and had stood for' a century and a half in the midst 
 of a blooming prairie, its simple and peaceful French 
 inhabitants dealing only with the Indians and the pres- 
 ent generation of them almost ignorant of any other 
 race. Taught to regard the Americans as monsters 
 of cruelty, they found their town suddenly fallen into 
 their hands. Gloom and fear dwelt visibly on the 
 faces oi all. To increase this feeling, Clark com- 
 manded ail intercourse among the inhabitants and be- 
 tween them and the soldiers to cease.'' [The Xorth 
 American Review, vol. XLIII TJulv, 1836), pp. 15, 
 
 16.] 
 
 In this there are two important errors to be noticed : 
 (i) Kaskaskia "had stood" not ''a century and a half," 
 but a little over three-quarters of a century. (2) 
 Clark ordered the inhabitants "on pain of death," as 
 he says ("Clark to ]\Iason — Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, p. 31) "to keep close to their houses"; and in 
 his Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 125 
 — he states : "the men of each detachment who could 
 speak the French language, were to run through every 
 street and proclaim what had happened, and inform 
 the inhabitants that every person who appeared in the 
 streets would be shot down." The conclusion is drawn 
 from these last words by the reviewer, that Clark com- 
 manded all intercourse among the inhabitants and be- 
 tween them and the soldiers to cease." But the state- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 613 
 
 ment is based on a previous one given by Butler in his 
 Kentucky; ancl it may here be stated that all other 
 matters given by the former in the same relation have 
 a foundation in the same history, of which that article 
 is a review. 
 
 What Clark really says in his Memoir (pp. 124, 
 125 of Dillon's Indiana) is this: 
 
 "With one of the divisions, I marched to the fort, 
 and ordered the other two [one] into different quar- 
 ters of the town. .If I met with no resistance, at a 
 certain signal a general shout was to be given, and 
 certain parts [of the town] were to be immediately 
 possessed ; and the men of each detachment who could 
 speak the French language, were to run through every 
 street and proclaim what had happened, and inform 
 the inhabitants that every person who appeared in the 
 streets would be shot down. This disposition had its 
 desired effect. In a very little time we had complete 
 possession ; and every avenue was guarded, to prevent 
 any escape, to give the alarm to the other villages in 
 case of opposition. Various orders had been issued 
 not worth mentioning. I don't suppose greater silence 
 ever reigned among the inhabitants of a place than 
 did at this at present: not a person to be seen, not a 
 word to be heard from them for some time; but de- 
 signedly the greatest noise kept up by our troops 
 through every quarter of the town, and patrols con- 
 tinually the whole night round it ; as intercepting any 
 information was a capital object; and in about two 
 hours the whole of the inhabitants were disarmed, and 
 informed that if one was taken attempting to make 
 his escape he should be immediately put to death." 
 
614 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Coleman (Harper's Magazine, vol XXII, p. 791) 
 says, concerning the effect produced upon the Kas- 
 kaskians by the "horrid uproar" of Clark's men : ''He 
 [Clark] ordered his men to patrol the streets during- 
 the whole night with whoops and yells, while the in- 
 habitants remained with closed doors, listening shud- 
 deringly to the horrid uproar ; expecting every instant 
 to hear the shrieks and groans of their kindred and 
 friends announcing the commencing of a general 
 massacre." 
 
 "In his 'Memoir' Clark dwells at length," says 
 Roosevelt (The Winning of the West, vol. II, p. 47n) 
 "on the artifices by which he heightened the terror of 
 the French; and Butler [in his Kentucky, pp. 54, 55] 
 enlarges still farther upon them. I follow the letter 
 to Mason [Clarlzs Campaign in the Illinois, p. 31], 
 which is much safer authority, the writer [Clark] 
 having then no thought of trying to increase the dra- 
 matic effect of the situation — which in Butler, and 
 indeed in the 'Memoir' also, is strained till it comes 
 dangerously near bathos." 
 
 Just how closely Roosevelt follows Clark to Mason 
 the following comparison will show : 
 
 (I.) Clark to Mason {Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, p. 31 : "In fifteen minutes, I had every street 
 secured, [I] sent runners through the town ordering 
 the people on pain of death to keep close to their 
 houses, which they observed, and before dav light [I] 
 had the whole town disarmed. Nothing could excel 
 the confusion these people seemed to be in, being 
 [having been] taught to expect nothing but savage 
 treatment from the Americans." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 615 
 
 (11.) Roosevelt (The Winning of the West, vol. 
 II, pp. 46, 47) : ''Immediately Clark had every street 
 secured, and sent runnners through the town order- 
 ing the people to keep close to their houses on pain of 
 death ; and by daylight he had them all disarmed. The 
 backwoodsmen patrolled the town in little squads; 
 while the French in silent terror cowered within their 
 low-roofed houses. Clark was quite willing that they 
 should fear the worst ; and their panic was very great. 
 The unlooked-for and mysterious approach and sudden 
 onslaught of the backwoodsmen, their wild and un- 
 couth appearance, and the ominous silence of their 
 commander, all combined to fill the French with fear- 
 ful forbodings for their future fate." 
 
 NOTE XLIX. 
 
 WHAT CLARK (ACCORDING TO HIS MEMOIR) SAID TO 
 THE KASKASKIAN DEPUTIES ON BEING SENT FOR 
 
 BY HIM. 
 
 The priest [Gibault] accompanied by several gen- 
 tlemen waited on Colonel Clark, and expressed in the 
 name of the village their thanks for the indulgence 
 they had received. They were sensible that their 
 present situation was the fate of war and that they 
 could submit to the loss of their property, but they 
 solicited that they might not be separated from their 
 wives and children, and that some clothes and pro- 
 visions might be allowed for their support. Clark 
 feigned surprise at this request, and almost exclaimed : 
 
616 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "Do you mistake us for savages ? I am almost certain 
 you do from your language ! Do you think the Ameri- 
 cans intend to strip women and children, or take the 
 bread out of their mouths?" "My countrymen," said 
 Clark, "disdain to make war upon helpless innocence. 
 It was to prevent the horrors of Indian butchery upon 
 our own wives and children that we have taken arms 
 and penetrated into this remote stronghold of British 
 and Indian barbarity, and not the despicable prospect 
 of plunder." That now the King of France had united 
 his pow^erful arms with those of America, the war 
 would not, in all probability continue long; but the 
 inhabitants of Kaskaskia were at liberty to take which 
 side they pleased, without the least danger to either 
 their property or families. Nor would their religion 
 be any source of disagreement, as all religions were 
 regarded with equal respect in the eye of the Ameri- 
 can law, and that any insult offered it would be im- 
 mediately punished. "And now, to prove my sincerity, 
 you will please inform your fellow-citizens that they 
 are quite at liberty to conduct themselves as usual with- 
 out the least apprehension. I am now convinced from 
 what I have learned since my arrival among you that 
 you have been misinformed and prejudiced against us 
 by the British officers ; and your friends who are in 
 confinement shall immediately be released." 
 
 In a few minutes after the deliver}^ of this speech, 
 the gloom that rested on the minds of the inhabitants 
 had passed away. The agitation and joy of the vil- 
 lage seniors, upon hearing what Clark had said may 
 well be conceived ; they attempted some apology for 
 the implied imputation of barbarians, under the belief 
 that the property of a captured town belonged to the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 617 
 
 conquerors ; Clark gently dispensed with this explan- 
 ation and desired them to relieve the anxieties of the 
 inhabitants immediately, requiring them to comply 
 strictly with the terms of a proclamation which he 
 would shortly publish. The contrast of feeling among 
 the people upon learning these generous and magnani- 
 mous intentions of their conquerors, verified the saga- 
 cious anticipations of Clark. In a few moments, the 
 mortal dejection of the village was converted into the 
 most extravagant joy; the bells were set a ringing, 
 and the church was crowded with the people offering 
 up thanks to Almighty God for their deliverance from 
 the horrors they had so fearfully expected. Perfect 
 freedom was now given to the inhabitants to go oi 
 come as they pleased, so confident were our countrv- 
 men that whatever report might be made [it] would 
 be to the credit and success of the American arms. 
 (Butler's Kentucky, pp. 55-57; Dillon's Indiana, pp. 
 125-127.) 
 
 NOTE L. 
 
 AS TO THE WINNING OF VINCENNES TO AMERICAN IN- 
 TERESTS BY FATHER GIBAULT. ALSO CONCERNING 
 
 SIMON KENTON ACTING AS A SPY FOR CLARK. 
 
 As the jurisdiction of Father Gibault in spiritual 
 matters extended not only over the several villages in 
 the Illinois country but over Vinccnnes as well, he had 
 " of course considerable influence with his Creoles of the 
 last mentioned town. "I sent for him," are Clark's 
 words in his Memoirs, "and had a long conference 
 with him on the subject of Vincennes." 'Tn answer 
 
618 HISTORY OP CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 to all my queries," continues Clark, ''he informed me 
 he did not think it worth my while to cause any mili- 
 tary preparation to be made at the Falls for the attack 
 of Vincennes, although the place was strong and [there 
 was] a great number of Indians in its neighborhood, 
 who, to his knowledge were generally at war; that 
 Governor Abbott had a few weeks before left the place, 
 on some business, for Detroit; and that he [Gibault] 
 expected that, when the inhabitants there were fully 
 acquainted with what had passed at Illinois and had 
 been made fully acquainted with the nature of the war, 
 that their sentiments would greatly change." 
 
 Gibault then suggested to Clark that he believed 
 his (Gibault's) appearance at Vincennes would have 
 great weight even with the savages in changing their 
 sentiments ; that if it was agreeable to the commander 
 he would take this business on himself ; that he had no 
 doubt of his being able to bring the place over to the 
 American interest without Clark being at the trouble 
 to march against it ; and that his work being spiritual, 
 he wished that another person might be charged with 
 the temporal part of the embassy but that he would 
 privately direct the whole. 
 
 It has frequently been published that Clark sent 
 for Gibault to go to Vincennes to win the people there 
 to the American cause. But this, evidently, is error. 
 
 ''The post of St. Vincent's [Vincennes] lay no 
 great distance off between his [Clark's] preseat posi- 
 tion and Kentucky and garrisoned by a force superior 
 to any which Clark could possibly bring against it. 
 Policy, therefore, and not force must again be resorted 
 to." — The North American Review, vol. XLIII (July, 
 1836), p. 17. The use of the word "again" here implies 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 619 
 
 that policy and not force had only been resorted to in 
 securing possession of the Illinois; which, of course, 
 is erroneous. The force in Vincennes to guard the 
 place was, as we have seen, three militia companies. 
 
 Clark, in his account detailed in his Memoir, giv- 
 ing what took place immediately after Vincennes had 
 declared for America, evidently draws largely upon his 
 imagination: 'The people here [at Vincennes] imme- 
 diately began to put on a new face, and to talk in a 
 different style, and to act as perfect freemen. With 
 a garrison of their own, with the United States at their 
 elbow, their language to the Indians was immediately 
 altered. They began as citizens of the United States, 
 and informed the Indians that their old father, the king 
 of France, was come to life again, and was mad at 
 them for fighting for the English, that they would 
 advise them to make peace with the Americans as soon 
 as they could, otherwise they might expect the land to 
 be very bloody. . . . The Indians began to think 
 seriously." 
 
 Clark speaks of the disaffected in Vincennes as 
 being "emissaries" of Abbott ; but this is misleading. 
 It is evident they were only traders. Some writers 
 have gone so far as to declare they were British sol- 
 diers, which is certainly error. 
 
 Mr. Moses (Illinois, Historical mid Statistical 
 vol. I, p. 153) says: 'Tost Vincennes" was "called by 
 the British Fort Sackville." But it was simply the for- 
 tification that was thus known. The village and the 
 fort were called "Post Vincennes" — "Post St. Vin- 
 cents" — "the Post—" "St. Vincents" — or, "Vin- 
 cennes" as now known. 
 
620 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Much error has been printed in the histories of the 
 West concerning Simon Kenton's return from the lUi- 
 nois : ''After the fall of Kaskaskia," says one account, 
 "he [Kenton] was sent with a small party to Ken- 
 tucky with dispatches. On their way, they fell in with 
 a camp of Indians, in whose possession was a number 
 of horses, which they took and sent back to the army 
 [i. e., to Clark's army]. Pursuing their way by Vin 
 cennes, they entered the place by night, traversed sev- 
 eral of the streets, and departed without being discov- 
 ered, taking from the inhabitants, who were hostile, two 
 horses for each man. When they came to White river, 
 a raft was made, on which to transport the guns and 
 baggage, while the horses were driven in to swim 
 across the river. On the opposite shore, a party o\ 
 Indians were encamped, who caught the horses as they 
 ascended the bank. Such are the vicissitudes of bor- 
 der incident ! The same horses that had been auda- 
 ciously taken, only the night before, from the interior 
 of a regularly garrisoned town, were lost, by being 
 accidentally driven by the captors into a camp of the 
 enemy. Kenton and his party, finding themselves in 
 the utmost danger, returned to the shore from which 
 they had pushed their raft, and concealed themselves 
 until night, when they crossed the river at a different 
 place, and reached Kentucky in safety." (Hall's Ro- 
 mance of Western History, pp. 300, 301.) 
 
 Other printed statements vary this in some par- 
 ticulars : "No sooner had the Illinois posts and coun- 
 try been subdued and quietly occupied by the Vir- 
 ginians, than Kenton, seeking more active adventures 
 in Kentucky, was made the bearer of dispatches to 
 Colonel Bow^man at Harrodsburg, and undertook, in 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 621 
 
 his route thither, to reconnoiter the British post at 
 Vincennes, on the Wabash, in order to furnish Col- 
 onel Clark with " correct information of its condition, 
 force and the feelings of the people. At Vincennes, 
 after ' lying concealed by day and reconnoitering by 
 night for three days and nights, he transmitted to Col- 
 onel Clark the true state of the post, informing him 
 of its weakness and the disaffection of the people. 
 Thirteen days after his departure from Vincennes, he 
 arrived in Harrodsburg and delivered his dispatches 
 safe to Colonel Bowman." [Alonnette's History of the 
 Valley of the Mississippi, vol. II, pp. 66, 67; — Mc- 
 Donald's Sketches, p. 220.) 
 
 Another writes gives these particulars : 
 "His [Kenton's] active and enterprising spirit 
 had induced him to join Colonel George Rogers Clark 
 and [he] was with him at the capture of Kaskaskia. 
 After the fall of that place Butler [Kenton] with others 
 was sent to Kentucky with dispatches ; on their way 
 they fell in with a camp of Indians with horses ; they 
 broke up the camp, took the horses, sent them back 
 to Kaskaskias, and pursued their route by post St. Vin- 
 cennes. Entering that place by night, they traversed 
 several streets and departed without discovery or alarm 
 after taking from the inhabitants who were hostile two 
 horses for each man. When they came to White river 
 a raft was made on which to transport the guns and 
 baggage, while the horses wxre driven in to swim 
 across the river. On the opposite shore there lay a 
 camp of Indians who caught the horses as they rose 
 thfe bank. 
 
 "Butler [Kenton] and his party now finding them- 
 selves in the utmost danger permitted the raft to float 
 
622 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 down stream and concealed themselves till night, when 
 they made another raft at a different place on which 
 they crossed the river ; returned safe to Kentucky and 
 delivered the letters as they had been directed ; some of 
 them were intended for the seat of Government [of 
 Virginia.]" (Marshall's Kentucky, vol. I, p. 74.) 
 
 ''After the conquest of Kaskaskia, Col. Clark sent 
 Kenton with dispatches to the 'Falls,' and to pass by 
 Vincennes in his route. Kenton lay concealed during 
 the day for three days, and reconnoitered the village 
 of Vincennes during the nights. He acquitted himself 
 as usual in this service to the satisfaction of his general. 
 He employed a trusty messenger to convey the intelli- 
 gence of the feelings, numbers, etc., of the people of 
 Vincennes to Col. Clark at Kaskaskia." [Reynolds: 
 The Pioneer History of Illinois (ed. of 1887), p. 87. 
 Compare Collins's Kentucky (ed. of 1C77), p. 446.] 
 Says a writer in Harper's Magazine (vol. XXVHI, 
 p. 302) : "Kenton acted as guide to Clark on his fa- 
 mous expedition into the Ilinois and was sent back by 
 him with dispatches of great importance; on which 
 occasion he passed through the town of Vincennes 
 (then garrisoned by the enemy) in the night, examined 
 minutely its condition, sent back to Clark the informa- 
 tion thus gained, by a companion, stole a horse, and 
 made his way alone to the Falls [of the Ohio] ." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 623 
 
 NOTE LI. 
 
 FICTION CONCERNING AN ATTACK MEDITATED AGAINST 
 KENTUCKY FROM THE BRITISH POSTS NORTHWEST 
 OF THE OHIO RIVER. 
 
 Concerning the securing by Clark of the people 
 of Vincennes in the interest of the Americans a mod- 
 ern writer says : 
 
 ''But a more serious trouble now [that is, after 
 Capt. Bowman had taken possession of Cahokia] began 
 to weigh heavily upon Clark's mind. He had barely 
 made himself master of Kaskaskia before he learned 
 how very timely his bold enterprise had been. For he 
 was informed by the people that the British Governor 
 of these posts [Rocheblave, whose true name was un- 
 known to this writer] was actively engaged in organ- 
 izing an expedition against Kentucky, backed by the 
 whole power of the Indian tribes residing between the 
 Ohio, the Mississippi and the lakes. The expedition 
 was to move simultaneously from Detroit and Kas- 
 kaskia — one party entering Kentucky by way of the 
 falls of the former river [Ohio, now Louisville] while 
 the other made its way down the Great Miami and up 
 the Licking; both being furnished with field artillery. 
 This expedition, which had been anticipated by the 
 promptness of Clark's own attack, was to have set 
 out in the following spring — of 1779 — and Governor 
 Abbott [of Vincennes] straining every resource to 
 complete its organization, had proceeded, a few days 
 before the arrival of the Americans, from Vincennes 
 to Detroit in order to attend to the equipment of the 
 regulars and Canadian yglunteers destined to co-oper- 
 
624 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ate with the savage host in this grand movement, leav- 
 ing the latter place, with all the artillery and stores 
 there collected, under the care of the local militia. It 
 was absolutely necessary for Clark to gain possession 
 of this place [Vincennes] ; for he could not permit so 
 strong a post within striking distance of his present 
 position to remain in the enemy's hands. Besides, the 
 possession of these very stores and guns had been 
 specified in his instructions as one of the great results 
 expected from the enterprise. 
 
 [It was the stores and guns at Kaskaskia, not Vin- 
 cennes, that were hoped for, in the instructions given 
 by Governor Henry to Clark.] 
 
 ''But how was it to be done? After the detach- 
 ment under Bowman was made [to go to Cahokiaj, 
 he [Clark] had remaining with him less than one hun- 
 dred and fifty men. He dared not make any further 
 division of this small force, lest it should be cut off in 
 detail by the savages, large parties of whom were hov- 
 ering around him at a distance. [But there were no 
 Indians hovering around Clark at this time.] While 
 meditating on his desperate situation the good priest 
 Gibault happened to pay him a visit, and being made 
 acquainted with his perplexity, at once volunteered 
 to relieve him of it by going to the people of Vin- 
 cennes, who were also under his pastoral charge, and 
 inducing them, like their neighbors of Kaskaskia and 
 Cahokia, to throw ofT the English yoke, and accept the 
 protection of Virginia. The result justified his confi- 
 dence. The people eagerly complied with his advice, 
 and in an hour the English flag was hauled down and 
 the stars and stripes run up over the fort, much to the 
 amazement of the Indians, who were assembled around 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 625 
 
 the place in great numbers." (Coleman, in Harper's 
 Magadne, vol. XXII, p. 792.) 
 
 That Rocheblave had taken any steps towards 
 "organizing an expedition against Kentucky" previous 
 to Clark's arrival at Kaskaskia is error; neither had 
 Lieutenant Governor Abbott at Vincennes exerted him- 
 self in any manner to forward such a movement; nor 
 was his return to Detroit in any wise to aid such an 
 undertaking ; and for the best of reasons : no such en- 
 terprise was in contemplation (much less in actual 
 preparation) either at Kaskaskia, Vincennes or De- 
 troit. What, as will hereafter be seen, was, at one 
 time, subsequently, much desired (and possibly, 
 suggested) by Hamilton is made to travel backwards, 
 forming a story wholly without foundation. And it 
 is substantially the same fiction that some writers have 
 asserted as fact, and that the information was brought 
 to Clark by the two "spies" sent by him to the Illinois 
 in the year 1777. 
 
 NOTE LII. 
 
 AS TO M. CERRE AND HIS TREATMENT BY CLARK. 
 
 Mann Butler, in his History of Kentucky, says: 
 "During the night [of the capture of Kaskaskia] 
 several persons were sent for to obtain intelligence; 
 but little information could be procured beyond what 
 had already been received except that a considerable 
 body of Indians lay at this time in the neighborhood 
 of Cahokia, about sixty miles higher up the Missis- 
 sippi ; and that M. Cerre (the father of the present 
 
 Madame Auguste Chouteau) of St. Louis, the princi- 
 40 
 
626 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 pal merchant of Kaskaskia, was at that time one of the 
 most inveterate enemies of the Americans. This gen- 
 tleman had left tovv^n before Clark had captured it, and 
 was now in St. Louis on his way to Quebec whence he 
 had lately returned, in the prosecution of extensive 
 commercial operations ; his family and an extensive 
 assortment of merchandise were in Kaskaskia. By 
 means of these pledges in his power, Colonel Clark 
 thought to operate upon M. Cerre, whose influence was 
 of the utmost consequence in the condition of Ameri- 
 can interest, if it could be brought to be exerted in its 
 favor. With the view of gaining this gentleman, a 
 guard was immediately placed around his house and 
 seals placed on his property as well as on all the other 
 merchandise in the place [pp. 53, 54]." 
 
 And the author also says : 
 
 "About this time, M. Cerre . . . uneasy that 
 his family at Kaskaskia should be the only one placed 
 under guard and fearful of venturing into the power 
 of the American officer without a safe conduct, pro- 
 cured the recommendation of the Spanish Governor at 
 St. Louis, as well as [that of] the commandant at Ste. 
 Genevieve, supported by the influence of the greater 
 part of the citizens, for the purpose of obtaining this 
 security. It was all in vain ; Colonel Clark peremp- 
 torily refused it ; and intimated that he wished to hear 
 no more such applications ; that he understood M. 
 Cerre was 'a sensible man' and if he was innocent of 
 the charge of inciting the Indians against the Ameri- 
 cans, he need not be afraid of delivering himself 
 up. This backwardness would only increase the sus- 
 picion against him. Shortly after this expression of 
 Clark's sentiments, M. Cerre, to whom they were no 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 627 
 
 doubt communicated, repaired to Kaskaskia and with- 
 out visiting his family, immediately waited on Colonel 
 Clark, who informed him that the crime with which 
 he stood charged was [that of] encouraging the Indi- 
 ans in their murders and devastations on our frontiers. 
 An enormity, whose perpetrators, continued the Amer- 
 ican commander, it behooved every civilized people to 
 punish whenever they got such violators of the laws of 
 honorable warfare within their power. To this accu- 
 sation, M. Cerre frankly replied that he was a mere 
 merchant, and had never been concerned in affairs of 
 state beyond what the interests of his business re- 
 quired ; moreover, his remote position had prevented 
 him from understanding the merits of the war now 
 raging between the United States and Great Britain. 
 He defied, he said, any man to prove that he had en- 
 couraged the Indian barbarities, while many could be 
 produced who had heard him express his disapproba- 
 tion of all such cruelties ; though, at the same time, it 
 was necessary to inform Colonel Clark that there were 
 numbers indebted to him, who might by his ruin seek 
 to discharge their pecuniary obligations to him. In 
 fine, this eminent French merchant declared his willing:- 
 ness to support the strictest inquiry into the only hein- 
 ous charge against him. This was every thing the 
 American officer required ; he desired M. Cerre to re- 
 tire into another room while he sent for his accusers : 
 they immediately attended followed by the greater pari 
 of the inhabitants. M. Cerre was summoned to con- 
 front them ; the former immediately shewed their con- 
 fusion at his appearance ; the parties were told by Col- 
 onel Clark that he had no disposition to condemn a 
 man unheard; that M. Cerre was now present, and he 
 
628 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 (Clark) was ready to do justice to the civilized world 
 by punishing him if guilty of inciting the Indians to 
 commit their enormities on helpless women and chil- 
 dren. The accusers began to whisper to one another 
 and retire ; until but one was left of six or seven at 
 first ; this person was asked for his proof, but he had 
 none to produce, and M. Cerre was honorably acquitted, 
 not more to his own satisfaction than to that of his 
 neighbors and friends. He was then congratulated by 
 Colonel Clark upon his acquittal and informed that, 
 although his becoming an American citizen would be 
 highly acceptable, yet if he did not sincerely wish to do 
 so, he was perfectly at liberty to dispose of his property 
 and to remove elsewhere. Cerre, delighted at the fair 
 and generous treatment he had met with, immediately 
 took the oath of allegiance and became a 'most valua- 
 ble' friend to the American cause [pp. 59-61]." 
 
 NOTE LIIL 
 
 bowman's letter to HITE. ROCHEBLAVE SENT A 
 
 PRISONER OF WAR TO WILLIAMSBURG.- 
 
 In Bowman's letter to Hite, the Captain says, after 
 mentioning that Rocheblave was made prisoner when 
 the fort at Kaskaskia was taken, — "and [he, Roche- 
 blave,] is now [July 30, 1778 — the date of his letter] 
 on his way to Williamsburg under strong guard." But, 
 as this was written at Cahokia, it is not surprising that 
 the writer of the letter made a mistake ; as he doubtless 
 had been informed that the prisoner would start on 
 before that day, — when, as a matter of fact he was 
 still in his prison. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 629 
 
 As Bowman entrusted his letter to his brother, 
 who was one of Clark's soldiers who concluded to re- 
 turn at the expiration of his enlistment, it is probable 
 it was sent off from Cahokia the day it was written. 
 
 The letter, as printed, has this heading: "Balti- 
 more, Dec. 29, [1778]. Copy of a letter from Capt. 
 Joseph Bowman, at a place called Illinois Kaskaskias, 
 upon the Mississippi, to his friend. Col. Joseph Hite, 
 of Frederick county, Virginia, dated July 30, 1778." 
 
 That the letter was written at Cahokia, its con- 
 tents clearly disclose. The Captain, after mentioning 
 the circumstance that there were three hundred at that 
 village who had taken the oath of allegiance, adds : — 
 "and now [these inhabitants] appear much attached to 
 our cause. But as this is in so remote a part of the 
 country [of the Illinois] and [as] the Indians [are] 
 meeting with daily supplies from the British officers, 
 who offer them large bounties for our scalps [but in 
 this he was in error], / tliink it prudent to leave a 
 guard here." [The italicising is mine.] 
 
 And thus the Captain begins his letter: "I em- 
 brace this opportunity to give you some information of 
 our proceedings since our embarkation from Mononga- 
 hela till our arrival at this place." (The italicising in 
 this extract also is mine.) 
 
 Now, as the last "proceedings" he mentions were 
 at Cahokia, — it will be seen that "at this place" must 
 refer to that village. 
 
 "Being anxious," concludes Bowman, "to do 
 everything in my power for my country in order to es- 
 tablish peace and harmony once more amongst us — ■ 
 this will engage my attention the ensuing winter. 
 
630 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 *'The inhabitants of this country upon the Missis- 
 sippi have without any kind of doubt, influenced the 
 several nations of Indians in this quarter, as also upon 
 the Ohio ; so that ere it be long, I flatter myself we 
 shall put a stop to the career of those bloodthirsty sav- 
 ages who glory in shedding the blood of the innocent. 
 
 "For further particulars, I must refer you to my 
 brother, the bearer hereof. And I am, etc., 
 
 "Joseph Bowman.'' 
 
 It is a tradition (but an erroneous one) that Clark 
 was at first inclined to treat Rocheblave leniently ; that 
 he had, upon reflection, determined to give him back 
 his slaves ; and that he invited his prisoner to dine 
 with himself and officers, when he would take occasion 
 to restore them to their owner ; but that the violent 
 and insulting language of the deposed Frenchman en- 
 tirely frustrated the Colonel's benevolent design. This 
 would be creditable to Clark's kindness of heart — if 
 true. Kentucky historians have added to this account, 
 in a way to make it more emphatic, but with the result 
 of increasing its improbability. Butler (History of 
 Kentucky, p. 64) says : ' 
 
 "In regard to this officer [Rocheblave] who ex- 
 pressed himself wnth great bitterness of the Americans 
 and the natives who had sided with them. Colonel 
 Clark exerted himself very much to procure a restor- 
 ation to Mrs. Rocheblave, of his slaves, that had been 
 seized as public plunder. This was attempted by in- 
 viting him to a dinner with some of the officers as 
 well as with his acquaintance [sic] where this restitu- 
 tion was, it seems, to have been offered ; but it was 
 entirely frustrated by the violent and insulting Ian- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 631 
 
 guage of the former commandant; he called them a 
 parcel of rebels, and provoked such indignation that he 
 was immediately sent to the guard house ; all further 
 thoughts of saving his slaves were now abandoned." 
 "In 1778, when Colonel George Rogers Clark, and 
 his Virginia militia, numbering less than two hundred 
 men, achieved the bloodless conquest of the Illinois, 
 not a single British soldier was found doing duty in 
 the country, they having all been withdrawn to other 
 and more important points. M. de Rocheblave was 
 still in command 'for the English at Fort Gage ; but, 
 owing to his contumacious behavior, he was sent a 
 prisoner of war to Virginia." . . . Wallace : The 
 History of Illinois and Louisiana under the French 
 Rule, (p. 402). 
 
 But it is evident that Rocheblave's conduct had 
 nothing to do with his being put in irons, with his 
 slaves being finally disposed of, nor with his being 
 sent a prisoner of war over the mountains. The same 
 policy, as will hereafter be seen, was adopted by the 
 American commander in even a more notable instance, 
 of sending dangerous prisoners to WiUiamsburg to be 
 out of harm's way. It was, indeed, a policy that would 
 naturally have recommended itself to Clark, however 
 excellent might have been the behavior of the cap- 
 tured. 
 
 The confiscation of Rocheblave's private property 
 was not approved of by Governor Henry ; and he sub- 
 sequently issued orders that it must be restored to his 
 wife, if possible ; but, if that could not be done, his 
 family was to be supported at the public expense (Ma- 
 son's Early Chicago and Illinois, p. 293.) 
 
632 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE LIV. 
 
 CONSPIRACY OF A PARTY OF WINNEBAGOES AND OTHER 
 INDIANS AT CAHOKIA TO CARRY OFF CLARK. 
 
 Butler (History of Kentucky, pp. 72-75) gives the 
 following account of the conspiracy of the Winneba- 
 goes and other Indians at Cahokia, to get possession 
 of the person of Clark — declaring it was their inten- 
 tion to kill him : 
 
 "A party of Indians, composed of stragglers from 
 various tribes, by the name of ]\Ieadow Indians, had 
 accompanied the other tribes, and had been promised 
 a great reward if they would kill Colonel Clark. For 
 this purpose they had pitched their camp about a hun- 
 dred yards from Clark's quarters, and about the same 
 distance in front of the fort, on the same side of Ca- 
 hokia creek with the one occupied by the Americans. 
 This creek was about knee-deep at the time, and a plot 
 was formed by some of the Indians to pass the creek 
 after night, fire their guns in the direction of the In- 
 dians on the other side of the creek, and then fly to 
 Clark's quarters, where they were to seek admission 
 under pretense of fleeing from their enemies, and put 
 Colonel Clark and the garrison to death. About one 
 o'clock in the morning while Colonel Clark was still 
 awake with the multiplied cares of his extraordinary 
 situation, the attempt was made ; and the flying party, 
 having discharged tlieir guns so as to throw suspicion 
 upon the other Indians, came running to the American 
 camp for protection, as they said, from their enemies, 
 who had attacked them from across the creek. This, 
 the guard, who proved to be in greater force than was 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 633 
 
 anticipated, prevented by presenting their pieces at the 
 fugitives, who were compelled to return to their own 
 camp. 
 
 "The whole town and garrison were now under 
 arms, and these Indians, whom the guard had recog- 
 nized by moonlight, were sent for, and on being ex- 
 amined, they declared it was their enemies who had 
 fired upon them from across the creek, and that they 
 had sought shelter among the Americans. Some of the 
 French gentlemen who knew these Indians better than 
 the new conquerors, called for a Hght, and discovered 
 their moccasins and leggings to be quite wet and 
 muddy, from having passed the creek over to the 
 friendly camps. This discovery quite confounded the 
 assassins ; and, as there were a great many Indians of 
 other tribes in the town, Clark thought the opportunity 
 favorable to convince them of the closest union between 
 the Americans and the French; he therefore surren- 
 dered the culprits to the French, to do what they 
 pleased with them. Secret instructions were, how- 
 ever, given that the chiefs ought to be sent to the guard- 
 house in irons ; these directions were immediately ex- 
 ecuted. 
 
 "In this manacled condition they were brought 
 every day into council, but not suffered to speak until 
 all the other business was transacted, when Colonel 
 Clark, ordered their irons to be taken off, and told 
 them everybody said they ought to die for their treach- 
 erous attempt upon his life, amidst the sacred deliber- 
 ations of a council. He had determined to inflict death 
 upon them for their base attempt, and they themselves 
 must be sensible that they had justly forfeited their 
 lives ; but, on considering the meanness of watching 
 
634 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 a bear and catching him asleep, he had found out that 
 they were not warriors, only old women and too mean 
 to be punished by the Big Knife. 'But, as you ought 
 to be punished,' said he, 'for putting on breechcloth 
 like men, they shall be taken away from you, plenty 
 of provisions shall be given you for your journey home, 
 as women don't know how to hunt, and during your 
 stay you shall be treated in every respect as squaws.' 
 Then, without taking any further notice of these 
 offenders, Colonel Clark turned off and began to 
 converse with other persons. 
 
 "This treatment appeared to agitate the offending 
 Indians to their very hearts. In a short time one of 
 their chiefs arose with a pipe and belt of peace, which 
 he offered to Clark, and made a speech ; but he 
 [Clark] would not suffer it to be interpreted, and a 
 sword lying on the table, he took it and indignantly 
 broke the pipe which had been laid before him, declar- 
 ing the Big Knife never treated with women. The 
 offending tribe then appeared busy in conversation 
 among themselves ; when suddenly two of their young 
 men advanced into the midddle of the floor, sat down, 
 and flung their blankets over their heads, to the aston- 
 ishment of the whole assembly, when two chiefs arose, 
 and, with a pipe of peace, stood by the side of these 
 victims, and offered their lives to Colonel Clark as an 
 atonement for the offense of the tribe. They hoped 
 the sacrifice would appease the Big Knife, and they 
 again offered the pipe. Clark would not yet admit a 
 reconciliation with them, but directed them in a milder 
 tone than before to be seated, for he would have noth- 
 ing to say to them. After keeping them some time 
 longer in suspense. Colonel Clark, 'deeply affected 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 635 
 
 by the magnanimity of these rude sons of the forest, 
 ordered the young men to rise and uncover themselves, 
 said he was glad to find there were men in all nations, 
 and through them granted peace to their tribe." 
 
 NOTE LV. 
 
 Clark's council with indian tribes at cahokia. 
 
 According to ' Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana 
 (ed. of 1859), PP- I3I"I35j at the commencement of the 
 council a speech was made by an Indian chief and re- 
 plied to the next day by Clark. On the third day a 
 rejoinder by the Indian speaker was listened to. All 
 these speeches were first copied by Butler from the 
 Memoir of Clark before they were seen by Dillon. 
 (See his History of Kentucky, pp. 68-71.) It is clear 
 that Clark draws largely upon his imagination in giv- 
 ing so circumstantially these oratorical efforts, after 
 many years had elapsed since their delivery. 
 
 Dillon, in his Indiana (ed. of 1859, p. 135), says 
 that Clark made peace, at Cahokia, with the Pianke- 
 shaws, Weas, Kickapoos, Illinois, Kaskaskias, Peori- 
 as, and branches of some other tribes that inhabited 
 the country between Lake Michigan and the Missis- 
 sippi. But the three tribes first named — the Wabash 
 Indians — were not treated with at Cahokia ; and Clark 
 had previously made peace with the Kaskaskias and 
 Peorias. 
 
 "Before the close of September," says Monnette 
 {History of the Valley of the Mississippi, vol I, p. 
 423), "Colonel Clark had commenced his negotiations 
 
636 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 with the Indian tribes occupying the regions drained 
 by the IlHnois and Upper Mississippi rivers. BeHeving 
 it impoHtic, and a mistaken estimate of Indian charac- 
 ter, to invite them to treaties of peace and friendship, 
 he lost no opportunity of impressing them with the 
 power of the Americans and the high sense of honor 
 which regulated all their military operations, no less 
 than the unalterable determination to punish their ene- 
 mies. Long acquainted with the Indian character, he 
 maintained his dignified and stern reserve until they 
 should ask for peace and treaties ; and he fought them 
 ■fiercely until they did sue for peace.''' (The italicising 
 is mine). 
 
 But Colonel Clark had no contest with Indians at 
 this period ; he did not fight any — neither those whose 
 homes were not far away nor those who had their vil- 
 lages upon the Illinois and Upper Mississippi rivers, 
 or elsewhere. The nearest approach to any hostilities 
 was when some 'Tuans [Winnebagoes] and others" 
 endeavored, at Cahokia, to carry off Clark, the latter 
 making promises of the savages who engaged in the 
 undertaking, putting some of the greatest chiefs among 
 them in irons, but soon releasing them, as already fully 
 explained. 
 
 " 'Domestic affairs,' says the Colonel [Clark], 'be- 
 ing thus pretty well settled, the Indian department 
 came next to be the object of my attention.' This, in- 
 deed, was the most delicate and difficult portion of his 
 task. To win the friendship, or at least secure the 
 neutrality of the Indians was one of the primary ob- 
 jects of the campaign. The Chippewas, Ottawas, Pot- 
 tawattamies. Sacs, Foxes — in a word, nearly all the 
 leading tribes of the West — were represented in the 
 
MJSTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 63? 
 
 repeated conferences held between Col. Clark and the 
 savages, delegations of braves in some instances trav- 
 eling a distance of five hundred miles in order to be 
 present." — John Moses, in Illinois: Historical and 
 Statistical, vol. I, p. 153. But no nation east of the 
 Wabash or Maiimee, in the West, was represented at 
 iany conference held by Clark. 
 
 'Those nations who have treated with me have be- 
 haved since very well, to-wit: the Piankeshaws, Kick- 
 apoos, Weas, of the Wabash river; the Kaskaskias, 
 Peorias, Mitchigamies, Foxes, Sacs, Opays, Illinois 
 and Pones [Pottawattamies], nations of the Missis- 
 sippi and Illinois rivers. Part of the Chippewas have 
 also treated and are peaceable." — Clark to the Gov- 
 ernor of Va., Apr. 29, 1779, from Kaskaskia. 
 
 The list in Clark's letter to Mason {Clark's Cam- 
 paign in the Illinois, p. 41) includes the Winnebagoes 
 ("Puans") and Miamis, also the Ottowas and one or 
 two .others — all treated with at Cahokia. 
 
 NOTE LVI. 
 
 Clark's interview with the chippewa chief 
 blackbird. 
 
 Concerning Clark's interview with the Chippewa 
 chief. Blackbird, Butler {History of Kentucky, pp. 75, 
 yy) says: 
 
 "Colonel Clark now turned his attention to Sa- 
 quina, or Blackbird, and Nakioun, two chiefs of the 
 Sotairs [Chippewas] and Ottawa tribes bordering on 
 Lake Michigan. The former of these chiefs had been 
 
638 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 in St. Louis, when Clark first invaded the country, and 
 not trusting to Spanish protection, had returned to 
 his tribe ; though he had sent a letter to Clark apologiz- 
 ing for his absence. He was found on inquiry to pos- 
 sess so much influence over considerable bands about 
 St. Joseph's, of Lake ^lichigan, that Colonel Clark 
 departed from his usual distant policy and invited him 
 ty a special messenger to come to Kaskaskia. The in- 
 vitation was immediately complied with and Black- 
 bird visited Colonel Clark with only eight attendants. 
 \fter the party had recovered from their fatigue, 
 preparations were made as usual for a council, with 
 the ceremonies generally practiced. These were no 
 sooner noticed by the sagacious chief than he informed 
 Colonel Clark that he came on business of importance 
 to both, and desired that no time might be lost on cer- 
 emonies. This chief declared he wanted much con- 
 versation with Colonel Clark, and would prefer sitting 
 at the same table with him to all the parade and for- 
 mality which could be used. Accordingly a room was 
 prepared for this straightforward and direct chief and 
 his American cotemporary: they both with their seats 
 at the same table, having interpreters seated to the 
 right and left. Black Bird opened the conference by 
 saying, 'he had long wished to enjoy a conversation 
 with a chief of our nation : he had conversed with 
 prisoners, but he could not confide in them for they 
 seemed to be afraid to speak the truth. That he had 
 engaged in the war against us was true, although 
 doubts of its justice always crossed his mind owing to 
 our appearing to be the same nation with the British. 
 Some mystery hung over the matter which he wanted 
 removed ; his anxietv was to hear both sides, while he 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 639 
 
 had hitherto only been able to hear one.' Clark readily 
 undertook to satisfy this inquisitive chief and com- 
 pelled as he was to employ smiles for so many ideas 
 foreign to barbarous society, it took him nearly half a 
 day to answer the inquiries of the Indian. This was 
 accomplished to his entire satisfaction and he expressed 
 himself convinced that the Americans were perfectly 
 right ; he was glad that their old friends the French, 
 had united their armies with ours, and the Indians 
 ought to do the same. But as we did not wish this, his 
 countrymen he thought, ought at least to be neutral. 
 He was convinced the English must be afraid because 
 they gave the Indians so many goods to fight for them ; 
 his sentiments, he said, were fixed in our favor ; and 
 he would no longer listen to the offers of the English. 
 He would put an end to the war, and would call all his 
 young men in as soon as he could get home and have 
 an opportunity of explaining the nature of the war to 
 them. 
 
 ''This display of the chief's sentiments may well be 
 conceived to have given Clark the utmost satisfaction ; 
 and he promised to write to the Governor of \"irginia 
 respecting his friendly conduct, and to have him reg- 
 istered among the friends of the Big Knife. In a few 
 days the chief set off for his native forests accompan- 
 ied at his desire by an agent of Clark. A couple of 
 pack-horses w^re loaded with provisions and presents 
 for this sagacious and sensible Indian, who continued a 
 faithful friend to American interests." 
 
640 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE LVII. 
 
 CLARK AND DE LEYBA^S CONVIVIALITY. 
 
 Clark speaks of De Leyba as "Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor of Western Illinois," instead of ''Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Upper Louisiana ;" as the former desig- 
 nation was still in vogue. 
 
 ''Fernando de Leyba, governor of the western 
 part of the Illinois [that is, of that part lying west of 
 the Mississippi, which then belonged to Spain] was in 
 command at St. Louis from June 14, 1777, to June 
 27, 1780, when he died. According to traditional re- 
 port in St. Louis generally accepted (see Primm, p. 
 10, who, however, exaggerates), De Leyba was given 
 to conviviality and indulged occasionally over much 
 in the wine cup. Clark himself was fond of pleasure 
 and his glass. It is not unlikely the 'intimacy' he 
 speaks of and the 'freedom almost to excess,' that gave 
 the greatest pleasure were illustrated in social enter- 
 tainments in which he and De Leyba, boon companions 
 for the time being, put aside reserve and enjoyed 
 themselves freely. On these occasions, Clark probably 
 preferred the stronger stimulant to which he was ac- 
 customed, and the Spaniard chose the weaker, but 
 equally effective, juice of the grape. 
 
 "There was besides another tie uniting Clark and 
 De Leyba . . . namely, Francis Vigo. This gen- 
 tleman early interested himself in Clark's success and 
 was practically active in promoting it; their relations 
 were certainly intimate. Vigo was not only a personal 
 friend of De Leyba, but connected with him in busi- 
 ness. When the Spanish Lieutenant Governor died he 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 641 
 
 appointed Vigo his testamentary executor." . 
 
 [O. W. Collett, in Magazine of Western History, vol. 
 
 I (Feb. 1885), P."274n.] 
 
 Collett thinks that when this conviviality existed 
 in so marked a manner between the two was when 
 Clark was at Cahokia. 
 
 NOTE LVIIL 
 
 BRITISH ACCOUNTS OF THE TREATMENT ACCORDED 
 ROCHEBLAVE AND CERRE' BY COLONEL CLARK. 
 
 The news of the bad treatment accorded to M. 
 Cerre' (and Rocheblave as well) upon Clark's first 
 arrival in the Illinois, as it reached the far-away post 
 of Michilimackinac, stirred a feeling of sympathy in 
 the breast of at least one warm friend of these men. 
 This sympathiser was one M. Monforton, a French- 
 man of ability. In writing to Cerre', subsequently, 
 and after he (Monforton) had gone from Michilimack- 
 inac to Detroit, he expressed, in a most intelHgent 
 manner his regret that affairs had turned out so badly 
 at the Illinois. "I feel warmly and I share all the 
 pain of the bad treatment," said he, "which, with M 
 Rocheblave, you have experienced from those who 
 treat as enemies the persons whom honor and religion 
 held submissive and faithful to their Prince." Mon- 
 forton deplored, also, "the fatal movement in which, 
 without help," Rocheblave had been "surprised and 
 taken," which he declared was, as reported, "of a 
 fury less to intimidate than provoke those whom Cap- 
 tain Lord had confided to his care." "Could Captain 
 Lord," asks Monforton, "have chosen a successor who 
 
 41 
 
642 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 was more worthy of favor? — for, by his love of jus- 
 tice, his zeal for the public good, and his disinterested- 
 ness, he has justly merited this title from the inhabi- 
 tants of the Illinois." What advantage," he also asks, 
 can the people of the Illinois draw from an independ- 
 ence such as the Virginians would offer them ? 
 
 The conduct of the Americans in their invasion 
 of Arkansas and other posts, their contraventions of 
 the rights of men in respect to M. Rocheblave, "whose 
 sole motive was to render himself useful to a people 
 among whom a long residence had rendered him dear," 
 — was, in Monforton's judgment, particularly repre- 
 hensible. 
 
 The inhabitants of the Illinois towns, Monforton 
 declared, are promised more real advantages than those 
 which they could procure from the British government. 
 That they had not enjoyed what was really their due, 
 under the command of Colonel Wilkins, he was ready 
 to admit ; but the proofs the people had given of their 
 attachment to Captain Lord, the regret which they 
 testified at his departure, seemed, to the writer, to 
 have destroyed the false ideas which his predecessor 
 had raised in their minds ; and if, like himself, they 
 had occasions for knowing the spirit and character of 
 the British nation, they would be fully convinced "that 
 the change with which they are threatened cannot 
 but be fatal in its consequences."* However, these 
 strictures, if they ever reached the ears of M. Cerre'. 
 found him deaf to all appeals from his intelligent 
 countryman. But the writer thereof had, as Hamilton 
 afterward expressed himself, "done what was in his 
 power to open the eyes of the French people at the 
 
 'i^ Monforton to Cerre, Sept. 22, 1778. — Haldimand.MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 643 
 
 Illinois". The Lieutenant Governor declared that 
 Monforton was "a man of sense and information far 
 above the common standard in this country""^ — 
 which, it is evident, was praise well merited. 
 
 Clark's treatment of Rocheblave is spoken of by 
 Hamilton years after with indignation and, probably, 
 with exaggeration. 
 
 ''On the 6th [8th] of August, 1778, intelligence 
 was brought me by Mr. Francis Maisonville, of the 
 attack of the Illinois by Colonel Clark; the shameful 
 treatment of Monsieur de Rocheblave, who was laid 
 in irons, and put into a place where hogs had been 
 kept, ankle deep in filth; the indignities offered Mad- 
 ame de Rocheblave, [and of] the destruction of his 
 [Rocheblave's] property." . . — Hamilton to Haldi- 
 mand July 6, 1781 — Germain MSS. 
 
 "On the 6th [8th] of August [1778], I received in- 
 telligence of the rebels having pushed considerable 
 detachments to the Illinois, where they made prisoner, 
 Mons. La Rocheblave, whose activity as superintend- 
 ent occasioned his being treated with shameful indig- 
 nity." — Hamilton to the Corn's of His Majesty's 
 Treasury, 1783, MS. 
 
 And De Peyster, soon after the events transpired, 
 wrote thus : 
 
 "MicHiLiMACKiNAc, 31 August, 1778. 
 
 "Sir : — I have this moment received a letter from Mons'r 
 Chevalier, of St. Joseph informing me that the rebels are 
 in possession of all the Illinois ; that the party at Kaskaskia, 
 consisting of two hundred and fifty commanded by one Wil- 
 ling [Clark] is a part of 700 on their way for that country. 
 Willing [Clark] has put Mr. De Rocheblave, the commandant, 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Oct. 4, 1778. — Haldimaiid 
 MSS. 
 
644 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and one Mr. Cerre, in irons for having refused [to take] 
 the oaths of allegiance to the King of Spain, the French 
 king, and the Congress. The traders in that country, and 
 many of them [are] from this post, are plundered; and the 
 whole country [is] in the greatest confusion, being at a loss 
 to know which route the rebels will take next. 
 "I am, etc., 
 
 "A. S. De Peyster.'' 
 
 NOTE LIX. 
 
 JOHN HAY TO CAPTAIN BREHM. [SEPT., I778].* 
 
 'Tt is thought by many that the rebels that took posses- 
 sion of Kayhaskia and Cahokia have by this time evacuated 
 those places, but I am of a very different opinion, they had cer- 
 tainly Bills upon the Spanish Governor which were answered 
 on their being produced, and they bought up a quantity of cloth 
 which was to be made up in regimentals for them : and as we 
 have but too much reason to believe they were well received by 
 the Inhabitants they will not lose their holds so soon, particu- 
 larly while they can get provisions, etc., for their parties that 
 are or may be in the Ohio. Some of the consequences will 
 be that by the assistance of the Spaniards and well wishers 
 to the Monague the Indians in the Wabash Country will 
 probably remain nuter until they find themselves sufficiently 
 supplied with necessaries, from that quarter and there we 
 miay expect they will be at least overbearing, and perhaps 
 insolent, which will affect those nearer in so much as to 
 require more expence and great diligence to keep them to their 
 duty. The four Nations of the Lakes viz. The Autawas, 
 Chippewas, Hurons and Powtowattamies have shewn great 
 attachment to His Majesty and Government and Shanawese, 
 Mingoes and part of the Delawares have been very active, 
 they are stimulated as much by the late incursion of the 
 Virginians under Lord Dunmore.and their cruelties since, as 
 
 * From the Haldimand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 645 
 
 anything else ; some of them took up the Hatchet before they 
 were asked, the rest upon deliberation and in assurance of 
 their being supported, by Government and I must confess there 
 never was known an Indian War carried on with as little of 
 their wanton cruelty; indeed the sparing of the lives of pris- 
 oners, the aged men, women and children was insisted on 
 from the first, and they have paid great attention to it, and 
 never went without some reward for their complyance. 
 
 "Great part of the Delawares are and have been neuter 
 or rather in the Interest of the Rebells there is one of that 
 Nation who is just returned from War sitting by me who 
 tells me, there has lately been great quantity of provisions 
 etc. brought to Fort Pitt and The Great Cantiana, which 
 may be the case as they intend erecting Forts at the Falls and 
 other- places on the Ohio, to secure a Communication down 
 the Mississippi one John Campbell of Fort Pitt received a 
 commission from the Congress last winter with orders to 
 collect or raise men, for that purpose, they have three Forts 
 at Kentuckie which are great eye sores to the Indians being 
 in the heart of their best hunting country. There is a body 
 of Indians now out there accompanied by Lieut Dequindre 
 and ten Volunteers of the Indian Department from this place 
 we expect daily to hear what they have done. 
 
 "This is so remote a place and I am so small a subject 
 that it may appear presumption in me to form opinion of 
 futurity yet I cannot help thinking that this place will become 
 of more consequence in a little time than you or I were 
 aware of when we used to talk of the growth of this country, 
 the principal fort the Rebels have below Fort Pitt is at the 
 great Canhawa Garrison by a camp any of their regulars and 
 some country people — they have several more between that 
 and Fort Pitt, but not so considerable. We have many more 
 parties out but Governor Hamilton (for want of fresh in- 
 structions or orders) has confined himself to the tenor of 
 those just received viz. carrying continual alarms to draw 
 the attention of the rebells to the Frontiers preventing the 
 resettling the country already abandoned, and harrassing those 
 destined to keep up a communication between this small fort, 
 which you may imagine they have done as three different 
 
646 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 parties sent from this since Spring have taken thirty three 
 prisoners and eighty scalps with the loss of 8 principal 
 Hurons, one Ottawa and one Powtawatame 14 of the different 
 Nations wounded and what you may believe as a fact there 
 has been but one instance of savage cruelty exercised upon 
 any of them. Seventeen of the above prisoners were de- 
 livered up here, but there are many more among them that 
 as yet we know nothing of. 
 
 "I am, Dear Brehm, Your real well wisher and most 
 humble servant, 
 
 NOTE LX. 
 
 OF WEA AND "tHE MIAMIS." 
 
 Wea,* "a miserable place," as Hamilton afterward 
 designated it^ was located on the north side of the Wa- 
 bash, just below the site of the present city of Lafay- 
 ette, Indiana. It stood about seventy yards from the 
 river and consisted of a few cabins surrounded by 
 pickets. During the Revolution it was frequently 
 spoken of by English writers as "Ouiatanon" — of 
 which Wea ("Ouia"), was an abbreviation. The term 
 ''the Miamis" employed by Hamilton in this letter cited 
 in the text, as of — was one in general use in the West 
 during the Revolution to indicate the principal village 
 of the Miami Indians. It was at the head of the 
 Maumee — the site of the present city of Fort Wayne, 
 Indiana, and was the beginning of the portage leading 
 across to the waters of the Wabash. It was a post of 
 some importance, one of the dependencies of Detroit. 
 
 ''He [Hamilton] believes he can set out the ist of 
 October, and asks me to address my letters under cover 
 to Captain Lernoult. As he sees the Indians do not 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXQUEST, ETC. 647 
 
 look upon the Virginians with pleasure, but that the 
 French appear to favor them, there is no time to lose ; 
 he will try to anticipate my views in preventing the 
 rebels from settling themselves solidly at the Illinois." 
 — (Remarks of Haldimand on Hamilton's Letters: 
 Haldimand MSS.) 
 
 NOTE LXI. 
 
 Hamilton's expedition to inflame the savages 
 against the americans. 
 
 ^lanv were the expedients employed by Hamil- 
 ton to inflame the savages against the Americans and 
 to win them over to the side of Britain. On one occa- 
 sion, the Indians were drawn up in two lines, extend- 
 ing from the Detroit river to the woods : their kettles 
 and fires were between the lines. An ox was killed, 
 and his head cut ott : a large tomahawk was then 
 struck into the head, and thus loaded, it was presented 
 to the Governor. He was requested to sing his war 
 sone alone the whole line of the Indians — for he had 
 a song of his own. The ox's head represented the 
 head of an American: and as the British were the 
 principals in the war. it was necessary for them to take 
 up the tomahawk first. [See Ontzca, the Son of the 
 Forest. A Poem. (New York: 1882), pp. 124, 125. 
 The poem" was written by Col. Henry Whiting; the 
 Notes are by Lewis Cass.] 
 
648 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE LXIL 
 
 CONCERNING CAPT. LERNOULt's AID TO HAMILTON AND 
 THE ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN BIRD IN DETROIT. 
 
 ''Captain Lernoult who, at that time, commanded 
 the detachment of the King's (8th) regiment, assisted 
 me greatly in forwarding everything necessary to be 
 provided, and gave permission to Lieutenant Shourd, 
 two sergeants, and thirty [one] rank and file, (who 
 were all volunteers), to accompany me." — Hamiltori 
 to Haldimand, July 6, 1781 — Germain MSS. To be 
 added to the regulars were one lieutenant fire worker 
 and two matrosses. 
 
 "His [Hamilton's] preparations were finally com- 
 pleted, and he waited only for the arrival of Captain 
 Bird and fifty of the King's Regiment from Niagara. 
 They came on October 7, 1778, and on the same day 
 Hamilton and his party set out for Vincennes." — 
 Farmer's History of Detroit and Michigan, p. 250. 
 The arrival of Bird resulted in Hamilton securing a 
 promise of the regulars mentioned by him, but the 
 Lieutenant-Governor had not awaited the Captain's 
 coming. Lernoult's permit was given after Bird 
 reached his destination and too late for the marching 
 at once of the detachment with Hamilton. 
 
 NOTE LXHL 
 
 AS TO THE FORCE WHICH LEFT DETROIT UNDER 
 HAMILTON. 
 
 "To dispossess the Americans of the Illinois coun- 
 try and Vincennes," says Bancroft [History of the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 640 
 
 United States (ed. of 1885), Vol. V., p. 312], ''on the 
 seventh of October, Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton 
 left Detroit with -regulars and volunteers and three 
 hundred and fifty warriors picked by their chiefs out 
 of thirteen different nations." This error as to the 
 number of Indians (some writers enumerating more, 
 some less) is also to be found on the pages of several 
 Western histories. As an instance : 
 
 "It was not long before this state of things [Cap- 
 tain Helm having possession of Fort Sackville, at Vin- 
 cennes, 'with only' two soldiers and a few volunteer 
 militia' and the whole regular force under Clark, at 
 Kaskaskia and Cahokia being reduced to less than one 
 hundred men] was made known to Governor Hamil- 
 ton, commandant at Detroit. Alarmed at the rapid 
 success of the Virginia troops, and mortified at the 
 disasters of the British arms, he determined to make 
 an energetic invasion of the Illinois country, and re- 
 trieve the honor of his Majesty's arms by the recap- 
 ture of all the posts on the Wabash and [in the] Illi- 
 nois, and by leading Colonel Clark and his followers 
 captive to Detroit. 
 
 "Having assembled six hundred warriors, in ad- 
 dition to his force ot eighty regular soldiers and some 
 Canadian militia, he set out upon the expedition to 
 Vincennes." (Monnette's History of the Valley of the 
 Mississippi, Vol. I., pp. 424, 425.) 
 
 There were three interpreters from the Indian De- 
 partment, each ranking as captain who were to go 
 upon the expedition : Charles Reaume, Isidore Chesne 
 and Alexander McKee. There were also other "In- 
 dian officers" from the same Department — Lieuten- 
 ants Fontenoy De Quindre, Lepiconiere De Quindre, 
 
650 HISTORY OF CLARK'S- CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Ponchartrain De Quindre and Joseph Bondy. Augus- 
 tine Lefoi and Amable St. Cosme were armorers and 
 Nicholas Lasalle storekeeper. (Return of Hamilton, 
 of Sept. 30, 1778 — Haldimand MSS.) But Captain 
 McKee had, as already shown, gone to the Shawanese, 
 to engage warriors from that nation for the enter- 
 prise, preceded by Captain Chesne, who was with a 
 war-party engaged in besieging one of the Kentucky 
 forts; and, also, commanding the same party, was 
 Lieut. Fontenoy De Quindre. 
 
 The officers commanding the volunteer militia were 
 captains Normond McLeod and Alexis Maisonville ; 
 Lieutenants Jacob SchieiTelin, Joncaire Chabert, 
 Chevalier Chabert, Pierre St. Cosme and Medard 
 Gamelin — the latter acting as adjutant: Over Cap- 
 tain Lamothe's company and the militia was placed 
 Jehu Hay as major, who, as Deputy Indian Agent, 
 had also charge of a large amount of Indian presents, 
 which were to be taken along to conciliate the sav- 
 ages. 
 
 A man by the name of Chapman went as quarter- 
 master and John McBeath as surgeon to the expedi- 
 tion ; Antoine Bellefeuille as interpreter ; in addition 
 to those before mentioned, Charles Lovain, as com- 
 missary of provisions at the Miamis — head of Mau- 
 mee ; Adhemar St. Martin, as commissary for the de- 
 tachment and Indians ; Francis Maisonville, as boat- 
 master; and Amos Ansly, as master carpenter. (Ham- 
 ilton's ReHirn, loc. cit.) Farmer, in his History of De- 
 troit and Michigan, p. 250, says Hamilton was accom- 
 panied by Philip Dejean, his secretary. But it was 
 some months before Dejean followed the Lieutenant- 
 Governor. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 65i 
 
 St. Martin is usually mentioned by his first or 
 given name, but not always: "Late in November, 
 1775, the Chippewa was wrecked on the southern coast 
 of Lake Erie. Lieut. Col. Caldwell judged it expe- 
 dient to have her cargo destroyed. Mr. Adhemar St. 
 Martin was the principal sufferer on this occasion, 
 his loss [being] upwards of four hundred pounds 
 [sterling]. A memorial from this place was sent in 
 his behalf, but he has never heard of its having been 
 attended to. He has a large family with a good rep- 
 utation for its chief (almost only) support. His losses 
 by the Government, hitherto unrepaid, have distressed 
 him in a degree I need not paint to_ your Excellency — 
 loss of goods — loss of opportunity — while the trad- 
 ers on every side are enriching themselves in this time 
 of trouble ; and he has known upwards of one hundred 
 per cent, given for articles indispensibly necessary to 
 the service and rendered valuable by their great scar- 
 city — pitch, tallow, salt, sugar, soap, one half a dol- 
 lar the pound. Powder £30 and £40 the hundred 
 weight. I humbly recommend Mr. Adhemar, there- 
 fore, to your Excellency's compassionate feeling for 
 his distress." — Hamilton to Haldimand [Sep. 5] 
 1778 — Haldimand MSS. Of the regulars and "ir- 
 regulars" of his force, Hamilton afterward wrote : 
 
 "Our numbers . . . were as follow : Of reg- 
 ulars, one Heutenant fireworker, two matrosses, — 
 [also] one lieutenant, two sergeants, thirty [one] rank 
 and file of the King's (8th) regiment. Of irregulars 
 [Captain Lamothe's company], one captain and lieu- 
 tenant, two sergeants, 4[o] rank and file." (Hamil- 
 ton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781 — Germain MSS. On 
 the 30th of September, 1778, he enumerates, of the 
 
652 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 militia, seventy-one exclusive of officers ; of the latter 
 there were one major, two captains, four lieutenants, 
 one adjutant, one quartermaster, one surgeon, four 
 sergeants — in all. fourteen: total of militia, eighty- 
 five. — C' Return" made at Detroit on the above date 
 — Haldimand MSS.) 
 
 When the time came to march, there was a falling 
 off in the number of Hamilton's Indian allies, so that, 
 as mentioned in the text, only about seventy made their 
 appearance. 
 
 NOTE LXIV 
 
 Hamilton's first march intended only to reach 
 
 vincennes. 
 
 [Ante, Chap. X, p. — .] 
 
 Hamilton's "winter movement of six hundred 
 miles" only had reference to the distance from Detroit 
 to Mncennes. It seems from Hamilton's words that 
 he made no preparations for the march beyond Vin- 
 cennes : as there he would (as he suggested to Haldi- 
 mand; wait for reinforcements: and, as will hereafter 
 be seen, additional supplies were to be forwarded 
 there as soon as any could be spared from Detroit. A 
 recent writer says : "This news [that conveyed by 
 Sir Guy Carleton to Hamilton, in his letter of Sept. 
 26, 1777, w^herein he states that the conduct of the war 
 has been taken entirely out of his hands, and the man- 
 agement of it upon the Western frontier given to the 
 Lieutenant-Governor] was doubtless pleasing to Ham- 
 ilton, and there can be no doubt that, soon after this, 
 he commenced to plan an incursion which he would 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S COX QUEST, ETC. 653 
 
 lead in person, ^leantime, on June 26, 1778, General 
 Haldimand succeeded General Carleton, and Hamil- 
 ton, apparently, began to fear that his powers would 
 be restricted. In great haste he completed his prep- 
 arations for an attack on the -\merican posts. He be- 
 gan to talk of what he proposed to do and was confi- 
 dent and even boastful. His preparations were finally 
 completed [for starting on his march to Vincennes]." 
 (Farmer's History of Detroit and Michigan, p. 250.) 
 The idea here conveyed as to Carleton's meaning is ev- 
 idently a mistake. Sir Guy only referred to the con- 
 duct of the war in Hamilton's department, so far as 
 the Indians were concerned, as indicated in the letter 
 of Germain of the 26th of ^larch, 1777. In that letter 
 no authority is given the Lieutenant-Governor to or- 
 ganize an expedition of British troops, militia and In- 
 dians to ofo asrainst the Americans. 
 
 ''NOTE LXA\ 
 
 AS TO helm's force SEXT TO VIXCEXXES, AXD THE 
 TIME OF STARTIX'G. 
 
 Some writers have stated, owing to supposed sub- 
 sequent developments, that Helm took with him from 
 the Illinois but one soldier. This is clearly an error. 
 
 As already shown, Hamilton at Detroit got intel- 
 ligence by the middle of September that tlie "rebels" 
 had sent three persons to Mncennes from the Illinois. 
 Clark says he was not able to spare many men (see 
 his letter to Mason — Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 p. 49). Reliance is to be placed upon the nimiber re- 
 
654 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 
 
 ported to Hamilton, as it was coupled with other intel- 
 ligence of undoubted truthfulness. (Letter to Haldi- 
 mand of Sep. i6, 1778, in the Haldimand MSS.) 
 
 It is evident that August was not far advanced 
 when the Captain started, as he had reached Vincennes 
 before the fourteenth of that month. (Hamilton to 
 Haldimand, Jan. 24-28, 1779 — Haldimand MSS.) 
 In his Memoir, Clark says that Helm set out to take 
 possession of his new command about the middle of 
 August. This is as near the time as he could remem- 
 ber years after. 
 
 One of Kentucky's historians writes : "Captain" 
 Leonard Helm was appointed by Colonel Clark com- 
 mandant at St. Vincents [Vincennes] and 'agent for 
 Indian affairs in the department of the Wabash.' This 
 officer was particularly recommended to Clark for his 
 knov/ledge of the department, and by the general pru- 
 dence of his character. As Clark intended to place a 
 strong garrison at this post when the reinforcements 
 which he expected from Virginia should arrive. Cap- 
 tain Helm was made fully acquainted with his plans 
 and received his utmost confidence." (Butler's Ken- 
 tucky, p .65.) But when Helm was sent to Vincennes, 
 Clark was not expecting any reinforcements whatever, 
 either "from Virginia" or elsewhere. He had as yet 
 not heard a word from the Virginia governor since his 
 arrival in the Illinois. 
 
 Captain Helm and the two soldiers under him 
 were the "three persons" mentioned by Hamilton to 
 Haldimand in his letter of the sixteenth of September, 
 referred to in a previous chapter. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 655 
 NOTE LXVL 
 
 CAPT. helm's council WITH THE PIANKESHAWS. 
 
 'T now, by Captain Helm, touched him [the Grand 
 Door] on the same spring I had done the inhabitants 
 [on the occasion of sending Gibault to Vincennes], 
 and sent a speech with a belt of wampum, directing the 
 Captain how to manage, if the chief was pacifically in- 
 clined, or otherwise. . . . He [Captain Helm] 
 sent for the Grand Door and delivered my letter to 
 him. After having read it, he informed the Captain 
 that he was happy to see him — one of the Big Knife 
 chiefs — in this town: it was here [at Vincennes] that 
 he had joined the English against him; but he con- 
 fessed that he always thought they looked gloomy ; that 
 as the contents of the letter was a matter of great 
 moment, he could not give an answer for some time; 
 that he must collect his counsellors [and advise with 
 them] on the subject; and was in hopes the Captain 
 would be patient. In short, he put on all the courtly 
 dignity, that he was master of ; and Captain Helm fol- 
 lowing his example, it was several days before this 
 business was finished, as the whole proceedings was 
 very ceremonious. 
 
 "At length the Captain was invited to the Indian 
 council, and informed by the Tobacco [the Grand Door 
 — son of Tobacco] that they had mutually considered 
 the case in hand, and had got the nature of the war 
 between the English and us explained to their satis- 
 faction; that, as we spoke the same language and ap- 
 peared to be the same people, he always thought he 
 was in the dark as to the truth of it ; but now the sky 
 
656 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 was cleared up ; that he found that the Big Knife was 
 in the right ; that perhaps, if the EngHsh conquered, 
 they would serve them in the same manner that they 
 intended to serve us ; that his ideas were quite changed ; 
 and that he would tell all the red people on the Wabash 
 to bloody the land no more for the English. He 
 jumped up, struck his breast, called himself a man and 
 a warrior ; said that he was now a Big Knife, and took 
 Captain Helm by the hand. His example was followed 
 by all present, and the evening was spent in merriment. 
 Thus ended this valuable negotiation and [which re- 
 sulted in] the saving of much blood. . . . 
 
 In a short time, almost the whole of the various 
 tribes of the different nations on the Wabash, as high 
 as the Quiatenon [the Wea] came to Vincennes, and 
 followed the example of the Grand Door chief. And 
 as expresses were continually passing between Captain 
 Helm and myself the whole time of [the holding of] 
 these treaties, the business was settled perfectly to my 
 satisfaction and greatly to the advantage of the pub- 
 lic [that is, greatly to the advantage of the Americn 
 interests]." — Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. 
 of 1859), pp. 129-131. But Clark's recollection was at 
 fault in saying that nearly all the Wabash Indians as 
 high as Wea followed the Grand Door's example in 
 making peace. 
 
 The result of the council with the Piankeshaw 
 Indians has given rise to a fictitious story which has 
 found its way into print, wherein the meeting is spoken 
 of as having been held at Kaskaskia and that Clark 
 was holding the council when the Grand Door (or Big 
 Gate, as he is therein called) made his appearance. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 657 
 
 ' "Relieved by the result of Gibault's diplomacy at 
 Vincennes from apprehension of an attack from that 
 quarter, Clark turned his whole attention to the pacifi- 
 cation of the neighboring Indian tribes. His plan was 
 to treat them with the strictest justice, adopting a man- 
 ner kind, haughty, or contemptuous, as occasion de- 
 manded; but always reserved and dignified. Main- 
 taining the superiority of the white, he never allowed 
 himself to be provoked into any unseemly display of 
 passion or excitement, — seldom offering presents ; 
 when he did so, it was always with the distinct under- 
 standing that it was a mere act of grace, and not in- 
 tended as a bribe. Though anxious to secure the neu- 
 trality of the tribes of the Illinois, he never condes- 
 cended to invite them to a council, and all the over- 
 tures for peace came from those who had begun the 
 war. 
 
 ''Yet, when necessary, no one could be more per- 
 suasive, as was proven by his interview with the Big 
 Gate — so called from having, when a youth, shot a 
 British officer standing on the gate of the fort at De- 
 troit, during the attempt of Pontiac to surprise that 
 place. This chief, a deadly foe to the Big Knives, had 
 accidently met a party of Piankeshaws coming to at- 
 tend the great council, which was being held by the 
 American commander at Kaskaskia; and although an 
 avowed enemy, he resolved to accompany them in or- 
 der to behold this mighty chief of the pale-faces whose 
 fame had spread over the whole northwest. With the 
 most audacious calmness, he appeared each day in the 
 council, sitting conspicuously in the front of the room 
 in full war-dress, wearing the bloody belt he had re- 
 ceived from the English, and elaborately bedecked in 
 42 
 
658 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 his war-paint. Thus he continued to attend for many 
 days, saying not a word to the Americans nor they to 
 him. But on the last day, when the deHberations were 
 closed, Clark addressed him, apologizing for not notic- 
 ing him until the public business was over. He said : 
 'Although they were enemies, still it was the custom 
 of the white men, when they met in this way, to treat 
 each other in proportion to their exploits in war.' On 
 this account and because 'he was a great chief the Col- 
 onel invited him to dinner — a compliment never ex- 
 tended to less distinguished men. The savage, taken 
 completely by surprise, endeavored to decline ; but 
 Clark would take no denial. 
 
 "At last the chief, confused by such unexpected 
 kindness and attention, and yielding to the spell of a 
 superior mind, could contain his excited feelings no 
 longer. Springing into the middle of the room, he 
 flung down the war-belt and a little British flag that 
 he carried in his bosom, and ended by stripping him- 
 self of every article of clothing except his breech-cloth. 
 Then striking himself energetically upon the breast, 
 he told his hearers that 'they all knew he had been a 
 great warrior from his youth up and delighted in bat- 
 tle. That he had been out three times against the Big 
 Knives in Kentucky, for the British had told him lies ! 
 That he was preparing for another war-party when 
 Clark arrived, when he determined to rest himself 
 awhile, and come and hear what the Americans had 
 to say on their side of the question. Now he knew 
 the Big Knives were right, and as an honest warrior, 
 he wduld no longer fight against them' ; upon which he 
 shook hands with Clark and his oflicers and saluted 
 them as brothers. He ever afterward remained true 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 659 
 
 to his new friends and in a private interview detailed 
 to the Colonel the situation of Detroit, and offered to 
 go out and bring him a scalp or a prisoner. Clark 
 declined the offered scalp, but said that he would be 
 glad to secure a prisoner, from whom he could obtain 
 some information of the movements of the British. 
 The chief, dressed in a fine laced suit, decorated with 
 a silver medal, and bearing a captain's commission, 
 set out on this expedition." (Coleman, in Harper's 
 Mag., vol. XXIII„p. 52). 
 
 And a writer in The North American Review 
 [vol. XLIII (July, 1836), p. 17], erroneously speaks of 
 Clark's negotiation with the Indians, as though it was 
 carried on by the Colonel in person, both on the Wa- 
 bash and at Cahokia. He says : 
 
 "Though Clark had effected so much, having 
 taken two important posts from the British [Kaskas- 
 kia and Cahokia being considered as one and Vin- 
 cennes as another] and having won the favor of the 
 French, there was yet another influence to be propiti- 
 ated, more important and more hostile than either. 
 The business, now more difficult than an3^thing he had 
 yet accomplished, was to awe or persuade the Indians 
 of the Wabash into an alliance with the Americns. 
 And in this affair he displayed as much sagacity and 
 perseverence as in his previous exploits. The French 
 have [had] invariably succeeded in winning the friend- 
 ship of the Indians. The English almost as invariably 
 have [had] failed. By an attentive study of the Indian 
 character, Clark had learned to combine the dignity 
 and firmness which awe, with that ceremonious beha- 
 vior which pleases the pride and vanity of the savage. 
 In the treaties held bv him at Cahokia and on the 
 
600 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Wabash, was displayed the correctness of this view of 
 the Indian." 
 
 Indian speeches afterward reached the ears of 
 Hamilton said (but without a semblance of truth) to 
 have been made when the "rebels" first arrived at 
 Vincennes : "Having called the Indians together, they 
 [the 'rebels'] laid a war belt colored red and a belt col- 
 ored green before them, telling them that if they de- 
 lighted in mischief and had no compassion on their 
 wives and children they might take up the red one ; 
 if, on the contrary, they were wise and preferred peace, 
 the green one. 
 
 "The Old Tobacco, a chief of the Piankeshaws, 
 spoke as follows : 'My brothers ! You speak in a man- 
 ner not to be understood. I never yet saw nor have 
 I heard from my ancestors, that it was customary to 
 place good and bad things in the same dish. You talk 
 to us as if you meant us well, yet you speak of war 
 and peace in the same minute. Thus, I treat the 
 speeches of such men' — on which, with a violent kick, 
 he spurned their belts from him. 
 
 "The son of Lagesse, a young chief of the Potta- 
 wattamies, of St. Joseph, spoke next to them : 
 
 " 'My brothers ! 'Tis because I have listened to the 
 yoice of our old men and because I have regard for 
 our women and children, that I have not before now 
 struck my tomahawk into some of your heads. Attend 
 to what I say. I will only go to see in what condition 
 our wives and children are [meaning, he would first 
 place them in security] and then you may depend on 
 seeing me again.' 
 
 "The rebel speaker [Captain Helm] then said: 
 'You are young men and your youth excuses your 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 661 
 
 ignorance — else you would not talk as you do. Our 
 design is to march through your country, and if we 
 find any fires in our .way we shall just tread them out 
 as we walk along; and if we meet with any obstacle 
 or barrier we shall remove it with all ease, but the 
 bystanders must take care lest the splinters should scar 
 their faces. 
 
 '' 'We shall then proceed to Detroit where your 
 father is whom we consider as a hog put to fatten in 
 a pen ; we shall enclose him in his pen till he be fat and 
 then we will throw him into the river. We shall draw 
 a reinforcement from the Falls on the Ohio, and from 
 there and the Illinois send six hundred men to Detroit." 
 'To this the Indians replied : "You who are so 
 brave, what need have you to be reinforced to go to 
 Detroit — you that can put out our fires and so easily 
 remove our barriers? — This we say to you: Take 
 care that, in attempting to extinguish our fires you do 
 not burn yourselves ; and that, in breaking down our 
 barriers, you do not run splinters into your hands. 
 You may also expect that we shall not suffer a single 
 Frenchman to accompany you to Detroit."* 
 
 Mention being frequently made of two Pianke- 
 shaw chiefs — "Old Tobacco" and his son, by Western 
 writers, by whom the two are considered as having the 
 same name, care should be taken to distinguish be- 
 tween them. 
 
 "Captain Leonard Helm was put in command of 
 Vincennes, and appointed Superintendent of Indian 
 affairs on the Wabash by Clark. The principal busi- 
 
 "^ Proceedings of the Rebels at Vincennes, as Related to 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton by Neegik, an Ottawa War 
 Chief, Oct. 14, 1778. — Haldimand MSS. 
 
862 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ness entrusted to him was securing the friendship of 
 the Indians of the Wabash, particularly of the Pianke- 
 shaws, as they were located at and near Vincennes. 
 The head chief was Tabac, who, inasmuch as his tribe 
 lived lower down the Wabash than any other, and 
 therefore commanded its navigation, was called the 
 Grand Door of the Wabash." — Dunn's Indiana, p. 
 
 137- 
 
 Dunn, in a foot-note to the word "Tabac" ex- 
 plains that it means Tobacco ; and he then adds : ''His 
 father had the same name, hence this chief was some- 
 times called Young Tobac, or Tobacco's Son." 
 
 The father was everywhere known upon the Wa- 
 bash as "Tobac," "Tobacco" or "Old Tobacco," by the 
 whites ; but no cotemporaneous account speaks of his 
 son as being known by either of these names. In the 
 various Indian languages of the New World, the son 
 never took the name of the father, unless, indeed, so 
 spoken of first by white people. It is true that But- 
 ler (History of Kentucky, p. 65), says that "near the 
 post of St. Vincents [Vincennes], there was a chief by 
 the name of 'Tobacco's Son,' whose name appears in 
 the deed to the Wabash Company, in 1775, as 'Tabac' ;" 
 but, in this the historian is in error. The deed men- 
 tions but the name of the father ('Tabac or Tobacco") 
 and ("Tabac, Junior") the son, where the writer of 
 the deed uses "Tabac, Junior" instead of "the Son of 
 Tobacco," or "the Tobacco's Son." In a deed exe- 
 cuted in 1779, the latter signs his name, "Francis, Son 
 of Tobacco." "Big Door" (or "Big Gate"), as applied 
 1:»y the Piankeshaws to their chief, was a title of honor 
 merely — he guarded the door or gate of the Wabash ; 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 663 
 
 i. e., the mouth of the river, and thereby controlled 
 largely its navigation. 
 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton, at Detroit, did 
 not rely solely upon De Celoron for news concerning 
 ''rebel" movements in the Wabash valley: "Mr. 
 Charles Beaubien, employed for his Majesty at the Mi- 
 amis, writes that the savages at Vincennes will not take 
 the rebels by the hand; that the [White river] Dela- 
 wares, [the] Illinois, Ottawas, and Shawanese were 
 determined to strike the rebels, but the Piankeshaws 
 interfered. The latter want to know the determina- 
 tion of the Kickapoos and Weas. He adds that the 
 French are said to be in the interest of the rebels."* 
 
 Subsequently, in person, Beaubien recounted the 
 substance of what had been brought to him by a Miami 
 Indian from Eel river — speeches of Chickasaws, Pi- 
 ankeshaws and "Virginians" to the Miami Indians at 
 their town [at the head of the Maumee]. The sava- 
 ges first mentioned advised all the Wabash Indians 
 including the Miamis to demand of the "Virginians" 
 that they withdraw from the country. The Pianke- 
 shaws declared to the same tribes that they would have 
 already struck the "Virginians," but awaited their 
 reply ; that it was their feeling these whites should be 
 sent home; and that the Delawares of White river, 
 also, the Illinois savages and the Ottawas, thought the 
 same. The "speech" of the "Virginians" asked all the 
 Wabash tribes and the Miamis to visit them ; that they 
 intended to attack Detroit soon, and would make an 
 
 * Hamilton to Haldimand, Sept. 16, 1778. — Haldimand 
 
 MSS. 
 
664 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 end of Hamilton ; and that as for the Indians there, 
 they regarded them as nothing."^ 
 
 NOTE LXVII. 
 
 BANCROFT S ERRONEOUS VIEWS CONCERNING THE 
 SPEECH SENT RY CAPTAIN HELM TO THE WEA SAv^- 
 AGES. 
 
 ''His [Gibault's] own offer of mediation being 
 accepted [by Clark], he, with a small party, repaired 
 to the post [of Vincennes] ; and its people, having 
 listened to his explanation of the state of affairs, went 
 into the church and took the oath of allegiance to the 
 United States. The transition from the condition of 
 subjects of a king to that of the integral members of 
 a free state made them new men. Planning the ac- 
 quisition of the whole northwest, they sent to the In- 
 dians on the Wabash five belts : a white one for the 
 French ; a red one for the Spaniards ; a blue one for 
 America ; and for the Indian tribes a green one as an 
 offer of peace, and one of the color of blood if they 
 preferred war, with the message: 'The King of 
 France has come to life. We desire you to leave a 
 very wide path for us to pass through your country to 
 
 * Speeches brought by Mr. Charles Beaubien to Detroit, 
 the 27th [26th] Sept., 1778. — Haldimand MSS. The infor- 
 mation obtained from Beaubien by Hamilton must have satis- 
 fied the Lieutenant Governor that the Wabash savages (ex- 
 cept the Piankeshaws) were not reconciled to the "Vir- 
 ginians ;" and Capt. Helm, in deciding not to attempt a 
 march to the Miami village at the head of the Maumee, 
 doubtless came to the same conclusion. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 660 
 
 Detroit, for we are many in numbers and we might 
 chance to hurt some of your young people with our 
 swords." — Bancroft's History of the United States 
 (ed. of 1885), vol. V, pp. 311, 312.) 
 
 It can hardly be said, however, with strict adher- 
 ence to fact, that the inhabitants of Vincennes were 
 changed to any great extent — certainly not "made 
 new men" — by the turn affairs had taken. They nat- 
 urally felt elated at the news brought by Gibault and 
 would henceforth favor American interests ; that was 
 all : they by no means planned the acquisition of any 
 territory, nor did they send any belts to the Indians to 
 induce them to terms of peace with the Virginians. 
 The inference in the extract just given is, that this 
 speech was sent at the time of Gibault's visit, and by 
 the people of Vincennes ; which is contrary to the state- 
 ment received by Hamilton. De Conague and his five 
 white companions bringing to De Celoron ''belts and 
 speeches from the rebels," plainly implies that they 
 came from the Americans — that is, from Captain 
 Helm — otherwise the Wea commandant would not 
 have taken his ignoble flight. 
 
 NOTE LXVIII. 
 
 THE WABASH LAND COMPANY'S PURCHASE FROM THE 
 
 PIANKESHAWS. 
 
 The Wabash Land Company was composed of 
 "Louis Viviat, the Right Honorable John, Earl of 
 Dunmore, Governor of the Colony and Dominion of 
 
666 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Virginia, the Honorable John Murray, son of the said 
 Earl, Moses Franks and Jacob Franks, of the city 
 of London, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, Es- 
 quires; Thomas Johnson, Jr., Esquire, attorney-at- 
 law, and John Davidson, merchant, both of the city 
 of Annapolis, in the Province of Maryland; William 
 Russell, Esquire, Matthew Ridley, Robert Christee, 
 Sen., and Robert Christie, Jr., of Baltimore tovi^n, in 
 the said Province of Maryland, merchants ; Peter 
 Campbell, of Piscataway, in Maryland, merchant; 
 William Geddes, of Newtown Chester, in Maryland, 
 Esq., collector of His Majesty's customs; David 
 Franks, merchant, and Moses Franks, attorney-at- 
 law, both of the city of Philadelphia, in the Province 
 of Pennsylvania; William Murray, and David Mur- 
 ray, of the Illinois country, merchants ; Nicholas 
 St. Martin and Joseph Page, of the same place, gen- 
 tlemen; Francis Perthuis, late of Quebec city, in 
 Canada, but now [Oct. i8, 1775] of Post St. Vincent 
 [Vincennes]." 
 
 The negotiations resulting in the purchase of lands 
 from the Piankeshaws were carried on for the Com- 
 pany by Louis Viviat, of the Illinois country — who 
 acted as agent for the Association — at Vincennes and 
 Vermillion. The deed conveyed the lands to the 
 grantees, "or to his most sacred Majesty George 
 the Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, 
 France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, 
 and so forth, his heirs and successors," for their use; 
 and the number of acres bought were about thirty- 
 seven million four hundred and ninety-seven thous- 
 and six hundred. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 667 
 NOTE LXIX. 
 
 FICTION ABOUT CAPTAIN LEONARD HELM. 
 
 "There is an anecdote respecting Captain Leon- 
 ard Helm, evincing an intrepidity which would ill 
 be omitted : it has been communicated to the author 
 through the friendly interest of Judge Underwood, 
 and. his venerable relative, Edmund Rogers, Esq., of 
 Barren county [Ky.], a brother of Captain John 
 Rogers, and personally intimate with Clark and his 
 officers for years. It is as follows: When Governor 
 Hamilton entered Vincennes, there were but two 
 Americans there. Captain Helm, the commandant, 
 and one Henry. The latter had a cannon well charged 
 and placed in the open fort gate, while Helm stood 
 by it with a lighted match in his hand. When Ham- 
 ilton and his troops got within good hailing dis- 
 tance, the American officer in a loud voice cried out, 
 'Halt!' This stopped the movements of Hamilton, 
 who, in reply, demanded a surrender of the garri- 
 son. Helm exclaimed with an oath, 'No man shall 
 enter until I know the terms.' Hamilton answered, 
 *You shall have the honors of war,' and then the fort 
 was surrendered with its garrison of one officer and 
 one private. Such is a specimen of the character of 
 Colonel Clark's followers. They were the very choice 
 of Virginia and the western frontier. Dangers they 
 scarcely counted, and difficulties presented themselves 
 but to be overcome." (Butler's Kentucky, p. jgn). 
 There were, it is true, at the time of surrender, but 
 two of Clark's men inside the fortification — Captain 
 
QQS HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Helm and a private ; but there were in addition three 
 Vincennes miHtia. 
 
 As the particulars concerning the surrender of 
 Fort Sackville by Captain Helm were written down 
 by Hamilton almost at the very time of the happen- 
 ing of the events described; and as they are given 
 in a letter which must be considered as an official re- 
 port; the utmost credit is to be given the whole re- 
 lation. 
 
 It must be admitted that the marching of Ham- 
 ilton up to the fort at the head of five hundred 
 whites and Indians (with a six-poiinder ready for 
 instant work), to demand its surrender, the Lieutenant 
 Governor at the same time being fully advised that 
 the garrison had forsaken Captain Helm until he was 
 left ''almost alone," savors strongly of the ludicrous ; 
 and it certainly required not a little amount of bravery 
 for the British commander afterward to detail the 
 whole affair to his Commander-in-chief. 
 
 Helm, in surrendering himself and his small gar- 
 rison, acted, under all the circumstances, with com- 
 mendable courage, confronted as he was (and as he 
 could plainly see) by an overwhelming force of white 
 men and savages. But the attitude assumed by the 
 Captain at the time has, by tradition, been set off 
 with grandiloquent language as one of mock-heroic 
 defiance. It comes down to us in different histories, 
 varying in the intensity of its absurdity. 
 
 As all the pleasantry (if such a term can here be 
 properly employed) bestowed hitherto upon the event 
 by American writers, depends for its point upon the 
 smallness of the garrison when it was surrendered 
 by Captain Helm, it is proper that what informa- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 669 
 
 tion can be added as to the actual number, be now 
 brought forward. 
 
 An eye-witness — a Lieutenant of one of Ham- 
 ilton's companies — says that Captain Helm and "a. 
 few soldiers were made prisoners;"* while the frank 
 admission of the Lieutenant Governor that the Cap- 
 tain when he surrendered ''was almost alone" makes 
 it altogether certain that Fort Sackville, when given 
 up to the British, had but a handful (so to speak) 
 of defenders. But it is important to know the exact 
 number — if it can be determined. 
 
 The popular impression (and the one that has 
 gained from tradition the most extensive circulation) 
 is, that but one man — Moses Henry — was left in 
 the fort besides the commander when Hamilton 
 marched up to the gate and demanded a surrender. 
 Upon the strength of this, accounts have been pub- 
 lished of the most melo-dramatic character; as, for 
 instance : 
 
 *The Lievitenant referred to was Jacob Schieffelin, of 
 Captain Lamothe's company. (Loose Notes — Magazine of 
 American History, vol. I, p. 186.) 
 
 "And what few men that composed the garrison, not 
 being able to make the least defence., etc. [the italicising is 
 mine]." — Clark to Gov. Henry, Feb. 3, 1779 (Calendar of 
 Virginia State Papers, vol. I, p. 315). See, also, Clark's 
 language -in his letter of April 29, following (Jefferson's 
 Works, vol. I, p. 222 n), as to the same matter. 
 
 "Captain Helm (Monnette — History of the Valley of the 
 Mississippi, vol. I, p. 424) was left with only two soldiers 
 and a few volunteer militia to protect the fort at Vincennes." 
 The two soldiers were those who came with him from Kas- 
 kaskia.; and there were only two, although that writer (vol. 
 I, p. 422) speaks of Captain Helm being dispatched from 
 Kaskaskia to Vincennes "with a small garrison." 
 
670 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ''When Governor Hamilton entered Vincennes 
 there were but two Americans there — Captain Helm, 
 the commandant, and one Henry. The latter had 
 a cannon well charged and placed in the open fort 
 gate, while Helm stood by it with a lighted match 
 in his hand. When Hamilton and his troops got 
 within good hailing distance, the American officer, 
 in a loud voice, cried out : 'Halt !' This stopped 
 the movements of Hamilton, who, in reply, demanded 
 a surrender of the garrison. Helm exclaimed with 
 an oath, 'No man shall enter until I know the terms.' 
 Hamilton answered : 'You shall have the honors of 
 war;' and then the fort was surrendered, with its 
 garrison of one oMcer and one man." (Cutler's Ken- 
 tucky, p. 80.) The relation regarding the loaded 
 cannon is undoubtedly fictitious. 
 
 "The brave captain [Helm] refused to surrender 
 the fort when demanded, until terms — the honors 
 ©f war — were granted him. Only himself and one 
 soldier (Moses Henry) were surrendered." (John 
 Moses: Illinois: Historical and Statistical, vol. I, p. 
 155.) But, were there not other persons besides Henry 
 with Captain Helm? According to reliable tradition, 
 there were, as already stated, five men in Fort Sack- 
 ville, besides Captain Helm, when it was surrendered 
 — two Americans, and three citizens of Vincennes, of 
 the militia of the town. I have been able to obtain, 
 from a variety of sources, sufficient assurance of this, 
 although no statement I have examined was made 
 at the time of the surrender. 
 
 "When the fort was thrown open. Captain Helm 
 and five men, with due formality, marched out and 
 laid down their arms before the astonished com- 
 
HISTORY, OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 671 
 
 mander." (Monnette's History of the Valley of the 
 Mississippi, vol. I, p. 425). 
 
 But, as already seen, the Captain and his small 
 force did not march out of the fort at all. The 
 same writer (vol. I, pp. 425, 426) says: "Captain 
 Helm and one other American were retained as pris- 
 oners of war, the other three being volunteer citi- 
 zens of Vincennes." This gives the Captain but 
 four men at the time Hamilton entered the fort. But 
 there were, as a matter of fact, two Americans be- 
 side Helm inside the fort at the time, one being a 
 soldier belonging to Clark's force (who had been 
 detailed to march to Vincennes under Helm) and 
 the other Moses Henry, already mentioned, a black- 
 smith, residing in the village, who was not in the 
 military service. Captain Helm, it will be remem- 
 bered, brought with him two soldiers from Kas- 
 kaskia ; but one — Captain Williams' brother — who 
 had been dispatched at the last moment with a letter 
 to Colonel Clark, was, as before mentioned, captured, 
 and, at the time of the surrender, was a prisoner in 
 the hands of the enemy. 
 
 But "a garrison of five" has not restrained the 
 pens of writers of Western annals from indulging in 
 romantic relations : 
 
 ''The news of Clark's success having at length 
 reached Detroit . . .. Hamilton, the British 
 Governor, at once determined to recapture the post 
 again, and accordingly with eighty regulars, a large 
 number of Canadian militia, and six hundred Indians, 
 he ascended the Maumee . . . crossed over 
 to the Wabash, and made a rapid movement on 
 Vincennes, thinking to take the fort by storm, and 
 
672 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 destroy all within the garrison. Thus they moved 
 forward. Helm was not to be dismayed. Full of 
 confidence, and with an air that served to signify 
 that the fort was full of soldiers, he leaped upon 
 the bastion, near a cannon, and, swinging his lighted 
 match, shouted with great force, as the advancing 
 column approached, 'Halt ! or I will blow you to 
 atoms !' At which, the Indians precipitately took to 
 the woods and the Canadians fell back out of range 
 of the cannon. Fearing that the fort was well 
 manned, and that a desperate encounter would ensue, 
 Hamilton thought best to offer a parley; Captain 
 Helm declaring that he would fight as long as a 
 man was left to bear arms, unless permitted to march 
 out with the full honors of war, which were at length 
 agreed upon, and the garrison thrown open. Helm, 
 and five men, all told, marching out, to the utmost 
 astonishment of the British commander. But Helm 
 was afterw^ards detained in the fort as a prisoner.'* 
 (Brice's Fort Wayne, pp. loi, 102.) 
 
 A recent writer discourses thus on the surrender 
 of the fort to Hamilton : ''Poor Helm was promptly 
 deserted by all the Creole militia. The latter had 
 been loud in their boasts until the enemy came in 
 view, but even as they caught sight of the red-coats 
 they began to slip away and run up to the British 
 to surrender their arms. He was finally left with 
 only one or two men, Americans. Nevertheless he 
 refused the first summons to surrender ; but Ham- 
 ilton, who knew that Helm's troops had deserted him, 
 marched up to the fort at the head of his soldiers, 
 and the American was obliged to surrender, with no 
 terms granted save that he and his associates should 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 673 
 
 be treated with humanity." — Roosevelt : The Win- 
 ning of the West, vol. II, p. 63. 
 
 It is to be noted in considering the foregoing, 
 
 ( 1 ) that not all the Creole militia deserted Helm ; 
 
 (2) that the deserters did not wait until the red-coats 
 came in view; (3) Helm was left with more than 
 one or two men and who were not all Americans; 
 and (4) the terms granted were not expressly to 
 Helm and his associates, but to the Captain only. 
 
 NOTE LXX» 
 
 SOME ERRORS BY HISTORIANS AS TO HAMILTON S FORCE 
 WHEN HE LEFT DETROIT. 
 
 (i) ''When these proceedings [the conquest and 
 submission of the Illinois towns and Vincennes] came 
 to the ears of Colonel Hamilton at Detroit, he started 
 out with a little army of about 500 men, regulars, 
 Tories, and Indians, and after a march of seventy 
 days through the primeval forest reached Vincennes 
 and took possession of it." (Fiske: ''The American 
 Revolution,'' vol. II, p. 106.) The principal errors 
 in the foregoing are that Hamilton started out with 
 five hundred men and that a portion of them was 
 tories. 
 
 (2) ''Gov. Hamilton at Detroit," says L. C. 
 Draper (Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biog- 
 raphy, art. 'George Rogers Clark'), "marched a large 
 force, mostly Indians, and retook Vincennes early in 
 December [1778]." There are two errors, by impli- 
 cation, in this : ( i ) that the Lieutenant Governor 
 
 43 
 
674 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 marched from Detroit with a large force, mostly 
 Indians, and (2) that he retook Vincennes before the 
 middle of the month. 
 
 NOTE LXXL 
 
 CONCERNING THE OATH ADMINISTERED BY GOV. HAM- 
 ILTON TO THE CITIZENS OF VINCENNES. 
 
 The oath began : ''At Vincennes, this 19th De- 
 cember, 1778," and ended, — 'Tn faith of which, we 
 sign with our hands, or certify by our ordinary marks, 
 the day and month above named, in the year 1778." 
 Hamilton, in his letter of Dec. 18-30, gives the day of 
 his convening the inhabitants in the church as the 
 i8th, but the date of the oath corrects this; it was the 
 19th. 
 
 Notwithstanding the specious words of Hamilton 
 to the citizens before the oath was administered, it is 
 obvious that it amounted to a compulsion on part of 
 the Lieutenant-Governor; and it was a bold assump- 
 tion — the claim subsequently put forth — that the in- 
 habitants of Vincennes took this oath "of their own 
 free will :" ''The inhabitants of the town of Vin- 
 cennes, who had taken the oath of allegiance to the 
 rebels, did, of their own free will, take a solemn oath 
 of allegiance to his Majesty, acknowledging that they 
 had offended God and man by having deviated from 
 their first engagement ; that they returned to their 
 duty, and would show themselves good subjects in fu- 
 ture, praying the clemency of his Majesty and the pro- 
 tection of Governor Hamilton." (Schieffelin: Loose 
 Notes, Magamne of American History, vol. I, p. 186.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 675 
 
 NOTE LXXII. 
 
 WHY HAMILTON DETERMINED TO WINTER IN 
 VINCENNES. 
 
 Hamilton's reasons for wintering in Vincennes are 
 set forth (i) in his letter to Haldimand of Dec. 18-30, 
 1778; and (2) in that of July 6, 1781. In the last 
 letter. cited, he says: "The state of our provisions, the 
 length of the journey (240 miles) and the want of car- 
 riages, added to the nature of the country subject to 
 inundations, all combined to direct our determination 
 to fortify ourselves here [at Vincennes], and wait for 
 reinforcements in the spring." But his estimate of the 
 distance from Vincennes to the Illinois (that is, to 
 Kaskaskia) was too great by about forty miles. He 
 had, doubtless, mistaken the leagues of the French for 
 English leagues, as the former always gave the dis- 
 tance as "eighty leagues," which would make about 
 200 miles. The Lieutenant-Governor gives no reason 
 why it would be impracticable to attempt the journey 
 bv water-, doubtless supposing General Haldimand 
 would understand fully that he had no means of trans- 
 porting five hundred men in that way ; but the Com- 
 mander-in-chief did not take this for granted. In 
 commenting, afterward, upon Hamilton's letter of the 
 i8-30th of December, he says : "On the 6th page, he 
 gives reasons for not sending any body this winter to 
 the Illinois by water to attack the rebels ; it should be, 
 he has no means to go by land" (Remarks on Lieut. 
 Gov. Hamilton's L^ff^r. — Haldimand MSS.) It 
 will thus be seen that the Commander-in-chief misun- 
 derstood Hamilton, The General also made these 
 comments : 
 
676 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "He [Hamilton] seems to think next spring to at- 
 tack the two posts at the IlUnois. It is hoped, in that 
 case, that he will at least take one of the three pound- 
 ers which he got at Vincennes along, so as to make a 
 cross-fire, or else the rebels might easily cover them- 
 selves against one cannon ; that is,, if he expects noth- 
 ing but stockades to attack; otherwise, a six-pounder 
 field piece would not be sufficient. . . . Two royal 
 mortars would be sufficient if he had more than two 
 artillery men." — Haldimand : ''Remarks on Lieut. 
 Gov. Hamilton's Letter" [of Dec. 18-30, 1778 — Hal- 
 dimand MSS.] The Commander-in-chief, in men- 
 tioning a six-pounder, referred to the six-pounder field 
 piece brought by Hamilton from Detroit. 
 
 NOTE LXXHL 
 
 BEGINNING AND ENDING OF DE PEYSTER^S INSTRUCTIONS 
 TO LANGLADE AND GAUTIER. 
 
 The following was the opening paragraph : 
 "Gentlemen : — By the orders given me by his Ex- 
 cellency, General Haldimand, Commander-in-chief of the 
 armies of his Majesty, the King of Great Britain in Canada, 
 etc., etc., etc., to do all in my power to assist Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor Hamilton in all his enterprises against thcrebels; and 
 since I have been apprised by a letter of the Lieutenant 
 Governor that he has gone to dislodge the rebels of the 
 Illinois, asking me to give him assistance, you are ordered, 
 by these presents to go and try to raise the nations." 
 
 "Given at Fort Michilimaquenac, this 26th day of Octo- 
 ber, 1778. "At. S. De Pyster, 
 
 "Major of the King's regiment and Commander of 
 the said post and Dependencies. 
 "To Capt. Langlade and Lieut. Gautfer," 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 677 
 
 NOTE LXXIV. 
 
 NUMBER OF HAMILTON'S SOLDIERS (wHITE) WHEN 
 
 HE OCCUPIED VINCENNES. ALSO AS TO THE 
 
 PRICE OF PROVISIONS THERE AT THAT DATE. 
 
 Of the Royal Artillery, there were, with Hamilton, 
 one lieutenant and two rank and file; of the Eighth 
 regiment, two sergeants and thirty privates ; of Captain 
 Lamothe's volunteers, one captain, one lieutenant, 
 three sergeants and' forty rank and file ; of the Detroit 
 volunteer militia, one major, two captains, two lieu- 
 tenants, one surgeon, one commissioner of provisions, 
 one boat-master, four carpenters, four sergeants and 
 sixty-three privates; of the Indian Department be- 
 sides Mr. Hay (deputy agent), there were three cap- 
 tains, four lieutenants, one commissioner of provisions, 
 two interpreters, one store-keeper and six privates : 
 total white force, one hundred and seventy-six. 
 
 "Prices of provisions, etc., at Vincennes, Dec. 
 
 1778: 
 
 Budflour per hundred £6 . 13 . 4 : 
 
 Indian corn per bushel 18.8 
 
 Fresh beef per lb 
 
 Buffalo do : 8 
 
 Pork do 2.8 
 
 Tafia per gallon ■ 3.4.0 
 
 Wine made here do 18 . 8 : 
 
 Strard per ell ■■ • 1.18.8 
 
 Blankets 1.18.8 
 
 Ruffled (Indian) shirts 2.8.0 
 
 Plain do 1-8.0 
 
 Vermilion per lb 1 . 18 . 8 : 
 
 Powder do 13.4 
 
 Ball ..•• 4.4.^ 
 
678 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE LXXV. 
 
 GEN. HALDIMAND's CRITICISMS ON HAMILTON'S COURSE 
 
 IN VINCENNES. 
 
 "He [Hamilton] intends to send back the militia 
 from Detroit, which went with him for the campaign, 
 as if he would stay there [at Vincennes]. By his re- 
 turn, they amount to 103 men, so that he expects more 
 for a reinforcement besides the number to garrison 
 Vincennes. He does not say what number will be 
 wanted to keep the Indians to their professions." — 
 Haldimand. 
 
 But Hamilton did not intend to include in ''the vol- 
 unteer militia" Lamothe's men, as Haldimand sup- 
 posed. The latter were not to be sent back. 
 
 ''He [Hamilton] requests the commander-in- 
 chief's orders and a person to command [at Vincennes] 
 to whom he will resign ; as if he will neither stay at 
 Vincennes nor proceed to the Illinois to reduce the 
 rebels, which I thought was his design in leaving De- 
 troit." — Haldimand. 
 
 Again: "He [Hamilton] seems to want positive 
 orders . . . as if he doubted or was ignorant of 
 the use that the re-taking of Vincennes could be — as 
 if he had been ordered to attack it." — Id. 
 
 NOTE LXXVL 
 
 CONCERNING HAMILTON''s ULTERIOR DESIGNS. 
 
 It has been extensively published that Hamilton 
 had ulterior and much more extensive designs in 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 679 
 
 marching against the IlHnois than to re-capture its 
 towns and Vincennes. Thus one writer : 
 
 ''Hamilton was methodical in the use of Indians. 
 He gave standing rewards for scalps but offered none 
 for prisoners. His continuous parties, of Indians and 
 white volunteers, spared neither men nor women nor 
 children. In the coming year he promised that as 
 early as possible all the different nations, from the 
 Chickasaws and Cherokees to the Hurons and Five 
 Nations, should join in the expeditions against Vir- 
 ginia ; while the lake Indians from Mackinaw, in con- 
 junction with white men, agreed to destroy the few 
 rebels in Illinois. He sent out detachments to watch 
 Kaskaskia and the falls of the Ohio, and to intercept 
 any boats that might venture up that river with sup- 
 plies for the rebels. He never doubted his ability to 
 reduce all Virginia west of the mountains." [Ban- 
 croft: History of the United States (ed. of 1885), 
 Vol. v., p. 312.] 
 
 But this idea of the numerous nations of savages 
 joining Hamilton against Virginia (meaning that part 
 lying to the south-eastward and eastward of Vin- 
 cennes but west of the Alleghanies), was only an ex- 
 aggeration of the extensive plan of the Southern sav- 
 ages mentioned in the text. 
 
 One of Kentucky's early historians says in speak- 
 ing of Hamilton's designs, that they were first to re- 
 take Kaskaskia ; and next to cut ofif the inhabitants of 
 the Ohio, up to Fort Pitt; after which he intended to 
 desolate the remaining frontiers of Virginia." (Mar- 
 shall's Kentucky, Vol. I., p. 69.) 
 
 But this is the outgrowth of what Clark himself 
 wrote, hastily and erroneously, on the 29th of April, 
 1779. (See note LXXXI, of this Appendix.) 
 
680 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE LXXVII. 
 
 AS TO THE ATTACHMENT OF THE TOBACCO'S SON TO 
 
 CAPT. HELM. 
 
 The following account of the attachment of the 
 Tobacco's son to Captain Helm [Clark's Memoir — 
 Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 161, 162], is wholly 
 without foundation : 
 
 ''He [the Tobacco's son] had conceived such an in- 
 violable attachment for Captain Helm that, on find- 
 ing that the Captain was a prisoner and not being as 
 yet able to release him, he declared himself a prisoner 
 also. He joined his brother, as he called Captain 
 Helm and continually kept with him condoling their 
 condition as prisoners in great distress, at the same 
 time wanting nothing, that was in the power of the 
 garrison to furnish. Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton 
 knowing the influence of the Tobacco's son, was ex- 
 tremely jealous of his behavior, and took every pains 
 to gain him by presents, etc. When anything was 
 presented to him, his reply would be that it would 
 serve him and his brother to live on. He would not 
 enter into council saying that he was a prisoner, and 
 had nothing to say ; but was in hopes that when the 
 grass grew, his brother, the Big Knife, would release 
 him, and when he was free he could talk, etc. In 
 short, they could do nothing with him." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 681 
 
 NOTE LXXVIII. 
 
 Hamilton's force (white) January 30, 1779. 
 
 Return of the state of His Majesty's Garrison of 
 Fort Sackville, 30th of January, 1779: 
 
 
 tn 
 
 u 
 
 
 •J? 
 
 *c5 
 
 •M 
 P. 
 
 u 
 
 en 
 
 +-> 
 
 a 
 u 
 
 a; 
 
 H 
 
 
 03 
 
 u 
 0) 
 +-> 
 
 CO 
 
 c:3 
 CO 
 
 en 
 
 u 
 (U 
 
 tfl 
 en 
 
 
 u 
 
 CO 
 
 en 
 
 CO 
 
 bJD 
 CO 
 
 ■Td 
 a 
 
 CO 
 CO 
 
 Indian 
 Depart.: 
 
 
 ' 
 
 en 
 
 .5 
 '3 
 
 a 
 
 CO 
 
 a 
 
 en 
 
 u 
 
 ^- 
 u 
 
 a 
 1— I 
 
 Ph 
 
 OJ 
 
 a; 
 
 
 +-> 
 CO 
 
 en 
 
 u 
 
 OJ 
 (U 
 +-> 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 en 
 
 a 
 <u 
 
 u 
 
 CO 
 
 Royal Artillery. . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 30 
 
 34 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 • * 
 
 3 
 
 
 TCinc's Refiment 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Detroit Volunteers .... .... 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 'l 
 
 
 
 Militia 
 
 1 
 
 
 Indian Denartment 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Totals 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 69 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 • NOTE LXXIX. 
 
 ILLINOIS COUNTY ESTABLISHED. 
 
 "0« the 19th of November, the letters and papers 
 of Clark were read in the Virginia Assembly and 
 referred to a committee composed of Thomas Mason, 
 George Mason and others, who prepared a bill "for 
 establishing a county to include the inhabitants of this 
 [Virginia] commonzvealth, on the western side of the 
 Ohio River; and for the better government of those 
 
682 HISTOkY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 inhabitants [the itahcising is ours]." (Kate Mason 
 Rowland's Life of George Mason, vol. I, p. 307.) 
 For the act itself, see Hening's Virginia Statutes at 
 Large, vol. IX, p. 552. It was passed between the 
 19th of November and the 12th of December, 1778 
 • — not in October, as generally asserted, although at 
 the "October session" of the legislature. . 
 
 After giving a brief account of Clark's success, 
 in the Illinois and the submission of Vincennes, at the 
 instance of Gibault, John Fiske, in The American 
 Revolution (vol. II, p. 106), says: 'The territory 
 north of the Ohio was thus annexed to Virginia as 
 the 'county' of Illinois." But, of course, "the terri- 
 tory north of the Ohio" was never annexed to Vir- 
 ginia. It came to her, as she claimed, by her chart-er, 
 long before Clark marched against the Illinois. 
 
 The county thus created by Virginia was the only 
 one that had then (or that has since) been estab- 
 lished in the United States without any boundary. 
 This has given rise to many diverse opinions as to 
 what was its real territory. 
 
 Mann Butler (History of Kentucky, p. 65), says: 
 "Col. Clark having desired the Governor of Virginia 
 to appoint a civil commandant, in Ocrtober, 1778, an 
 act was passed establishing the County of Illinois, 
 embracing within its boundary all the chartered Hmits 
 of Virginia west of the Ohio river." 
 
 Says E. B. Washburne (The Edward Papers, p. 
 73n) : "Before the cession of the Northwestern Ter- 
 ritory by Virginia to the United States, in 1784, the 
 Virginia Assembly, in 1778, created the country which 
 had been conquered by George Rogers Clark into 
 the County of Illinois, the mother of all the counties 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 683 
 
 in the five States of Ohio, Indiana, IlHnois, Michi- 
 gan, and Wisconsin. . . . This [the County of 
 Washington, embracing the eastern half of the present 
 State of Ohio] was the first county made out of the 
 mother county of IlHnois." 
 
 And thus Henry Pirtle: "In October, 1778, the 
 county of IlHnois was established by the General As- 
 sembly of Virginia, covering all the territory ['be- 
 tween the Ohio and Mississippi river'] and provision 
 was made for its protection by reinforcements to the 
 army of Clark."' {Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, 
 
 The views of William Frederick Poole are as 
 follows : 'The military conquest of the Illinois coun- 
 try now being complete, a civil government was forth- 
 with established. The Assembly oi Virginia was 
 prompt to act as soon as the capture of Kaskaskia 
 was known. In October, 1778, the territory nortli- 
 west of the Ohio was constituted a county of Vir- 
 ginia, and was named the county of Illinois." ("The 
 West," in Winsor's Narrative and Critical History 
 of America, vol. VI, p. 729.) 
 
 Edward G. Mason {Early Chicago and Illinois, p, 
 286), writes: "In October, 1778, the general assem- 
 bly of Virginia passed 'an act for establishing the 
 Q)unty of Illinois, and for the more effectual pro- 
 tection and defense thereof.' It provides that ah 
 the citizens of Virginia settled on the western side 
 of the Ohio shall be included in a distinct county, to 
 be called Illinois County. This practically included 
 the whole region afterward known as the North- 
 west Territory." 
 
684 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 The following we find in Kate Mason Rowland's 
 Life of George Mason, vol. I, p. 314: 
 
 "It can easily be imagined with what pkasure this 
 recital of interesting and heroic adventure [Clark's 
 letter to Mason, from Louisville, Nov. 19, 1779] was 
 read aloud to the family circle at 'Gunston.' Colonel 
 Clark had probably been a frequent visitor there, and 
 was regarded with pride and affection by the head of 
 the house [that is, by George Mason] who advised 
 and counselled his young friend evidently as if he 
 were a son. George Rogers Clark was at this time 
 about twenty-five [he only lacked a few days of 
 being twenty-seven when he dated his letter]. He 
 was a native of Albermarle County, but had been for 
 several years a resident of Kentucky. Already dis- 
 tinguished in the border warfare as well as in the civil 
 affairs of his new home, and identified in later life 
 with its fortunes, he is claimed as one of the founders 
 of this [Kentucky] commonwealth. Kentucky, how- 
 ever, was at this time a Virginia County, and it was 
 as a Virginian and at the head of two or three 
 thousand [less than two hundred] Virginia troops 
 that Colonel Clark conquered for his state the new 
 county of Illinois, from which five commonwealths 
 [Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin] 
 were to emerge later. 
 
 A recent writer (Roosevelt: The Winning of the 
 West, vol. II, p. 168), declares: 
 
 "The Virginian Government took immediate steps 
 to provide for the civil administration of the coun- 
 try Clark had conquered. In the fall of 1778 the 
 entire region northwest of the Ohio was constituted 
 the countv of Illinois." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 685 
 
 Says Wallace {The History of Illinois and Louisi- 
 ana under the French Rule, p. 403) : 
 
 "In October of the latter year [1778], the Vir- 
 ginia Legislature erected the conquered territory into 
 the county of Illinois." 
 
 And thus G. C. Brodhead in Settlements West of 
 the Alleghanys Prior to 1776" — Magazine of Amer- 
 ican History, vol. XXIX, p. 337: 'In 1778, all the 
 territory northwest of the Ohio was formed into one 
 county called Illinois." 
 
 Upon the creation of the new county, Governor 
 Henry gave the following as part of his instruc- 
 tions to Clark (Dec. 12, 1778) : "You are to re- 
 tain the command of the troops now at the several 
 posts in the county of Illinois. . . . [which 
 posts, with those] on the Wabash ... fall 
 within the limits of the county now erected and called 
 'Illinois county." It is evident, therefore, that when 
 the new county was established, it was understood 
 that its jurisdiction extended so as to include the 
 Illinois towns and the Peoria as a dependency, with 
 Vincennes and Wea upon the Wabash. Nowhere else 
 were citizens (actually or constructively such) of Vir- 
 ginia, peaceably and lawfully "settled on the western 
 side of the Ohio," when the act was passed ; hence, 
 according to its terms, no persons in the western 
 territory outside these towns lived in Illinois county: 
 and, it is a well-known fact that, down to the date 
 of the cession of the country by Virginia to the United 
 States, no Virginians (actually or constructively 
 such) were peaceably and lawfully settled anywhere 
 "on the western siae of the Ohio" northward of Peoria 
 or eastward of Vincennes and Wea. 
 
686 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 When John Todd took office as Lieutenant oi 
 Ilhnois county, he understood it included besides ter- 
 ritory on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, lands lying 
 on the Wabash and Illinois rivers ; but he claimed 
 no jurisdiction throughout the entire length of the 
 valley of these two streams. [Dillon's Indiana (ed. 
 of 1859), p. 168. Mason's Early Chicago and Illinois, 
 p. 301.] 
 
 NOTE LXXX. 
 
 RESPECTING VIGO's VISIT TO VINCENNES AND HIS 
 
 RETURN. 
 
 "Vigo was a 'Sardinian.' He was born in 1747, 
 at Mondovi. As a Spanish soldier, he was with his 
 regiment, first at Havana, and afterward at New 
 Orleans, when that city was under the sway of Spain. 
 He left the army and came to St. Louis, becoming 
 the partner of Don Francisco de Leyba and was soon 
 extensively engaged in the fur-trade." [H. W. Beck- 
 with, in Reynold's Illinois (ed. of 1887), p. 423.] 
 
 Mann Butler, who, while writing his History of 
 Kentucky, was in communication with Vigo, says (p, 
 79) : "After all this success with the Indians, Colonel 
 Clark began to entertain great apprehensions for St. 
 Vincents [Vincennes] ; no news had been received 
 for a considerable length of time from that place, till 
 on the 29th of January, 1779, Colonel Vigo, then a 
 merchant in partnership with the Governor of St. 
 Louis, now [1834] a venerable and highly respectable 
 citizen of Vincennes, brought intelligence that Gov- 
 ernor Hamilton had marched an expedition from De- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 687 
 
 troit, which had, in December, captured St. Vincents, 
 and again reduced it under the power of the British." 
 
 That January 29th was the day Vigo reached 
 Clark there can be no doubt. "Bowman's Journal," 
 in the archives of the Department of State, Wash- 
 ington — (Letters to Washington," vol. 33, p. 90). 
 Clark to Mason — Clark's campaign in the Illinois, p. 
 62. Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 137. In "Bow- 
 man's Journal," as printed in Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, p. 99, the date is given as the 27th, but this is 
 error. 
 
 In a letter dated February 3d, written by Clark 
 to the Governor of Virginia, he speaks of Vigo's ar- 
 rival the day previous {Calendar of Virginia State 
 Papers, vol. I, pp. 315, 316) ; but this is explained 
 from the circumstance that the letter was in reality, 
 written January 30th. Concerning Vigo's visit to 
 Vincennes and his subsequent calling on Clark in 
 Kaskaskia, the latter says: (I.) "Yesterday, I for- 
 tunately got every intelligence that I could wish for 
 by a Spanish gentleman who made his escape from 
 Mr. Hamilton." (Letter to the Governor of Virginia, 
 from Kaskaskia, Feb. 3 [Jan. 30] 1779 — Calendar of 
 Virginia State Papers, vol. I, pp. 315, 316). (II.) 
 "But, in the light of the hurry, a Spanish merchant, 
 who had been at St. Vincennes [Vincennes] arrived 
 and gave the following intelligence" (Letter to the 
 Governor of Virginia, April 29, 1779, from Kaskas- 
 kia — Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222n). (III.) "In 
 the hight of our anxiety, on the evening of the 29th 
 of January, 1779, Mr. Vigo, a Spanish merchant, ar- 
 rived from St. Vincents [Vincennes], and was there at 
 the time of its being taken [by Hamilton] and gave 
 
688 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 me every intelligence I. could wish to have." (Letter 
 to Mason, Nov. 19, 1779 — Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, pp. 62, 63.) (IV.) "On the 29th of Jan- 
 uary, 1779, in the hight of the hurry, a Spanish mer- 
 chant, who had been at Post Vincennes, arrived and 
 gave the following intelligence" [Clark's Memoir in 
 Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 137]. 
 
 "Bowman's Journal" in the Department of State 
 MSS., has this to say of Vigo's arrival and of the 
 information he imparted to Clark: ''Mr. Vigo, a 
 Spanish subject, who had been at Post St. Vincent 
 [Vinceiuies] on his lawful business, arrived [Jan. 
 29th, 1779] and gave us intelligence that Gov. Ham- 
 ilton and thirty regulars with fifty French volun- 
 teers and about four hundred Indians, had come last 
 November [December] and taken that fort with Capt. 
 Helm and several other Americans, who were there, 
 with a number of horses designed for the settlement 
 of Kentucky, etc." 
 
 One of Kentucky's early historians says: "While 
 he [Clark] was digesting the plan of his future oper- 
 ations, he received undoubted information from an 
 itinerant Spanish merchant [Vigo], who had recently 
 left St. Vincennes, that Hamilton, reposing himself 
 on the security which he derived from the superiority 
 of his force, contemplated a leisurely execution of his 
 projects." (Marshall: History of Kentucky, vol I, p. 
 69.) But Reynolds (see his Pioneer History, p. loi, 
 ed. 1887) says Vigo was sent to Vincennes by Clark 
 as a spy; that he was captured by the Indians and 
 taken to Hamilton, who suspected the character of 
 his mission : and that he was released on the ground 
 of his being a Spanish subject, and having influential 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 689 
 
 friends among the French residents. The only asser- 
 tion in all this that is not error (and that one is 
 stated inferentially) is, that Vigo had influential 
 friends among the French residents. 
 
 In Law's Vincennes (pp. 26-30), there is an ex- 
 tended account of Vigo's visit to Vincennes and his 
 return, which is replete with errors. That writer says : 
 
 "It was well known that Governor Abbott, the 
 commander here [at Vincennes], at the time of Clark's 
 expedition to the Illinois had gone to Detroit on bus- 
 iness ; and that no great time would elapse before 
 reinforcements would be sent from that post to Vin- 
 cennes. Clark could not, even had he desired it, de- 
 tailed any of his own command to garrison the place. 
 Helm was here, a commandant in name simply, with- 
 out a single soldier under his command. From the 
 first of August, when M. Gibault returned [from 
 Vincennes to Kaskaskia], until the 29th of January, 
 1779, Clark had not received a single communication 
 from Vincennes. How he obtained it, and the conse- 
 quences resulting from the communication, it is now 
 may purpose to briefly unfold. . . . 
 
 "With an innate love of liberty, an attachment 
 to republican principles, and an ardent sympathy for 
 an oppressed people struggling for their rights, he 
 [Vigo] overlooked all personal consequences ; and 
 as soon as he learnt of Clark's arrival at Kaskaskia, he 
 crossed the line — went there and tendered him his 
 means, and his influence, both of which were joyfully 
 accepted. Knowing Col. Vigo's influence with 
 the ancient inhabitants of the country, and desirous 
 of obtaining some information from Vincennes, from 
 
 which he had not heard for several months, Col. 
 44 
 
690 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Clark, in a conference with Col. Vigo, proposed that 
 he should come and learn the actual state of afifairs at 
 the Post [Vincennes]. Col. Vigo did not hesitate 
 a moment in obeying this command. With a single 
 servant, he proceeded on his journey; and when on 
 the river Embarrass, he was seized by a party of 
 Indians, plundered of everything he possessed, and 
 brought a prisoner before Hamilton, then in posses- 
 sion of the place, which, with his troops, he had, a 
 short time before, captured, holding Capt. Helm a 
 prisoner of war. Being a Spanish subject "and con- 
 sequently a non-combatant. Governor Hamilton, al- 
 though he strongly suspected the motives of his 
 [Vigo's] visit, dared not confine hmi ; he accordingly 
 admitted him to his parole, on the single condition, 
 that he should daily report himself at the Fort. On 
 his frequent visits there, his accurate and discerning 
 mind, aided by the most powerful memory I ever 
 knew, enabled him early to ascertain the state of the 
 garrison, its numerical force, means of defence, posi- 
 tion, in fine all the matters necessary to make an 
 accurate report, as soon as liberated. Hamilton, in 
 the meantime, embarrassed by his detention, besieged 
 by the French inhabitants of the town, by whom he 
 was beloved, for his release ; and finally, threatened 
 by them, that unless released they would refuse all 
 supplies to the garrison, yielded, on condition that 
 Col. Vigo would sign an article 'not to do any act 
 during the war injurious to the British interests.' 
 This he absolutely and positively refused. The matter 
 was finally adjusted, on an agreement entered into 
 on part of Col. Vigo 'not to do anything injurious 
 to the British interests on his zvay to St. Louis. ' The 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 691 
 
 agreement was signed, and the next day he departed 
 in a pirogue down the Wabash and the Ohio, and 
 up the Mississippi, with two voyagers accompany- 
 ing him. Col. Vigo faithfuUy and reUgiously kept the 
 very letter of his bond. On his zvay to St. Louis 
 he did nothing injurious in the shghest degree to 
 British interests. But he had no sooner set his foot 
 on shore there, and changed his dress, than in the 
 same pirogue he hastened to Kaskaskia." 
 
 Law adds, subsequently (p. 55), more errors: 
 ''It was entirely through the means of Father Gi- 
 bault that Hamilton released Col. Vigo, when sent by 
 Clark to ascertain the true situation of affairs at 
 Vincennes. He was captured by the Indians and 
 taken to 'Fort Sackville,' where he was kept a prisoner 
 on parole for many weeks, and released, entirely by 
 the interference of Father Gibault, and the declara- 
 tion of the French inhabitants at Vincennes, who, 
 with their priest at their head, after service on the 
 Sabbath, marched to the fort and informed Hamilton 
 'they would refuse all supplies to the garrison unless 
 Vigo was released.' " 
 
 The errors of Judge Law to be especially noted 
 and guarded against are : ( i ) There were no re- 
 inforcements soon to be sent from Detroit to Vin- 
 cennes after Gov. Abbott's departure. (2) Captain 
 Helm was not in command of Fort Sackville without 
 a single soldier under him. (3) Vigo did not go to 
 Vincennes at the request of Clark — was not sent 
 there by the latter. (4) Vigo was not seized by the 
 Indians, plundered of everything he had, and then 
 taken a prisoner before Hamilton. (5) Vigo was not 
 paroled by Hamilton in Vincennes. (6) Hamilton 
 
692 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 did not release Vigo upon any condition whatever, 
 or at the request of any persons — he simply escaped 
 from \'incennes, where Hamilton had detained him 
 and on his way to St. Louis called upon Clark at 
 Kaskaskia. 
 
 lUit these errors are somewhat varied by different 
 writers "While Clark was still at Kaskaskia Colonel 
 Francis Vigo, of St. Louis, a Spanish subject in 
 sympathy with the American cause, went to him and 
 tendered his services. Clark gladly availed himself 
 of the offer, and Colonel Vigo, with a single servant, 
 proceeded to Vincennes to learn the strength of that 
 post and the possibilities of its capture. As was an- 
 ticipated, he was captured, and brought before Gov- 
 ernor Hamilton. Being a Spanish subject, he could 
 not be held as a spy in the absence of proof. He 
 was, however, forbidden to leave the fort ; but finally, 
 on giving a written pledge not to attempt anything 
 injurious to British interests while on his return to 
 St. Louis, he was allowed to depart. Colonel Vigo 
 kept his pledge by going to St. Louis without tell- 
 ing on the way anything he had learned of the force 
 of Hamilton at Mncennes. He however, waited at 
 St. Louis only long enough to change his dress and 
 then hurried back to Kaskaskia, arriving there the 
 29th of January." (Farmer's History of Detroit and 
 Michigan, p. 251.) 
 
 "The knowledge Avhich Colonel Clark had of the 
 condition or situation of the fort at that place [Vin- 
 cennes], obtained through information received from 
 Colonel Vigo, soit there for that purpose, enabled 
 him [Clark] to act intelligently and to know precisely 
 what he would have to contend with [the italicismg 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 693 
 
 is mine]." (John Moses, in Magazine of Western 
 History, vol. Ill, p. 270). 
 
 An Indiana historian, writing at a late date, gives 
 this relation : 
 
 ''He [Vigo] became acquainted with Clark and 
 tendered him his services. Clark requested him to 
 go to Vincennes and report from time to time, the 
 exact condition of affairs there, for which purpose 
 Vigo at once departed, accompanied by one servant. 
 At the Embarrass . River he was captured by hostile 
 Indians, who carried him before Hamilton, then lately 
 arrived at the post. For several weeks he was held 
 on a parole requirement to report every day at the 
 fort, then called Fort Sackville, he having refused 
 to accept liberty which was offered him if he would 
 agree 'not to do any act during the war injurious 
 to the British interests.' Father Gibault, who was at 
 Vincennes, interested himself actively in Vigo's be- 
 half, and finally, after services one Sunday morning 
 in January, went to the fort at the head of his 
 parishioners, and notified Hamilton that they would 
 furnish no more supplies to the garrison until Vigo 
 was released. Hamilton, having no evidence against 
 Vigo, and being desirous of retaining the friendship 
 of the villagers, released his prisoner on condition 
 that he should 'not do anything injurious to the 
 British interests on his way to St. Louis.' Vigo em- 
 barked in a pirogue with two voyageurs and sped 
 away, down the Wabash, down the Ohio, up the Mis- 
 sissippi, until the Illinois settlements were left behind 
 and the village of St. Louis was reached. He spent 
 a few minutes changing his clothes and obtaining a 
 few supplies, and was in the boat again; the flying 
 
694 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 paddles stir the chill waters; he is at Kaskaskia, and 
 Clark has minute and exact intelligence concerning all 
 matters at Vincennes." (Dunn's Indiana, pp. 139, 
 140.) 
 
 In an article by J. C. Wells, entitled, "Virginia's 
 Conquest," printed in the Magazine of American His- 
 tory, vol. XVI, there is (pp. 453, 454) an account of 
 Vigo's visit to Vincennes and his return. In it are to 
 be found condensed most of the errors previously 
 published by writers who have essayed to mention 
 the subject. 
 
 NOTE LXXXI. 
 Clark's errors as to information brought him by 
 
 VIGO. 
 
 Nearly three months alter Vigo's return from 
 Vincennes Clark wrote : "That gentleman [Lieuten- 
 ant Governor Hamilton], with a body of men, pos- 
 sessed himself of that post [Vincennes] on the 15th 
 [17th] of December last, repaired the fortifications 
 for a repository, and in the spring, meant to attack 
 this place [Kaskaskia], which he made no doubt of 
 carrying; where he was to be joined by two hun- 
 dred Indians from Michilimackinac, and five hundred 
 Cherokees, Chickasaws, and other nations. With this 
 body, he was to penetrate up the Ohio to Fort Pitt, 
 sweeping Kentucky on his way, having light brass 
 cannon for the purpose — [to be] joined on his march 
 by all the Indians that could be got to him. He 
 made no doubt he could force all West Augusta. 
 This expedition [the one against the Illinois] was 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 695 
 
 ordered by the Commander-in-chief of Canada. . . . 
 I ordered Major [Captain] Bowman to evacuate the 
 fort at Cohos [Cahokia] and join me immediately, 
 which he did." (Clark to the Governor of Vir- 
 ginia, April 29, 1779, from Kaskaskia — Jefferson's 
 Works, vol. I, p. 222n.) 
 
 Now, the inference to be drawn from this is, that 
 the Colonel had been put in possession of the in- 
 formation he mentions even before ordering Cap- 
 tain Bowman to evacuate Cahokia. But this could not 
 have been the fact ; nor did he get any such news 
 after that event while at Kaskaskia, down to the 
 time immediately preceding the arrival of Vigo ; and 
 the latter only gave him a portion of these details. 
 
 There is no evidence that Hamilton had determined 
 to ''penetrate up the Ohio" with the Indians, or that 
 he ''made no doubt he could force all West Augusta." 
 Any determination such as this would, beyond all 
 question, have been communicated by the Lieutenant 
 Governor to General Haldimand. But he gave the 
 Commander-in-chief no intimation of any such design 
 on his part, further than that he would like to as- 
 semble in the Spring the Indians north and south 
 and concert with them a general invasion of the bor- 
 der settlements of Virginia and Pennsylvania. And 
 Haldimand, in commenting on the news received from 
 the Lieutenant Governor at Vincennes makes no men- 
 tion of any particular determination of the latter be- 
 yond attacking the Illinois. In speaking subsequently 
 of Hamilton, the Commander-in-Chief says : 
 
 "He seems to think, next spring, to attack the 
 two posts at the Illinois. It is hoped, in that case, 
 that he will at least take along one of the three 
 
696 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 pounders which he got at Vincennes, so as to make a 
 cross fire, or else the rebels might easily cover them- 
 selves against one cannon ; that is, if he expects noth- 
 ing but stockades to attack, otherwise, a six-pounder 
 field piece would not be sufficient." 'Two royal mor- 
 tars," adds the General," would be useful if he had 
 more artillery men than two." ("Remarks on Lieu- 
 tenant Governor Hamilton's Letter [of Dec. 18-30, 
 1778] :" Haldimand MSS.) 
 
 Clark, in his letter to Mason of the nineteenth of 
 November, 1779, says: "Governor Hamilton's party 
 consisted of about eight hundred men when he took 
 possession of that post on the 17th day of December 
 past.. Finding the season too far spent for his in- 
 tention against Kaskaskia, he had sent nearly the 
 whole of his Indians out in different parties to war, 
 but to embody again as soon as the weather would 
 permit and complete his design. He had also sent 
 messengers to the Southern Indians, five himdred of 
 whom he expected to join him. He had only eighty 
 troops in garrison." {Clark's Campaign in the Illi- 
 nois,, p. 63.) 
 
 The Colonel, as we have seen, was inclined lo 
 exaggeration. He indulged in this property occa- 
 sionally in this letter, especially, it will be noticed, 
 as to the number of the enemy under Hamilton when 
 the latter took possession of Vincennes. There is 
 no reason to doubt but that Vigo reported a little 
 less than five hundred. 
 
 Years after Clark gives Vigo's recital as follows: 
 "That the hostile Indians were to meet at Post Vin- 
 cennes in the spring, drive us out of the Illinois, and 
 attack the Kentucky settlements in a body, joined by 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 697 
 
 their southern friends ; that all the goods were taken 
 from the merchants of Port Vincennes for the King's 
 use; that the troops under Hamilton were repairing 
 the fort, and expected a reinforcement from Detroit 
 in the Spring; that they appeared to have plenty of 
 all kinds of stores ; that they were strict in their 
 discipline, but that he did not believe they were under 
 much apprehension of a visit; and believed that, if 
 we could get there undiscovered, we might take the 
 place. In short, we got every information from this 
 gentleman that we could wish for, as he had good 
 opportunities and had taken great pains to inform 
 himself with a design to give intelligence." [Clark's 
 Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 137, 
 138.] 
 
 NOTE LXXXIL 
 
 SOME PUBLISHED ERRORS AS TO THE REASONS INDUC- 
 ING CLARK TO UNDERTAKE THE CAPTURE OF HAM- 
 ILTON IN VINCENNES. 
 
 The American commander in his letter to the Gov- 
 ernor of Virginia, of the 29th of April, 1779, ex- 
 aggerated the supposed dangers surrounding him: 
 ''Destruction seemed to hover over us from every 
 quarter; detached parties of the enemy were in the 
 neighborhood every day, but afraid to attack." (Jef- 
 ferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222n.) There was only 
 one party — the one under the Ottawa chief — of the 
 enemy in the Illinois at this period ; and it was only 
 from one quarter that "destruction seemed to hover 
 over" them. 
 
698 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "We now viewed ourselves," afterward wrote 
 Clark, "in a very critical situation — in a manner cut 
 Qjff from any intercourse between us and the United 
 States. We knew that Governor Hamilton in the 
 Spring, by a junction of his northern and southern 
 Indians (which he had prepared for) would be at 
 the head of such a force that nothing in this quarter 
 could withstand his arms — that Kentucky must im- 
 mediately fall ; and well if the desolation would end 
 there. If we could immediately make our way good 
 to Kentucky, we were convinced that before we could 
 raise a force even sufficient to save that country, it 
 would be too late, as all the men in it, ■ joined by 
 the troops we had, would not be sufficient; and to 
 get timely succor from the interior countries [of Vir- 
 ginia] was out of the question. We saw but one 
 alternative, which was to attack the enemy in their 
 quarters. If we were fortunate, it would save the 
 whole. If otherwise, it would be nothing more than 
 what would certainly be the consequence if we should 
 not make the attempt. . . . These and many 
 other similar reasons, induced us to resolve to at- 
 tempt the enterprise, which met with the approbation 
 of every individual belonging to us." [Clark's Memoir 
 Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 138.] 
 
 But Hamilton had not prepared for a -junction 
 with his northern and southern Indians. And it is 
 evident that what Clark says about making his way 
 to Kentucky and his inability to hold that country 
 are thoughts conjured up years after. 
 
 "Colonel Clark," says a Western writer, "now be- 
 gan to entertain great fears for the safety of Vin- 
 cennes. No intelligence had been received from that 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 699 
 
 post for a long time ; but on the 29th of January, 
 i779j Colonel Vigo brought intelligence that Gover- 
 nor Hamilton of Detroit, had marched an expedition 
 against the place 'in December, and again reduced the 
 inhabitants and the fort, and re-established the British 
 power. The expedition had been fitted out on a large 
 scale, with the view of recapturing Kaskaskia, and 
 making an assault along the whole line of the Ken- 
 tucky frontier. But owing to the advanced period 
 of the season. Governor Hamilton had postponed the 
 further execution of this grand scheme of conquest 
 until spring, when he contemplated reassembling his 
 forces. 
 
 "Having received this timely intelligence of the 
 British governor's designs. Colonel Clark with char- 
 acteristic promptitude and decision, determined to 
 anticipate him, and strike the first blow. He accord- 
 ingly made immediate preparation for an expedition 
 against Vincennes." [Collins: History of Kentucky 
 (ed. of 1877) p. 138.] 
 
 But it does not appear that Clark, to the moment 
 of Vigo's arrival, had given much thought about 
 Vincennes; — it was the Illinois he feared was the 
 object of Hamilton's movement before reported to 
 him as being under way. That Hamilton, in march- 
 ing from Detroit, had in view the making of an 
 assault along the whole line of the Kentucky bor- 
 der is a declaration, as before explained, not war- 
 ranted by the words of the Lieutenant Governor be- 
 before or after leaving that place. 
 
 "Col. Clark, who kept himself well advised of the 
 movements of the enemy, having also learned that 
 Major de Peyster at Mackinac, had dispatched Capt. 
 
700 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Chas. de Langlade to raise a cooperative force of In- 
 dians to act with Hamilton at Vincennes or more 
 directly by way of the Illinois River, upon Cahokia, 
 decided with his accustomed daring and sagacity, not 
 to wait for the favorable weather, the want of which 
 had delayed the British commander, but to take ad- 
 vantage of the absence of the Indians, who were still 
 marauding across the Ohio, and become the attack- 
 ing party himself." (Moses, in his Illinois: Historical 
 and Statistical, vol. I, p. 155, citing, as to De Peyster, 
 Magazine of Western History, vol. III.) It is cer- 
 tain, however, that when the Colonel resolved to at- 
 tack Hamilton in Vincennes he had no knowledge of 
 what De Peyster had done at Michilimackinac to aid 
 the Lieutenant Governor. 
 
 NOTE LXXXIII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE GUNBOAT WILLING. 
 
 "The boat,'' wrote Clark in his letter to the Vir- 
 ginia Governor, of February 3d, "is to make her way 
 if possible and take her station ten leagues below St. 
 Vincent [Vincennes] until further orders. If I am 
 defeated, she is to join Col. [David] Rogers on the 
 Mississippi [of whom mention is made in this 
 narrative]. She has great stores of ammunition on 
 board, and is commanded by Lieut. John Rogers. 
 I shall march across by land with the rest of my 
 boys." {Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, 
 p. 316.) 
 
 In his letter of April 29, 1779, Clark says: "I 
 immediately dispatched a small galley, which I had 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 701 
 
 fitted up, mounting two four-pounders and four 
 swivels, — with a company of men and necessary 
 stores on board, with orders to force her way, if pos- 
 sible, and station herself a few miles below the enemy ; 
 suffer nothing to pass her and wait for further or- 
 ders." (Jefferson's Works, loc. cit.) 
 
 In his Memoir, Clark says : "We had great de- 
 pendence on this galley. She was far superior to 
 anything the enemy could fit out without building a 
 vessel ; and, at the worst, if we were discovered, we 
 could build a number of large pirogues, such as they 
 possessed, to attend her, and with such a little fleet, 
 perhaps, pester the enemy very much ; and if we saw 
 it our interest force a landing; at any rate, it would 
 be sometime before they could be a match for us on 
 the water" [Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 139]. 
 But all this, it is clear, is a draw on his imagina- 
 tion. 
 
 A recent writer has the following concerning 
 Clark's sending a part of his force by water : 
 
 "Sending a few boats, with light artillery and 
 provisions, to ascend the Ohio and Wabash, Clark 
 started overland from Kaskaskia." (Fiske: The 
 American Revolution (vol. II, p. 106.) But Clark 
 repeatedly declares he only sent one boat ; and all 
 other contemporaneous statements which refer to the 
 matter, confirm what he says. 
 
 Bancroft's language [History of the United States 
 (ed. of 1885), vol. V, p. 313] concerning the com- 
 mander of the Willing is calculated to mislead; for 
 he speaks of the boat as having been put under the 
 command of ''Captain John Rogers [the italicising is 
 mine.]" 
 
702 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 
 
 NOTE LXXXIV. 
 
 ERRONEOUS TRADITION CONCERNING PROVISIONS TAKEN 
 BY CLARK ON HIS MARCH TO VINCENNES. 
 
 A tradition has found its way into print to the 
 effect that nothing was taken along as food except 
 parched corn and jerked beef (Monnette's History of 
 the Valley of the Mississippi, vol. I, p. 427) ; but 
 this is clearly erroneous. There was no lack of pro- 
 visions in the Illinois towns at that date ; there was 
 plenty of flour and other necessaries. The writer just 
 cited evidently had no suspicions that horses were 
 taken along ; — he not only fills the men's knapsacks 
 with parched corn and jerked beef, but these supplies 
 were to be carried by the soldiers, not to be taken on 
 pack-horses. 
 
 NOTE LXXXV. 
 
 AS TO Clark's force which went against 
 
 VINCENNES. 
 
 The idea conveyed in Clark's letter to -Governor 
 Henry of "Feb. 3" (really Jan. 30) 1779, as printed in 
 the Calendar of Virginia State Papers, Vol. I., p. 315, 
 is, that the entire force of the Colonel — both those 
 which were to go by water and those to march by land 
 — would consist of between one hundred and seventy 
 and one hundred and eighty men; but, as a matter of 
 fact, Clark raised one entire company of militia — 
 Captain Charleville's — after writing that letter. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 703 
 
 In "Bowman's Journal" in the Department of 
 State MSS., under date of Feb. 5th, it is recorded 
 ''Raised another Company of Volunteers under the 
 command of Capt. Francois Charleville, which added 
 to our. force, and increased our number to 170, includ- 
 ing the artillery [men] and pack-horsemen." This, as 
 to the number of men under Clark, is in the same 
 words as printed in Clark's Campaign in the Illinois 
 p. 100. The same number is given in Clark's Memoir 
 — Dillon's Indiana (ed, of 1859), p. 136."^ 
 
 It is evident the force on board the Willing (which 
 had already departed) is not included in the number 
 mentioned. And Schieffelin, afterward, in his Loose 
 Notes, says Clark had 160 men — -meaning, probably, 
 exclusive of officers, and, certainly not including those 
 on the Willing. The whole number, then, ''with the 
 boat's crew," and including officers, was 218, making 
 "a little over two hundred," as stated by the Colonel — 
 notwithstanding, in his letter to Gov. Henry, of April 
 29, 1779, as printed in Jefferson's Works, Vol. I., p. 
 222n, he gives his force that went by land as consist- 
 ing of 130 men. 
 
 Clark's words in his letter of "Feb. 3" (really Jan. 
 30) are : 
 
 "I shall set out in a few days with all the force I 
 can raise of my own troops and a few militia that I can 
 depend on amounting in the whole to only [one] hun- 
 dred and seventy — men, of which go on board 
 
 * In Washington-Irving Correspondence, p. 392, the force 
 Clark marched with is erroneously put down as 175. So, also, 
 in the History of the Girtys, p. 90, where it is said — "with 
 a force of one hundred and seventy-six men, he started for 
 Vincennes." 
 
704 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 a small galley fitted out some time ago." The blank 
 before ''men" indicates that in the Colonel's judgment 
 he would have over 170 but less than 180 men all told. 
 Of these, a certain number, but he could not tell how 
 many, is indicated in the next blanks as being those 
 he would send on board the galley. William Wirt 
 Henry, in his Life of Patrick Henry, Vol. III., p. 221, 
 omits the first blank, and gives the word ''some" in 
 lieu of the two which follow the word "men." This 
 changes the sense materially. 
 
 Lyman C. Draper, in Appleton's Cyclopedia of 
 American Biography (art. "George Rogers Clark"), 
 says: "[Clark] with fewer than 170 men, all told, 
 marched across the country." This conclusion reached 
 by Draper is, in reality, without meaning for want of 
 definiteness, — "less than 170" might mean 169, or no 
 more than 130 as printed in Jefferson's zvorks, Vol. I., 
 p. 222n. 
 
 NOTE LXXXVI. 
 
 AS TO THE DISTANCE TO BE TRAVELED BY CLARK FROM 
 
 KASKASKIA TO VINCENNES ON -HIS MARCH 
 
 ACROSS THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Clark had been told by the inhabitants of the Illi- 
 nois that it was eighty leagues to Vincennes, which 
 was their estimate. The Colonel mistook these for 
 English leagues - — three miles each, whereas they v/ere 
 French leagues, making the distance about one hun- 
 dred and ninety-two miles — a six days' journey on 
 horseback ordinarily, although parties had been known, 
 when hard pressed, to make the distance in four days ; 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 705 
 
 and Clark himself afterwards, it may be premised, 
 made it in that time. Of course the trail was by no 
 means a ''bee line.'' [See, as to the distance being called 
 by the French eighty leagues, Denny's Military Jour- 
 nal, (Memoir of the Historical Society of Pennsyl- 
 vania, Vol. VII.), p. 422.] As to its being an ordi- 
 nary six day's journey, see Bouquet's Expedition 
 (Cincinnati Reprint: 1868), p. 144.' In reckoning the 
 distance in miles, the number has been, by English 
 writers, usually understood. Compare Denny's Jour- 
 nal, pp. 312, 422;'Monnette's JJistory of the Valley of 
 the Mississippi, Vol. II., p. 427. E. A. Bryan, in 
 The Magazine of American History, Vol. XXI, p. 401,. 
 puts the distance traveled by Clark as ''some two hun- 
 dred miles." 
 
 . . . "To the Illinois by land [from Vincennes], 
 the road is chiefly through plains and extensive 
 meadows — 240 miles . . . The above distances 
 are all computed." ("Roads from Detroit to the Illinois 
 by way of the Forts Miami, Wea and Vincennes, with 
 some Remarks": Haldimand MSS.) And Hamilton 
 makes the distance the same in his letters to Haldi- 
 mand of Dec. 18-30, 1778, and July 6, 1781. But he 
 and the itinerary before mentioned undoubtedly con- 
 sidered the French estimate — eighty leagues — as 
 making two hundred and forty miles. 
 
 45 
 
706 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE LXXXVII. 
 
 SOME ERRORS IN '"bOWMAN's JOURNAL^" AS PRINTED, 
 
 CORRECTED BY THE MS. COPY IN THE 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 
 
 The entry for the 12th of February as printed, 
 reads thus : 
 
 "i2th. Marched across Cat plains; saw and killed 
 numbers of buffaloes. The road very bad from the 
 immense quantity of rain that had fallen. The men 
 much fatigued. Encamped on the edge of the woods. 
 This plain or meadow being fifteen or more miles 
 across, it was late in the night before the baggage and 
 troops got together. Now twenty-one miles from St. 
 Vincents." 
 
 But in the MS. Journal the entry reads as follow^s : 
 "12. Marched across Cat plain, [that is, ''Cat 
 Meadow," or "Cat Prairie.] Saw and killed numbers 
 of buffaloe. The roads very bad from the immense 
 quantity of rain that had fallen. The men much fa- 
 tigued. Encamped at the edge of the wood, — this 
 plain or meadow being fifteen or more miles across. 
 It was late in the night before the troops and baggage 
 got together. Now 21 leagues from St. Vincents." 
 [These were undoubtedly French leagues, making the 
 distance about fifty miles.] 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 707 
 
 NOTE LXXXVIII. 
 
 ROOSEVELT ON THE FEASTS ENJOYED BY CLARK's MEN 
 ON THEIR MARCH TO VINCENNES. 
 
 The author of The Winning of the West (Vol. II, 
 pp. 70, 71) says: ''He [Clark] encouraged the men 
 to hunt game ; and to 'feast on it like Indian war- 
 dancers' [quoting the Memoir], each company in turn 
 inviting the others to the smoking and plentiful ban- 
 quets. One day they saw great herds of buffaloes and 
 killed many of them. They had no tents ; but at night- 
 fall they kindled huge campfires, and spent the even- 
 ings merrily round the piles of blazing logs, in hunter 
 fashion, feasting on bear's ham and buffalo hump, elk 
 saddle, venison haunch, and the breast of the wild 
 turkey, some singing of love and the chase and war, 
 and others dancing after the manner of the French 
 trappers and wood-runners. Thus they kept on, 
 marching hard but gleefully and in good spirits." 
 . . . Evidently there is here somewhat of a draft 
 on the imagination. 
 
 NOTE LXXXIX. 
 
 PLAN ADOPTED BY CLARK IN CROSSING THE LITTLE WA- 
 BASH AND ITS TRIBU'^ARY. 
 
 The plan described in the text seems to have been 
 the one adopted in crossing the Little Waash and its 
 northern affluent, so far as can be judged of from the 
 meager accounts given. In his letter to Mason, 
 Clark says : 
 
708 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "In three days, we contrived to cross by building a 
 large canoe — ferried across the two channels — ^the 
 rest of the way, we waded, building scaffolds at each 
 [channel] to lodge our baggage on until the horses 
 crossed to take it. It rained nearly a third of our 
 march, but we never halted for it." 
 
 NOTE XC. 
 
 CONCERNING CLARK^S ROUTE FROM KASKASKIA TO THE 
 EMBARRASS RIVER. 
 
 There is a trail laid down on, A New Map of the 
 Western Parts of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
 and North Carolina, by Thomas Hutchins, London, 
 1778, as a "Road from Kaskaskia Village to Post 
 Vincient." This may have been followed as far as 
 the Embarrass river by Clark, but no farther. On 
 Blanchard's Historical Map of Illinois, "Clark's 
 Route" is laid down even to Vincennes. It is, how- 
 ever, wholly unreliable. The first knoimi point reached 
 after leaving Kaskaskia is when the Little Wabash and 
 its northern tributary was crossed, a short distance 
 above their confluence, in the southeast part of the 
 present Clay county, Illinois. The course thence to 
 the Embarrass, it is certain, was nearly on a line to- 
 wards Vincennes. The direction then taken will here- 
 after be considered, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 709 
 
 NOTE XCI. 
 
 ESCAPE OF CAPT. WILLIAM s's BROTHER FROM FORT 
 SACKVILLE. 
 
 ''Bowman's Journal" as printed — Clark's Cam- 
 paign in the Illinois, p. 102 — says it was Captain 
 Willing's brother who made his escape from Fort 
 Sackville; but this is manifestly an error — either of 
 the types or of the copyist ; and the language of the 
 same in the Department of State MSS., makes the 
 correction, by giving the name as Williams — Captain 
 Williams's brother. But the words of the latter im- 
 mediately following, are apt to mislead unless rightly 
 considered. The sentence stands thus : "Captain 
 William's brother (who was taken in the fort) had 
 made his escape also to us." But he was not taken 
 in the fort; and his having made his escape "to us" 
 means, to the Americans — not directly to Clark's 
 force. 
 
 NOTE XCII. 
 
 FICTITIOUS ACCOUNTS AS TO THE METHODS OF CLARK 
 TO RAISE THE COURAGE OF HIS MEN. 
 
 What the favorite song was that Clark's men in- 
 dulged in is unknown. The following tradition con- 
 cerning songs sung by the drummer of the force is 
 certainly amusing: 
 
 "Part of the force . . . went by boat, but all 
 of them really went by water. Daily rains made the 
 
710 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 journey more and more disagreeable, yet nothing 
 could dampen the ardor of the troops. The drummer 
 of the party was a jovial little Irishman, with a rich 
 voice and a memory well stored with comic songs, all 
 of them full of the 'Begone-duU-care' spirit that ani- 
 mates the natives of Erin's Isle. When the men were 
 wading through mud and water, Colonel Clark would 
 seat the drummer on his drum, on which he floated and 
 sang, keeping up the spirits of his men with his lively 
 melodies." (Farmer's History of Detroit and Mich- 
 igan, p. 252.) But Law (in his Vincennes, p. 32n) 
 gives the account, it seems, first of any in print, and as 
 follows : 
 
 "Without food, benumbed with cold, up to their 
 waists in water covered with broken ice, the men com- 
 posing Clark's troops at one time mutinied, refused to 
 march. All the persuasions of Clark had no effect on 
 the half-starved and half-frozen soldiers. In one of 
 the companies was a small boy who acted as drummer. 
 In the same company was a sergeant, standing six feet 
 two inches in his stockings, — stout, athletic, and de- 
 voted to Clark. Finding that his eloquence had no 
 effect upon the men, in persuading them to continue 
 their line of march, Clark mounted the little drummer 
 on the shoulders of the stalwart sergeant, and gave or- 
 ders to him to plunge into the half-frozen water. He 
 did so, the little drummer beating the charge from his 
 lofty perch, while Clark, with sword in hand, followed 
 them giving the command, as he threw aside the float- 
 ing ice — 'Forward!' Elated and amused with the 
 scene, the men promptly obeyed, holding their rifles 
 above their heads and in spite of all obstacles, reached 
 the higher land beyond them safely." ' 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 711 
 
 NOTE XCIII. 
 
 CLARK^S CONDENSED STATEMENT OF HIS MARCH FROM 
 KASKASKIA TO WARRIORS^ ISLAND. 
 
 A condensed statement of the march from Kas- 
 kaskia to Warriors' Island as given by Clark in his 
 letter of April 29, 1779, to the Governor of Virginia 
 is as follows : 
 
 "Although so small a body, it took me sixteen days 
 on the route. The inclemency of the season, high 
 waters, etc., seemed to threaten the loss of the expedi- 
 tion. When within three leagues of the enemy, in a 
 direct line, it took us five days to cross the drowned 
 lands of the Wabash river, having to wade often, up- 
 wards of two leagues, to our breast in water. Had not 
 the weather been warm, we must have perished. But, 
 on the evening of the 23d, we got on dry land, in sight 
 of the enemy." 
 
 NOTE XCIV. 
 
 CONCERNING THE DETACHMENT OF LIEUT. BAYLEY. 
 
 Clark, in his letter to Mason — Clark's Campaign 
 in the Illinois, p. 68 — says : 'T detached Lieutenant 
 Bayley and a party to attack the fort at a certain sig- 
 nal, and I took possession of the strongest posts of the 
 town with the main body." But Clark's Journal (in 
 the Haldimand MSS.) makes it evident that no signal 
 was to be waited for. The word "posts" is a misprint ; 
 it should be "parts." 
 
712 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Both "Bowman's Journal" in the Department of 
 State MSS.'and the printed one say Bayley had four- 
 teen regulars with him, and Clark's Memoir — Dil- 
 lon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), P- ^4^' ^^7^ the same; but 
 the Colonel, in his Journal, mentions fifteen riflemen, 
 and I have followed his statement. It is evident the 
 men detached were not of the Kaskaskia or Cahokia 
 volunteers. 
 
 NOTE XCVo 
 
 CONCERNING CLARK^S ENTRY INTO VINCENNES. 
 
 Captain Chesne, who had not before heard of the 
 coming of the Americans, was, it is to be presumed, 
 considerably frightened, as he saw but one flag — a 
 white one — and heard but one drum. And thus Ban- 
 croft [History of the United States (ed.of 1885), Vol. 
 v., p. 313), who evidently sees with Ch'esne's eyes: 
 
 "On the twenty-third, just at evening, Clark and 
 his companions reached dry land, and, making no de- 
 lay, with a white flag flying, they entered Vincennes." 
 
 "Bowman's Journal" as printed — Clark's Cam- 
 paign, in the Illinois (p, 105) — gives the tirne of the 
 Colonel's arrival as mentioned in the text ; so, also, the 
 3ne in the Department of State. But the wording of 
 the former is, — "After wading to the edge of the 
 water breast high, we mounted the rising ground the 
 town is built on, about 8 o'clock;" while the latter 
 says : "After wading to the edge of the town in water 
 breast high, we mounted the rising ground the town is 
 built on about 8 o'clock." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 713 
 
 The Colonel (in his Journal) says he entered the 
 upper end of the town. This is error and' is corrected 
 by Chesne. Clark in his Memoir — Dillon's Indiana 
 (ed. of 1859), P- 148, says, substantially, that the main 
 body did not enter the town in the same place as that 
 by Lieut. Bayley with his detachment. 
 
 'This [the march of Clark from Kaskaskia to Vin- 
 cennes] was one of the most wonderful of the military 
 expeditions recorded in our history, and paralleled only 
 by that of Arnold from the Kennebec to the Chau- 
 diere, in the late Autumn of 1775. For a week Clark 
 and his followers traversed the 'drowned lands' of 
 Illinois, suffering every privation from wet, cold and 
 hunger. When they arrived at the Little Wabash, at 
 a point where the forks of that stream are three miles 
 apart, they found the intervening space covered with 
 water to the depth of three feet. The points of dry 
 land were five miles apart and all that distance, the 
 hardy soldiers of the West, in the month of February, 
 waded the cold snow-flood in the forest, arm-pit deep ! 
 It seemed to the people and soldiers at Vincennes, 
 when their men [Clark's force] their faces blackened 
 to hideousness by gunpowder, suddenly appeared as if 
 they had dropped from the clouds. It was impossible, 
 they thought, that these soldiers would [could] have 
 traversed the country a hundred miles from the Ohio 
 river." (Benson J. Lossing, in The American Histo- 
 rical Record, Vol.. II., p. 62n..) Clark blacked his 
 face (also a few others did the same) on the 21st of 
 February, with gunpowder, at the same time giving 
 the war whoop. It was only a specimen of back- 
 woods bravado to urge on his men. The powder 
 quickly disappeared from their faces. 
 
714 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE XCVL 
 
 A FICTION CONCERNING CLARK^S APPEARANCE IN 
 VINCENNES. 
 
 Butler, in speaking of Clark's letter to the inhab- 
 itants of Vincennes, says : "Seldom has frank notice 
 been given to an enemy and choice afforded to retire to 
 his friends ; it was resorted to in hopes that its impos- 
 ing character would add to the confidence of our 
 [Clark's] friends and increase the dismay of our 
 [Clark's] enemies. So much did it operate in this way 
 that the expedition was believed to be from Kentucky ; 
 it was thought utterly impossible that, in the condition 
 of the waters, it could be from the Illinois. This idea 
 was confirmed by several messengers [sent] under the 
 assumed name of gentlemen known to have been in 
 Kentucky, to their acquaintances in St. Vincents [Vin- 
 cennes] ; nor would the presence of Clark be credited 
 until his person was pointed out by one who knew 
 him {History of Kentucky, p. 83). This tradition (for 
 it is evidently only a tradition), it is certain is wholly 
 fictitious. 
 
 NOTE XCVII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE APPLE-TODDY FICTION. 
 
 A rediculous tradition — one that has not a 
 shadow of foundation to build on — has found its way 
 into history, to the effect that while Helm was a pris- 
 oner and playing at piquet with Hamilton in the fort, 
 one of Clark's men requested leave of his commander 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 715 
 
 to shoot at the Captain's headquarters, so soon as they 
 were discovered, to knock down the clay or mortar 
 into his apple-toddy, which he was sure that officer, 
 from his well-known fondness for that fine liquor, 
 would have on his hearth; that the soldier got leave 
 to fire at the place he desired; and that when Helm 
 heard the bullets rattling about the chimney, he jumped 
 up and swore it was Clark, who would make all the 
 garrison prisoners, though the rascals had no business 
 to spoil his toddy. 
 
 The first publication of this fiction was in these 
 words : 
 
 "There is an amusing anecdote connected with the 
 siege, illustrative of the frank and fearless spirit of 
 the times ; that while Helm was a prisoner and playing 
 at piquet with Governor Hamilton in the fort, one of 
 Clark's men requested leave of his commander to shoot 
 at Helm's quarters, so soon as they were discovered, 
 to knock down the clay or the mortar into his apple- 
 toddy, which he was sure the captain from his well- 
 known fondness for that fine liquor would have on 
 his hearth. It is added that when the Captain heard 
 the bullets rattling about the chimney, he jumped up 
 and swore it was Clark, and he would make them all 
 prisoners though the d — d rascals had no business to 
 spoil his toddy." Louisville Directory, p. 97. It is 
 added that when Helm made this exclamation about 
 Clark, Governor Hamilton asked, Ts he a merciful 
 man?' It seems an intelligence was kept up betweeJi 
 Helm and Clark through the medium of Henry's wife, 
 who lived in the town and who had free access to her 
 husband in the fort. Helm cautioned the British sol- 
 diers against looking out at the port holes, 'for,' said 
 
716 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 he, 'Clark's men will shoot your eyes out;' it accord- 
 ingly happened that one was shot through the eye, in 
 attempting to look out, when Helm exclaimed, 'I told 
 you so.' " (From a letter of Edmund Rogers cited by 
 Butler in his KenHicky, p. 84n.) 
 
 NOTE XCVIII. 
 
 AS TO Clark's supply of powder on reaching 
 
 VINCENNES. 
 
 Schieffelin, in his Loose Notes, Magazine of Amer- 
 ican History, vol. I, p. 187 — gives a second-hand re- 
 port, which recites that "a Mr. Le Gras, a Major of 
 militia, with other inhabitants, . . . met the reb- 
 els some distance from the town, furnishing them with 
 ammunition, provisions, etc., — the rebels having dam- 
 aged all theirs by the long route through the floods of 
 water from Kaskaskia to the town." This erroneous 
 report is afterwards made the basis for a positive dec- 
 laration by Hamilton [in his letter to Haldimand of 
 July 6, 1 78 1, (Germain MSS.)] that Colonel Clark 
 was supplied by the inhabitants of Vincerines with 
 powder, ''his own to the last ounce, being damaged on 
 the march." 
 
 But none of the citizens of Vincennes marched out 
 to meet Clark; and the detaching of Lieutenant Bay- 
 lev, before the Colonel himself had reached the town, 
 to fire on the fort, shows they had powder fit for im- 
 mediate use. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 717 
 
 NOTE XCIX. 
 
 OF THE TREATMENT ACCORDED CAPT. FRANCIS MAISON- 
 
 VILLE. 
 
 In Schieffelin's Loose Notes — Magazine of 
 American History, vol. I, p. i88 — and in Hamilton's 
 letter to Haldimand of July 6, 1781 (Germain MSS.), 
 accounts are given of the treatment meted out to Mai- 
 sonville by the "rebels :" the former declaring he was 
 finally saved, after numberless solicitations, by the Illi- 
 nois volunteers in the "rebel" service; while the latter 
 says it was by a "rebel" brother. Clark's only mention 
 of the treatment received by Maisonville is in his Me- 
 moir — Dillon's Indiana, (ed. of 1859), p. 151, where 
 he gives this account: "A few of his [Lamothe's] 
 party were taken, one of which was Maisonville, a 
 famous Indian partisan. Two lads that captured him, 
 tied him to a post in the street, and fought from be- 
 hind him as a breastwork, — supposing that the enemy 
 would not fire at them for fear of killing him, as he 
 would alarm them by his voice. The lads were or- 
 dered by an officer who discovered them at their 
 amusement, to untie their prisoner, and take him off 
 to the guard, which they did, but were so inhuman 
 as to take part of his scalp on the way. There hap- 
 pened to him no other damage." While little confi- 
 dence can be put in this relation, still less can be placed 
 in the declaration of Hamilton that the prisoner was 
 partially scalped by Clark's order. Schieffelin says 
 (loc. cit.) : "They [the Americans] had the inhu- 
 manity to scalp him, after the repeated orders for so 
 doing from Colonel Clark," 
 
718 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE C. 
 
 WHAT '^bowman's JOURNAL^' SAYS CONCERNING HAM- 
 ILTON'S PROPOSALS BROUGHT TO CLARK BY CAPT. 
 HELM FROM FORT SACKVILLE. 
 
 The proposals as printed vary from those in the 
 MS. copy of "Bowman's Journal." The word ''prom- 
 ises" is given as "proposes ;" the words "that he 
 wishes" are, "that is, he wishes ;" the words "further 
 proposes" read "promises ;" "remain a secret" have the 
 word "a" omitted ; "finally concluded" are rendered 
 "finished ;" and "before the gate" are given as, "by the 
 gate." As printed in Clark's Memoir [Dillon's Indi- 
 ana (ed. of 1859), p. 153] the word "promises" is 
 retained; but in all the residue, the two printed ver- 
 sions are identical. The words which end them ("If 
 Colonel Clark makes a difficulty of coming into the 
 fort, Lieutenant Governor Hamilton will speak to him 
 by the gate") refer back, it will be noticed, to the first 
 proposals sent out by Hamilton and confirm the state- 
 ment as to Helm's first appearance, made by Clark in 
 his Journal, under date of Feb. 24, 1779 — in the Hal- 
 dimand MSS. Besides, in the Journal last mentioned, 
 the Colonel, in speaking of Hamilton's proposition for 
 a three days' truce and cessation from offensive work, 
 etc., expressly calls them the "second proposals" of the 
 Lieutenant Governor. 
 
 The proposals in "Bowman's Journal" in the De- 
 partment of State MSS. are dated ("24th Feby, 
 1779"), but Hamilton's name is not signed to them; 
 in Clark's Journal they are also dated, but are signed 
 "H. H." In "Bowman's Journal" as printed and in 
 Clark's Memoir, both the date and name are appended. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 719 
 
 NOTE CI. 
 
 AMERICAN AND BRITISH ACCOUNTS AS TO THE FATE OF 
 
 A WAR PARTY ON ITS RETURN FROM THE FALLS OF 
 
 THE OHIO TO VINCENNES. 
 
 (i.) American Accounts. 
 
 "This moment received intelligence that a party 
 of Indians were coming up from the Falls [of the 
 Ohio] with prisoners or scalps, which party was sent 
 out by Governor Hamilton for that purpose [i. e., to 
 take prisoners or scalps]. My people [meaning his sol- 
 diers] were so enraged that they immediately inter- 
 cepted the party, which consisted of eight Indians and 
 a Frenchman of the garrison. They killed three on 
 the spot and brought four in who were tomahawked 
 in the street opposite the fort gate and thrown into the 
 river. The Frenchman we showed mercy, as his 
 aged father had behaved so well in my party. I re- 
 lieved the two poor prisoners, who were French hunt-- 
 ers on the Ohio." (Clark's Journal — entry of the 
 24th Feb., 1779 — Haldimand MSS.) 
 
 "Bowman's Journal" gives this relation of the mat- 
 ter: 
 
 "... A party of Indians [came] down the 
 hills behind the town, who had been sent by Gov. 
 Hamilton to get some scalps and prisoners from the 
 Falls of Ohio. Our men having got news of it, pur- 
 sued them, killed two on the spot, wounded three, took 
 six prisoners [and] brought them into town. Two of 
 them proving to be white men that they had taken 
 prisoners, we released them, and brought the Indians 
 to the main street before the fort gate, there toma- 
 
720 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 hawked them and threw them into the river." [De- 
 partment of the State MSS. The Journal as printed 
 {Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 107) has substan- 
 tially the same account. 
 
 Clark to Governor Henry of April 29th, has the 
 following : *Tn the height of this action, an Indian 
 party that had been to war and taken two prisoners, 
 came in, not knowing of us. Hearing of them, I dis- 
 patched a party to give them battle in the commons, 
 and got nine of them, with . . . two prisoners, 
 who proved to be Frenchmen." {Jefferson's Works, 
 Vol. I., p. 222n.) 
 
 Clark's account of the affair in his letter to Mason 
 contains additional particulars : "Some time before, a 
 party of warriors sent by Mr. Hamilton against Ken- 
 tucky, had taken two prisoners. [This party] was dis- 
 covered by the Kickapoos, who gave information of 
 them. A part}^ was immediately detached to meet 
 them, which happened in the commons. They con- 
 ceived our troops to be a force sent by Mr. Hamilton 
 to conduct them in, an honor commonly paid them. I 
 was highly pleased to see each party whooping, halloo- 
 ing and striking their breasts, as they approached in 
 the open fields. Each seemed to try to outdo the other 
 in the greatest signs of joy. The poor devils never 
 discovered their mistake until it was too late 'for many 
 of them to escape. Six of them were made- prisoners, 
 two of them scalped, and the rest so wounded as we 
 •afterwards learned that but one lived. I had now as 
 fair opportunity of making an impression on the In- 
 dians as I could have wished for, — that of convinc- 
 ing them that Governor Hamilton could not give them 
 that protection he had made them to believe he could, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 721 
 
 and in some measure to incense them against him for 
 not exerting himself to save their friends : I ordered 
 the prisoners to -be tomahawked in face of the garri- 
 son. It had the effect that I expected. Instead of it 
 making their friends inveterate against us, they up- 
 braided the EngHsh parties in not trying to save them ; 
 and they gave them to understand that they beheved 
 them to be hars and no warriors. 
 
 "A remarkable circumstance happened that I think 
 worthy our notice : An old French gent of the name of 
 St. Croix, lieutenant of Capt. McCarty's volunteers 
 from Cahokia, had but one son, who headed these In- 
 dians and was made prisoner. The question was put 
 whether the white man should be saved. I ordered 
 them [Clark's men] to put him to death through indig- 
 nation which did not extend to the savages. For fear 
 he would make his escape, his father drew his sword 
 and stood by him in order to run him through in case 
 he should stir ; being painted he could not know him. 
 The wretch, on seeing the executioner's tomahawk 
 raised to give the fatal stroke, raised his eyes as if 
 making his last address to Heaven [and] cried, — 'O, 
 save me.' The father knew his son's voice [and] you 
 may easily guess of the agitation and behavior of these 
 two persons, coming to the knowledge of each other at 
 so critical a moment. I had a little mercy for such 
 murderers, and so valuable an opportunity for an ex- 
 ample, knowing that there would be the greatest solic- 
 itations made to save him, that I immediately ab- 
 sconded myself ; but by the warmest solicitations from 
 his father who had behaved so exceedingly well in our 
 service, and [from] some of the officers, I granted his 
 
 46 
 
722 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 life on certain conditions." {Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, pp. y^i^ 74- 
 
 (2.) British Accounts. 
 
 Isidore Chesne, in liis Account, says that he first 
 heard that seven Indians (they were Ottawas) had 
 been killed. Afterward, he was told that only five 
 were shot down. He then adds : 
 
 "The Indians who were killed had just returned 
 from war, — had made two prisoners at the fort at the 
 Falls of the Ohio, and not knowing the enemy [Ameri- 
 cans] were in the village [Vincennes], were there sur- 
 prised and killed." (From the Haldimand MSS.) 
 
 Schieffelin {Loose Notes. Magazine of American 
 History, Vol. I, pp. 191, 192) gives, from the British 
 side, this rueful picture : 
 
 "At the time our flag was sent out from Fort Sackville, 
 an Indian party who had been on a scout returned — the 
 rebels with the inhabitants of the town ran to meet them. 
 The Indians not being apprized of the town having joined 
 the rebels, imagined they came to salute them, when, to their 
 great misfortune, after they had discharged their pieces in the 
 air, as a salute to them, were fired at by the rebels and cit- 
 izens, several killed on the domaine in sight of our fort, 
 others [were] brought in [and] kicked by them ; [then] they 
 marched through the streets [having their prisoners with 
 them, including] two Indian . partizans — Frenchmen in 
 His Majesty's service. [All] were [then] seated [that 
 is, all the captured] in a circle when Colonel Clark, the com- 
 mandant of the rebels, took a tomahawk and in cool blood 
 knocked their [the Indians'] brains out, dipping his hands 
 in their blood, [then] rubbing it [them] several times on his 
 cheeks, yelping as a savage. The two Frenchmen, who were 
 to share the same unhappy fate, were sergeants in the Detroit 
 volunteers, and were saved from this bloody massacre, one 
 by his father, who was an officer with the rebels, [who] did 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 723 
 
 not know his son until they informed [him] that he was in 
 the circle in Indian dress and [that he was] to undergo this 
 cruelty exercised .by the Americans ; the other was taken by 
 force by his sister, whose liusband was a merchant in the town. 
 This is also a treatment unprecedented even between savages, 
 — to commit hostilities at the time a flag is sent them. 
 
 "The dead carcasses of these unhappy fellows were 
 dragged to the river by the soldiery, some who had been 
 struggling for life after 1 -.'ng thrown into the river. An In- 
 dian chief of the name of Muckeydemengo, of the Ottawa 
 nation, after Colonel Clark had struck the hatchet into his 
 head, with his own hands drew his tomahawk [out] present- 
 ing it again to the inhuman butcher, who repeated the stroke. 
 After the Governor and his officers were put on parole in the 
 town, they had seen the blood on the ground of these unhappy 
 men, for a considerable time. The dead bodies who [which] 
 were on the domaine of those they fired at, were stripped 
 naked and left for the wild prey." (A Reprint from the Royal 
 Gazette.) 
 
 "Before anything was concluded [as to the sur- 
 render of Fort Sackville]," afterwards wrote Hamil- 
 ton to Haldimand, "the following scene was exhibited, 
 of which I give your Excellency a relation, as it serves 
 to contrast the behavior of His Majesty's subjects with 
 that of the rebels so often celebrated for humanity, 
 generosity, and, indeed, every thing virtuous and no- 
 ble : 
 
 "About two o'clock in the afternoon [of the twen- 
 ty-fourth] a party of Indians with some whites re- 
 turned from a scout, with two Canadians whom they 
 had taken prisoners near the Falls of the Ohio, prob- 
 ably with information for the rebels at the fort [there]. 
 Colonel Clark sent off a detachment of seventy men 
 against them. The Indians numbered fifteen or six- 
 teen men, who, seeing the English flag flying at the 
 fort, discharged their pieces — an usual compliment 
 
724 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 with those people. They were immediately fired upon 
 by the rebels and Canadians, two killed on the spot, 
 one shot in the belly, who, however, escaped. The 
 rest were surrounded and taken, bound, to the village, 
 where, being set in the street opposite the fort gate 
 they, were put to death, notwithstanding a truce at 
 that moment existed. 
 
 ''The manner as related to me by different people 
 and among others by the man at whose door this ex- 
 ecrable feat was perpetrated, was, was as follows : 
 
 ''One of them was tomahawked immediately. The 
 rest, setting on the ground in a ring bound, seeing, by 
 the fate of their comrade, what they had to expect, the 
 next on his left sang his death-song, and was in turn 
 tomahawked. The others underwent the same fate. 
 Only one was saved, and he at the intercession of a 
 rebel officer, who pleaded for him, telling Colonel 
 Clark that the savage's father had formerlv spared his 
 fife." 
 
 "The chief of this party," continues the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, "after having the hatchet stuck in his head, 
 took it out himself and delivered it to the inhuman 
 monster who struck him first, who repeated his stroke 
 a second and a third time ; after which, the miserable 
 savage was dragged by the rope about his neck to the 
 river, thrown in, and suffered to spend still a few mo- 
 ments of life in fruitless struggling." (Hamilton to 
 Haldimand, July 6, 1781. — Germain MSS.) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 725 
 
 NOTE CII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE SECOND MEETING OF CLARK WITH 
 
 HAMILTON. 
 
 It is clear that when Hamilton "went to meet them 
 with Major Hay," he went from the fort, to which he 
 had returned. This then was the second meeting, and 
 was evidently held at the church where the first one 
 was held. Hamilton, however, in his letter to Haldi- 
 mand of July 6, 1781, erroneously says the first meet- 
 ing was -at the place he lastly proposed. These are his 
 words : 
 
 "Colonel Clark, yet reeking with the blood of those 
 unhappy victims [the Indians tomahawked in view of 
 the British garrison and then thrown into the river], 
 came to the esplanade before the fort gate where I had 
 agreed to meet him and treat of the surrender of the 
 garrison." 
 
 He spoke with rapture, of his late achievement, 
 while he washed the blood from his hands, stained in 
 this inhuman sacrifice." [The italicising is mine.] 
 
 NOTE cm. 
 
 FINAL ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION AGREED UPON. 
 
 The wording of the articles of Capitulation, as 
 given by Clark in his Journal, is as follows : 
 
 "ist. L't. Gov'r. Ha:milton engages to deliver up 
 to Col. Clark Fort Sackville as it is at present, with 
 all the stores, ammunition, provisions, etc., etc. 
 
726 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ''2d. The garrison will deliver themselves up pris- 
 oners of war to march out with their arms, accoutre- 
 ments, knapsacks, etc. 
 
 "3d. The garrison to be delivered up to-morrow 
 morning at 10 o'clock. 
 
 "4th. Three days to be allowed to the garrison to 
 settle their accounts with the traders of this place and 
 inhabitants. 
 
 ''5th. The officers of the garrison to be allowed 
 their necessary baggage, etc. 
 
 "G. R. Clark. 
 
 "Post Vincent, 24th Feb'y., 1779." 
 
 Hamilton, in his letter to Haldimand of July 6, 
 1781, says the Articles he agreed to were his own, 
 which had been changed by Clark, This is true as 
 will be seen by comparing them. The Lieutenant- 
 Governor also gives the Articles in full. He must, 
 therefore, have copied them before sending them back; 
 but, in so doing, he made some unimportant variations. 
 Walker {The North-west during the Revolution, p. 
 22) says that "the unique correspondence between the 
 comparatively illiterate backwoodsman [Clark] and 
 the proud British officer [Hamilton] . . . is in the 
 possession of Mr. [Lyman C] Draper [of Madison, 
 Wisconsin]." This is published with the approval of 
 the latter ; but, as a matter of fact, he never had in his 
 possession all of this correspondence. Draper was not 
 the possessor of what was actually sent to Hamilton 
 inside the fort by Clark — only copies of it in the 
 hand-writing of the latter, except the Articles of Ca- 
 pitulation finally agreed upon. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 727 
 
 NOTE CIV. 
 SOME OF Hamilton's reasons for surrendering fort 
 
 SACKVILLE. 
 
 In his letter to Haldimand of July 6, 1781, Hamil- 
 ton says : "Half our number [the Canadian volun- 
 teers] had shown their poltroonerie and treason; and 
 our wounded must be left at the mercy of a merciless 
 set of bandits." But it is certain not one of his Cana- 
 dian allies had committed any act of treason ; — they, as 
 the Lieutenant-Governor expressly declares, only said : 
 "It was very hard to be obliged to fight against their 
 countrymen and relatives, who they now perceived had 
 joined the Americans." 
 
 Two years afterward (that is, in 1783), Hamilton, 
 forgetting what he had written to Haldimand, de- 
 clares : 
 
 'Tn the month of February . . they [the peo- 
 ple of Vincennes] joined the Americans and fired on 
 the fort. The Canadian volunteers, who made half of 
 my little garrison, deserted, and we were reduced to 
 the horrid necessity of capitulation." {Hamilton to 
 Coin's of His Majesty's Treasury, 1/8^, MSS.) This 
 was certainly a falsification ; not a single Canadian de- 
 serted. 
 
 Schieffelin, in his Loose Notes, dismisses the sub- 
 ject with a few words : "No way was left us to get 
 ofif — the provisions exhausted; — these [this] obliged 
 us to agree to a capitulation and surrender to a set of 
 uncivilized Virginian woodmen, armed with rifles." 
 
728- HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE CV. 
 
 AS TO THE ACCIDENTAL BLOWING UP OF THE CART- 
 RIDGES IN FORT SACKVILLE. 
 
 [Ante. Chap. XIX., p. 332.] 
 
 Schieffelin mentions the casualty (in his Loose 
 Notes) thus: "The Rebel Major with some Captains, 
 showing their dexterity in firing cannon as a salute for 
 the day, were blown up by the explosion of a keg of 
 cannon cartridges." 
 
 Says Butler {History of Kentucky, pp. 86, 87) : 
 ''This capitulation on the 24th of February, 1779, sur- 
 rendered Fort Sackville to the Americans ; the garri- 
 son was to be considered as prisoners of war. On the 
 25th, it was taken possession of by Colonel Clark at 
 the head of the companies of Captains Williams and 
 Witherington, while Captains Bowman and McCarty 
 received the prisoners ; the stars and stripes were again 
 hoisted, and thirteen cannon fired to celebrate the re- 
 covery of this most important stronghold upon the In- 
 dian frontier.'' Evidently Butler did not know that 
 the accident cut short the salute. 
 
 Capt. Worthington's name is spelled ''Withering- 
 ton" by Butler, as will be noticed by the above extract, 
 and in one place in "Bowman's Journal" (Department 
 of State MSS.), it appears as "Wertherington ;" how- 
 ever, it is afterward given there as "Worthington" and 
 is so spelled in the printed Journal {Clark's Campaign 
 in the Illinois, p. 108). See also the work last cited 
 p. 65 ; and Clark to the Gov. of Virginia — Calendar of 
 Virginia State Papers, Vol. I., pp. 315, 316. Besides, 
 Clark's Journal has "Worthington" : and it has al- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 729 
 
 ready been explained that the Captain was from Ken- 
 tucky ; — there he was known as ''Worthington." 
 
 NOTE CVI. 
 
 CONCERNING THE ATTACK ON FORT SACKVILLE AND ITS 
 
 SURRENDER. 
 
 ''On viewing the strength of the fort [after the ca- 
 pitulation] Colonel Clark was astonished at its easy 
 surrender; but on reflection was convinced that it 
 could have been undermined, as the fort was within 
 thirty feet of the river bank. If even that attempt had 
 failed his information was so exact that on the arrival 
 of his artillery, the first hot shot could have blown up 
 the magazine." (Butler, in his History of Kentucky, 
 p. 87.) But this is all speculation on part of the Ken- 
 tucky historian. 
 
 As to there being only seventy-nine prisoners taken 
 when the fort surrendered, it may be said it is highly 
 probable that when Lieut. Bayley began firing on the 
 fortification a few of the garrison were outside among 
 the Vincennes people. It has already been shown 
 how Maisonville arid his companion also St. Croix 
 and another were captured; and it is possible there 
 were still out one or two war-parties headed by white 
 men. In Hamilton's Return of January 30, he enum- 
 erates, in all, ninety-five white men as constituting his 
 force. This leaves sixteen to be accounted for that 
 were not in the fort when it surrendered ; but, from 
 what has just been said, it is not difficult to make up 
 
730 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, 
 
 jrrr 
 
 the number missing. One of those who escaped was 
 Captain Chesne, as already noted. 
 
 Of the many fictions concerning the success of 
 Clark at Vincennes which have been printed, the fol- 
 lowing is among the most prominent : 
 
 "I have myself been informed by some of the 'ancient 
 inhabitants' of the Post [Vincennes] long since gathered to 
 their fathers, but who were old enough at the time of Clark's 
 capture of the Post, to recollect the circumstances attending 
 it, that after the surrender, the English flag was kept flying, 
 and that from the large stores of clothing on hand, Clark 
 dressed some of his men in red, the uniform of the British 
 soldiers, and placing a sentry with British uniform at the gate 
 of the fort, after directing the French inhabitants to give no 
 information of the surrender, awaited the arrival of the In- 
 dians, who were on one of their murderous forays to the 
 south side of the Ohio, and were to return to Vincennes to 
 join Hamilton in his meditated campaign in the Illinois, for 
 the purpose of attacking Clark and his troops at Kaskaskia. 
 Sullen and silent, with the scalp-lock of his victims hanging 
 at his girdle, and in full expectation of his reward from 
 Hamilton, the unwary savage, unconscious of danger, and 
 wholly ignorant of the change that had been effected in his 
 absence, passed the supposed British sentry at the gate of the 
 fort, without inquiry or molestation. But the moment he had 
 entered a volley from the rifles of a platoon of Clark's men, 
 drawn up and awaiting his coming, pierced their hearts, and 
 sent the unconscious savage reeking with murder, to that tri- 
 bunal to which he had so frequently, by order of- Hamilton, 
 sent his American captives, from the infant in the cradle to 
 the grandfather of the family, tottering with age and infirmity. 
 It ivas a just retribution, and few men but Clark would have 
 planned the ruie, or carried it out so successfully. It is re- 
 ported that upwards of fifty Indians met this fate within the 
 walls of 'Fort Sackville' after its surrender by Hamilton." 
 (Law: The Colonial History of Vincennes, pp. Q%, 69.) 
 
HISTORY OP CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 731 
 
 When, after the lapse of years, Clark attempts to 
 describe all the circumstances attending the capitula- 
 tion, from the moment of the first meeting between 
 himself and Hamilton to the time of the final surren- 
 der, he confuses his relation in various ways. "We 
 met at the church," he says, "about eighty yards from 
 the fort — Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton, Major Hay 
 (Superintendent of Indian Affairs) Captain Helm 
 (their prisoner), Major Bowman and myself. The 
 conference began." But it had commenced before 
 that — when only. Helm was present beside the two 
 commanders. Clark then says: "Hamilton produced 
 terms of capitulation signed, that contained various ar- 
 ticles, one of which was that the garrison should be 
 surrendered on their being permitted to go to Pensa- 
 cola on parole." But this was the last meeting; and 
 the article mentioned does not specify they were to be 
 allowed to go to Pensacola, although that place un- 
 doubtedly was understood to be the objective point. 
 The narration continues : "After deliberating on 
 every article, I rejected the whole. He [Hamilton] 
 then wished that I would make some proposition. I 
 told him I had no other to make than what I had al- 
 ready made — that of his surrendering as prisoners 
 at discretion. I said that his troops had behaved with 
 spirit ; that they could not suppose that they would be 
 worse treated in consequence of it ; that if he chose to 
 comply with the demand, though hard, perhaps the 
 sooner the better ; that it was in vain to make any 
 proposition to me ; that he by this time must be sensi- 
 ble that the garrison would fall that both of us must 
 [view] all blood spilt for the future, by the garrison, 
 as murder ; that my troops were already impatient and 
 
732 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 called aloud for permission to tear down and storm 
 the fort : if such a step was taken many, of course, 
 would be cut down, and the result of an enraged body 
 of woodsmen breaking in must be obvious to him : it 
 would be out of the power of an American officer to 
 save a single man." That much of this is a draft on 
 the imagination of the relater, is self-evident. 
 
 "Various altercations took place," are the further 
 words of Clark, ''for a considerable time. Captain 
 Helm attempted to moderate our fixed determination. 
 I told him he was a British prisoner, and it was doubt- 
 ful whether or not he could with propriety speak on 
 the subject. Hamilton then said that Captain Helm 
 was from that moment liberated and might use his 
 pleasure. I informed the Captain that I would not 
 receive him on such terms ; that he must return to the 
 garrison and await his fate. I then told Lieutenant- 
 Governor Hamilton that hostilities should not com- 
 mence until five minutes after the drums gave the 
 alarm." 
 
 "We took our leave," Clark continues, "and parted 
 but a few steps when Hamilton stopped and politely 
 asked me if I would be so kind as to give him my rea- 
 sons for refusing the garrison on any other terms than 
 those I had offered. I told him I had no objections 
 in giving him my real reasons, which were simply 
 these : that I knew the greater part of the principal 
 Indian partisans of Detroit were with him ; that I 
 wanted an excuse to put them to death or otherwise 
 treat them as I thought proper ; that the cries of the 
 widows and fatherless on the frontiers, which they had 
 occasioned, now required their blood from my hands ; 
 and that I did not choose to be so timorous as to dis- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 733 
 
 obey the absolute commands of their authority which 1 
 looked upon to be next to divine : that I would rather 
 lose fifty men than not to empower myself to execute 
 this piece of business with propriety : that if he chose 
 to risk the massacre of his garrison for their sakes it 
 was his own pleasure : and that I might, perhaps, take 
 it into my head to send for some of those widows to 
 see it executed." But it is plain, when this is com- 
 pared' with what the Colonel noted down at the time 
 the conversation took place, that quite all of it has no 
 foundation in fact. ' What he adds is of the same char- 
 acter : 
 
 "Major Hay, paying great attention, I had ob- 
 served a kind of distrust in his countenance which in a 
 great measure influenced my conversation during this 
 time. On my concluding, — Tray, Sir,' said he, 'who 
 is it that you call Indian partisans?' 'Sir,' I replied, 
 'I take Major Hay to be one of the principal.' I 
 never saw a man in the moment of execution so struck 
 as he appeared to be — pale and trembling, scarcely 
 able to stand. Hamilton blushed, and I observed was 
 much affected at his behavior. Major Bowman's 
 countenance sufficiently explained his disdain for the 
 one and his sorrow for the other. . . Some mo- 
 ments elapsed without a word passing on either side. 
 From that moment my resolutions changed respecting 
 Hamilton's situation. I told him that we would re- 
 turn to our respective posts ; that I would reconsider 
 the matter and let him know the result; no offensive 
 measures should be taken in the meantime. Agreed 
 to, and we parted. What had passed being made 
 known to our officers, it was agreed that we should 
 
734 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 moderate our resolutions." [Clark's Memoir — Dil- 
 lon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), PP- I54~i56.] 
 
 'The British commander," says a recent writer, 
 "has left on record his bitter mortification at having to 
 yield the fort [Sackville] 'to a set of uncivilized Vir- 
 ginia woodsmen armed with rifles.' In truth, it was a 
 most notable achievement. Clark had taken, without 
 artillery, a heavy stockade, protected by cannon and 
 swivels, and garrisoned by trained soldiers. His su- 
 periority in numbers was very far from being in itself 
 sufficient to bring about the result, as witness the al- 
 most invariable success with which the similar but 
 smaller Kentucky forts, unprovided with artillery and 
 held by fewer men, were defended against much 
 larger forces than Clark's. Much credit belongs to 
 Clark's men, but most belongs to their leader. The 
 boldness of his plan and the resolute skill with which 
 he followed it out, his perseverance through the in- 
 tense hardships of the midwinter march, the address 
 with which he kept the French and Indians neutral, 
 and the masterful way in which he controlled his own 
 troops, together with the ability and courage he dis- 
 played in the actual attack, combined to make his feat 
 the most memorable of all the deeds done west of the 
 Alleghanies in the Revolutionary war."_ But the 
 achievement greatly redounds to the credit of Clark and 
 his men without crediting to their side (Roosevelt; 
 The Winning of the West, Vol. II., pp. 84, 85.) what 
 is not in reality due them. Very little protection did 
 the cannon and swivels give Hamilton and his men. 
 Clark's superiority in numbers certainly aided in 
 bringing about the surrender — as much (if not more) 
 because of the superiority alone as by the effect pro- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 735 
 
 duced by the shots of so many assailants. The men- 
 tion made of ''the almost invariable success with which 
 the similar but smaller Kentucky forts, unprovided 
 with artillery and held by fewer men, were defended 
 against much larger forces than Clark's" is not rele- 
 vant to the attack under consideration. The Ken- 
 tucky forts were, to a large extent, unlike Fort Sack- 
 ville — being, in fact, much weaker; but, when as- 
 sailed, the besiegers were, in all cases where artillery 
 was not employed, almost entirely savages. As to the 
 neutrality of the French and Indians in Vincennes 
 during the siege — there was none in reality ; all were 
 on the side of the Americans in their feelings ; and if 
 but few were active against Hamilton, it was not for 
 want of interest on their part in the Colonel and his sol- 
 diers, but because of the refusal of the American com- 
 mander to allow them, to come to his assistance. 
 
 The writer just cited adds: "It [the capture of 
 Hamilton and his fort] was likewise the most important 
 in its results, for had he [Clark] been defeated we would 
 not only have lost the Illinois, but in all probability 
 Kentucky also." Seemingly, this would have been the 
 case ; but, as to war movements, little weight is to be 
 given to assertions as to what wotild have taken place 
 had certain events happened. Such slight causes 
 sometimes in military affairs produce such unexpected 
 results, that conjecture seems but a waste of words. 
 
736 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE CVIL 
 
 CAPT. HELM^S CAPTURE OF ST. MARTINA'S CONVOY 
 
 AT WEA. 
 
 Clark, in his letter to Gov. Henry, of April 29, 
 1777, says : "Hearing of a convoy of goods from De- 
 troit, I sent a party of sixty men, in armed boats, well 
 mounted with swivels, to meet them before they could 
 receive any intelligence" {Jefferson's Works, vol. I, 
 p. 224x1). The Colonel evidently includes officers and 
 men, and, speaking from recollection, makes his state- 
 ment in round numbers. So, also, in Dillon's Indiana 
 (ed. of 1859), p. 157, it is said: "On the day after the 
 surrender of the British garrison at Post Vincennes, 
 Colonel Clark sent a detachment of sixty men up the 
 river Wabash to intercept some boats which were 
 laden with provisions and goods from Detroit. The 
 detachment under the command of Captain Helm, 
 Major [Captain] Bosseron and Major Legras, pro- 
 ceeded up the river in three armed boats." 
 
 "The day before Captain Helm (an American 
 officer who commanded the party sent to take the con- 
 voy) arrived at Ouiatanon [Wea], Mr. Dejean heard 
 that we had fallen into the hands of the rebels." 
 (Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781 — Germain 
 MSS.) The inference then is, that the American 
 officer ascended the Wabash as far as Wea; and the 
 words of the Lieutenant Governor make it probable 
 that it was there the Captain met the convoy. Clark, 
 in his letter to the Virginia Governor of April 29, 
 1779, {Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222n), says the 
 distance above Vincennes was forty leagues — one 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 737 
 
 hundred and twenty miles. But Jefferson to Lernoult, 
 July 22, 1779 {Calendar of Virginia State Papers, 
 vol. I, p. 321), puts the distance at 150 miles, and this 
 agrees very nearly with the estimated distance, from 
 Vincennes to Wea, made in Bouquet's Expedition, 
 (Cincinnati Re-print: 1868) p. 144, of 60 French 
 leagues, or 144 English miles. As it appears certain 
 that Capt. Helm went as far up the Wabash as Wea, 
 and as the latter place was above the mouth of the 
 Vermillion, a tradition that it was at that river where 
 the convoy was captured (which tradition has been 
 published) must fall to the ground.* 
 
 In his letter to Mason, Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, p. 75 — the Colonel says : "Captain Helm, with 
 a party in armed boats . . made prisoners of fifty, 
 among whom was Dejean, Grand Judge of Detroit, 
 with a large packet . . . and seven boat loads of 
 provisions ; Indian goods, etc." 
 
 "Bowman's Journal" (in the Department of State 
 MSS.) for March 5th, says: "About 10 o'clock Gap- 
 tain Helni arrived with his party. [They] took seven 
 boats laden with provision, bale-goods, etc. . . from 
 the enemy, with the following prisoners : Mr. Dejean, 
 Grand Judge of Detroit, Mr. Adhemar (Commissary), 
 with thirty-eight privates. Letters taken from the 
 
 * "The writer has before him the statement of John Mc- 
 Fall, born near Vincennes in 1798. He lived near and in 
 Vincennes until 1817. His grandfather, Ralph Mattison, was 
 one of Clark's soldiers who accompanied Helm's expedition 
 up the Wabash, and he often told McFall, his grandson, that 
 the British were lying by, in the Vermillion river, near its 
 mouth, where they were surprised in the night-time and 
 captured by Helm without firing a shot." (H. W. Beckwith 
 & Son in the History of Vermillion County [111.], p. 259 n.) 
 
 47 
 
738 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Commissary, dated at Detroit, the 6th of February, 
 say they [the writers] are much afraid of our people 
 in the Spring. [They] pray Gov. Hamilton to come 
 back again." 
 
 Dillon {History of Indiana, pp. 157, 158) says: 
 "These boats [those captured from the British] . . 
 were manned by about forty men, among whom was 
 Philip Dejean, a magistrate of Detroit." This is cal- 
 culated to convey the impression that Dejean helped 
 to man the boats, which is probably error. 
 
 "Before Clark's arrival [at Vincennes, February 
 23, 1779], Hamilton had sent Philip Dejean [from 
 Vincennes] to Detroit for supplies, and on February 9, 
 he and Mr. Adheimer set out [from Detroit] with 
 seven boats loaded with goods, worth $50,000. Clark 
 was informed of their approach, and sent sixty men 
 to intercept the boats, which, with their stores, were 
 captured on the 26th as they were coming down the 
 Wabash." (Farmer's History of Detroit and Michi- 
 gan, p. 252.) But Dejean, as already shown, was not 
 in Vincennes and could not therefore have been sent 
 to Detroit, and Adhemar was only to go as far as 
 the head of the Maumee. Clark was not informed 
 of the approach of the boats, but only that Hamilton 
 had sent for the goods ; besides, the boats could not 
 have been captured on the 26th of February, as that 
 was the day the party left Vincennes to intercept 
 them. 
 
 In speaking of the stores taken by Captain Helm, 
 Clark says in his Memoir that "The provisions were 
 taken for the public, and the goods divided among the 
 whole, except about £800 worth to clothe the troops 
 we expected to receive in a short time. This was very ' 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 739 
 
 agreeable to the soldiers, as I told them the State 
 should pay them in mone}^ their proportions [in addi- 
 tion], and they had great plenty of goods." (Dillon's 
 Indiana (ed. of 1859, p. 158.) And Clark adds (pp. 
 158, 159) : "The quantity of public goods brought from 
 Detroit added to the whole of those belonging to the 
 traders of Post Vincennes that had been taken, was 
 very considerable. The whole was divided among the 
 soldiery, except some Indian medals that were kept, 
 in order to be altered for public use. The officers 
 received nothing; except a few articles of clothing they 
 stood in need of. The soldiers got almost rich." 
 
 On one point in this relation, Clark's memory was 
 at fault ; for it will be seen hereafter that some of the 
 goods were sent to the Illinois and disposed of as 
 public stores by the Colonel. "The whole," then, was 
 not divided among the men and officers, "except about 
 £800 worth," as declared in his Memoir. 
 
 NOTE CVIII. 
 
 Clark's threat to iron those British officers 
 who had acted as partisans with the 
 
 INDIANS. 
 
 If Colonel Clark really had irons made to fetter 
 such of his prisoners as were officers and had been 
 employed as partisans with the Indians, he did not 
 carry out his determination. None were ironed. 
 Schiefifelin in his Loose Notes gives additional words 
 spoken by the American commander: "At dark 
 [after the capitulation] the British officers were in 
 
740 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 the Governor's house, in the garrison, where Colonel 
 Clark used most harsh and insolent expressions, wish- 
 ing he could have swum in their blood ; that, as he 
 desired to fight, he would give Governor Hamilton 
 his garrison [back] and he [Clark], with an equal 
 number of men, would meet them ; that he had young 
 fellows that liked the smell of gun powder." {Maga- 
 zine of American History, vol. I, p. 187.) 
 
 But, it is evident, if such talk was indulged in by 
 the Colonel (which yet may be doubted), it was mere 
 bravado, only intended to intimidate. 
 
 NOTE CIX. 
 
 AS TO CLARK S TREATMENT OF HAMILTON WHILE 
 HOLDING HIM A PRISONER OF WAR. 
 
 "We have," says William Frederick Poole LL. D. 
 {The Early Northzuest, pp. 11-13), "no life of George 
 Rogers Clark, or full history of the stirring events in 
 which he was an actor. The notices of his life which 
 have appeared in print are full of inaccuracies.. ... \ 
 The "Calendar of Virginia State Papers," and "Haldi- 
 mand Collection" at Ottawa, bring out many facts 
 supplementing his own [now] printed reports. In the 
 "Haldimand Collection" is the official report of Henry 
 Hamilton, Governor of Detroit, on his campaign and 
 his capture by Col. Clark at Vincennes, Ind., in 1779. 
 This report gives us, from the British [rather from 
 Hamilton's] standpoint, the facts we have needed con- 
 cerning that important event. On the whole it con- 
 firms the accuracy of Clark's several narratives, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 741 
 
 Clark regarded Hamilton as responsible for the in- 
 humanities committed upon the Western settlers by 
 the Indian scalping parties sent out from Detroit; 
 and hence Clark called him "the Hair-buying General," 
 and treated him with great severity. . . . Hamilton in 
 his report defends himself from the charge. He ad- 
 mits that he sent out the Indian parties; but states 
 that he was very careful to give the savages instruc- 
 tions not to scalp their captives ; and he was confident 
 that they obeyed his instructions, because some pris- 
 oners were brought in. He states that he engaged 
 in this sort of warfare with great reluctance, and then 
 only on Lord George Germain's positive instructions. 
 (The report of Governor Hamilton is f)rinted in 
 Michigan Pioneer Collections, IX, pp. 489-516)." 
 
 'The story," continues Mr. Poole, ''of the butcher- 
 ies practised upon the Western settlements, during the 
 Revolutionary war, by Indian scouting parties sent 
 out from Detroit, can hardly be exaggerated. To 
 avenge these inhumanities was a leading motive of 
 Clark and his men in making that winter campaign 
 against the "Hair-buying General" at Vincennes. 
 The policy of the British government in its conduct 
 of the war in the West is a subject which will repay 
 investigations; and Gov. Hamilton's defense and his 
 scheme of giving wild savages Sunday-school instruc- 
 tion in the humanities, can then be considered. What 
 those many gross of 'red-handled scalping knives' 
 (Farmer's 'History of Detroit,' pp. 246, 247) were 
 for, which regularly appeared in the official requisi- 
 tions of merchandise wanted at Detroit, can then be 
 exnlained." 
 
742 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 A careful examination of the stories told by both 
 Hamilton and Clark of the capitulation of the former 
 and of his being a prisoner to the latter, does not con- 
 firm the usual report of harsh treatment of the Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor by the Colonel. Clark's declaration 
 in after years is this : ''Almost every man had con- 
 ceived a favorable opinion of Lieutenant Governor 
 Hamilton — I believe what affected myself made some 
 impression on the whole — and I was happy to find 
 that he never deviated, while he stayed with us, from 
 that dignity of conduct that became an officer in his 
 situation." [Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. 
 of 1859), p. 157.] ' 
 
 Again! it can hardly be said, in the light of all 
 cotemporaneous evidence which has been preserved, 
 that Clark's winter campaign against the ''Hair-buy- 
 ing General," at Vincennes, was to avenge the inhu- 
 manities charged against him. The leading idea of 
 Clark was one of self-preservation : "I must take him 
 or he will take me." 
 
 NOTE ex. 
 
 NUMBER OF PRISONERS SENT EAST AND OF THE SOLDIERS 
 WHO GUARDED THEM. 
 
 If the eighteen privates mentioned in "Bowman's 
 Journal" be added to the officers named (including 
 also St. Martin), the whole number of prisoners sent 
 off to the Virginia settlements east of the mountains 
 by Clark is seen to be twenty-seven. This corresponds 
 with Hamilton to Haldimand, July 6, 1781 — Germain 
 MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 743 
 
 As to the number of the guard, Hamilton's recol- 
 lection, after a lapse of over two years, is not to be 
 relied on. He says, "our guard . . . consisted 
 of 23 persons, including officers." I have followed 
 ''Bowman's Journal" which gives twenty-five men 
 exclusive of the two officers, Williams and Rogers. 
 
 Schieffelin, in his Loose Notes, says they started 
 on March 4th. In his letter to Haldimand, of July 
 6, 1 78 1, Hamilton gives the date as the 8th. But 
 here, also, I have followed "Bowman's Journal," which 
 says it was the- 7th, the record of their departure 
 having been made on the day they left. It is evi- 
 dent that Hamilton had miscalculated the time, as a 
 letter written by him on the day of leaving is dated 
 the 8th. . . The names given in the printed copy 
 of "Bowmna's Journal" {Clark's Campaign in the 
 Illinois, p. 109) of such of the prisoners as were not 
 privates are mentioned thus (excepting of course, St. 
 Martin's name) : "Lieut. Gov. Hamilton, Major Hays, 
 Capt. Lamoth, Mons. Dejean, Grand Judge of Detroit, 
 Lieut. Shifflin, Doct. McBeth, Francis McVille, Mr. 
 Bell Fenilb." 
 
 In the MS. copy of the Journal in the Department 
 of State, the names are written as follow: "Lieut. 
 Governor Hamilton, Major Hay, Capt. Lamotte, Mon- 
 sieur Dejean, Grand Judge of Detroit, Lieut. Shifflin, 
 Doct. McBeth, Francis Masonville, Mr. Bellfeuill." 
 
 The correct spelling of the sir names of each of 
 these officers including also the Commissary is given 
 in the text. 
 
744 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE CXI. 
 
 MARCH OF THE BRITISH PRISONERS FROM THE FALLS 
 OF THE OHIO TO CHESTERFIELD COURT HOUSE. 
 
 Concerning this march the words of Lieutenant 
 SchieffeHn in his Loose Notes are: 
 
 'Tn the morning they [Lieutenant Governor Hamil- 
 ton and his fellow prisoners] were marched under a 
 heavy guard to Henry Town [Harrodstown; that is, 
 Harrodsburg] one hundred miles through woods, etc., 
 on foot with their necessaries and provisions ; the 
 eighth day they reached the fort [at Harrodsburg] 
 commanded by a Colonel [John] Bowman, who treated 
 them as well as his abilities would admit; they re- 
 mained about ten days, when they were marched for 
 the frontiers of Virginia, depending on providence for 
 provisions, insulted by every dirty fellow as they 
 passed through the country. \r\ May, they got to 
 Chesterfield Court House, where they were kept to its 
 limits under a strong guard." 
 
 NOTE CXH. 
 
 JOHN DODGE AND HIS NARRATIVE. 
 
 It is evident from the Report of the Virginia Coun- 
 cil that it had been placed in possession of Dodge's 
 whole story. The Board gives in brief the treatment 
 he received upon his first imprisonment in Detroit; it 
 recites what he told them about the giving of standing 
 rewards for scalps but offering none for prisoners ; it 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 745 
 
 relates how an unfortunate victim, after being rescued 
 from the savages, who were preparing to burn him, 
 was afterward hunted down, imprisoned, and virtually 
 tortured to death by Dejean by "perpetual assurance" 
 of being restored into the hands of the savages" ; and 
 other information : all of which is set forth at greater 
 length in Dodge's Narrative [See Remembrancer, vol. 
 
 VIII (1779)-] 
 
 Andrew McFarland Davis in his paper, 'The In- 
 dians and the Border Warfare of the Revolution" 
 (Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, 
 vol. VI, p. 683), says: 
 
 "The narrative of the Capture and treatment of 
 John Dodge by the English at Detroit was made pub- 
 lic about the same time [as the Report of the Vir- 
 ginia Council, in the 'Case of Hamilton, Dejean and 
 Lamothe'], (Remembrancer viii, p. 73). The portion 
 of Dodge's story which relates to the reception by 
 Hamilton of Indians returning with scalps and pris- 
 oners, bears a striking resemblance to the report of the 
 [Virginia] Council. Dodge states that Hamilton be- 
 came so enraged at him that the governor 'offered £100 
 for his scalp or his body.' In another place he says : 
 'These sons of Britain offered no reward for prisoners, 
 but they give the Indians twenty dollars a scalp," etc., 
 etc. ; and again : "One of these parties returning with 
 a number of women and children's scalps and their 
 prisoners, they were met by the commandant of the 
 fort, and after the usual demonstrations of joy, de- 
 livered their scalps, for which they were paid.' 
 
 "Some correspondence passed between Jefferson 
 and the governor of Detroit [in reality, Lernoult, the 
 commandant of the fort], on the question of Hamil- 
 
746 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 ton's treatment as a prisoner, in which Jefferson dwells 
 at length upon Hamilton's responsibility for the acts 
 of the Indians, but it is to be remarked that no charge 
 is made against Hamilton for paying bounties for 
 scalps {Calendar of State Papers of Virginia, i, p. 
 
 32I)-" 
 
 Hamilton in his Official Report speaks of Dodge 
 as a person ''known by several Virginians to be an 
 unprincipled and perjured renegade.'' Lieutenant 
 Schiefifelin, in his Loose Notes, is equally severe : 
 
 ''One John Dodge, a blacksmith, who resided at 
 Detroit but who now resides with the rebels at Fort 
 Pitt, had the assurance to propagate the most infamous 
 falsehoods against Governor Hamilton and his officers, 
 — that they had excited Indians to kill prisoners when 
 brought to Detroit, furnishing the rebel authorities 
 with a narrative of his treatment which was as false 
 as himself was infamous." 
 
 The Continental Journal and Weekly Advertiser, 
 of December 20, 1779; and of January 6, and 13, 1780, 
 in publishing Dodge's Narrative, has this editorial 
 addendum : 
 
 "It is worthy of remark that the three persons who 
 make a principal inglorious figure in the foregoing 
 Narrative, viz.. Governor Hamilton, Dejean (jailer), 
 and La Mote (captain of scalping parties), were after- 
 wards taken by the brave Colonel Clark, of Virginia, 
 at Fort St. Vincent, and are now confined in irons, 
 in a gaol in Virginia, by order of the Legislature of 
 that State, as a retaliation for their former inhuman 
 treatment of prisoners who fell into their hands, par- 
 ticularly Mr. Dodge, who has the pleasing consolation 
 of viewing his savage adversaries in a similar predica- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 747 
 
 ment with himself when in their power — tho' 'tis not 
 in the breast of generous Americans to treat them with 
 equal barbarity." ■ 
 
 At the date, however, of the publication of the 
 Narrative by the Continental Journal, the three pris- 
 oners, it may be premised, were no longer in irons. 
 
 The second letter written by Dodge at Pittsburgh 
 
 was in these words : 
 
 "Pittsburgh, Sept. 18th, 1779. 
 
 "Dear Sir: — After being sent to Quebec a prisoner, I 
 found means to make my escape from there last Winter. ^ I 
 just arrived from Williamsburg where I had the opportunity 
 of seeing Mr. Hamilton, Dejean, and Lamothe in irons in the 
 dungeon, and there they are to remain untill the War is 
 ended; they were put there for the usage they gave me at 
 Detroit. 
 
 "Our army has met with great success this year as well 
 as last. Our officers and soldiers are in great spirits. 
 
 "Spain has declared war against England and joined their 
 fleets to the French. Count D'Estang has taken several of 
 the most valuable Islands that the English had in their 
 possession. 
 
 "I enclose to you a proclamation from the French Ad- 
 miral and Embassador. Mendart Fisher and Elbert Gavorot 
 are here and in good spirits. We expect to see you this 
 winter. 
 
 "I would recommend to the Commandant at Detroit to 
 
 be careful how he uses the friends of the United States as 
 
 he may happen to be called to an account as well as Hamilton. 
 
 I am with great respect, etc., 
 
 "John Dodge. 
 
 "To Philip Boyle, Sandusky." 
 
748 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE CXIII. 
 
 HOW Hamilton's "official report" (Hamilton to 
 Haldimand. July 6, 1781 — Germain ^ISS.) 
 
 CAME to be written. 
 
 ''Yesterday." says Hamilton, "being the fifth of 
 July. [1781] I had the honor of paying my respects to 
 Lord George Germain. His Lordship was pleased to 
 attend to the account I gave of my ill success and the 
 treatment we experienced from the rebels, from the day 
 of our being made prisoners of war — the twenty-fifth 
 of February. 1779 — to the fourth of }^Iarch. 1781, 
 when we were totally out of their power, by a final 
 exchange. Having mentioned to his Lordship that 
 I had preserved a diary of transactions, he directed 
 me to commit to paper a brief account and transmit 
 the same to your Excellency. 
 
 "In obedience to his Lordship's orders, I shall en- 
 deavor to avoid detail, and supply as well as may be 
 tlie want of such papers as were siezed by order of 
 the rebel Governor, ]\Ir. Jel¥erson, on our being thrown 
 into the dungeon at Williamsburg. Some things pre- 
 vious to the arrival of your Excellency at Quebec, it 
 may be proper slightly to mention." 
 
 [Then follows a lengthy statement, by the Lieu- 
 tenant Governor, of the principal points in his career, 
 from the day of his arrival in Detroit to the time of 
 his reaching England after his captivity. It is really 
 a very complete Otficial Report. At the conclusion. 
 the following is added :] 
 
 "Thus. Sir. T have attempted to give your Excel- 
 lencv some account of mv unfortunate failure, with 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 749 
 
 the causes of it, which while I lament I must attribute 
 chiefly, if not entirely, to the treachery of persons whom 
 I had reason to expect lenity and moderation would 
 have gained, and whose interest it was to be faithful. 
 
 "Among those to be raised for this service, there 
 was but little choice, the arts of some rebel emmisaries, 
 and the intrigues of persons still attached to the in- 
 terest of France, got the better of the good intentions 
 the Canadians might have set out with. 
 
 ''The difficulties and danger of Colonel Clark's 
 march from the Illinois were such as required great 
 courage to encounter, and great perseverance to over- 
 come. 
 
 "In trusting to traitors he was more fortunate 
 than myself ; whether, on the whole, he was entitled 
 to success is not for me to determine. If my conduct 
 appears to your Excellency in a justifiable light, I 
 may hope to be more pitied than blamed ; at least 
 your approbation will enable me to support the weight 
 of that censure which seldom fails to accompany an 
 unsuccessful enterprise. 
 
 'T have the honor to be. with profound respect, 
 "Sir." Your Excellency's most devoted, most obedient 
 and most humble Servant. 
 
 "Henry Hamilton. 
 
 "Jermyn Street. London. 
 
 "July 6th 1781." 
 
 In vol. IX of the Michigan Pioneer Collections 
 (pp. 489-516), this "Official Report" is printed from 
 a copy taken from another copy in the Ottawa (Can- 
 ada) Archives. By comparing what is thus printed 
 with the MS. before me from the Germain Collection, 
 I note the following (among other) variations: 
 
750 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Page 489. For "the Prisoners and general," read "the 
 
 prisoners, a general." 
 
 Page 489. "For "an ill success," read "our ill success." 
 
 Page 490. For "Warrior," read "warriors." 
 
 Page 490. For "of future peace urged it," read "of a 
 
 future peace urged, if." 
 
 Page 491. After third paragraph, insert — "On the 11th 
 
 I had accounts of your Excellency's arrival at Quebec." 
 
 Page 491. For "Having received," read "Having re- 
 viewed." 
 
 Page 491. For "Lieutenant Howe [Showd ?]," ' read 
 
 "Lieutenant Showd." 
 
 Page 495. For "of complaint," read "for complaint." 
 
 Page 495. For "ourselves in this post where we had 
 
 those," read "a post in this place where we had these." 
 
 Page 497. For "Capt. Blomer," read "Capt. Blowser." 
 
 Page 497. For "without having taken," read "without 
 
 taking. ' 
 
 Page 498. After the words "being finished," insert "ex- 
 cept the living of the stockade." 
 
 Page 500. For "spirit of the," read "spirit and courage 
 
 of the. 
 
 Page 501. After "virtuous," insert "elevated." 
 
 Page 501. For "Mr. Maisonville's," read "Mr. Maison- 
 
 ville." 
 
 Page 502. For "his situation," read "his intention." 
 
 Page 503. For "agreed to them," read "agreed to the 
 
 conditions." 
 
 Page 503. For "our present," read "the present." 
 
 Page 503. "For "was found on," read "was to be found 
 
 in." 
 
 Page 504. For "with arms," read "with their arms." 
 
 Page 504. For "ten o'clock," read "two o'clock." 
 
 Page 506. After "ration," insert "for ten days only." 
 
 Page 506. For "a cover," read "a tilt." 
 
 Page 506. For "my journey," read "the journey." 
 
 Page 507. For "known on the 27th," read "known here 
 
 on the 29th." 
 
 Page 507. For "of escaping," read "of our escaping." 
 
 Page 507. For "different times," read "different places," 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 751 
 
 Page 507. For ''General Reidevel," read "General 
 Reidesel." 
 
 Page 507. For "of the the march," read "of our march." 
 Page 509. For"'now been," read "now lain." 
 Page 509. For "our treatment," read "our ill treatment," 
 Page 510. For "these publications," read "their publi- 
 cations." 
 
 Page 510. For "disengenious," read "disengenuous." 
 Page 511. For "1778," read "1779." 
 
 Page 512. For "Governor of Virginia," read "Governor 
 of the Commonwealth of Virginia." 
 
 Page 512. For "assertions," read "asseverations." 
 Page 512. For -"windows," read "window." 
 Page 513. Put a period after "destroyed himself" ; and 
 then begin a new paragraph. 
 
 Page 513. For "King Williams," read "King William." 
 Page 513. For 'the country," read "the county." 
 Page 513. For "practicable," read "possible." 
 Page 513. For "the parole," read "a parole." 
 Page 513. For "successor," read "successors." 
 Page 514. For "charter" (twice), read "cartel." 
 Page 514. For "Captain Grayton" three times), read 
 "Captain Gayton." 
 
 Page 515. For "Chartel," read "Cartel." 
 Page 515. For "General Wilson," read "General Nelson." 
 Page 515. For "get away," read "get us away." 
 Page 515. For "a log lime," read "a logline." 
 Page 515. For "Major General Phillips, Lord Rawdon," 
 read "Major General Philips and Lord Rawdon." 
 
 Page 515. For "the brigues," read "the intrigues." 
 Page 515. For "Colonel Clarke's," read "Colonel Clark's." 
 
 There are a number of other variances but, gen- 
 erally, of little importance. 
 
 The reason why Hamilton's letter (which, as we 
 have said, is really an Offtcial Report) in this narra- 
 tive as from the Germain MSS., is, because the copy 
 used is from the original in that collection. This orig- 
 inal has its duplicate in the Haldimand Collection. A 
 
752 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 copy from this duplicate is the one in the public Ar- 
 chives at Ottawa, Canada. 
 
 NOTE CXIV. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF THE WILLING AT VINCENNES FEBRUARY 
 
 27, 1779. 
 
 "On the 27th, our galley arrived all safe, the 
 crew much mortified, although they deserved great 
 credit for their dilligence. They had on their passage 
 taken up William Myres, express from [the Virginia] 
 government. The despatches gave much encourage- 
 ment : our own battalion was to be completed, and an 
 additional one to be expected in the course of the 
 Spring." [Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 
 1859), p. 157.] 
 
 Butler {History of Kentucky, p. 87) relates that 
 "on the return of this [Helm's] successful expedition, 
 with the British flags still flying, our galley [the 
 Willing'] hove in sight, and was preparing for an at- 
 tack upon the little river fleet, supposing it to be the 
 enemy ; but soon the beloved ensign of American free- 
 dom was hoisted at the masthead, to the joy and tri- 
 umph of our countrymen." Now this recital of the 
 Kentucky historian has no foundation in fact. The 
 Willing, as above related, arrived on the 27th of Feb- 
 ruary, but Captain Helm, as before mentioned, did not 
 return until the 5th of March. Of course, this, to a 
 great extent, spoils Butler's pleasing narrative ; al- 
 though the British flags may have been kept flying 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 753 
 
 until it was 'no longer safe when the stars and stripes 
 were run up to the mast head. 
 
 The fact that Myres's name is given as "Morris" 
 in Clark's letter of April 29, 1779, to the Virginia 
 governor when printed in Jefferson's Works, is easily 
 accounted for. Clark was a poor speller and had 
 written it ''Moires," which, very naturally, was sup- 
 posed to be intended for "Morris." "Bowman's Jour- 
 nal" -spells the name with an i, instead of a 3', thus : 
 "Mires." But Clark, in his Memoir — Dillon's Indi- 
 ana (ed. of 1859), p. 159 — has the correct spelling. 
 
 Bancroft [History of the United States (ed. of 
 1885), vol. V, p. 314] says: 
 
 "The joy of the men of the North-west was com- 
 pleted by the return of their messenger from Virginia, 
 bringing from the house of assembly its votes of 
 October and November, 1778, establishing the county 
 of Illinois, and thanking Colonel Clark and the brave 
 officers and men under his command for their extra- 
 ordinary resolution and perseverance, and for the im- 
 portant services which they had thereby rendered their 
 country. 
 
 "Since the time of that vote they had undertaken 
 a far more hazardous enterprise, and had obtained per- 
 manent possession of all the important posts and settle- 
 ments on the Illinois and Wabash, rescued the inhabi- 
 tants from British dominion, and established civil 
 government in its republican form." 
 
 It is, strictly speaking, not correct to say the mes- 
 senger, Myres, returned "from Virginia;" as Vincen- 
 nes, according to the Virginia claim, was in that State ; 
 but the positive error is in the words, "on the Illinois 
 and Wabash" (the italicising is mine), for "w the 111- 
 
 48 
 
754 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 inois and on the Wabash" ; nor can it 'be said that 
 these ''men of the North-west" had as yet estabHshed 
 (if indeed, they ever did establish) a government there 
 of any form. The use of the word "rescued'' is, •per- 
 haps, expressive of too much change in the feehngs of 
 the inhabitants, on their coming under American rule. 
 
 NOTE CXV. 
 
 LETTERS OF COL. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.* 
 
 (j.) To Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia. 
 
 "Fort Patrick Henry, March 9, 1779. 
 
 "Dear Sir: — By Wm. Moires [Myers] you wrote me, 
 if possible to procure you some horses and mares. Nothing 
 could give me greater pleasure than to serve you, but I 
 doubt at present it is out of my power, as my situation and 
 circumstances are much altered. There are no such horses 
 here as i'^ou request me to get and I have so much public 
 business to do, especially in the Indian department that I 
 doubt if I shall be able to go to the Illinois for some time. 
 I find that you have conceived a greater opinion of the horses 
 in this country than I have. The Pawnee and Chickasaw 
 horses are very good and some of them delicate ; but the 
 common breed in this country is trifiiing, as it is adulterated. 
 The finest stallion by far that is in the country, 'I purchased 
 sometime ago and rode him on this expedition ; and I re- 
 solved to compliment you by presenting him to you; but, to 
 my mortification, I find it impossible to get him 'across the 
 drowned lands of the Wabash, as it is near three leagues 
 across at present and no appearance of its falling shortly ; 
 but you may depend that I shall, by the first opportunity, 
 send him to you. He came from New Mexico, three hun- 
 
 "^ From the Haldimand MSS. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 755 
 
 clred leagues west of this. I don't think it in my power to 
 send you such mares as you want this spring; but in order 
 to procure you the best that can be got, I shall contract with 
 some man of the Spanish Government by permit of the Com- 
 mandant to go to the Pawnee Nation, two hundred leagues 
 west, and get the finest mares to be had of the true blood ; 
 they will be good, as they are all so ; if they are handsome, 
 they will please you. I shall give such instructions as will 
 be necessary and am in hopes that you will get them by 
 fall. 
 
 "I could get five or six mares soon, at the Illinois, very 
 fine, but I think they are hurt by hard usage, as the inhabit- 
 ants are barbarous horse-masterS ; but I shall do it, except 
 I can execute my other plan. 
 
 "I thank you for your remembrances of my situation 
 respecting lands in the frontiers. I learn that Government 
 has reserved lands on the Cumberland for the soldiers. 
 
 "If I should be deprived of a certain tract of land on 
 that river which I purchased three years ago and have been 
 at a considerable expense to improve, I shall in a manner 
 lose my all. It is known by the name of the 'Great French 
 Lick,' on the south or west side, containing three thousand 
 acres. If you can do anything for me in saving it, I shall 
 forever remember it with gratitude. 
 
 "There are glorious situations and bodies of land in this 
 country formerly purchased. I am in hopes of being able in a 
 short time to send you a map of the whole. My compliments 
 to your lady and family. I remain. Sir, Your Humble serv't, 
 
 "G. R. Clark. 
 
 "To His Excellency Pat. Henry, Esq., Gov'r. of Virginia, 
 Williamsburg. 
 
 "Per. Wm. Moires [Myres]." 
 
 {2.) To Col. Harrison, Speaker of the Virginia 
 House of Delegates. 
 
 "Fort Patrick Henry, Vincennes, March 10, 1779. 
 
 "Dear Sir : — I received your kind letter with the thanks 
 of the House inclosed. I must confess. Sir, that I think my 
 
756 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 country has done no more honor than I merited; but you 
 may rest assured that my study shall be to deserve the honor 
 they have already conferred on me. 
 
 "By my public letters, you will be fully acquainted with 
 my late successful expedition against Lt. Govr. Hamilton, 
 who has fallen into my hands with all the principal partisans 
 of Detroit. This stroke will nearly .put an end to the 
 Indian War. Had I but men enough to take the advantage 
 of the present confusion of the Indian Nations, I could 
 silence the whole in two months. I learn that five hundred 
 men are ordered out to reinforce me. If they arrive, with 
 what I have in the country, I am in hopes it will enable me 
 to do something clever. 
 
 "I am with respect, Sir, your very humble servant, 
 
 "G. R. Clark. 
 
 "Col. Harrison, Speaker of the House D., Williamsburg. 
 
 "Per. Wm. Moires [Myres]." 
 
 (j.) G. R. Clark's Warrant to Myres. 
 
 "Fort Patrick Henry, March 13, 1779. 
 
 "To William Moires [Myres]. 
 
 "Sir : As the letters you have at present contain matters 
 of great consequence and require a quick passage to Williams- 
 burg, this is to empower you to press for the service anything 
 you may stand in need of. If you cannot get it by fair 
 means, you are to use force of arms. I request of you to lose 
 no time, as you prize the interest of your country. I wish 
 you success, etc. "G. R. Clark." 
 
 NOTE CXVL 
 
 WILLIAM MYRES AND THREE COMPANIONS START FOR 
 WILLIAMSBURG. 
 
 In "Bowman's Journal" as printed in Clark's 
 Campaign in the Illinois (p. no), the fact of Myres 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 757 
 
 • 
 again setting out with three men by water is entirely 
 omitted. They started the second time on the same 
 day of Myres' return. 
 
 That Myres did not leave the Falls earlier than 
 the fourth of April is evidenced by the following letter 
 entrusted to his care, written by a brother of Daniel 
 Boone to Arthur Campbell and given verbatim: 
 
 "Cantucky County The falls of Ohio 
 "April 4th, 1779 
 "Sir 
 
 "I received your ' letter Dated Deem 20th for which I 
 return you grate thanks but in regard to seling the Horse 
 I would much rather I could get him out hear, for the In- 
 dians has took my Horses & they are very dear to buy hear, 
 and humbly beg you would send to the Gentleman that has 
 him to send him to me by William Moires and you will 
 much oblige your humble servant 
 
 "Squire Boon 
 "Nevertheless if the Gentleman sees cause to keep him 
 and send me two hundred pounds let him use his pleasure 
 To 
 
 "Coir. Arthur Comble 
 "these" 
 
 NOTE CXVIT 
 
 CONCERNING CLARK S MS. JOURNAL OF THE TAKING 
 OF VINCENNES. 
 
 That Clark kept a Jot^irnal giving an account of 
 his setting out from Kaskaskia to attack Hamilton in 
 Vincennes, of his march to the place last mentioned, 
 ;md of the capitulation of Fort Sackville by Hamilton, 
 causes a keen regret that all that part giving daily 
 
758 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 « 
 particulars, to the ending of the 226. of February, 
 1779, has not been preserved. ''This precious docu- 
 ment [that is, so much of it as relates events which 
 took place from February 24th to February 27th, in- 
 clusive] , giving details of the campaign and surrender," 
 says a recent writer, "which are nowhere else to be 
 found, has never been printed ; and, so far as I am 
 aware, has never been used, except in a brief sum- 
 mary [in Roosevelt's The Winning of the West^.'' 
 But the same writer, because of an error- in a previous 
 publication, is led to the conclusion that Clark's Jour- 
 nal was in the form of a letter, and that it was written 
 on the 24th of February, the day of Hamilton's sur- 
 render (William Frederick Poole in The Earl\ North- 
 zvest, p. 22) : whereas the Journal (and a journal it 
 really was) has an entry (and it is the concluding one) 
 of February 27th, 1779, relating to the arrival at Vin- 
 cennes of the JVillijig. The Journal is from the Haldi- 
 mand ]\ISS. and has an eventful history hereafter to 
 be related. 
 
 NOTE CXVIII. 
 
 THE SENDING HOME BY CLARK OF MOST OF HIS 
 PRISONERS FROM VINCENNES. - 
 
 In Clark's letter of the twenty-ninth of April, 
 1779, to the Governor of Virginia {Jefferson's Works, 
 vol. I, p. 222n) are these words: "The number of 
 prisoners we had taken, added to those of the garrison, 
 was so considerable when compared to our own num- 
 bers, that we were at a loss how to dispose of them 
 so as not to interfere with our future operations." 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXQUEST, ETC. 759 
 
 In his ^lemoir. Clark writes upon the subject at 
 greater length (Dillon's I)idiana (ed. of 1859), pp. 
 160. 161) : 
 
 "A company of volunteers from Detroit," are the 
 stibseqtient words of Clark, "mostly composed of 
 young men, was drawn tip ; and, when expecting to be 
 sent off into a strange cotmtry, they were told that 
 we were happy to learn that many of them were torn 
 from their fathers and mothers and forced tipon this 
 expedition ; others, ignorant of the true cause in con- 
 test, had engaged from a principle that actuates a great 
 number of men — that of being fond of enterprise ; but 
 that they had now a good opportunity to make them- 
 selves ftiUy acquainted with the nature of the war, 
 which they might explain to their friends ; and that 
 as we knew that sending them to the States where 
 they wotild be confined in a jail probably for the cotirse 
 of the war, wotild make a great number of our friends 
 at Detroit unhappy, we had thought proper, for their 
 sakes, to suffer them to return home. 
 
 "A great deal more," continues Clark, "was said 
 to them on this subject. On the whole, thev were 
 discharged on taking an oath not to bear arms against 
 America until exchanged. They received an order for 
 their arms, boats and provisions to return with; the 
 boats were to be sold and divided among them when 
 they got home. In a few days, they set out.'' . . . 
 The inference from what is thus given b}- Clark is that 
 nothing had been said previously by the prisoners as 
 to their desire to be released on parole, and that the 
 whole movement was the result of Clark's policv to 
 alienate the French inhabitants of Detroit from the 
 British interests : but the following letter disproves 
 this (the italicising is mine) : 
 
760 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "Fort Patrick Henry, Vincennes, March 20, 1779. 
 
 "Sir: In justice to my countryman, Mr. Tho's Bentley, 
 who has been detained in Canada almost two years as prisoner 
 to the ruin of his business and distraction of his family, [I 
 write you to obtain his release]. I hope you will therefore 
 consider the lenity shown to the prisoners that fell into the 
 hands of Colonel George Rogers Clark, at this post, who, 
 upon application, obtained permission from the Colonel to 
 return to their families at Detroit; and that you will also 
 apply to the Commander-in-chief in Canada to obtain the 
 permission [release] of the said Tho's Bentley, in order 
 that he may once more return to his family, which suffer 
 much by his absence. 
 
 "I am, Sir, Your most humble servant, 
 
 "Joseph Bowman, 
 "Major in Col. Clark's Battalion. 
 "On public service, 
 
 "Capt. R. B. Lernoult, Esq., 
 
 "Commandant at Detroit." 
 
 NOTE CXIX. 
 
 COLONEL G. R. CLARK TO CAPTAIN R. B. LERNOULT. 
 
 "Fort Patrick Henry, Vincennes, March 16, 1779. 
 
 "Sir : As many of the gentlemen that fell into my hands 
 at this post, left letters at their departure for their friends 
 at Detroit, I have enclosed them to you, hoping that you will 
 expedite them to the persons to whom they are directed. As 
 a few of the inhabitants of this town, with a number of your 
 own people, have permits to go to Detroit on their lawfull 
 business, I hope you will not detain such as should want to 
 return, as you may be assured that I want no intelligence 
 from them. 
 
 "You have one Mr. Bentley, inhabitant of the Illinois 
 a prisoner among you. I would fondly exchange one for him 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 761 
 
 of equal rank, if agreeable. I learn by your letter to Govr. 
 Hamilton, that you were very busy making new works. I 
 am glad to hear it, as it will save the Americans some ex- 
 pence in building. • 
 
 "My compliments to the Gentlemen of your Garrison. I 
 am Yours, etc., 
 
 "G. R. Clark. 
 
 "Capt. Lernoult. 
 
 "The officers of Fort Patrick Henry solicit Cap't Ler- 
 noult to present their compliments to the officers of his 
 Garrison." 
 
 NOTE CXX. 
 
 Clark's council, in march, 1779, with Indians 
 
 AT VINCENNES. 
 
 When, after the lapse of years, Clark attempts to 
 recall the proceedings of this council, he varies his 
 language in many ways from what he used in describ- 
 ing it a few months after it took place : "On the 
 fifteenth of March, 1779," are his words, "a party of 
 upper Piankeshaws and some Pottawattomie and 
 Miami chiefs, made their appearance, making great 
 protestations of their attachment to the Americans ; 
 begged that they might be taken under the cover of 
 our wings, and that the roads through the lands might 
 be made straight, and all the stumbling-blocks re- 
 moved ; and that our friends, the neighboring nations, 
 might also be considered in the same point of view. 
 I well knew from what principle all this sprang; and, 
 as I had Detroit now in my eye, it was my business to 
 make a straight and clear road for myself to walk, 
 without thinking much of their interest, or anything 
 
762 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 else but that of opening the road in earnest, by flattery, 
 deception, or any other means that occurred." 
 
 "I told them," is Clark's further narration, ''that 
 I was glad to see them, and was happy to learn that 
 most of the nations on the Wabash and Omi [Maumee] 
 rivers had proved themselves to be men, by adhering 
 to the treaties they had made with the Big Knife last 
 fall, except a few weak minds that had been deluded 
 by the English to come to war; that I did not know 
 exactly who they were nor much cared ; but under- 
 stood they were a band chiefly composed of almost all 
 the tribes (such people were to be. found among all 
 nations) ; but, as these kind of people, who had the 
 meanness to sell their country for a shirt, were not 
 worthy the attention of warriors, we would say no 
 more about them and think on subjects more becom- 
 ing us. I told them I should let the great Council of 
 the Americans know of their good behavior, and knew 
 they would be counted as friends of the Big Knife, 
 and would always be under the protection, and their 
 country secured to them ; as the Big Knife had land 
 enough and did not want any more ; but, if ever they 
 broke their faith, the Big Knife would never again 
 trust them, as they never hold friendship with a peo- 
 ple that they find with two hearts." 
 
 Clark also told them according to this his-account, 
 "that they were witnesses of the calamities the British 
 had brought on their countries by their false asser- 
 tions and their presents, which was a proof of their 
 weakness ; that they saw that all their boasted valor 
 was like to fall to the ground, and they would not 
 come out of the fort the other day to try to save the 
 Indians that they flattered to war and suffered to be 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 763 
 
 killed in their sight; and, as the nature of the war 
 had been fully explained to them [the Indians] last 
 fall they might clearly see that the Great Spirit would 
 not suffer it to be otherwise; that it was not only the 
 case on the Wabash but everywhere else; that they 
 nii^ht be assured that the nations that would continue 
 obstinately to believe the English, would be driven 
 out of the land and their countries given to those who 
 were more steady friends to the Americans." 
 
 "I told them," adds Clark, ''that I expected, for 
 the future, that if any of my people should be going 
 to war through their country that they would be pro- 
 tected, which should be always the case with their 
 people among us; and that mutual confidence should 
 continue to exist [between us]." 
 
 'They replied," are the concluding words of the 
 narration, ''that, from what they had seen and heard, 
 they were convinced that the Master of Life had a 
 hand in all things; that their people would rejoice 
 on their return ; that they would take pains to diffuse 
 what they heard through all the nations, and made no 
 doubt of the good effect of it ; and, after a long speech 
 in the Indian style calling all the Spirits to be wit- 
 nesses, they concluded by renewing the chain of friend- 
 ship, smoking the sacred pipe, and exchanging belts ; 
 and, I believe, went off really well pleased." . . . 
 (Clark's Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), 
 pp. 162, 163.) 
 
 In "Bowman's Journal" in the Department of 
 State MSS., there are mentioned Pottawattomies and 
 Miamies, besides the Piankeshaws, as having met Clark 
 in council, but the Kickapoos are not named. As 
 printed in Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, the Pian- 
 
764 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 keshaws and Miamies are spoken of only, the first 
 named being put down as "Peaians." Clark, in his 
 Memoir as we have just seen, mentions, .as making 
 their appearance, "a party of upper Piankeshaws and 
 some Pottawattomie and Miami chiefs." It is certain, 
 however, in view of what the Colonel says in his letter 
 to Mason, that there were at the council upper and 
 lower Piankeshaws, Kickapoos, Pottawattomies and 
 Miamies. The up-river Piankeshaws had their vil- 
 lage on the Vermillion about one mile above its con- 
 fluence with the Wabash. The Miami Indians repre- 
 sented were those of Eel river ; but the chiefs present 
 were evidently dissembling as they really stood neutral 
 so far as the Americans and British were concerned. 
 {History of the Girtys, p. 107.) 
 
 NOTE CXXI. 
 
 WHY CLARK RESOLVED TO RETURN TO KASKASKIA. 
 
 Clark, in his Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 
 1859), p. 160 — says that his resolve to return to 
 Kaskaskia was to blind his designs against Detroit. 
 "The enterprise," he declares, "was deferred until the 
 — of June, when our troops were to rendezvous at 
 Vincennes. In the meantime, every preparation was 
 to be made, procuring provisions, etc. ; and to blind 
 our designs, the whole, except a small garrison, should 
 march immediately to the Illinois ; and orders were 
 sent to Kentucky to prepare themselves to meet at the 
 appointed time. This was now our proposed plan, 
 and directed our operations during the Spring." That 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. V66 
 
 this is error there can be no doubt. So important a 
 fact would not have been omitted by Clark in his letter 
 to the Governor on the twenty-ninth of April follow- 
 ing; and especially would he not have been silent on 
 the subject in writing to Mason on the nineteenth of 
 the next November. His words to the latter clearly 
 imply that he presumed matters would, in the end, all 
 prove favorable and enable him to undertake the ex- 
 pedition ; and he contented himself upon that pre- 
 sumption. 
 
 NOTE CXXII. 
 
 CONCERNING THE SO-CALLED "bOWMAN S JOURNAL. 
 
 >> 
 
 ''Bowman's Journal." so frequently cited in this 
 narrative, has this heading to the copy in the Depart- 
 ment of State MSS.: "A Journal of Col. G. R. 
 Clark's Proceeding from the 29th January, 1779 to 
 the 20th March Inst." In the published Journal, in 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, it reads: "Journal 
 of the Proceedings of Col. Geo. R. Clark, from 27th 
 January, 1779, to March 20th inst." The first date 
 given in the last heading is certainly error, as what is 
 recorded as transpiring on that day is known to have 
 occurred on the 29th. Roosevelt, in The Winning of 
 the West, vol. II, p. 7on, changes the heading of the 
 one in the Department of State MSS., in this wise: 
 ''A Journal of Col. G. R. Clark. Proceedings from 
 the 29th January, 1779 to the 26th March Inst." 
 This, of course, changes the sense, making what fol- 
 lows to be the journal of Clark. And yet, in his 
 next sentence, he explains that the Journal was written 
 
166 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 by Captain Bowman. It is generally credited to that 
 officer; and, because of this, it is known as "Bow- 
 man's Journal." It was first published in the Louis- 
 viUe Literary N civs-Letter, November 21, 1840, from 
 the "original," but not until it had been "revised" — 
 generally to its harm. It is copied from the Neivs- 
 Letter into Clark's Campaign in the lUiiiois, pp. 99- 
 III. The copy in the Department of State MSS., was 
 taken before the revision was made, and it is the 
 most reliable. The Journal is a daily record of what 
 took place on the march to Vincennes and on the 
 arrival there of Clark and his force. 
 
 It is proper to mention that citing the document 
 in this narrative, as "Bowman's Journal," has been 
 done so for convenience — not because Captain Joseph 
 Bowman was (as is generally supposed) the author. 
 The last entry shows he was not. He left Vincennes 
 with Clark on the twentieth of March ; yet the entry 
 in the Journal on that day shows the writer (whoever 
 he was) to have remained in Vincennes. 
 
 But the reason why the Captain has usually been 
 credited with the paternity is, that, in the ''revised" 
 Journal, after the ending of the entries proper, it is 
 said by some one — "This Journal w^as taken from 
 Major Bowman and revised by a person who was in 
 the expedition. He has kept it for his own amuse- 
 ment, but it does not come near what might be wrote 
 [written] upon such an extraordinary occasion, had 
 it been handled by a person who chose to enlarge upon 
 it. It afforded matter enough to treat on." . . 
 
 Now, that the Journal "was taken from Major 
 Bowman" by no means implies that he wrote it. It 
 will be remembered that the Captain was severely 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 767 
 
 burned when attempting to lire thirteen guns, upon the 
 surrender of Fort Sackville. He could hardly have 
 continued the entries after that, as we find them, in 
 the Journal. It is to be observed, also, that what is 
 written by the person into whose possession the Journal 
 came (see Clark's Campaign hi the Illiiwis, p. iii) 
 is not appended to the copy in the Department of 
 State MSS. 
 
 "I have the honor," wrote Brodhead from Fort 
 Pitt to the Commander-in-chief of the American 
 armies, "to enclose Colonel Clark's Journal, contain- 
 ing an account of his success against Governor Hamil- 
 ton of Detroit and the garrison, at Vincennes. . . I 
 cannot conceive how he can justify the murder of men 
 who had surrendered prisoners ; and yet I must con- 
 fess that I think Hamilton, from his general character, 
 as proper an object for the gallows as could have been 
 found." (Brodhead to Washington. May 29, 1779. 
 — Department of State ]\ISS.) 
 
 And the Fort Pitt commander again, but to an- 
 other correspondent, gave his views concerning the 
 killing of the Indians, in these words : 
 
 ''Col. Clark's Journal, containing an account of 
 everv transaction on his last expedition to Vincennes, 
 is in my possession. He took four other officers 
 [besides Hamilton] and about sixty privates, besides 
 some Indians which he killed and threw into the river, 
 which is a part of his conduct I disapprove." (Broad- 
 head to John Heckewelder, June 3, 1779.) 
 
 The Journal spoken of by Brodhead as Clark's 
 was the "Bowman Journal". Years after it was sent 
 by the Fort Pitt commandant to Washington, it found 
 its wav into the Department of State, \A'ashington, 
 
768 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 D. C, along with other papers of the General, where 
 it remains. 
 
 That Broadhead should have supposed it was 
 Clark's own Journal is not surprising, as the writer's 
 name no where appears upon the record. 
 
 The first mention in print of the Journal is by 
 Butler in his Kentucky (p. 8in), where he speaks of 
 it as the "Jo^^^nal of the march by Major Bowman;" 
 so that it was in the possession of Butler (or he had 
 access to it) as early as 1834 — that is, to the original 
 as ''revised by a person who was in the expedition." 
 
 In publishing this Journal in the Louisville Liter- 
 ary News-Letter, November 21, 1840, the editor says: 
 
 "We publish below a journal of the expedition 
 of General [Colonel] Clark against the British post 
 at Vincennes in 1779, commencing with his march 
 from Kaskaskia. It was kept by Joseph Bowman, one 
 of the Captains in the expedition, and is referred to 
 by Mr. Butler in his 'History of Kentucky' as 'Major 
 Bozuman's Journal,' the writer having subsequently 
 held the rank of Major. . . 
 
 "The original manuscript of this journal — much 
 effaced, and in some places illegible — is in possession 
 of the Kentucky Historical Society. The Vincennes 
 Historical and Antiquarian Society have a copy, which 
 we transcribed for them and for the use of our friend 
 Judge Law of that place," 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 769 
 
 NOTE CXXIII. 
 
 Clark's return from vincennes to kaskaskia. 
 
 In his letter to the Governor of Virginia of April 
 29, 1779 (Jefferson's Works, vol. I, p. 222n), Clark 
 sums up what was done in Vincennes just before 
 leaving, in these words : "Having more prisoners than 
 I knew what to do with, I was obliged to discharge a 
 greater part of them on parole. Mr. Hamilton, his 
 principal officers, and a few soldiers, I have sent to 
 Kentucky, under a convoy of Captain Williams, in 
 order to be conducted to you. After despatching 
 Moires [Myres] with letters to you, treating with the 
 neighboring Indians, etc., I returned to this place 
 [Kaskaskia], leaving a sufficient garrison at Vincen- 
 nes." 
 
 In his Memoir — Dillon's Indiana (ed. of 1859), 
 p. 164 — Clark writes: "The water being very high, 
 zue soon reached the Mississippi; and, the winds 
 favoring us, in a fezv days we arrived safely at Kas- 
 kaskia." (The italicising is mine.) Although this 
 statement runs counter to what Clark says in his letter 
 to Mason, I am constrained to believe it is true. 
 
 In his letter he declares he spent much time on 
 the way making some observations at different places, 
 consequently he arrived too late at Kaskaskia to hinder 
 a war that had commenced between the Delawares (of 
 White river) and the inhabitants. By this he conveys 
 the idea that he desired to hinder the hostilities ; and 
 he gives a reason why he could not. It is the only 
 instance of a seeming dissimulation I have discovered 
 in his letter. 
 
 49 
 
770 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 NOTE CXXIV. 
 
 CONCERNING THE ERROR THAT JOHN TODD WAS IN 
 CLARK^S EXPEDITION. 
 
 It has been asserted by some of the best of the wri- 
 ters of Western history that John Todd was one of 
 Clark's soldiers on the expedition against the Illinois; 
 but this error had its origin in the following, which 
 is a part of a communication to James T. Morehead 
 by Hon. R. Wickliffe (see address of the former, p. 
 174.) : "It appears from depositions taken since his 
 [Todd's] death that he accompanied Col. Clark (since 
 Gen. Clark), in his expedition against Kaskaskia and 
 Vincennes, and was at the capture of those places. 
 After the surrender of those places, it is supposed that 
 he returned to Kentucky; of this there is no record 
 or living evidence ; but it appears from a letter written 
 by General Clark that Colonel Todd was appointed to 
 succeed him in the command at Kaskaskia." 
 
 The persons who gave depositions to the effect 
 spoken of were clearly in. error, — taking, undoubtedly, 
 Robert or Levi Todd for John, both of whom were in 
 the service under Colonel Clark {Calendar of Virginia 
 State Papers, vol. I, p. ; also Butler's Kentucky, p. 
 53 n.) — tradition having assigned to Levi, errone- 
 ously, the position of aid to the Colonel. (See Note 
 XLVIII, of this appendix.) John was in Kentucky 
 county when appointed Lieutenant of the county of 
 Illinois, but, as such officer, he did not succeed to 
 the command at Kaskaskia. 
 
HISTORY OF. CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 11\ 
 
 NOTE CXXV. 
 
 DEATH OF WILLIAM MYRES AND CAPTURE OF CLARK^S 
 
 JOURNAL. 
 
 In his Memoir, Clark clearly states what is erro- 
 neous as to the letters and other documents entrusted 
 to Myres. ''Poor Myres, the express, who set out on 
 the 15th [of March] got killed on his passage, and his 
 packet fell into the hands of the enemy; but I had 
 been so much on my guard, that there was not a sen- 
 tence in it that could be of any disadvantage to us for 
 the enemy to know ; and there were private letters 
 from soldiers to their friends designedly written to 
 deceive in case of such accidents. This was custo- 
 mary with us, as our expresses were frequently sur- 
 prised." 
 
 In all this there is very little truth except as to the 
 killing of Myres. 
 
 Clark's journal which had been entrusted to Myres 
 was taken to Detroit entire; but only that part relat- 
 ing to the capture of Hamilton and his garrison has, 
 it seems been preserved among the Haldimand MSS. 
 The warrant to Myres, Clark's public and private let- 
 ters, copies of which we have already given, a letter 
 from Major Bowman to Governor Henry of March 
 1 2th, thanking him for his (Bowman's) promotion, 
 and other documents, were likewise secured when 
 Myres was killed, and taken to Detroit and are now 
 in the Haldimand collection."^ In his letter to Mason 
 
 * See Note CXV of this Appendix for some of these, 
 taken from the copies made from the originals by the Publig 
 Archivist, Douglas Brymner, of Ottawa, Canada, 
 
772 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 of November 19th, 1779, Clark only mentions that, 
 having despatched off Captain Williams and company 
 with Governor Hamilton, his principal officers, and a 
 few [British] soldiers, to the Falls of Ohio to be sent to 
 Williamsburg," he then, "in a few days" sent his let- 
 ters to the Virginia Governor: he makes no mention 
 of the killing of Myres, of the capture of the papers 
 and documents in his (Myres') possession, or of his 
 writing again to Governor Henry on receipt of the 
 news. In his Memoir, however, Clark says [Dillon's 
 Indiana (ed. of 1859), p. 159]: "I sent [upon learning 
 the death of Myres] a second dispatch to the Gov- 
 ernor, giving him a short but full account of what had 
 passed, and our views." This was his letter of April 
 29th, 1779. 
 
 NOTE CXXVI. 
 
 Jefferson's reply to clark's letter of april 
 29, 1779. 
 
 As Patrick Henry was no longer Governor of Vir- 
 ginia, Clark's letter of April 29, 1779, from Kaskaskia 
 was delivered of course, to his successor, Thomas Jef- 
 ferson. It was first published in the Virginia Gazette, 
 of June 26, 1779, and afterward in Jefferson's works, 
 Vol. I, page 222 n. The letter had been entrusted to 
 the care, it is probable, of Mr. St. Vrain, a resident, 
 it is believed, of the Illinois, who returned to Clark 
 with the Governor's brief answer — one that would 
 be perfectly understood by the Colonel but would be 
 misleading in its most important particulars to th^ 
 British should it fall into their hands, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 773 
 
 Jefferson's reply has been preserved but in a 
 mutilated condition. However, the words torn off I 
 have ventured to supply. They are inclosed in brack- 
 ets in the following: 
 
 "Williamsburg, [June — , 1779] . 
 ''Col. Geo. R. Clark, 
 
 *'Sir: Your letter and verbal [communications] by Mr. 
 St. Vrain was received to-day. Your w[ishes shall be] 
 attended to. Much soHcitation will be felt for the result 
 of your expedition to the Wabash; it will, at least, delay 
 their expedition to the frontier, settlement, and if successful, 
 have an important bearing ultimately in establishing our 
 northwestern boundary. 
 
 "I am, Sir, your most obedient, 
 
 Th. Jefferson." * 
 
 (See Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, p. 2n.) 
 The letter was probably dated on or about the 
 middle of June. See Jefferson to Washington, from 
 Williamsburg, June 23, — Jefferson's Works, Vol. I, 
 p. 221. 
 
 In speaking of this letter, Hinsdale (The Old 
 Northzvesf, p. 153) says that it was written before the 
 issue of the campaign of Clark against "the country 
 beyond the river" Ohio was known in Virginia; and 
 Moses (Illinois: Historical and Statistical, Vol. I, p. 
 158) says that it was written ''about the date of the 
 inception of the expedition." The Hon. Henry Pirtle, 
 in giving the communication in his "Introductory" in 
 Clark's Campaign in the Illinois, uses these words; 
 "The following letter of Mr. Jefferson shows his an- 
 ticipation of the importance of this expedition [of 
 Clark to the Illinois]." Other writers have fallen into 
 the same error; while William Wirt Henry wrestles 
 with the subject in this wise {Life of Patrick Henry 
 
774 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Vol. I, p. 588 11) : *'As Jefferson was taken into the 
 counsels of Governor Henry while planning this 
 [Clark's] expedition, this letter throws a strong light 
 upon the motives leading to it, which were not simply 
 the protection of Kentucky." The letter itself bears 
 intrinsic evidence of having been written to Clark in 
 the Illinois by Jefferson as Governor. The Colonel's 
 letter was of such importance that it was sent by an 
 express which would not have been the case had it 
 been intended for Jefferson as a private citizen ; be- 
 sides, it evidently needed what it received — an imme- 
 diate reply. Clark's wishes would naturally be sent 
 to the Virginia's Chief Executive. St. Vrain was, 
 probably, a citizen of Kaskaskia.* Jefferson, even if he 
 were at Williamsburg, would scarcely have informed 
 Clark that his wishes would **be attended to," unless 
 he (Jefferson) had occupied the Executive chair at the 
 time. There is no evidence extant that Clark wrote 
 anything to Jefferson after starting upon his expedi- 
 tion simply because of the friendship existing between 
 them. All his letters to him while upon the expedition, 
 that have been discovered, were a part of his (Clark's) 
 official correspondence. Besides, it is to be borne in 
 mind that the subject of the northwest boundary of the 
 United States had only just then received public at- 
 tention. An expedition from the Illinois to the Wabash 
 simply, could have no important bearing — ultimately 
 in establishing this boundary ; but if continued to De- 
 
 * A place called "St. Vrain" is mentioned in Mason's 
 Early Chicago and Illinois (p. 158), being on the Kaskaskia 
 river a short distance above Kaskaskia, years after ; and in 
 the same work (p. 160), is mentioned the brothers St. Vrain. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 775 
 
 troit and if successful, the result would prove highly 
 beneficial. 
 
 NOTE CXXVII. 
 
 CONCERNING CLARK's SECOND MARCH TO VINCENNES. 
 
 *'An expedition," wrote Col. Montgomery, Feb. 
 22, 1783, (See Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. 
 Ill, p. 441), "being already planned (or, rather, a 
 maneuvre) to prevent the enemy taking the field and 
 distressing the frontiers, — I was ordered to conduct 
 the troops by water to Vincennes, on the Wabash, 
 Colonel Clark crossing by land to that post with a 
 small escort." Clark, in his Memoir — Dillon's Indi- 
 ana (ed of 1859), says: "Early in June, Colonel 
 Montgomery was dispatched by water with the whole 
 of our stores : Major Bowman marched the remainder 
 of our troops by land. Myself, with a party of horse, 
 reached Vincennes in four days, where the whole 
 safely "arrived a short time after." What Clark here 
 states is virtually corroborated by a report ' which 
 reached De Peyster at Michilimackinac some time 
 after the marching of Major Bowman. 
 
 NOTE CXXVIII. 
 
 WHY CLARK MAS ANXIONS TO MARCH AGAINST 
 DETROIT. 
 
 "In a few days (after the arrival at Kaskaskia of 
 County-Lientenant [lY)d], Colonel Montgomery ar- 
 rived. To my mortification I found he had not half 
 the men I expected. Immediately receiving a letter 
 
776 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 from Colonel Bowman witli fresh assuranees of a 
 eonsiderable reinforeement [the offieers in i^eneral be- 
 ini;- anxions for the expedition (against Detroit)], 1 
 resolved to remlezvons |at \ ineennes], aeeording- to 
 appointment; and. if not deceived bv the Kentnekians, 
 I should still be able to complete my desii;n, as 1 only 
 wanted men sntlicient to make me appear respect- 
 able in passing- throngh [the territory] of the 
 savages, by which nieans 1 conld on the march com- 
 mand those friendly at my ease, and (.\ci\ my enemies. 
 Three hnndred men at this time were snfiicient to re- 
 duce the garrison at Hetroit, as the new works there 
 uere not complete nor could be according to the plan 
 before my arrival. The gentlemen of Detroit were 
 not itlle (although having sufficient reason to be con- 
 vinced that they were in no danger from the Depart- 
 ment of IMttsbnrgh) as they were always suspicions 
 of my attacking them, being sensible of my growing 
 interest among the savages. 
 
 "In cnder to give themselves more time to fortify, 
 they wonkl make some diversion on the Illinois. They 
 also engaged a considerable number of their savages 
 to make an attempt on \ ineennes. Those Indians 
 that had declared for the American interest, in order 
 to show their /eal. sent word to them that if they had 
 a mind to tight the I'ostonians at X'incennes. they must 
 first cut their way through them, as they were Big* 
 Knives too. This effectually stopped their operation. 
 Knowing that the expedition depended entirely on the 
 Keniiickians turning out. 1 began to be suspicions of 
 a disappointment on hearing oi their marehing against 
 the Shawanese 'towns." * . . (Clark, to Mason 
 
 — Clark's Campaig)! in tJic .iiiinois, /'/'. 85. SC\ 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 777 
 
 NOTE CXXIX. 
 
 JEFFERSON INFORMS WASHINGTON OF CLARK's MEDI- 
 TATED ATTACK AGAINST DICTROIT AND OF ITS 
 ABANDONMENT. 
 
 "It is possible yoii may have heard," wrote Jef- 
 ferson, February loth, 1780, to Washington, "that in 
 the course of last summer an expedition was meditated 
 by our Colonel Clark, against Detroit; that he had 
 proceeded so far as to rendezvous a considerable body 
 of Indians, I believe, four or five thousand, at Vin- 
 cennes, but being disappointed in the number of whites 
 he expected, and not choosing to rely principally on 
 the Indians, he was obliged to decline it." (Jefferson's 
 Works, vol. I, p. 239.) There can be do doubt that 
 the number of Indians who would have gone with 
 Clark is here greatly overestimated. 
 
 NOTE CXXX. 
 
 PIANKESI-IAW DEED TO COLONEL CLARK. 
 
 "By the Tobacco's Son, Grand Chief of all the Pianke- 
 shaw Nations and of all the Tribes, Grand Door to the 
 Wabash as ordered by the Master of Life, holding the Toma- 
 hawk in one hand and Peace in the other; judging the Na- 
 tions, giving entrance for those that arc for Peace, and 
 making them a clear Road, etc. Declaration: . 
 
 "Whereas for many years past this once peaceable land 
 hath been put in confusion by the F.nglish cncouragmg all 
 people to raise the tomahawk against the Ihg Knives, saying 
 that they were a bad people, rebellious and ought to be put 
 from under the sun and their names to be no more. — 
 
778 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST,, ETC. 
 
 "But as the sky of our Councils was always misty and 
 never clear, we still were at a loss to know what to do, 
 hoping that the Master of Life would one day or other make 
 the sky clear and put us in the right road. He, taking pity 
 on us, sent a father among us (Col. George Rogers Clark) 
 that has cleared our eyes and made our paths straight, de- 
 fending our lands, etc., so that we now enjoy peace from the 
 rising to the setting of sun ; and the nations even to the 
 heads of the great river (meaning the Mississippi) are 
 happy and will no more listen to bad birds, but abide by 
 the Councils of their great Father, a chief of the Big 
 Knives, that is now among us. — 
 
 •"And whereas it is our desire that he should long remain 
 among us, that we may take his counsel, and be happy, it 
 also being our desire to give him lands to reside on in our 
 country that we may at all times speak to him. After many 
 solicitations to him to make choise of a tract, he choosing 
 the land adjoining the Falls of Ohio, one the west side of 
 said river. 
 
 "I do hereby in the names of all the great chiefs and 
 warriors of the Wabash and their allies declare that so much' 
 land at the Falls of Ohio contained in the following bounds, 
 to-wit : Beginning opposite the middle of the first island 
 below the Falls, bounded upwards by the west bank of the 
 river so far as to include two leagues and [a] half on a 
 straight line from the beginning, thence at right angles with 
 said line two leagues and [a] half in breadth in all its parts, 
 shall hereafter and ever be the sole property of our great 
 father (Colonel Clark) with all things thereto belonging 
 either alive or below the Earth, shall be and is his, except 
 a road through said land to his door, which shall remain 
 ours, and for us to walk on to speak to our father. All 
 nations from the rising to the setting of the sun, that are not 
 in alliance \\»ith us are hereby warned to esteem the said 
 gift as sacred, and not to make that land taste of blood, that 
 all people either at peace or war may repair in safety to get 
 counsel of our father. Whoever first darkens that land shall 
 no longer have a name. This declaration shall forever be a 
 witness between all nations and our present great father, that 
 the said lands are forever hereafter his property. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. in 
 
 "In witness whereof, I do in the name of all the great 
 chiefs and warriors of the Wabash, in open Council, affix 
 my mark and seal. Done at Vincennes, this Kith day of 
 June, 1779. "Francis, Son of Tobacco." 
 
 NOTE CXXXI. 
 
 Clark's last "general orders'' on ins expedition. 
 
 Headquarters, Fort Patrick Henry, 
 
 Vincennes, August 5th, 1779. 
 "General Orders. 
 
 "Lieut. Colonel John Montgomery of the Illinois bat- 
 talion is to proceed with the following detachments under his 
 command to the Illinois : 
 
 "Detachment for Fort Clark. — Captain John Williams (to 
 be joined by Captain Worthington's company), Lieutenant 
 Brashear, Lieutenant Gerault, Capt.-Lieut. Harrison of artil- 
 lery, now at Fort Clark. 
 
 "Detachment for Cahokia. — Capt. Richard McCarty (to 
 be joined by Capt. Quirk's company), Lieutenant Parrault, 
 Lieutenant Clark. 
 
 "The Garrison at Fort Patrick Henry. — Captain Shelby 
 (to be joined by Capt. Taylor and Capt. Keller's companies), 
 Lieutenant Wilson, Ensign Williams, Capt. Robert Todd (to 
 be joined by Capt. Evan's company), Lieutenant Dalton of 
 artillery, Ensign Slaughter. 
 
 "The officers of the artillery at the different posts and 
 garrisons are to take charge of the artillery stores, etc., be- 
 longing to that Department. 
 
 "Major Joseph Bowman is to proceed with the recruiting 
 parties and to have the direction thereof. The general officers 
 out recruiting are to make reports to him and receive orders 
 and instructions from him. 
 
 "Officers for the recruiting service. — Captains Quirk, 
 Evans, Taylor, Worthington, Keller; Lieutenants Roberts, 
 Crochett, Calvit; Ensign Montgomery. 
 
780 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "Captain Robert George of the artillery, Lieutenant 
 Robertson of the same, with their company, go to the Falls 
 of the Ohio with the Commander-in-chief, where Head- 
 quarters are to be established. 
 
 "Captain Leonard Helm is appointed Indian Agent for 
 Fort Patrick Henry and the Department of the Wabash. 
 
 "M. Gamelin of Wea is to fall under his [Capt. Helm's] 
 Department and to make report to Headquarters at the Falls 
 of the Ohio, or to Kaskaskia to Lieut. Colonel Montgomery 
 or other officers commanding [there] for the time being, and 
 is to follow such instructions as he shall receive from myself 
 or any other his superior officer. 
 
 "Captain Linctot will appoint an assistant for the upper 
 part of the Mississippi in the Indian Department, near the 
 Dogs Plains [Prairie du Chien], provided the appointment 
 be approved of by Colonel Montgomery or the commanding 
 officer [at Fort Clark] for the time being. 
 
 "Geo. R. Clark. 
 
 "[Colonel of the Illinois battalion and Commander-in- 
 chief of the Virginia forces in the Western Department]." 
 {Calendar of Virginia State Pepers, vol. I, pp. 324, 325.) 
 
 NOTE CXXXII. 
 
 FINAL ARRANGEMENTS BEFORE LEAVING VINCENNES 
 FOR THE FALLS. 
 
 Says Clark in his Memoir — (Dillon's Indiana 
 (ed. of 1859), P- 167): 
 
 "The business, from the first, had been so con- 
 ducted as to make no [a] disadvantageous impression 
 on the enemy in case of a disappointment, as they could 
 never know whether we really had a desig-n on Detroit 
 or only a finesse to amuse them, which latter would 
 appear probable. Arranging things to the best ad- 
 vantage was now my principal study, The troops were 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 781 
 
 divided betwen Vincennes, Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and 
 the Falls of the Ohio. Colonel Montgomery was ap- 
 pointed to the command of the Illinois ; Major Bow- 
 man to superintend the recruiting business ; a number 
 of officers were appointed to that service ; and myself 
 to take up my quarters at the Falls as the most con- 
 venient spot to have an eye over the whole." By this 
 it seems Clark never learned the particulars concerning 
 the efforts made by Lernoult at Detroit and by De 
 Peyster at Michilemackinac to repel (what they con- 
 sidered was certain) his attack on Detroit. 
 
 NOTE CXXXIII. 
 
 OF THE FORT ERECTED BY CLARK^S ORDERS AT THE 
 • FALLS OF THE OHIO. 
 
 The "Falls' Fort" as Hamilton styles it (it had 
 received no particular name) was a fortification "con- 
 sisting of a parallelogram of double log cabins, about 
 two hundred feet in length and one hundred in breadth 
 with an inner court about one hundred and fifty feet 
 long and fifty feet wide. Each of the four corners was 
 a block house, with walls projecting along the lines of 
 the cabins and serving the purpose of bastions. On 
 each of the long sides were eighteen cabins, while 
 there were eight on each of the short sides, making 
 fifty-two in all, and affording shelter for two or three 
 hundred persons. 
 
 The fort was made of round logs cut from the sur- 
 rounding forest, and covered with rough boards riven 
 by hand, Wherever there was a chimney, it was made 
 
782 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC' 
 
 of wood lined with flat stones at the bottom for a fire- 
 place, and the middle was daubed with clay thence to 
 the top to prevent ignition. The rooms had dirt floods, 
 and there were no windows except holes in the walls, 
 as much for the use of the rifle as for light." (R, T. 
 Durrett, in the Louisville Courier- Journal, August 2, 
 1883.). 
 
 NOTE CXXXIV. 
 
 THE PRESENTATION OF A SWORD TO CLiVRK BY VIRGINIA. 
 
 ALSO CONCERNING THE CREDIT DUE OLIVER 
 
 POLLOCK FOR HIS SACRIFICES IN AID 
 
 OF THE EXPEDITION. 
 
 "Williamsburg, in Council, Sept. 4th, 1779. 
 
 "Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers Clark : 
 
 "Sir: I have the honor to inform you that by Captain 
 Rogers I have sent the sword which was purchased by the 
 Governor to be presented to you, by order of the General 
 Assembly, as a proof of their approbation of your great and 
 good conduct and gallant behavior. I heartily wish a better 
 [one] could have been procured, but it was thought the best 
 that could be purchased ; and was bought of a gentleman who 
 had used it but a little, and judged it to be elegant and costly. 
 I sincerely congratulate you on your successes, and wish you 
 a continuation of them and a happy return to your friends 
 and country ; and am, Sir, with great regard, your most 
 .ob't serv't, 
 
 "John Page, Lt. Gov." 
 
 A number of traditions concerning the presenta- 
 tion of this sword to the Colonel — all more or less de- 
 void of truth — have found their way into print. 
 
 ''After his conquest of the Illinois, he [Clark] was 
 voted a sword by the State of Virginia. The bearer of 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S COXQUEST. ETC. 783 
 
 It met the grave and discontented hero on the bank of 
 the Wabash. He was anxiously waiting for the news 
 that the House of Delegates had passed his accounts, 
 and had voted money to pay them, to enable him to 
 make good his engagements, on sudden emergencies, 
 for supplies to his men. He was disappointed. He 
 took the sword — drew it from its scabbard, and plac- 
 ing the point to the ground, thrust it deep into the soil 
 he had conquered, and broke it off by the hilt. Throw- 
 ing away the guttering handle, he said. "I asked Mr- 
 ginia for bread, and she sent me a sword., " (Denny's 
 Journal p. 218.) But the bearer of the sword did not 
 meet Clark on the Wabash at all. He was found at 
 his headquarters at the Falls (Louisville). He was 
 not "anxiously waiting for the news that the House of 
 Delegates had passed his accounts, and had voted 
 money to pay them." Instead of being disappointed 
 when the sword came, he was highly elated. He did 
 not break the weapon but carefully preserved it as a 
 most precious gift. 
 
 As to the measure of credit due Oliver Pollock in 
 sustaining Clark, it may be said that hitherto it has 
 been unjustly overshadowed by praise of I\I. Vigo for 
 his services. In Clark's letter to the Governor of \\r- 
 ginia, of April 29, 1779, from Kaskaskia, the Colonel 
 was not mistaken in his belief that some of the mer- 
 chants who advanced considerable amounts would 
 suft"er; for such was the case, particularly with Vigo. 
 [Beckwith, in Reynolds' lUinois (ed. of 1887), p. 423]. 
 Beckwith says: "He [Mgo] turned out his merchan- 
 dise to supply Clark's destitute soldiers." But Clark's 
 soldiers were by no means destitute. Y\go would as- 
 sist Clark — particularly to aid him in his proposed 
 
784 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 movements against Detroit. That writer adds that he 
 (Vigo) ''sustained the credit of the Virginia conti- 
 nental money by taking it at par or guaranteeing its 
 redemption at its face to those who exchanged their 
 provisions or suppHes for it. His advances or habil- 
 ities incurred in this way, amounted to more than 
 twenty thousand dollars, which, with Hamilton's con- 
 fiscations at Vincennes and losses through reprisals of 
 Indians hostile to his side of the war, reduced him to 
 poverty;" that is, he did his best to sustain the Vir- 
 ginia money, but could only do so to the extent of the 
 amounts he took himself or guaranteed. Writers of 
 Western history generally overrate Vigo's sacrifices. 
 For what he did to further the interests of America 
 he should receive praise commensurate with those sac- 
 rifices ; unfortunately, however, the eulogies bestowed 
 upon him have, as we have before hinted, to a great 
 extent hitherto obscured what was due in a greater de- 
 gree to Oliver Pollock. John Law {Colonial History 
 of Vincennes, p. 21) declares that the whole credit of 
 Clark's conquest belongs to two men : ''Gen. George 
 Rogers Clark and Col. Francis Vigo." This of course, 
 is absurd. Between the two should be named Patrick 
 Henry, Oliver Pollock and Pierre Gibault : after the 
 five, Clark's officers and men. General Hand and others 
 are to be mentioned. But it must not be forgotten 
 that, next to the general planning and shrewdness dis- 
 played by Colonel Clark, that which most conspired 
 to secure success was the war between England and 
 France and the alliance of the latter with the United 
 States. (See further as to Pollock, Mason's Early 
 Chicago and Illinois, pp. 321, 323, 343, 348, 353, 358). 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC, 785 
 
 NOTE CXXXV, 
 
 GEORGE mason's ANXIETY TO MAKE GOOD HIS PLEDGE 
 
 TO CLARK. 
 
 By the following, it will be seen how anxious was 
 the patriotic Mason that his and his two friends' prom- 
 ises, after the success of Clark and his own force had 
 been assured, should be carried out : 
 
 "The Commonwealth of Virginia hath yet given 
 no titles to any .lands on the northwest side of the 
 Ohio; but the public faith stands pledged to Colonel 
 Clarke and his officers and men (in all about one hun- 
 dred and eighty) who reduced the British posts of 
 Kaskaskia and Vincennes, for a liberal reward in the 
 lands they conquered." [George Mason's Plan of 
 Cession of the Territory of the Northwest to the 
 United States, dated July 2y, 1780. (Kate Mason 
 Rowland's Mason, vol. I, p. 365.)] 
 
 NOTE CXXXVI. 
 
 FOR WHOM CLARK HELD THE COUNTRY HE CONQUERED ; 
 
 AND IN WHAT WAY VIRGINIA PROFITED 
 
 BY THE CONQUEST. 
 
 "In 1778, ... General George Rogers Clark, 
 with the authority of Virginia, advanced into the 
 Northwest with a little army of Kentuckians ; and, as 
 the result of a series of remarkable exploits, which fig- 
 ure among the most romantic incidents in American 
 history, seized Kaskaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes and 
 50 
 
786 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 held the disputed territory for the United States till 
 the close of the war/' (R. G. Thwaites: The Story 
 of Wisconsin, p. 109.) 
 
 It has already been shown that Colonel Clark had, 
 in his "little army," very few Kentuckians, properly 
 so called. His conquests were not only under the au- 
 thority of Virginia, but they inured at once to that 
 State, which very soon began to exercise civil juris- 
 diction over the conquered territory, continuing its 
 rule until all its claims were ceded in 1784 to the 
 United States. Strictly speaking, Virginia held the 
 disputed territory until the close of the war rather 
 than Clark, whose military authority soon became more 
 nominal than real after the final conclusion of his ex- 
 pedition and his return to the Falls of the Ohio; as 
 all Virginia troops under his orders were withdrawn 
 from the various posts north of that river in little over 
 a year, although he retained command until May 21, 
 1783, of the Western Department."^ 
 
 The immediate and direct profit to Virginia aris- 
 ing out of the conquest was the increased security it 
 gave to her Kentucky settlements ; but it must not 
 for a moment be supposed that when Colonel Clark 
 finally made his headquarters at the Falls of the Ohio, 
 those settlements were out of danger ; far from it. 
 
 In this connection it may be well to record what 
 Clark, in June, 1783, says concerning affairs at Vin- 
 cennes from the time the Americans first gained pos- 
 session in 1778 to 1 78 1. The reader will find no diffi- 
 culty in noticing his errors as to the years 1778, and 
 
 * I have not been able to find any evidence that any 
 military order was issued by Clark or his officers after 1781, 
 directly affecting the Illinois or Wabash towns. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 787 
 
 1779, from what has already been given in our nar- 
 rative. As to 1 78 1, we give the following which shows 
 conclusively that Vincennes was not abandoned in 
 that year: ''The enemy are approaching Vincennes 
 and fortifying themselves at the Miami [head of the 
 Maumee] ; so the inhabitants of Vincennes have pe- 
 titioned me for an officer and men to uphold the honor 
 of the state there, with which I have complied." (Cap- 
 tain George from Fort Jefferson, February 15, 1781, 
 to Col. Geo. Slaughter at the Falls of the Ohio — Cal- 
 endar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, p. 521). "The 
 following hints will sufficiently point out the cause of 
 every article of life on the Wabash being raised to 
 so great price, as charged in some of the Western Ac- 
 counts : On our getting possession of Vincennes in 
 1778, and gaining three or four thousand warriors to 
 the American interest all commerce between that coun- 
 try and Detroit immediately ceased. The Chickasaws, 
 part of the Cherokees, and other Southern Indians, 
 warmly attached to the British interest rendered it ex- 
 ceedingly difficult for the merchants to get supplies 
 from the Mississippi, as numbers of them were cut off 
 on their passage up the Ohio by the Indians, who had 
 been instructed by the English to block up that river if 
 possible. These circumstances caused every article at 
 Vincennes to rise at least to four or five prices. 
 
 "The garrison kept at the post was obliged to- 
 receive its supplies from the inhabitants of the town, 
 who consisted of about three hundred militia, about 
 one-fourth farmers, that scarcely raised a sufficiency 
 of provisions to supply the inhabitants. The British 
 on the Lakes sensible of our growing interest with 
 the savages, spared no pains to regain them by emis- 
 
788 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 saries, which made it necessary that the greatest atten- 
 tion should be paid them on our part. Consequently, 
 numbers of savages were constantly at that post coun- 
 seling. Agents were kept in every quarter of their 
 settlements where we could venture them; and Vin- 
 cennes became, at one time, the seat of Indian affairs. 
 "Articles necessary for the solemnity of treaties 
 and support of troops were generally procured for the 
 State by a few merchants — Legras, Bosseron, Linctot 
 and others — whose zeal induced them to advance 
 their fortunes for the public interest. Governor Ham- 
 ilton, by his enemies in the Pittsburgh country, being 
 informed there was a great number of disaffected per- 
 sons in that quarter ready to join him, resolved to 
 make a descent on that place, with all the power he 
 could raise. General Carleton approved his plan, but 
 recommended it to him first to drive the rebels out 
 of the Illinois country, otherwise they might possibly 
 step in and take possession of Detroit, as he would 
 have to leave it in a defenceless situation. After put- 
 ting the latter into execution he might regain of the 
 Indian interest, and complete his force to enable him to 
 execute his first design. The attempt was daring ; but 
 the prudent measures that gentleman conducted him- 
 self by enabled him to get possession of St. Vincent 
 [Vincennes] without much difficulty. The season be- 
 ing too far advanced, he was obliged to take up his 
 winter quarters at that place, and of course disperse 
 his Indian forces until spring. In the meantime [he] 
 got captured by a superior force, which doubly revived 
 our interest in that quarter and extended our influence 
 nearly to the walls of Detroit ; and the great con- 
 course of people that consequently happened for many 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 789 
 
 months — troops, Indians, etc., — nearly caused a 
 famine. 
 
 "The inhabitants not being able to recover their 
 former plenty, in 1781 were obliged to abandon the 
 post for the want of supplies; from which moment 
 our interest with the Indians sunk as rapidly as we 
 had gained it, and nearly the whole engaged in war 
 against us." {Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. 
 Ill, pp. 501, 502.) 
 
 NOTE CXXXVII. 
 
 WHAT CLARK CONQUERED AND THE RESULTS OF HIS 
 
 CONQUESTS. 
 
 William Frederick Poole, LL. D., in The Early 
 Northzuest (pp. 4, 5), says: "The general histories of 
 the United States have been written by Eastern men, 
 and a few of their writers have been tall enough to 
 look over the Appalachian range and see what has hap- 
 pened on the other side. The story of the Revolution- 
 ary War has often been told without a mention of the 
 campaigns of George Rogers Clark, who, as a Virginia 
 partisan and with an intelligence and valor which have 
 not been surpassed in ancient or modern warfare, 
 captured from the British the Northwestern Terri- 
 tory." 
 
 And thus R. G. Thwaites (The Story of Wiscon- 
 sin, pp. 117, 118) : "But the Revolutionary War closed 
 with the following year [1782] and the entire North- 
 west, under the definite treaty of peace in 1783, was, 
 regardless of all private claims, apportioned to the 
 United States, having been fairly won with the sword 
 
790 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 by George Rogers Clark, and kept for our inheritance 
 by the shrewd diplomacy of Franklin, Adams and 
 
 Jay." 
 
 Congress, in October, 1780, as indicated by its in- 
 structions to Jay, looked upon what Clark took pos- 
 session of — that is, what he captured and won — as 
 extending only to^the important posts and settlements 
 on [in] the Illinois and [on the] Wabash." What he 
 essayed farther to the northward and northwestward 
 — to what is now Peoria, Illinois, and to the present 
 Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin — was only to make 
 friends of the several Indian nations in those regions ; 
 but these savages, with few exceptions, again took up 
 the hatchet, before the close of the war, against the 
 Americans. The British, who held the important posts 
 of Detroit and Michilimachinac had control, virtually, 
 over much more territory in the Northwest than was 
 reduced to American sway by Clark; and this was 
 the fact immediately after the conquests of the Col- 
 onel, and continued until after peace was declared be- 
 tween the two countries. 
 
 A recent author (Hinsdale: The Old Northwest, 
 p. 158) says: 'The Northwest had been won by a 
 Virginia army, commanded by a Virginia officer, put 
 in the field at Virginia's expense. Governor Henry 
 had promptly announced the Conquest to the Virginia 
 delegates in Congress." 
 
 It is evident this is too sweeping a declaration. 
 Clark did not win the Northwest. And that writer 
 had already written (p. 157) : 
 
 "Clark, who probably did not appreciate the dif- 
 ference between seizing Detroit and seizing Kaskaskia, 
 was compelled to abandon the enterprise, and Detroit 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 791 
 
 remained in British hands at the end of the war, and, 
 in fact, until 1796. 'Detroit lost for a few hundred 
 men,' was his pathetic lament as he surrendered an 
 enterprise that lay near his heart. Had he been able 
 to achieve it, he would have won and held the whole 
 Northwest. 
 
 "As it was he won and held the Illinois and the 
 
 Wabash." . . . 
 
 As to the results of Clark's conquest there has 
 been much discussion. Dr. Poole in his monograph 
 just cited says not only that Clark ''captured from the 
 British the Northwestern Territory," but that he hefd 
 *'it until the peace of 1783," thereby securing "to this 
 nation the Mississippi River and the great lakes as 
 boundaries." To this he adds this footnote : 
 
 "That, if a right to the said territory depended on 
 the conquests of the British posts within it, the United 
 States have already ... by the success of their 
 arms obtained possession of all the important posts 
 and settlements on the Ilhnois and Wabash, rescued 
 the inhabitants from British domination, and estab- 
 lished civil government in its proper form over them." 
 (Instruction of Congress to Mr. Jay, October, 1780, 
 Secret Journals of Congress, II., 329.) 
 
 "From a full confidence that the Western terri- 
 tory now contended for lay within the United States, 
 the British posts therein have been reduced by our 
 citizens, and American government is now exercised 
 within the same." (Report written by Mr. Madison 
 entitled "Facts and Observations in support of the 
 several Claims of the United States," Secret Journals 
 of Congress, August, 1782, III., 199. N. Y. Hist. Col- 
 lee, 1878, p. 139.) 
 
792 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 "He [Vergennes] intended to resist the claim 
 which the colonies had invariably advanced of push- 
 ing their frontiers as far west as the Mississippi, . . 
 and to leave the country north of the Ohio to England, 
 as arranged by the Quebec Act of 1774." (Fitzmau- 
 rice's Life of Earl Shelhourne, 11. , 169.) 
 
 At the date of Madison's Report, the "Western 
 territory" then "contended for" included all the region 
 of country northwest and west of the Ohio to the 
 Mississippi and the Great Lakes. But "the British 
 posts therein" had not been "reduced" as he declares — 
 only a part of them — by "our citizens." The strong- 
 est of the posts, Detroit and Michilimackinac, had not 
 been so "reduced," and the "American government" 
 was by no means, "exercised within the same." 
 
 Speculation has ever been rife since the conquest 
 by Clark and his men, as to its direct results. 
 
 "Their success," said George Mason, in 1780, only 
 a little over a year after the capture of Hamilton, "has 
 been of great importance to the United States, by fix- 
 ing garrisons behind the Indian towns and deterring 
 them from sending their warriors far from home, and 
 by drawing from the British to the American interest 
 several tribes of Indians ; the frontiers of the middle 
 states have been more effectually protected than they 
 would have been by ten times the number of troops 
 stationed upon the Ohio; and by putting Virginia in 
 possession . of these posts, they have not only taken 
 them out of the hands of the British, but have pre- 
 vented the Spaniards from possessing themselves of 
 them ; which, but for that circumstance, they would 
 most undoubtedly have done last year [1779] in their 
 expedition up the Mississippi, when they took posses- 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 793 
 
 sion of every other British post on that river ; in which 
 case that country [that is, the Ilhnois] would have 
 been lost to the United States and left to be disputed 
 between Spain and Great Britain, upon [their holding] 
 a treaty of peace. The possession of these posts has 
 prevented Spain from meddling with the country on 
 this [the east] side of the Mississippi above the mouth 
 of the Ohio and will afford a strong argument in favor 
 of our claim, upon [our holding] a treaty with Great 
 Britain." [George Mason, July 2y, 1780, in his "Plan 
 for a Cession of the Northwest Territory to the United 
 States." (Kate Mason Rowland's Mason, vol. I, p. 
 
 365.)] 
 
 Many writers besides Dr. Poole have declared 
 that the territory northwest of the Ohio was secured 
 to the Republic at the treaty of peace with Great 
 Britain and our western boundary fixed at the Missis- 
 sippi because of the reduction of the posts of the Illi- 
 nois and of those upon the Wabash. It is certain that 
 Clark's success and the continuance of possession on 
 part of Virginia of what he had really conquered, 
 until the close of the war, were powerful arguments in 
 upholding the claim of the United States to the West- 
 ern country ; but is it not true that England's jeal- 
 ousy of Spain, who laid claim to this vast territory, 
 (and of France as well, who also coveted this extensive 
 region) and all other facts adduced by the Commis- 
 sioners of the United States, secured what Clark's 
 conquests had not been able to, in the negotiations 
 which brought peace to our country ? An Indiana his- 
 torian already cited says : 
 
 ''By it [Clark's Conquest] the whole territory now 
 covered by the three great States of Indiana, Illinois 
 
794 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 and Michigan, was added to the Union, and so ad- 
 mitted to be by the Commissioners on the part of Great 
 Britain, at the prehminaries for the settlement of the 
 treaty of peace in 1783; and but for this very conquest 
 the boundaries of our territories west, would have been 
 the Ohio, instead of the Mississippi, and so acknowl- 
 edged and admitted both by our own and the British 
 Commissioners at that conference." (Lazv's Vin- 
 cemies, pp. 21, 22.) But an examination of this whole 
 subject does not warrent the conclusion arrived at by 
 that writer. 
 
 Draper, in Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American 
 Biography blindly follows Law ; but Henry Pirtle in 
 his "Introductory" to Clark's Campaign in the Illinois 
 is more guarded : ''But for this conquest made by 
 Colonel Clark for the United States — and particu- 
 larly for Virginia — in the midst of the terrible strug- 
 gle with England, the boundary of our land, conquered 
 in the revolution from Great Britain, would, in all 
 probability [the italicising is ours], have been the east- 
 ern bank of the Ohio, or the Allegheny mountains, 
 instead of the eastern shore of the Mississippi." 
 
 Says Mr. R. G. Thwaites in the Collections of the 
 State Historical Society of Wisconsin, vol. XI, p. 114 
 n : "While due credit should be given to Clark for 
 his daring and successful undertaking, we must not 
 forget that England's jealousy of Spain, and shrewd 
 diplomacy on the part of America's peace plenipoten- 
 tiaries, were factors even more potent in winning the 
 Northwest for the United States." 
 
 One of the historians before cited reasons thus : 
 
 "It is not easy to tell what were the decisive ar- 
 guments in this Western controversy. It is often said, 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 795 
 
 and particularly by Western writers, that the issue 
 turned mainly on the George Rogers Clark conquest. 
 This view rests on tradition rather than on historical 
 evidence, and I venture the opinion that it is largely 
 erroneous. No man, at least, can read the reports on 
 the national boundaries submitted to Congress without 
 seeing that far more reliance was laid, by the commit- 
 tees that prepared them, on the Colonial charters than 
 on Clark's great achievement. The report of August 
 1 6, 1782, urges the argument: 'The very country in 
 question hath been conquered through the means of 
 the common labors of the United States [but it was 
 only a small part of the country; and it can scarcely 
 be said, with truth, that what was conquered, was 
 through the njeans of the common labors of the 
 United States. It was sa nearly a Virginia conquest, 
 pure and simple, that it ought, with justice, to be 
 called such.] For a considerable distance beyond the 
 Alleghany Mountains, and particularly on the Ohio, 
 American citizens are settled at this day .... 
 who will be thrown back within the power of Great 
 Britain if the Western territory is surrendered to her.' 
 "But the same report contains page after page 
 of arguments based on the charters and on colonial 
 history. It was indeed most fortunate that the Vir- 
 ginia troops were in possession of the Illinois and the 
 Wabash at the close of the war, but there is no reason 
 to think that the Clark conquest, separate and apart 
 from the colonial titles, ever would have given the 
 United States the Great West. Writing to Secretary 
 Livingston, the American commissioners give color to 
 the idea that the decision turned on the charters and 
 not on the conquest. They say the Court of Great 
 
796 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 Britain 'claimed not only all the lands in the Western 
 country and on the Mississippi, which were not ex- 
 pressly included in our charters and government, but 
 also all such lands within them as remained ungranted 
 by the King of Great Britain.' 'It would be endless,' 
 they add, 'to enumerate all the discussions and argu- 
 ments on the subject.' It is highly probable that the 
 British ministry, seeing that the West would go to 
 Spain if not to the United States, preferred to give it 
 the latter direction. Moreover, the Clark conquest 
 was much more potent in keeping the West from fall- 
 ing into the hands of Spain than in wresting it from 
 the hands of Great Britain." (Hinsdale: The Old 
 Northzvest, pp. 183, 184.) 
 
 But upon one point all writers of Western history 
 who have mentioned the success of Clark and his men 
 in the conquest of the Illinois and Wabash towns 
 agree : they all praise the sagacity, valor, perseverance 
 and patriotism displayed. 
 
 ''Of this expedition," says an Indiana historian, in 
 speaking of the one against Vincennes, although at the 
 same time having in his mind also the one against Kas- 
 kaskia, "of its result, of its importance, of the merits 
 of those engaged in it, of their bravery, of their skill, 
 of their prudence, of their success, a volume would not 
 be sufficient for the details. Suffice it to say, that, in 
 my opinion, — and I have accurately and critically 
 weighed and examined all the results produced by 
 any contests in which we were engaged during the 
 revolutionary war, — for bravery, for hardships en- 
 dured, for skill and consummate tact and prudence on 
 the part of the commander, obedience, discipline, and 
 love of country on the part of his followers; for the 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 797 
 
 immense benefits acquired, and signal advantages ob- 
 tained by it for the whole Union, it was second to no 
 enterprise undertaken during that struggle." . . . 
 (John Law: Colonial History of Vincennes, p. 21.) 
 "When we consider the small force employed, the 
 boldness of the enterprise, the brilliancy of its execu- 
 tion, and the vast consequences which have resulted 
 from it, this expedition may well challenge all history 
 for a parallel." (Henry's Patrick Henry, vol. I, p. 
 580.) 
 
 "With respect to the magnitude of its design," 
 says Dillon History of Indiana, pp. 114, 115)) ''the 
 valor and perseverence with which it was carried on, 
 and the momentous results which were produced by it, 
 this expedition stands without a parallell in the early 
 annals of the valley of the Mississippi." 
 
 NOTE CXXXVIII. 
 
 Clark's idea of the political situation in Ken- 
 tucky IN 1783. 
 
 "Prejudice and party disputes and the want of 
 aids from Government have, in a great measure been 
 the occasion of reducing this Department to a defence- 
 less state, at a time when we might suppose they [the 
 people of Kentucky] were rising superior to the enemy 
 they have to contend with. . . Emmissaries are 
 among them, dividing their councils, and destroying 
 their interest at the seat of Government. [These are] 
 ready to take advantage of the first opportunity to 
 
798 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 separate them from the State they Hve in for the ad- 
 vantage of a few individuals y who, at present, rejoice 
 at every misfortune they meet with." (Clark to the 
 Board of Commissioners to Settle Western Accounts, 
 February 25, 1783 — Calendar of Virginia State 
 Papers, vol. Ill, pp. 448, 449.) 
 
 NOTE CXXXIX. 
 
 AS TO VIRGINIANS SUBSEOU.ENT TREATMENT OF CLARK. 
 
 Virginia did not neglect or refuse to settle Clark's 
 accounts made necessary because of his expeditions 
 to Kaskaskia and Vincennes. At his dismissal from 
 the "State Line" service, he had no cause of complaint 
 and made none.* No suits were afterward brought 
 against him by private parties for money or necessaries 
 supplied his army by negotiations or impressment while 
 engaged in the West either as a Virginia Lieutenant 
 Colonel or Brigadier General, as has been so often 
 asserted (but particularly in Butler's Kentucky, p. 
 
 153)- 
 
 NOTE CXL. 
 
 Virginia's deed of cession to the united states so 
 far as relates to clark and his men. 
 
 In the deed of cession of March i, 1784, made by 
 Virginia and accepted by the United States, were these 
 
 * The general but erroneous idea is, that Clark was arbi- 
 trarily and without just cause turned out of office. 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 799 
 
 words : "That a quantity not exceeding one hundred 
 and fifty thousand acres of land, promised by Vir- 
 ginia, shall be allowed and granted to the then Colonel, 
 now [late] General George Rogers Clark, and to the 
 officers and soldiers of his regiment, who marched with 
 him when the posts of Kaskaskia and Vincennes were 
 reduced, and to the officers and soldiers that have been 
 since incorporated into the said regiment, to be laid 
 off -in one tract, the length of which is not to exceed 
 double the breadth, in such place on the northwest side 
 of the Ohio as a' majority of the officers shall choose, 
 and to be afterwards divided among the officers and 
 soldiers in due proportion, according to the laws of 
 Virginia." 
 
 NOTE CXLI. 
 
 CONCERNING CLARk's INTEMPERANCE. 
 
 It is wholly unnecessary in our narrative to in- 
 quire how early in life Clark acquired a liking for 
 strong drink. We know that before the ending of 
 the Illinois expedition he drank at least once- to excess. 
 When in October, 1782, he asked to be recalled from 
 his command in the West, the habit had increased 
 upon him and by reason of that fact he had lost some- 
 thing of the confidence of the people of Kentucky al- 
 though he led a large force from the settlements 
 against the savages, with success, in November fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 "General Clark is in that country," wrote a Vir- 
 ginian, on the third of October, 1782, in speaking of 
 Kentucky, "but he has lost the confidence of the peo- 
 
800 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 
 pie and it is said become a sot; perhaps something 
 worse." (Arthur Campbell to Wm. Davies: Calendar 
 of Virginia State Papers, vol. Ill, pp. 337, 338.) But 
 his having "become a sot," it will be noticed is only 
 hearsay and beyond question was not true; though it 
 is evident that the General's intemperance brought on 
 many troubles (mostly of them imaginary, however), 
 which increased his desire to give up his command. 
 
 During the next three years, his habit made in- 
 roads upon both his body and mind. It is painful to 
 read his maudlin talk about his own adventures, in- 
 dulged in while acting as one of the United States 
 Commissioners in negotiating the treaty of January 
 31, 1786, with the savages at Fort Finney. {Memoirs 
 of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, vol. VII, 
 pp. 216-218) 
 
 "The cruel ingratitude," says a Western writer 
 who visited Clark when poverty and sickness had 
 claimed him as their own, "to which this distinguished 
 soldier was doomed, for which no justifiable cause can 
 be assigned, and the comparative poverty which made 
 him almost a pensioner on the bounty of his relatives, 
 was more than he could bear. It drove him to in- 
 temperance. He sought the inebriating bowl, as if it 
 contained the water of Lethe, and could obliterate from 
 his memory the wrongs he had endured." But Clark 
 was not driven to intemperance by "cruel ingratitude" : 
 and "the wrongs he had endured" were mostly imag- 
 inary. 
 
 It may be stated in connection with this much-to- 
 be-deplored habit of Clark, that most of the errors in 
 his Memoir generally attributed (perhaps charitably) 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 801 
 
 to his old age, are directly traceable (as we have al- 
 ready hinted) to his intemperance. 
 
 This cloud "which darkened more than half ot 
 Clark's Hfe, is a sad subject to dwell upon; and it is 
 creditable to the writers of Western history who have 
 spoken of it that they have done so in a spirit of kind- 
 ness. 
 
 "Clark's later life is little to his credit, but it 
 should not be forgotten that he rendered the American 
 cause anil civilization a very great service." {Hins- 
 dale: The Old Northzvest, pp. 157,158.) 
 
 NOTE CXLIL 
 
 AN ERRONEOUS TRADITION AS TO CLARK S ATTACHMENT 
 FOR THE DAUGHTER OF THE SPANISH GOVERNOR. 
 
 The following tradition mentioned by Draper in 
 his article on Clark in Appleton's Cyclopaedia of 
 American Biography^ is wholly erroneous ; for as a 
 matter of fact, Clark never visited St. Louis to aid in 
 its defense or to relieve it from an Indian attack: 
 "The freedom of Clark's early life had unfitted him 
 for domestic happiness, and he never married. A tra- 
 dition is preserved in the family that he was fascin- 
 ated with the beauty of the daughter of the Spanish 
 governor of St. Louis when he relieved that post 
 from an Indian attack. Observing a want of courage 
 in the governor, he broke off his addresses to the girl, 
 saying to his friends: T will not be the father of a 
 race of cowards.' " 
 
 *51 
 
802 HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 
 NOTE CXLIIL 
 
 PORTRAITS OF GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. 
 
 Concerning the so-called "J^^vis portrait" of 
 Clark, the late talented and much-lamented librarian 
 of Newberry library says : 
 
 "The only portrait [from life] of him [Clark] 
 extant was painted by John W. Jarvis, an English 
 artist, who began business in New York in 1801, and 
 painted the heads of many distinguished Americans. 
 He made a trip West and South, during which he 
 made many portraits. The picture of Clark represents, 
 him about sixty years of age. The best engraving of 
 it is in the National Portrait ,Gallery, IV., with a 
 biography. It is the frontispiece of Butler's Kentucky, 
 1834, of Dillon's Indiana, 1859, and in the Cincinnati 
 edition of Clark's Campaign; and wood-cuts are in 
 Lossing's Field-Book, II, 287; Magazine of Western 
 History, II, 133; Harper's Magazine, XXVIII, 302; 
 [Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 
 article "George Rogers Clark"] ; etc. It has been 
 many times reproduced with a modification of details. 
 There have been many rumors as to the existence of 
 a portrait taken earlier in life. Every alleged portrait 
 of an earlier date which I could hear of, I have looked 
 up, and find they are all copies or modifications of the 
 "Jarvis picture." (Dr. Wm. Frederick Poole, in "The 
 West" — Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of 
 America, vol. VI, p. 733, foot-note 4.) 
 
 Under a poor engraving in the Magazine of 
 American History, vol. XXI, p. 387, is the following; 
 
HISTORY OF CLARK'S CONQUEST, ETC. 803 
 
 "George Rogers Ci^ark, 
 After the .only oil painting of Clark from life 
 
 in existence. 
 
 [In possession of the Vincennes University, 
 
 Vincennes, Indiana]." 
 
 We have in this the assertion not only that the 
 portrait of Clark in the University of Vincennes is 
 from life, but that it is the only one in existence thus 
 painted. The statement is made by E. A. Bryan, in 
 an article entitled "Indiana's First Settlement." Now, 
 as it is evident the Vincennes painting is not the one, 
 executed by Jarvis, it follows that (if what is said 
 by that writer be a certainty), not only another por- 
 trait was taken from life, but the Jarvis painting is 
 not in existence. But can all this be substantiated? 
 We think not. It is safe to conclude that the Vin- 
 cennes portrait is not genuine. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbott, David, Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor at Vincennes, 49, 106. 
 
 Battles— Blue Licks, 492; Point 
 Pleasant, 4-. 
 
 Bayley, 7lL 
 
 Seaubien, Charles — Affords Clark 
 an escape, 297; Arrives at De- 
 troit, 175; Army of, captures 
 Boone, 92; Hamilton sends 
 message by, 248; obtains in- 
 formation from, '663. 
 
 Beaver Dam, 210. 
 
 Bird, Captain, arrives at De- 
 troit, 648. 
 
 Blue Licks — British Victory at, 
 492; Boone captured at, 570. 
 
 Boone, Daniel, Capture of, 91, 
 93, 570; Escape of, 94, 199; Set- 
 tles in Kentucky, 3; Letter 
 from brother of, 757. 
 
 Boonesborough — Clark defends, 
 553; Indians attack, 63, 199. 
 
 Bowman, John, 64, 98, 100, 103, 
 776; At Fort Gage, 110; at Vin- 
 cennes, 327; at Capture of Vin- 
 cennes, 341; Captures Illinois 
 towns, 123; Clark orders to 
 Kaskaskia, 437; Clark sends dis- 
 patches to, 131; Commandant at 
 Harrodstown, 374; Describes 
 Kaskaskia surrender, 114; Pro- 
 vides supplies for Clark, 277; 
 Reaches Kaskaskia, 294; Re- 
 turns from Cahokia, 137. 
 
 Bowman, Joseph, 779; In Illi- 
 nois Campaign, 87, 89, 90; Let- 
 ter to Henry concerning Clark's 
 releasing prisoners, 760; On 
 Rocheblave's imprisonment, 628; 
 Promoted to Major, 270. 
 "Bowman's Journal," 765; Errors 
 
 in, 706; Extracts from, 718. 
 British — Account of Clark's 
 treatment of Rocheblave, 641; of 
 fate of war party, 722; Alarm 
 
 (805 
 
 at American stieeesg, 649; AU 
 liance with Indians, 41; Ask for 
 fe-enf of cements J 458; Clark pro- 
 poses attacking posts of, 58, 62; 
 Clark sends prisoners of, to De- 
 troit, 758; ridicules in presence 
 of Indians, 142; threatens to 
 put into irons officers, 739; 
 treatment of, 79; Disappoint- 
 ments of, 480; Encroachments of, 
 1 ; Excitement over Clark's cam- 
 paign, 460; Great Lakes held by, 
 15; Imprisoned at Williamsburg, 
 400; Indians incited by, 10, 14, 
 16, 17, 33, 150, 168; Indian pol- 
 icy of, 51; Interest of in North- 
 west Territory, vi; March of 
 prisoners from Falls of Ohio to 
 Chesterfield, 744; Number of 
 prisoners taken by Clark, 742; 
 Prisoners taken by, 744; Protest 
 to Hamilton's imprisonment, 
 387; Receive news of fall of 
 Vincennes, 374; Regret for 
 Hamilton's imprisonment, 457; 
 Treatment of American prison- 
 ers, 408, 
 
 Broadhead, Daniel, Succeeds Mc- 
 intosh, 266. 
 
 Brule, Butterfield, publishes book 
 on, xvii. 
 
 Butler, Mann, On Clark's plan oi 
 government, 522; On Clark's re-' 
 cruiting troubles, 564. 
 
 Butterfield, Consul Wiltshire, Be- 
 queaths MSS., iii; Character of, 
 ix; Death of, ix; Domestic life 
 of, xi-xix; Early life of, ix; 
 Historical writings of, xii; 
 Literary ability of, x; Profes- 
 sional life of, xii; Sketch of, 
 ix; Studies law, xii; Wash- 
 ington- Irvine correspondence 
 published by, xiv. 
 
 ) 
 
806 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cahokia— Bowman captures, 123; 
 Bowman returns from, 137; 
 Clark holds Indian Council at, 
 140, 635; Clark marches to relief 
 of, 490; Clark's plan of with- 
 drawing garrison from, 2S4. 
 Campbell, John, 101. 
 Carleton, General— Incites In- 
 dians, 11, 19, 89; Indian Coun- 
 cil held by, 44; Rocheblave's 
 letter to, 136. 
 Celeron, De— Clark attempts cap- 
 ture of, 193; Hamilton declares 
 unfitness of, 242; Hamilton's ac- 
 count of surrender of, 195; In- 
 cites Indians, 190; Indian em- 
 bassy of, 157, 158; Return to 
 Hamilton, 202; Suspected of 
 treachry, 206. 
 Cerre, Gabriel, 114, 120, 121, 122; 
 British accou-nt of Clark's treat- 
 ment of, 641; Clark accuses of 
 inciting Indians, 132; Clark's 
 treatment of, 625. 
 Chapoton, Jean, Friendship of, 
 
 for Americans, 175. 
 Chesne, Capt., 344. 
 Chesterfield, British prisoners 
 taken to, 744; Hamilton re- 
 moved to, 412, 
 Chevelier, Louis, Aids Hamilton, 
 232, 236; Indian influence of, 
 182. 
 Chiefs— "Big Door," 191; Black- 
 bird, 14S; Conrachon, r47; Ki- 
 naytounak, 147; Tobac, 662. 
 "Chillicothe"— Boone at, 92, 94. 
 Clark, George Rogers— Activity 
 of, in Illinois, 281; Appearance 
 of, in Vincennes, 714; Apple 
 toddy episode, 714; Arrives at 
 Vincennes, 472; As a horse- 
 trader. 69, 541; Asks for pow- 
 der, 521; Asks for provisions, 
 449; Asks for reinforcements, 
 302; Assigns commandants at 
 posts, 482; Attachment for 
 Spanish woman, 801; Begins 
 movement in Illinois Campaign, 
 86, 90; Builds Ft. Jefferson, 490; 
 Butterfield MSS., on conquest 
 
 of, xviii; Buys lottery ticket, 
 545; Commissioned Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, 74; Commissioner to 
 Ohio Indians, 498; Connection 
 with Genet affair, 508; Crosses 
 Kaskaskia River, 598; Demands 
 surrender of Vincennes, 346; 
 Desertions from army of, 505; 
 Diary of, his trip back to Vir- 
 ginia, 70; Diary of, while Ma- 
 jor of Kentucky militia, 56; 
 Disappointment of, concerning 
 reinforcements, 455; Discretion- 
 ary powers given to, 560; Dissi- 
 pation of, 506; Distance trav- 
 eled, expedition to Vincennes, 
 704; Dunmore's War, in, 3; 
 Early life of, 3; Encourages his 
 men, 709; Erects no post at 
 mouth of Kentucky, 574; Eulogy 
 on, 555; Extracts from diary of, 
 537, 544; Families follow expe- 
 dition of, 567; Force of, (*i 
 leaving Corn Island, 581; Ham- 
 ilton's presence ascertained by, 
 2S6; Hamilton's second meeting 
 with, 725; Henry's instructions 
 to, 274; Hunters captured by, 
 589; Importance of expedition 
 of, v; Indian attack on the 
 Licking, 37; Indian conspiracy 
 to carry off, 632; Intemperance 
 of, 799; Interview with Black- 
 bird, 637; Journal of, on tak- 
 ing Vincennes, 757; Journey 
 of, from Kentucky to Virginia, 
 31; Kaskaskia, returns to, 764; 
 Kentuckians in camp^aign of, 
 577; Kentucky Indian invasion, 
 on, 499; Kentucky troops, com- 
 manded by, 53, 505; Last "Gen- 
 eral orders" of, 779; Leaves 
 Kaskaskia for Vincennes, 307; 
 Leaves Kentucky, 68; Letters 
 of, to Capt. Lernoult, 760; Let- 
 ters of, to Col. Harrison, 755; 
 Letters of, to George Mason, 
 540; Letters of, to Patrick 
 Henry, 754; MSS. on, vi; Per- 
 manently made a hero, 537; 
 Personal appearance and death 
 
INDEX. 
 
 807 
 
 of, oOS; Plans for government, 
 23, 28, 522; Pledges given to, 
 561; Portraits of, S02; Principal 
 persons with Mncennes expedi- 
 tion, 306; Promoted to Col- 
 onelcy, 270; Proposes attacking 
 British Posts, 5S; Proposes cam- 
 paign against Illinois, 74, 76; 
 Purpose in leaving Kentucky, 
 17, 77, 546: Reaches \^'illiams- 
 burg, 71; Receives present of 
 land from Indians, 4S1, 4S6; Re- 
 cruiting troubles of, 564; Re- 
 fuses Hamilton's articles of 
 capitulation, 359; Relinquishes 
 idea of attacking , Detroit, 4S1; 
 Replies to Hamilton, 354; Re- 
 sults of conquest of, 7S9; Resig- 
 nation of, from army, 493, 496; 
 Return with powder to Ken- 
 tucky, 37; Second visit of, to 
 KentuckT, 21, 25, 26, '27; Se- 
 cures powder from Virginia, 34; 
 Sends spies into Illinois coun- 
 try, 59, 550; Settlement of ac- 
 count, as Major, 542; Speech 
 of, to Kaskaskians, 616; Super- 
 intends survey of lands, 495; 
 Sword presented to, 4S5, 7S2; 
 Todd asks, for assistance, 501; 
 Too much credit given to, for 
 Harrodsburg meeting, 525; 
 
 Treatment of prisoners, 36S; 
 Treaty of Ft. Mcintosh, 497; 
 Troubles with guide on march 
 from Kaskaskia, 595; Uses Vigo 
 at ^'incennes, 6S9; Virginia 
 Legislative Act for campaign, 
 557; Virginia's treatment of, 
 79S; Visits Kentucky, 4, 511; 
 Wheeling and Pittsburg, at, 
 56S; ^^'rites Gov. Henry about 
 Detroit, 446; \\'rites Gov. Henry 
 about his success, 267; Writes 
 Gov. Henry about lands for sol- 
 diers, 42S. 
 
 Clark's Campaign — Cost of, 455; 
 Results of, for government, 43"*. 
 
 Clark's Journal, 772. 
 
 Clark's Memoir, 512. 
 
 "Clarksville" in honor of Clark, 
 497. 
 
 Connolly, John, Prepares to in- 
 vade Northwest, 7. 
 
 Corn Island— Clark on, 576; 
 Clark's defensive works on, 5S4; 
 Families of soldiers left on, 5So. 
 
 De Leybe — Clark's conviviality 
 with, 640. 
 
 De Jean, Philip, 215, 73S; Pa- 
 roled at Williamsburg, 407; 
 Prisoner in Virginia, 37S; Vir- 
 ginia Council's accusations 
 against, 3S0, 
 
 De Peyster, Captain — Arouses In- 
 dians, 14; Clark's Campaign, in, 
 462; Complains of non-reinforce- 
 ment, 477; Describes Clark's 
 treatment of Rocheblave, 643; 
 Ignorant of Hamilton's Illinois 
 plans, 1S7; Indian negotiations 
 of, 231, 233; Instructs Langlade 
 and Gautier, 676; Learns of 
 Clark's intended attack, 475; 
 Prepares for Clark's attack, 476, 
 (See Detroit) ; Se>nds envoys to 
 Indians, 1S4; Reports Clark's 
 success to Hamilton, ISl. 
 
 Detroit — Anticipates Clark's at- 
 tack, 474; Boone at, 92; British 
 treat with Indians at, 16; 
 Clark's anxiety to march 
 against, 775; Clark's plan for 
 capture of, S3, 430, 445, 470; 
 Clark's second plan for reduc- 
 tion of, 491; Clark sends Brit- 
 ish prisoners to, 759; Clark 
 sends troops for reduction of, 
 46S; Date of Hamilton's arrival 
 at, 516; De Peyster at,- 237; De 
 Peyster fortifies, 465; Errors 
 concerning Hamilton's force at, 
 673; Hamilton holds Indian 
 Council at, 153; Hamilton's 
 force at, 643; Henry advises 
 Clark to attack, 279; Indians 
 wintered at, 40; Reinforcements 
 for, 459; Weakness of garrison 
 at, 176. 
 
808 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Dodge, John — Hamilton on, 406; 
 Interviews savages at Sandusky, 
 517; Narrative of, when prisoner 
 of British, 744; Receives word 
 of imprisonment of Hamilton, 
 386; Visits Williamsburg, 386, 
 392, 403. 
 
 Dunmore, Lord — Incites Indians, 
 168; Recommends certain Tories, 
 43. 
 
 Dunmore's War — Clark in, 4. 
 
 Embarrass River— Clark's march 
 along, 314; Clark's route from 
 Kaskaskia to, 708. 
 
 Falls of Ohio— Clark's fort at, 
 491, 781; Clark's rendezvous at, 
 565; Fate of war party returning 
 from, 719; Fiction concerning 
 Clark's military post at, 580; 
 March of British prisoners 
 from, to Chesterfield, 744. 
 
 Forbes, Road of, 1. 
 
 Forts— Bowman, 138, 188; Clark 
 assigns commandants at, 482; 
 Clark erects, 138, 188; Erected 
 at mouth of Ohio, 80, 102; Falls 
 of Ohio, at, 781; Gage, 18, 138; 
 Gage, capture of, 109, 598; 
 Hamilton's reasons for sur- 
 rendering, 727; Henry, Indians 
 attack, 48; Jefferson, Clark 
 erects, 490; Laurens, Mcintosh 
 builds, 266; Massac, 589; Mas- 
 sac, Clark at, 103, 106; Miami, 
 Hamilton sends force to, 261 ; 
 Michilimackinac, 13; Nelson, 
 Clark erects, 491; Patrick Hen- 
 ry, garrison at, 438; Pitt, 7; 
 Pitt, Clark at, 91, 530; Pitt, 
 Virginians garrison, 48; Ran- 
 dolph, 96; Sackville, 138; Ac- 
 cidental explosion of cartridges 
 at, 728; American rescue, 130; 
 Articles of surrender of, 725; 
 Attack and surrender of, 729; 
 Building of, 49; Changed to 
 "Ft. Patrick Henry," 364; 
 Clark hears news from, 316; 
 Clark's description of surrender 
 of, 731; Clark takes possession 
 of, 728; » Hamilton's force at. 
 
 681; Hamilton's plan for de- 
 fense of, 246; Hamilton 
 strengthens, 252, 262; Helm 
 takes charge of, 189; Surrender 
 of, 362, 668; Williams escapes 
 from 709; St. Joseph, 478; Wea, 
 213. 
 
 French — Butterfield's historical 
 writings on, xiii; Clark on alli- 
 ance with, 450; Clark receives 
 news of alliance with U. S., 
 579; Hamilton's opinions on, 
 160; Henry's , instructions con- 
 cerning, 275; Henry's sugges- 
 tions concerning, 270; Number 
 of colonists of, 213; Traders, 
 complain to Helm, concerning 
 goods, 192. 
 
 Frenchman — Clark orders death 
 of, 353; Joins Clark's torces, 
 319. 
 
 Gautier, Lieut. — Commands In- 
 dians, 186; De Peyster's in- 
 structions to, 676; Indian nego- 
 tiations of, 234. 
 
 Germain, Lord George — Letter of, 
 to Carleton, approving his In- 
 dian plan, 41. 
 
 Gibault, Father Pierre, 784; Ab- 
 solution for Clark's men, 307; 
 Aids in winning Vincennes, 129, 
 617; Consults with Clark, 115, 
 119; Diplomacy of, at Vin- 
 cennes, 657; Hamilton's hatred 
 for, 288; Intervenes for Vigo, 
 691; Kaskaskia, at 287. 
 
 Girtys, The— Butterfield's history 
 of, XV ; Join British, 467. 
 
 Government — Clark's plan of, 522. 
 
 Gunpowder — Clark and Jones ask 
 for, 521; Clark's supply at Vin- 
 cennes, 716; Transmission of to 
 Kentucky settlement, 528. 
 
 Haldimand, Frederick — Apprised 
 of Clark's plans on Detroit, 480; 
 Commander of Quebec, vi; 
 Concern for Hamilton at Wil- 
 liamsburg, 408; Criticises Ham- 
 ilton, at Vinceanes, 678; Gover- 
 nor of Quebec, 155; Hamilton 
 writes to, 398; Hamilton's pa- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 809 
 
 role, on, 424; Plans to retake 
 Kaskaskia, 163; Requests De 
 Peyster to get Indian aid, 233; 
 Retaliates for Hamilton's im- 
 prisonment, 413. 
 Hamilton, Col— Accused of in- 
 citing Indians, 379; American 
 prisoners taken by, 216; Apple 
 Toddy incident, 715; Army of, 
 180; Army of. Little River at, 
 207; Army, strength oi , 207; 
 Attacks Vincennes, 220; Au- 
 thorized to employ Indians, 
 534; Begins march, 181; Boone 
 prisoner of, 93; Capitulations 
 submitted to Clark; 358; Clark 
 paroles, 371; Clark suspects of 
 inciting Indians, 282; Clark's 
 reason for capturing, 697; 
 Clark's second meeting with, 
 725; Clark's treatment of white 
 prisoner, on, 740; Commandant 
 at Detroit, 12, 16; Complains of 
 treatment at Williamsburg, 385; 
 Date of arrival at Detroit, 516; 
 Death of, 424; Describes impris- 
 onment, 375, 396, 421; Describes 
 Wabash Portage, 208; Effect of 
 capture of, 461; Errors con- 
 cerning force of, 673; Force of, 
 at Detroit, 648; Force of, at Ft. 
 Sackville, 681; Force of, at 
 Vincennes, 239, 677; Goes to 
 Montreal, 46; Haldimand criti- 
 cises at Vincennes, 678; Holds 
 Indian Council, 173; Imprison- 
 ment, on, 410; Incites Indians, 
 39, 150, 153, 647; Indian policy 
 of, 169; Indians aid, 166, 178; 
 Indians sent into Kentucky by, 
 65; Jefferson accuses of inciting 
 Indians, 391; Jefferson on im- 
 prisonment of, 405; Jefferson re- 
 fuses exchange for, 414; Journey 
 of, from Williamsburg, 418; 
 Learns of Clark's success, 183; 
 Lieutenant Governor at Quebec, 
 424; Marches against Illinois, 
 284; Marches to Kaskaskia, 295; 
 Marches against Mcintosh, 283; 
 March of, to Vincennes, 652; 
 
 Oath administered to citizens of 
 Vincennes by, 674; Officers of, 
 650; Official report of, 748; 
 Plans for campaign, 170; Plans 
 to aid Haldimand, 161; Plans to 
 retake Kaskaskia, 162; Prisoner 
 at Falls of Ohio, 374; Prisoner 
 in Virginia, 378; Proposals to 
 Clark at Ft. Sackville, 718; Rea- 
 son for fall of Vincennes, by, 
 364; Reinforcements for, 213; 
 Remains at Vincennes, 230; Re- 
 moved from Williamsburg to 
 Chesterfield, 412; Replies to 
 Clark's demand for surrender, 
 348; Sails for England, 423; 
 Sends force to Falls of Ohio, 
 260; Signs parole, 415; South- 
 ern Indians favorable to, 246; 
 Ulterior designs of, in Illinois 
 Campaign, 678; Urges Wabash 
 Indians to assist British, 158; 
 Vigo's information concerning, 
 696; Vincennes, at, 334, 345; 
 Winters at Vincennes, 239; 
 Why he wintered at Vincennes, 
 675; Writes to Haldimand, con- 
 cerning Indian allies, 159. 
 Hand, General — Commander of 
 Western Dep't., 265; Furnishes 
 supplies in Illinois Campaign, 91. 
 Harmar, Josiah, 504. 
 Harrison, Benj. — Clark relieves 
 of command, 496; Clark writes 
 to, 429, 755. 
 Harrod, Capt., 87, 90, 103, 563. 
 Harrod, James, 2. 
 Harrodsburg — Attacked by In- 
 dians, 63; Clark's meeting of 
 citizens at, 26; Meeting of June 
 6, 1776, 520; Mythical account 
 of Indian sieges of, 535; Made 
 county seat, 53. 
 Harrodstown — Hamilton prisoner 
 
 at, 374. 
 Hay, Major John, 259, 733; Jef- 
 ferson paroles, 416; Letter of, 
 to Capt. Brehm, 644; Lieutenanr 
 Governor of Detroit, 424; Taken 
 to Williamsburg, 399; Vin- 
 cennes, sent to capture, 218. 
 
610 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Helm, Capt. Leonard, 103, 732; 
 Apple Toddy incident, 714; At- 
 tachment of Tobac's son, 680; 
 Bancroft's views concerning 
 speech of, 664; Captures St, 
 Martin's Convoy, 736; Clark's 
 conference with, 355; Council 
 with Delawares, 444; Council 
 with Piankeshaws, 6o5; Fiction 
 concerning, 667; Force of, sent 
 to Vincennes, 653; Hamilton 
 sends flag of truce to, 351; 
 Holds council with Indians, 191; 
 Illinois campaign, in, 88, 89, 90; 
 Paroled at Vincennes, 241; Re- 
 turn of, to Vincennes, 367; 
 Sent to intercept British at 
 Miami, 366; Sent to Ft. Sack- 
 ville, 188; Surrenders at Vin- 
 cennes, 223; Treats with Wa- 
 bash Indians, 190. 
 
 Henderson, Richard — Kentucky 
 settled by, 2. 
 
 Henderson's Land Company — Ac- 
 tions of, 23. 
 
 Henry, Moses — Clark receives 
 news by, 332; Vincennes, at, 
 669. 
 
 Henry, Patrick — Clark's campaign, 
 on, 451; Clark's letter to, 754; 
 Errors in private instructions 
 given to Clark, 560; Favors 
 Transylvania, 31; Gives discre- 
 tionary powers to Clark, 560; 
 Instructions to Clark, 81, 274, 
 685; Instructions to Todd, 271; 
 Orders Clark to secure Linn and 
 Moore, 559; Part of, in Illinois 
 Campaign, 74, 76; Sends militia 
 against Indians, 54; Suggests 
 plan of campaign to Clark, 280; 
 
 • Supports Clark, 268; Writes 
 Washington concerning condi- 
 tion in West, 376. 
 
 Holston Recruits — Escape of, 574. 
 
 Horse Shoe Plain — Clark crosses, 
 320. 
 
 Hunter, W. H.— MSS. bequeathed 
 to, iii; Sketch of Butterfield by, 
 ix. 
 
 Illinois Campaign, 74, 76; Clark's 
 aides in, 87; Advance in, 97; 
 force in, 157; Last general or- 
 ders in, 779; Plan in, 82; De- 
 serters in, 100; Funds for, 85; 
 Hamilton's designs in, 679; In- 
 dians, absence of in, 126; Op- 
 position to, 97, 89; Supplies for, 
 80; Virginia profits by, 785. 
 
 Illinois — Clark captures with ease, 
 125; Hamilton's campaign in, 
 226. 
 
 Illinois County, 469; Extent of, 
 686; Virginia establishes, 269, 
 681. 
 
 Indians, 720, 787; Barbarity of, 
 168; British aided by, 463, 168, 
 162; Alliance with, 41, 462; In- 
 cite, 10, 14, 16, 17, 33, 39, 150, 
 502, 546; Offer rewards for 
 American scalps, 113; Supply 
 provisions for, 464; Cerre in 
 cites, 132; Conspiracy to cap 
 ture Clark, 632; Clark attacks 
 353; Ambush near, 296; Ab 
 sence of, in campaign of, 126 
 Commissioner to the Ohio, 498 
 Council with, at Cahokia, 140 
 145, 635; at Vincennes, 761 
 Gives treaty' letters to, 147; In 
 terview with Blackbird, 637 
 Makes peace with, 138; Party 
 of, attacked by, 37; Present 
 land to, 481, 48*6; Proclamation 
 of, to, 436; Punishment by, to, 
 633; Success with, 436, 447; 
 Treaties with, 139, 147, 434; 
 Delaware, Clark subdues, 442; 
 De Peyster's negotiations with, 
 231, 238, 476; Dodge's interview 
 with at Sandusky, 517; Fort 
 Henry attacked by, 48; Frontier 
 warfare of, 36; Depredation of, 
 on, 48; Number sent from De- 
 troit, 45, 46; Hamilton, at- 
 tempts confederation of, 242; 
 Authorized to employ, 534; 
 Council with, 173; at Detroit, 
 154; at Vincennes, 253; Forces 
 joined by,' 212; Hopes for as- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 811 
 
 sistance from, 258; Incites, 154, 
 379, 411, 647; Partizanship with, 
 741; Sends agents to, in south, 
 240, 246; Secures aid -from, 16(5, 
 171, 178; Use of, 679; Helm, 
 Council with, 188; sent as agent 
 to, 188; Henry, instructions 
 concerning, 83, 271, 274, 279; 
 Illinois Campaign, position of, 
 in, 663; Illinois, The, 20; 
 Moore and Linn go to, 535; 
 Morgan designs against, 518; 
 Jefferson, accuses Hamilton ot 
 inciting, 391; Kentucky, Cam- 
 paign of, against, 503; Forts of, 
 attacked by, 63, 65, 66; Invaded 
 by, 35, 54, 65, 66; .Threatened 
 by, 498; Miami, The, Clark, 
 marches against, 492; Pennsyl- 
 vania, depredations of, in, 95; 
 Pottowattamies, The, enlist 
 with British, 477; Northwest, 
 The, 2; Shawnee, The, Clark 
 punishes, 482, 490; Spanish in- 
 fluence on, 155; Sieges of Har- 
 risburg and Logan Forts by, 
 535; Traders killed by, 442; Vin- 
 cennes, at, 130, 222, 334, 225; 
 Wabash, The, Clark's failure 
 against, 507; Asked to help 
 British, 158; Wabash Land 
 Company purchase land from, 
 665. 
 Jefferson, Thomas— Hamilton pa- 
 roled by, 416; Hamilton's im- 
 prisonment, on, 388, 405; Ham- 
 ilton's refusal of parole, on, 409; 
 Illinois Campaign, on, 85; Let- 
 ter of, to Clark, 772; Opinion 
 of Clark, 507; Pledge of, to 
 Clark, 561; Replies to Washing- 
 ton, concerning exchange of 
 Hamilton, 414; Sends Hamilton 
 to Williamsburg, 383; Suggests 
 Clark's Memoir, 512; Wash- 
 ington's letter to, concerning 
 Hamilton's imprisonment, 402; 
 Writes to Lernoult concerning 
 Hamilton's imprisonment, 389; 
 Writes to Washington concern- 
 ing Clark's campaign, 455; 
 
 Writes to Washington concern- 
 ing Clark's attack on Detroit, 
 777. 
 
 Jesuits, at Kaskaskia, 604. 
 
 Jones, John Gabriel — Asks for 
 powder, 521; Suppression of 
 name in Kentucky history^ 524; 
 Illinois Campaign, in, 101; Kas- 
 kaskia Campaign, in, 607, 609; 
 Military record of, 621; Return 
 of, from Kaskaskia, 620. 
 
 Kentuckians in Clark's army, 101, 
 577, 786. 
 
 Kentucky, (See Transylvania), 
 29; Approbation of Clark's 
 Campaign in, 455; Asks protec- 
 tion from Virginia, 22; British 
 invade, 490; Clark and Jones 
 carry gunpowder to, 531; Clark's 
 idea of political situation in, 
 797; Clark's second visit to, 21, 
 25, 26, 27; County of, organized, 
 35, 53, 523; County seat of, 53; 
 Delegates from to Virginia Con- 
 vention, 29; During Illinois 
 Campaign, 91, 199; Growth of, 
 94; Gunpowder voted for, 528; 
 Indian invasion of, threatened, 
 498; Indian roads in, 35; Result 
 of petition to Virginia, 33, 35; 
 Settlement of, 2. 
 
 Kaskaskia, 8, 445; British account 
 of capture of, 157; Capture of, 
 599, 612; Clark's council with 
 inhabitants of, 615; Clark's de- 
 parture for Vincennes, 307; 
 Clark's government at, 134, 149, 
 151; Clark's march to, 108, 585; 
 Clark's orders to burn, 292; 
 Clark's prisoners at, 120; Clark's 
 proposition to attack, 78, 81; 
 Clark reaches, 109; Clark's re- 
 turn to, 764; Clark's return to, 
 from Vincennes, 769; Clark's re- 
 turn to, from Indian Council, 
 148; Clark's route from the Ohio 
 to, 591; Clark's start for, from 
 Vincennes, 438; De Peyster's 
 account of capture of, 160; De- 
 sertions at, 467; Fortifications 
 at, 465; Hamilton plans to re- 
 
812 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 take, 162; Hamilton sends In- 
 dians toward, 243; Hamilton 
 sends scouts to, 241; Hamilton's 
 march to, 295; History of, 602; 
 Military road to, 592; Montgom- 
 ery arrives at, 454; Reinforce- 
 ments for, 432; Spies report to 
 Clark concerning strength of, 
 60; Suffering of Clark's soldiers 
 on march to, 597; Surrender to 
 Clark, 113, 124; Terms of sur- 
 render, 118; Wabash Indians 
 unsuccessful in march to, 249. 
 
 Kaskaskia River— Clark crosses, 
 308. 
 
 Kennedy, Patrick— Clark's Com- 
 missary, 313. 
 
 Kenton, Simon— Capture of Vin- 
 cennes, at, 131. 
 
 Lamothe, Capt.— Capture of Vin- 
 cennes, at, 342; Hamilton sends 
 out, 336; Imprisonment of, 378, 
 422; Jefferson's accusations 
 against, 393; Paroled at Wil- 
 liamsburg, 407; Virginia Coun- 
 cil's accusation against, 381; 
 Volunteers of, complain, 349. 
 
 Lands— Bounty, to Tories, 42, 44; 
 Clark's soldiers, for, 486, 487; 
 Clark writes Henry, concerning, 
 428; Distribution of, for Clark's 
 soldiers, 494; Indians deed to 
 Clark, 777; Indians present to 
 Clark, 481; Provided for Clark's 
 soldiers, 451. 
 
 Langlade, Capt. Chas.— De Peys- 
 ter's instructions to, 676; Indian 
 negotiations of, 234; Recruits 
 force of Indians, 700; Services 
 of, to British, 187. 
 
 Lebyba, Don— Friendship of, for 
 Clark, 151. 
 
 Le Font, Dr. — Assists Clark in 
 securing Vincennes, 129. 
 
 Lernoult, Capt.— Aids Hamilton, 
 648; Clark's letter to, 760; Ham- 
 ilton sends to Ft. Miami, 176; 
 Sent to Western Posts, 47; 
 Writes Jefferson concerning 
 Hamilton's imprisonment, 389. 
 
 Linn, Capt. William, 101; Carries 
 letter to Clark, 519; Governor 
 orders Clark to arrest, 559. 
 
 Liquors — Hamilton takes up at 
 Vincennes, 245. 
 
 Logan, Benj. — Asks for Clark's 
 assistance, 499. 
 
 Logan's Fort— Mythical account of 
 Indian sieges of, 535. 
 
 Lord, Captain — Indian policy of, 
 51. 
 
 Louisville — Clark at, 98; Clark 
 leaves, 103; Founding of, 135. 
 
 Maisonville, Francis — Capture of, 
 337; Suicide of, 412, 422; Re- 
 turns to Ft. Sackville, 263; 
 Treatment; accorded to, 717. 
 
 Mason, Goorge — Clark's letter to, 
 540; Pledge to Clark, 561, 785. 
 
 Maumee— Hamilton on, 172, 203. 
 
 McBeath — Hamilton compliments, 
 422. 
 
 McCarty, Capt. — Makes canoe for 
 Clark, 314; Re-inforces Clark, 
 305. 
 
 Mcintosh, Lachlan — Commander 
 at Pittsburg, 265. 
 
 McKee, Capt. Alexander — Indian 
 interpreter, 649; Joins Hamil- 
 ton's army, 209; Scout of Ham- 
 ilton, 174; Sent to Shawnee In- 
 dians, 262. 
 
 Miamis The — Importance of to 
 British, 176. 
 
 Miamitown — Hamilton arrives at,. 
 205. 
 
 Militia — Clark raises for Illinois 
 Campaign, 77; Illinois Cam- 
 paign, in, 99; Increase of, in 
 Kentucky, 67; Montgomery in- 
 trusted to raise, 272; Organiza- 
 tion of, in Kentucky, 53; Pay 
 of, in Illinois Campaign, l\f; 
 Provisions for, 55; Transporta- 
 tion of, in Illinois Campaign, 
 78. 
 
 Moore and Linn — Go as militia to 
 the Illinois, 435. 
 
 Moore, Henry— Orders Clark to 
 arrest, 559. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 813 
 
 Money — Depreciation of, 448. 
 
 Montgomery, Col. John, 101, 103; 
 Carries provisions to Vincennes, 
 470; Clark sends to Virginia, 
 135; Henry's instructions to, 
 272; Joins Clark, 578; Military 
 commander of Illinois, 484; 
 Provides supplies for Clark, 
 278; Recruits reinforcements 
 for Clark, 453. 
 
 Morgan, George — Appointed In- 
 dian agent, 16, 18; Early de- 
 signs against the Illinois, 518. 
 
 Myers, William, 752, 754; Ar- 
 rives at Vincennes with message, 
 427; Carries message -for Clark, 
 431; Clark's warrant to, 756; 
 Death of, 771; Trip to Williams- 
 burg, 756. 
 
 Northwest Territory— Extent of, 
 vi. 
 
 O'Hara, Capt. — Virginia Com- 
 pany, of, 572. 
 
 Ohio River — Clark's prisoners 
 convoyed down, 373. 
 
 Pelham — Hamilton writes to, con- 
 cerning imprisonment, 395. 
 
 Phillips, Gen. — Protests against 
 Hamilton's imprisonment, 387. 
 
 Piankeshaws deed land to Clark, 
 777. 
 
 Pioneers — Discouragement of Ken- 
 tucky, 69. 
 
 Pittsburg— Clark at, 568. 
 
 Point Pleasant— Clark at, 97. 
 
 Pollock, Oliver, 782. 
 
 Potier, Pierre — British oath of al- 
 legiance by, 180. 
 
 Prairie De Roches — Clark at, 285. 
 
 Prisoners — British, jailed in Vir- 
 ginia, 378; Clark sends to Falls 
 of Ohio, 372; Clark's disposition 
 of, 433; Virginia Council passes 
 on, 383. 
 
 Quebec Act — Passage of, 13. 
 
 Quebec (Province) — Colonists in- 
 vade, 19. 
 
 Redstone — Clark's embarkation 
 from, 565. 
 
 Robinson, Andrew — Carries news 
 of Hamilton's imprisonment to 
 Dodge, 386. 
 
 Rocheblave, M., 61, 106; Arrives 
 at Williamsburg, 267; Bowman 
 on arrest of, 628; British ac- 
 count of Clark's treatment of, 
 641; Breaks parole, 411; Capture 
 of, 611; Clark places in irons, 
 120, 121; Commandant at Fort 
 Gage, 19; Helm to be exchanged 
 for, 241; Henry instructs con- 
 cerning family of, 272, 277; Im- 
 peachment of, 156, 157; Indian 
 policy of, 51; Surrenders to 
 Clarkj 111; Taken prisoner to 
 \'irginia, 135; Writes Carleton a 
 letter, 136. 
 
 Rogers Lieut. — Part taken in cap- 
 ture of Vincennes, 304. 
 
 Roosevelt, Theodore — Butterfield 
 criticises, xvi; Erroneous state- 
 ment of, in "Winning of the 
 West," 568; Failure of, to men- 
 tion Jones, 524; Feasts enjoyed 
 by Clark's men, 707; Pledges 
 to Clark, 562. 
 
 Sackville Fort — (See Forts and 
 Vincennes.) 
 
 Saline River — Clark crosses, 309. 
 
 Sandusky — Dodge's interview with 
 Indians at, 577. 
 
 Saunder, John, Losing of, 108. 
 
 Schieffelin, Jacob, 572; Asks for 
 parole, 407; Describes Hamil- 
 ton's imprisonment, 384; Escape 
 of, 411, 422. 
 
 Shelby, Col. Isaac, 56; Prepares 
 boats for expedition, 273. 
 
 Sinclair, Patrick, British Com- 
 missioner to incite Indians, 14, 
 
 Slaughter, Major, Raises force 
 for Clark, 279. 
 
 Smith, Wm. B., "563; Illinois 
 Campaign, in, 87, 90. 
 
 Smyth, John, British messenger, 
 9. 
 
 Spanish — Aid Americans, ^49; 
 Clark advised to get aid from, 
 
314 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 291; Clark's attachment to 
 daughter of governor, 801; Clark's 
 relations with, 151; Clark seizes 
 property of, 506; Friendship of, 
 for Clark, 128; Kaskaskia Cam- 
 paign, 160; Neutral position of, 
 57; Vigo, merchant, 688. 
 ^'Spoils" of Vincennes, 370. 
 St. Clair, William— Imprisoned at 
 
 Williamsburg, 410. 
 St. Croix, 721; Killing of, 353. 
 St. Joseph— British erect fort at, 
 
 478. 
 St. Martin, Adhemar, 651; Clark 
 intercepts, 366; Helm captures 
 convoy of, 736. 
 St. Philips— Bowman captures, 
 
 123. 
 Stuart, John, Indian agent for 
 
 Hamilton, 240. 
 Todd, Col. John, 449, 775; Ac- 
 companies Clark, 606; Arrives 
 at Kaskaskia, 453; Henry's in- 
 structions to, 270; Indians de- 
 feat at Blue Licks, 532; Lieu- 
 tenant of Illinois County, 269; 
 Organizes Civil government for 
 Kaskaskia, 469. 
 Todd, Levi, writes Governor 
 Henry concerning Indian at- 
 tacks , 501. 
 Towles, Col., offered in exchange 
 
 for Hamilton, 415. 
 Treaty of Ft. Mcintosh, 497. 
 Transylvania — (See Kentucky) 
 Asks protection from Virginia, 
 22; Clark opposes, 6. 
 Transylvania Company, 1, 527. 
 Vigo, Col. Francis, 784; Arrives 
 at Kaskaskia, 298; Clark's er- 
 rors as to information from, 
 694; Visits Vincennes, 586. 
 Vincennes — Abbott, Lieutenant- 
 Governor at, 49; Accepts Vir- 
 ginia's protection, 624; Ameri- 
 cans attack, 265; British force 
 at, 198, 299; Capture of, 130; 
 Campaign against, 440; Citizens 
 take British oath, 674, 228; Con- 
 dition, after Clatk's capture, 
 
 665; Clark*s account of capture 
 of, 338; Appoints officers for, 
 438; Army at, 326; Arrangement 
 before leaving, 780; Conceives 
 attack on, 128, 301; Entry into, 
 712, 330; Establishes garrison at, 
 506; Gets news from, 106; Force 
 against, 702; Journal of taking 
 of, 757; Leads Kentucky troops 
 to, 505; Leaves Kaskaskia for, 
 307; Leaves for Falls of Ohio, 
 484; March from Kaskaskia to, 
 703, 322; Plan for attacking, 586; 
 Prepares to attack, 303, 59; 
 Proclamation to inhabitants of, 
 325, 328; Returns to Kaskaskia, 
 769; Second march to, 775; 
 Sends spies to, 551; Father Gi- 
 bault aids Clark at, 617; Feasts 
 of Clark's men on expedition to, 
 707; Fiction concerning Clark's 
 appearance at, 714; Fort at, 138; 
 , Garrison at, 472; Hamilton 
 agrees to surrender to Clark, 
 361; Captures, 221, 670, 224; De- 
 termines to recapture force of, 
 at, 677; Holds Indian Council 
 at, 253; March of, to, 652; Sub- 
 mits articles of capitulation for, 
 358; Winters at, 239, 675; Helm 
 at, 653, 672; Henry announces 
 capture of, to Virginia Legisla- 
 ture, 377; Importance of surren- 
 der of, 735; Militia of, take 
 British oath, 244; Population of, 
 229; Provisions for Clark's cam- 
 paign against, 702; Scene in, at 
 Clark's attack, 332;^ Willing ar- 
 rives at, 752. 
 "Vincennes Trace," 308. 
 Virginia — Cedes Northwest to 
 general government, 487, 798; 
 Motives in sending Clark 
 on campaign, 554; Profited by 
 Clark's campaign, 785; Treat- 
 ment of Clark by, 798; Sup- 
 ports Clark, 268. 
 Virginia Legislature— Action taken 
 on Clark's campaign, 269; Act 
 authorizing campaign, 557; ClarK 
 
INDEX. 
 
 815 
 
 voted sword by, 485, 782; Ham- 
 ilton's part in %Yar received by, 
 379. 
 
 Virginia Company, O'Hara's, 572. 
 
 Volunteers— Clark's discharge of, 
 
 368. 
 
 Wabash, Little— Americans recon- 
 noitre upon, 197; Clark crosses, 
 310, 707; Hamilton's journey 
 adown, 211. 
 
 Wabash Land Company, 665. 
 
 Warrior Island, 711. 
 
 Washington, George — Hamilton 
 discussed by, 401, 408, 413, ii7; 
 Jefferson writes ^ concerning 
 Clark, 777; Jefferson writes con- 
 cerning Hamilton, 388. 
 
 Washington - Irvine Correspond- 
 ence, xiv. 
 
 Wea — Description of, 644; Helm 
 captures, 194; Indian council at, 
 
 214; St. ISIartin's convoy cap- 
 tured at, 736. 
 
 Wheeling— Clark at, 561. 
 
 Wilderness Road, 69. 
 
 Williams, Captain — At Vincennes, 
 327; Clark sends to reconnoitre, 
 317. 
 
 Williamsburg — British prisoners 
 taken to, 383; Hamilton's de- 
 scription of jail at, 395; News 
 of Clark's campaign received at, 
 456. 
 
 Williamson, Colonel David, xviii. 
 
 Worthington, Captain, 101; At 
 Vincennes, 327. 
 
 Willing, The, 315; Arrives at Vin- 
 cennes, 426, 752; Carries pro- 
 visions for Clark, 304; Facts 
 concerning, 700; Sent to Kas- 
 kaskia, 438. 
 
 Wythe, George, 561. 
 
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