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1 Jacob Piatt Dunn, True Indian Stories, 213.
53
CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST
Col. Henry Hamilton was the English commander at Detroit. On him falls the disgrace of arousing the western Indians against Virginia. He advised Lord George Germaine, the English war minister, to furnish arms and ammunition as well as suitable leaders for the Indians, and directed them to make a diversion on the Virginia and Pennsylvania frontiers. The Indians were placed in command of such partisan outlaws as Capt. Henry Bird and Simon Girty, and then ordered to do no violence. They were directed to watch the Ohio river especially and destroy all Americans at- tempting to pass. Hamilton reported that the Indians in his district, Detroit, had brought in 107 prisoners and 110 scalps during the year 1778. These were paid for by the commander as if they had been so many beaver skins. The leading tribe engaged in these depredations was the Miami, whose home was on the soil of Indiana. They had no reason to join in the contest between England and her colonies. There had been war along the border, but it had been led by his Majesty the King's officers, and the resentment of the Indians should have fallen as quickly on the British as the Americans. The ruin of the northwestern tribes may be traced back to this unnatural policy of the British in 1776.
§ 12 THE CAPTURE OF KASKASKIA
AMONG the American frontiersmen there was only one sentiment toward the Indians. That was retalia- tion. For awhile their vengeance fell on the Indians alone. Such men as Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, Lewis Wetzel and Adam Poe hunted the Indians as they hunted the wild animals. Meanwhile dangers, instead of lessening, multiplied on the frontier. It is to the credit of George Rogers Clark that he not only recog- nized the English at the western posts, as the source
54
HISTORY OF INDIANA
of the devastation on the frontiers, but he laid plans to capture them.
Clark was one of the early settlers of Kentucky. When a county government was organized by the Ken- tuckians, he first represented it in the Virginia legisla- ture. It was not primarily as a legislator that he visited the government of Virginia in the closing days of 1777. December 10 of that year he laid before Gov. Patrick Henry of Virginia his plan for conquering the English posts. Virginia was using her means and men freely in supporting Washington in the struggle around New York, but Governor Henry could not fail to catch the spirit of Clark and sympathize with his hopes. After calling into consultation three of the leading men of the state, he gave Clark permission to enroll seven com- panies of militia and draw on the State for £12,000 to defray expenses. Clark thus prepared not only to stop the inroads of the Indians, but at the same time to conquer for his State a western empire.
Colonel Clark was given two sets of instructions. One, intended for the public, and especially for the Vir- ginia legislature, directed him to repair to Kentucky with his army to defend the new settlements against the savages. The other instructions directed him to organize his army with all secrecy and dispatch for an attack on Kaskaskia or Vincennes. With characteristic quickness Clark made his preparations and set out for Pittsburgh January 4, 1778. He authorized his old friends and neighbors, Leonard Helm and Joseph Bow- man, each to raise a company and join him on Febru- ary 1 at Redstone Old Fort. William Smith was like- wise sent to recruit a company on the Holston and join the other troops at the Falls of the Ohio. Nearer the frontier, Clark secured the services of Capt. William Harrod, who also raised a company, part of whom were from Pennsylvania. The Old Dominion furnished many gallant soldiers during the Revolution, but none
55
CLARK'S EXPEDITION
were better than these modern Argonauts who set sail from Pittsburgh in May, 1778, to capture a fortress 1,000 miles away. Each man was a skillful hunter, an accurate marksman with his flintlock rifle, and accus- tomed to long journeys and all kinds of privations. Nearly all were Virginians, the leaders as well as most of the men being old acquaintances. Fear was unknown to them and yet, like brave men, they were cautious.
Clark broke up his rendezvous at Redstone May 12, 1778. At Pittsburgh and Wheeling he stopped on his way and took on supplies. Gen. Edward Hand, who commanded at Pittsburgh, gave all the assistance he could. At the Kanawha, Clark found the garrison in consternation over an Indian attack and was earnestly besought to join in the pursuit. He was not to be turned aside from his purpose, however, and continued on his way down the Ohio, followed and harassed every mile by the Indians, but never caught off his guard. At the mouth of the Kentucky he stopped and com- municated with the settlements up that river, but decided to go on further and build the fortification for his base of supplies at the Falls. From this post he could more easily check Indian incursions from the north side of the Ohio. He reached the Falls about June 1. Besides the soldiers there was a num- ber of families who had wished to come to Kentucky and had chosen this opportunity in order to avoid the murderous bands of Indians who then infested all the roads to that country. Some of these were doubtless the families of soldiers enlisted under Clark. After looking over the situation carefully, Clark decided to fortify Corn Island, just at the head of the Falls and nearest the Kentucky side. The land on the island he divided among the families, who soon had a crop of corn growing.
Clark now began in earnest to drill his little army for the desperate work ahead. Disappointed in the
F
56
HISTORY OF INDIANA
number of men from the Holston country who joined him here, he found it necessary to call for aid on the Kentucky government, by whom another company under Capt. John Montgomery was ordered to report to him. All told, Colonel Clark now found himself in command of about 200 men. Having drilled them nearly a month, he called them together and informed them of his plans. The following night a large num- ber of the Holston men swam to the Kentucky bank and left for home.
The remainder, about 175, started for Kaskaskia on the morning of June 24, a date made certain by the total eclipse of the sun which occurred that morning. Everything now depended on speed and secrecy. There was no doubt but that in a fight his men would give a good account of themselves, but Clark was convinced that his only chance to capture Kaskaskia was by sur- prise. The Ohio river was then at good stage. The troops, doubling on the oars, rowed day and night. June 28 they landed on a small island in the mouth of the Tennessee, where they quickly prepared for a dash across Illinois. It was thought to be impossible to ascend the Mississippi without being discovered by some of the numerous traders or Indians passing up and down on that river.
Clark had scarcely landed at the mouth of the Tennessee, when a boat appeared with a party of hunters in it eight days only from Kaskaskia. Some, or perhaps all of them, joined the Virginians, and one of them, John Saunders, became the guide. After making every preparation and taking only as much baggage as if they were going on a hunting trip, the little army dropped down to within three miles of the deserted Fort Massac, hid their boats in the creek and took the trail for Old Kaskaskia. The distance was about 120 miles. On the level prairies they were in danger of losing their way and only the experienced
57
CAPTURE OF KASKASKIA
guide saved them from wandering. They made re- markable time, however. They left the Falls June 24, reached the Tennessee on the twenty-eighth, went on and hid their boats the same day. On the morning of the twenty-ninth they set out on the march and on the evening of July 4 reached Kaskaskia. If Colonel Clark is correct in saying he left the Falls on the twenty-sixth, the march is even more remarkable. In the first case they had traversed at least 400 miles in ten days. Through the wilderness of Illinois they traveled twenty-five miles per day.
Colonel Clark had sent spies to the Illinois Country during the summer of 1777 and these had encouraged him to believe he could surprise the fort at Kaskaskia. The hunters whom he had intercepted at the Tennessee also reported the garrison negligent in keeping look- outs, while the French inhabitants were reported to be lukewarm in the British cause. There is good ground for the belief that Clark had confederates in the town who knew of his approach and had made preparations accordingly. At any rate, relying on this known friendly feeling among the French, Clark led his men to a farmhouse within a mile of the town but on the east side of the river, and finding boats ready to hand, crossed over, reaching the outskirts of the town soon after dark. The conduct of the American soldiers on this occasion would have been creditable to regulars. They remained in the immediate vicinity until near midnight without being observed or creating any alarm. At that time they quietly secured all the approaches to the village, entered the fort, now called Gage, and seized the commander, Philip de Rocheblave, whom they found asleep in his room. This done, there was noise enough. The citizens were warned to keep off the streets and all were led to believe that an army of 1,000 men had possession. Thus without blood- shed, without the firing of a gun, even without a sur-
58
HISTORY OF INDIANA
render, for Rocheblave and his men were spared that humiliation, this fortress that had sufficient garrison and supplies to withstand a siege by a regiment of men fell into the hands of less than 200 militia who had no other arms than their hunting rifles. Tradi- tion has woven some beautiful stories around this feat of arms, but no authentic account gives any details. Most probably enemies of the English commandant joined Clark after dark and acted as guides.2
§ 13 PIERRE GIBAULT AND THE CAPTURE OF VINCENNES
As has always been the case in rural French villages, the priest was the principal man of the com- munity. In their distress, now, the parishioners of Kaskaskia turned to Father Pierre Gibault, the priest. His request to call his people together once more be- fore they were taken away as prisoners, for they ex- pected to be driven away at last as the Acadians had been, was so readily granted by Colonel Clark that the priest at once became an admirer of the Virginian. When Clark, soon after, informed him that the French would not be molested in any manner, not even in the free exercise of their religion, the priest felt that it would be to his interest to aid the Virginians in all ways possible. He did this the more graciously since he had no sympathy either for the English personally or for their cause. Accordingly, when he learned that the American commander was contemplating an at- tack on Vincennes, he volunteered to go and win the French over to the American cause. Clark had brought with him a copy of the recent Treaty of Alliance be- tween France and the American Nation, which was
2 Philippe de Rocheblave and the Rocheblave Papers, Fergus Historical Series, No. 34. An account of the capture is given in the Lawrenceburg Palladium, March 20, 1830.
59
PIERRE GIBAULT
now a great aid in dealing with the French at Kas- kaskia and Vincennes.
As soon as Clark had secured all the other Illinois settlements he turned his attention to Vincennes. Gi- bault informed him that Abbott, the English com- mander, had lately gone to Detroit and that there was, at the time, no English garrison at the Old Post. Moreover, he said that he believed he could go to that place and by presenting the treaty between the two countries and explaining the courteous treatment re- ceived by the Kaskaskians, win them over to the American side. But Father Gibault, not wishing to seem to act in other than a spiritual capacity, asked that some one be allowed to accompany him to act as the political agent. However, he assured Clark that he would attend personally to all the details of the busi- ness. As a companion on this embassy with Father Gibault, Dr. Jean Laffont was chosen. Gibault has, heretofore, received all the credit for this achievement, but the letter to the inhabitants, as well as the in- structions, was given to Laffont. The report to Clark attributes all the work at Vincennes to Laffont, while Gibault, ten years later, in a letter to his bishop at Quebec, denied having taken any hand in winning the Vincennes people from the British allegiance. Doubt- less all the French needed was an opportunity to desert their hereditary foes. A friend of Colonel Clark secretly accompanied the delegation. Clark prepared an address to the French authorizing and directing them to organize their own militia and garrison the fort.
Thus prepared, this little party set out from Kas- kaskia, July 14, to capture Vincennes, a post which Clark had feared to approach a fortnight earlier. The English along the whole northern border had been momentarily disconcerted by the capture of General Burgoyne at Saratoga. They were now expecting the
60
HISTORY OF INDIANA
Americans to attack Detroit from Pittsburgh. The reverse had thrown them on the defensive, for the time, and all but destroyed their prestige among the Indians. On this account Laffont and Father Gibault found no British troops at Vincennes and likewise none of their Indian allies. A few partisans had been left as spies by Abbott, but these withdrew as soon as they learned the purpose of Laffont and the attitude of the French inhabitants. Gibault found no difficulty in persuading his parishioners. Two days after he arrived he called his little flock together in the village church, where in sacred solemnity he administered to them the oath of allegiance to the United States. The animating effects of freedom were seen immediately. A garrison under an officer of popular choice was stationed in the fort. The American flag was dis- played from the staff of the fort to the wondering Indians. By August 1 Laffont and Gibault were back at Kaskaskia with the good news. Communications with Kentucky were now established and Clark felt reasonably secure in his conquests.
This series of remarkable successes might have thrown a less vigilant commander than Clark off his guard, but there was no time for nursing his vanity. He now controlled three considerable towns, each re- quiring a garrison. Governor Henry, indeed, had so worded Clark's instructions as to leave him at liberty to dismantle the forts and return with the captured cannon to the fort at the Falls of the Ohio, but this would have reduced the whole enterprise from a mag- nificent conquest to an unexpectedly successful Indian foray. Such an idea was a stranger to Clark's ambi- tion. To hold the conquests already achieved would require a full regiment, and the time of service of the small number of men then in Illinois would expire within a few days. Clark prevailed on most of them to reenlist, and sent those who wished to return home
61
HELM OCCUPIES VINCENNES
to conduct the prisoners to Virginia. The places of those who did not reenlist were quickly filled by French volunteers. Maj. Joseph Bowman, a cousin of Colonel Clark, was sent with a small garrison to take charge of Cahokia. Capt. John Williams was placed in im- mediate command of Fort Gage at Kaskaskia. The most dangerous command was assigned to Capt. Leon- ard Helm, the oldest and most experienced of this little group of officers. Helm was a Virginian, perhaps forty years old, who had spent most of his life as a scout among the Indians. He understood Indian character and was well suited for the difficult command at Vin- cennes.
A few Americans and creoles constituted his gar- rison. The French received their new commandant joyfully and the Piankeshaw chief, Tobacco, or the "Grand Door," as he was also called, in allusion to his tribe's position at the mouth of the Wabash, was soon in league with the Virginians. Indian chiefs came from many of the neighboring tribes and made peace with the Americans, but the Indians of the Upper Wabash remained hostile. Their attitude was traced to the influence of the British agent, Pierre Joseph Celoron, who was at this time stationed at Ouiatanon. Clark determined to capture this man or drive him away. For this purpose he sent Capt. John Bailey to join Helm in an expedition to the Wea Towns. When Celoron heard of this he fled, leaving his Indian allies to their fate. Helm surprised the stockade at Ouiatanon while the Indians were in coun- cil, and captured the larger part of them. After mak- ing a treaty of friendship with them he released his prisoners and returned to Vincennes.
Made bold by the impunity with which he had carried on his operations against the western settlers, and knowing something must be performed to restore British supremacy over the natives, Lieut. Henry Ham-
62
HISTORY OF INDIANA
ilton was preparing to make an attack on Fort Pitt, when, on August 8, 1778, Francis Maisonville arrived at Detroit with the astounding intelligence that 300 Virginians had surprised and captured the garrison at Kaskaskia. Hamilton at once notified Gen. Guy Carleton at Quebec of the disaster and asked permis- sion to march against the Virginians at once. He was a man of great energy, and without waiting for orders from his superior at Quebec began collecting men and supplies for the expedition. Agents were sent with war belts to all friendly tribes. One of them, carried by Celoron, we have already met at Quiatanon.
By October 7 the British expedition against Vin- cennes was under way. It numbered about 200 British and French and 300 Indians. Crossing Lake Erie in a snowstorm that all but wrecked the boats, the troops ascended the Maumee. On October 24 they reached the portage at Fort Wayne. Progress was slow. They carried 97,000 pounds of baggage. The rivers were low and the ice had already formed on the Upper Wabash. The boats grounded and the baggage had to be carried for long distances over the shallows. The fleet of fifteen large bateaux at last reached Ouia- tanon, where the commander delayed long enough to hold a formal council with the Indians. Small scout- ing parties were sent ahead to watch all the approaches to Vincennes and cut off all communication. These parties succeeded in capturing Captain Helm's scouts.
Learning from them that the garrison at Vincennes was not strong enough to resist an attack, Maj. John Hay was sent in advance to occupy the town. He decided not to attack the fort at once, and by the time the main British force arrived Helm's garrison, if he ever had one, had melted away. Captain Helm reported that when the British came in sight he had not so much as four men on whom he could rely. Presumably his garrison, realizing the uselessness of
63
MARCH TO VINCENNES
wongirune "g"
Green Day!
Prairie du Chien
POIHOIK ZYPT
Detroit
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lower Sandusky
Portage
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Upper Sandusky
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Vincennes
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o Cahokia
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ourrendered. Feb. 26
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Falls of
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CAMPAIGNS IN THE NORTHWEST
From Avery's History of the United States Ry special permission of Burrows Brothers Company
Nanich Expedition
Louphry defeated Aug. 24, 1781
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arras
Little W.bask
Olbey)
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64
HISTORY OF INDIANA
resistance, mingled with the inhabitants and later joined Clark when he came to the rescue. There was no opposition. Captain Helm made the best bluff pos- sible with his one small cannon and then, December 17, 1778, surrendered at discretion. The British had made the distance of over 500 miles in seventy-two days, an average of seven miles per day.
Again the Frenchmen of Vincennes were called to- gether and the oath of allegiance to Great Britain ad- ministered. Hamilton destroyed all the liquor, and even the gaming tables in town, and placed the people under martial law. Having decided that it was im- possible to capture Kaskaskia on account of the season, he accordingly went into winter quarters. A small scouting party was sent to secure information concern- ing the Americans, with instructions to capture Colonel Clark, if possible, by watching the roads about Kas- kaskia.
The fort at Vincennes was remodeled. A large stockade was built and the ground inside covered with gravel. Two blockhouses were built of strong timbers, with openings above the stockade enclosure for the cannon. Having decided to go into winter quarters, the British general dismissed his Indian allies and sent all his Detroit militia home, retaining only about one hun- dred men. Many of the latter men were dispatched with Indian war parties to watch the Ohio river and destroy all Americans found; others were sent on a mission to the southern Indians to raise them against the Tennessee frontier. All were instructed to be in readiness for the grand council at the mouth of the Tennessee, and the campaign in the spring, when Ham- ilton hoped to lead one thousand well-armed troops against the Illinois posts, then sweep eastward through Kentucky, and capture Pittsburgh.
Among the French in the Illinois Country there was none more popular than the wealthy trader, Francis
65
DIFFICULTIES OF THE MARCH
Vigo, of St. Louis. Vigo was a Sardinian who had come to America in a Spanish regiment. He now undertook a trip to Vincennes, partly no doubt on busi- ness of his own and partly to gain information for Clark regarding the conditions at that place.
He left Kaskaskia December 18, ignorant of the fact that the British had retaken Vincennes, and a few days later was captured on the Embarrass river by one of Hamilton's scouting parties. After the Indians had relieved him of his horse, money and arms and carried him to Vincennes, he was thrown into prison. For some unknown reason, perhaps at the in- tercession of Gibault, Hamilton allowed him to return home on promise of going directly to St. Louis. He reached Kaskaskia by way of St. Louis January 27, 1779, bringing the first satisfactory report Clark had received of conditions at Vincennes since the capture of Helm. A rumored attack on Kaskaskia had already caused Clark to concentrate his forces at that place. He now had one of three alternatives: He could abandon his conquests and return to the Falls; he could remain and risk being captured in the spring ; or he could take desperate chances on capturing his enemy now in com- fortable winter quarters. It is the imperishable glory of Clark that he chose the latter. He decided to risk everything in an immediate campaign against Hamil- ton. Volunteers were called for and a company of French creoles enlisted for the expedition. No rein- forcements had been sent him from Virginia, nor had he so much as heard from Governor Henry for almost a year. The future of the Northwest was, fortunately, in the hands of no common soldier. The weather was damp and murky ; the flooded streams covered the level prairies. The travelers sank ankle deep in the sodden leaves of the forest or the grass of the prairie; but fortunately the weather was not freezing cold.
66
HISTORY OF INDIANA
§ 14 THE LAST CAPTURE OF VINCENNES
COLONEL CLARK was at Prairie du Rocher when the rumor reached him that the British were already in Illinois. Leaving the ballroom, where he was being entertained, at midnight and sending a horseman to Cahokia, sixty miles away, to summon Bowman and his troops, he left immediately for Kaskaskia, arriving there before daylight. Although Cahokia was seventy- five miles away, Bowman, with his soldiers, joined his commander the following evening. Fort Gage was put in readiness for a siege. As soon as Vigo arrived with information that the British had retired to winter quarters, Clark began to organize his expedition against Vincennes. The French freely enlisted for the attack and means for equipment were found through the financial aid of Colonel Vigo.
A rowboat, capable of carrying fifty men and half a dozen small cannon, was equipped and placed under the command of John Rogers, a cousin of Colonel Clark. This boat was to drop down to the mouth of the Ohio and ascend that stream and the Wabash to within a few miles of Vincennes, where it should await the troops marching overland.
The energy and determination of Clark quickly re- kindled the enthusiasm of all around him. French and Americans alike entered heartily into the cam- paign against Vincennes. Clark chose a small band of men, one hundred and thirty of the best, and escorted by the creole population, the girls especially joining in the parade and the priest, Father Gibault, adding his blessing, set out on the difficult march overland. As soon as they were out of town, strict discipline was enforced for a few days, after which the long march of 240 miles began in hard earnest. As was customary with Clark, he required his men to take as little baggage as circumstances would permit. There
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