Clark comes to Kentucky “to lend a helping hand”—He immediately takes a leading part in the affairs of the settlers—He goes to Virginia for much-needed ammunition—The race down the river with Indians in pursuit—The powder and shot are safely delivered—Clark makes a daring raid on the British posts in Canada—The party surprises the Kaskaskians in the midst of a revel—The fort and town are taken without the loss of a life—The inhabitants take the oath of allegiance—Cahokia and Vincennes are quickly captured—But the situation of the victors is precarious.

In order to follow the story of the Kentucky settlers with intelligent understanding, it will be necessary to take a brief survey of the achievements of that very remarkable man, George Rogers Clark. Not only were Clark’s direct services to the new settlement powerfully influential in its development, but his campaigns in British territory were also of the utmost consequence to the Kentuckians, as we shall see.

George Rogers Clark was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, November 19, 1752. Roosevelt, in “The Winning of the West,” thus tersely describes him as he was at the beginning of his career: “He was of good family, and had been fairly well educated, as education went in colonial days; but from his childhood he had been passionately fond of the wild roving life of the woods. He was a great hunter; and, like so many other young colonial gentlemen of good birth and bringing up, and adventurous temper, he followed the hazardous profession of a backwoods surveyor. With chain and compass, as well as axe and rifle, he penetrated the far places of the wilderness, the lonely, dangerous regions where every weak man inevitably succumbed to the manifold perils encountered, but where the strong and far-seeing were able to lay the foundations of fame and fortune. He possessed high daring, unflinching courage, passions which he could not control, and a frame fitted to stand any strain of fatigue or hardship. He was a square-built thick-set man, with high broad forehead, sandy hair, and unquailing blue eyes that looked out from under heavy, shaggy brows.”

Clark made a short visit to Harrodsburg in 1775 and returned in the following year. Long afterwards, General Ray, who in 1776 was a boy of sixteen living at the station established by Colonel Harrod, told the following story of Major Clark’s second arrival in Kentucky:

“I had come down to where I now live (about four miles north of Harrodsburg) to turn some horses in the range. I had killed a small blue-wing duck that was feeding in my spring, and had roasted it nicely on the brow of the hill, about twenty steps east of my house. After having taken it off to cool, I was much surprised on being suddenly accosted by a fine soldierly-looking man, who exclaimed, ‘How do you do, my little fellow? What is your name? Ain’t you afraid of being in the woods by yourself?’

“On satisfying his inquiries, I invited the traveller to partake of my duck, which he did, without leaving me a bone to pick, his appetite was so keen, though he should have been welcome to all the game I could have killed, when I afterwards became acquainted with his noble and gallant soul.”

Having satisfied his hunger, the stranger asked a number of questions about the settlers, the Indians, and the general conditions in the locality. These the boy answered as well as he could and then ventured to ask the name of his guest.

“My name is Clark,” he answered, “and I have come out to see what you brave fellows are doing in Kentucky and to lend you a helping hand if necessary.”

Clark immediately took a leading part in the affairs of the struggling community. His superior talents were so unmistakable and his personality so impressive that he readily inspired the confidence of the Kentucky settlers. At a general meeting, held at Harrodsburg in June, 1775, he had been appointed with another to represent the young community in negotiations with the Assembly of Virginia. The delegates proceeded at once to Williamsburg, where it soon became apparent that their errand could not be accomplished without great difficulty. At the first serious check Clark’s companion returned to Kentucky, but Clark determined to persevere, and by the exercise of diplomacy and persuasion ultimately succeeded in his purpose.

In August the Council, with the approval of Governor Patrick Henry, caused a large quantity of gunpowder to be shipped to Pittsburg and there to be delivered to Major Clark for the use of the Kentucky settlers. At the fall session of the Legislature, the determined soldier, who had now been rejoined by his fellow-delegate, Gabriel Jones, successfully urged the political organization of the new settlement and the bill was passed that created it a county of the State of Virginia. This was an important step, as it secured for the crude commonwealth in the wilderness a judicial and military establishment.

Clark now proceeded to Pittsburg, where the precious powder awaited him and where he entered upon an extremely perilous phase of his mission. The country about Pittsburg swarmed with Indians, who were not only hostile to white men in general but, like all their race at the time, ready to go to any extremes in the effort to secure ammunition. Clark decided that speed and secrecy would serve his purpose more effectively than a strong force which, encumbered and travelling slowly, could be constantly harassed and would be probably cut up before reaching its destination. Accordingly, he quietly embarked with seven sturdy boatmen and commenced a rapid journey down the Ohio.

The Indians almost immediately got wind of the expedition and Clark’s vessel had but an indifferent start when they were in pursuit of it by land and water. The powder escort soon became aware of the pursuit and bent its efforts to out-distancing the redskins, it being no part of the leader’s plan to offer fight, except in the last extremity. Indeed, although they were frequently fired upon from the shores and from the following canoes, Clark forbade his men to retaliate but required them to devote all their care and energies to the preservation of the cargo.

This grim race was maintained until it became evident to Clark that his men could not much longer continue their arduous labor at the oars. The Indians, on the other hand, being subjected to much less strain, might have kept up the pursuit indefinitely. Realizing that the sole chance of success lay in bringing the journey to a speedy end, Clark called on his rowers for a supreme final effort with a view to getting beyond sight of the Indians for a short space of time. The men responded heartily. The boat was then at the mouth of Limestone Creek, near the present town of Maysville. It was headed into the small stream and shot up it with such swiftness that the pursuers were left far behind.

At a favorable point the boat was run into the bank, the powder hastily brought ashore, and the craft turned loose to drift down the branch. The barrels were now quickly conveyed to a hiding place in the densest brush, the carriers carefully covering their tracks. This accomplished, the entire party struck across country for Harrodsburg. They arrived without mishap and Clark immediately returned with a sufficient guard for the powder, which was found safe and uninjured where it had been secreted. Thus, towards the close of 1776 the Kentucky settlers were assured of the means of defending their homes in the impending struggle.

It must be remembered that the war of the Revolution was by this time in full swing, and, whereas Boone and his associates had entered Kentucky as British subjects, they were now rebels. It is not strange, therefore, that the authorities of the Crown dominions in the north treated them with hostility, nor that the Indian tribes friendly to the British were employed in the attacks upon the settlers. The practice of the times fully sanctioned the employment of savages and the colonists were not above accepting such aid when it was available. Clark, in fact, employed Indians in the defence of Vincennes, although he declined their aid in attacking the town.

Several writers, in ignorance of the facts, or regardless of them, insist on attributing the worst barbarities to the higher officials in Canada, and the frontiersmen of the time were prone to credit them with the utmost cruelty. They believed, and quite recent writers have stated, that the Indians were urged by these officials to massacre the whites in Kentucky unsparingly, and that they offered rewards for scalps with the distinct understanding that they were preferable to prisoners.

Now the most cursory examination of the records proves these statements to be utterly false and shows that Governor Hamilton and other officials rescued prisoners from the Indians and ransomed them whenever possible. Thus, Boone’s fellow captives in the year 1778 were secured from the Shawnees and kindly treated. Every effort was made to induce them to give up Boone, and when these failed, money and gifts were pressed upon them by the officers at Detroit.

It is true that certain agents of the British, such as Caldwell and McKee, were guilty of the worst kind of atrocities in their dealings with the American settlers; but these were men of the Simon Girty stamp, natural blackguards, for whose actions their superiors cannot be justly held accountable. It would be difficult to find in human history records of more cruel and bloody deeds than some of those attributable to men amongst the Kentucky pioneers themselves, but the historian who should blame the settlers as a body, or their leaders, for the villanies of such brutes as Greathouse, or Lewis Wetzel, could not more effectually prove his unreliability.

It was well understood that the Governor of Canada was doing his utmost to encourage and aid the Indians in the war which all felt to be imminent, but it remained for Clark to devise the daring scheme of crippling the enemy by adopting the policy of Hannibal in his conflict with the Carthaginians, when he “carried the war into Africa.” Clark conceived that the most effective way of defending Kentucky lay in attacking the posts in the British territory on the north. He hoped thus to keep the garrisons in Canada too busy in their own defence to consider aggressive action, and also to curtail the supplies of ammunition that they would be willing to give to the Indians. The former object was of vital importance, for had they enjoyed freedom of movement during this momentous period, a few small bodies of English with cannon might have enabled the Indians to clear Kentucky of the American colonists.

Clark’s plan met with the approval of the authorities in Virginia and he was permitted to raise a body of one hundred and fifty men, and was furnished with tents, supplies and ammunition. It was a very small force for such an ambitious enterprise, but the leader was a man of dauntless courage and resource and the men were picked fighters who had the utmost confidence in their captain. The whole-souled devotedness that Clark inspired in his followers, and the willing manner in which they coÖperated in his most hazardous plans, mark him as one of the truly great leaders that this nation has produced. Had his exploits been performed in the full limelight of the revolutionary stage, instead of in the shadow of the wings, he must have attained to a greatly wider fame than actually fell to his lot.

In May, 1778, Clark and his force, which had been somewhat increased by the addition of a score or so of Kentucky volunteers, descended the Ohio in flat-bottom boats as far as the mouth of the Tennessee, where preparations were made for the advance upon the Illinois posts. At this juncture the leader was extremely fortunate to fall in with some American hunters who had recently been in the French settlements. From these friends he acquired useful information, and secured their services as guides.

At length a force of fewer than two hundred men started upon the march across the wilderness to Kaskaskia. This place was fortified and garrisoned by a strong body of militia, so that the only prospect of capturing it lay in effecting a surprise. The party, therefore, proceeded with the utmost caution, their front and flanks screened by scouts. After a toilsome journey of fifty miles through dense forest, they emerged upon the prairie and the difficulties of the march were lightened whilst the danger of discovery increased. However, the adventurers seem to have been attended by the most extraordinary good fortune, for on the evening of the fourth of July they arrived without mishap on the southern bank of the river, upon the opposite side of which stood the town they sought.

The Americans lay concealed in the woods until nightfall, when they crossed the stream in some boats which they had happily found. When all were landed, Clark divided his force into two bodies. Whilst one of these formed a cordon round the fort, he led the other into it. Never was more strikingly illustrated the old adage that “Fortune favors the bold.” The entire population of the place was gathered in or about a large hall, where the officers of the garrison were giving a ball. Even the sentries had deserted their posts to watch the dancing and hear the music. Clark had found a small gate, through which he and his men easily gained admittance to the fort. They traversed the deserted streets without exciting attention and at last took up posts in the vicinity of the hall, from the windows of which floated the mingled sounds of music and merry laughter.

Clark went forward and stood with folded arms in the doorway of the building, calmly surveying the scene. Some minutes passed before his presence was noted. Then a woman, seeing the dread figure of an American backwoodsman silhouetted in the opening, screamed in terror. Confusion instantly prevailed. Shriek followed shriek. The violins ceased. The dancers stood riveted to the floor, or ran hither and thither aimlessly. The men, as soon as they had overcome the first shock of surprise, advanced towards the entrance.

Clark’s waiting men now entered the building and made the French officers prisoners. A house-to-house patrol disarmed all the inhabitants and ordered them on the penalty of death to remain within doors until daylight. These creole subjects of the British King had been taught to believe the American backwoodsmen to be more cruel and barbarous than the Indians, and they were filled with the worst fears for their fate. Clark sought to increase their wild fancies, for he fully appreciated the precarious nature of his situation, in the midst of a hostile population many times more numerous than his own force and surrounded by Indians ready to come to their aid.

The next morning, Clark proved himself to be a diplomat no less than a soldier. The news of the alliance of France with the young American republic had just reached the old-time colony of the former in Canada. Counting upon this and his knowledge that the habitans were inclined to give allegiance to any ruler who would insure them peace and protection, he relaxed the acerbity of his demeanor and adopted a friendly attitude towards the Kaskaskians. He assured them that it was not his desire to treat them with severity. That as British subjects they were enemies to the Americans, but if they were willing to take the oath of allegiance and to support the American cause, no harm should befall them. He assured them that their religion should not be interfered with, that they should enjoy the fullest protection for their property, and that all their rights should be scrupulously respected.

The creoles, relieved of the terrible dread that had been upon them and overjoyed at the prospect of resuming the peaceful, pleasure-seeking lives they loved beyond everything else, cheerfully assented to sever the slender tie that bound them to the British Crown. The oath was administered, and the American flag floated in British territory.

The fickle Frenchmen were now moved to enthusiastic admiration and friendliness for their conquerors, and many of their young men displayed eagerness to fight for them. When Clark organized an expedition against Cahokia a body of these volunteered to augment his meagre detachment, and he was only too glad to avail himself of their services. Cahokia was taken without resistance on the part of the inhabitants, who were readily persuaded by the French contingent in the American force to take the oath of allegiance as they had done.

Encouraged by these successes, Clark despatched a French priest, who had displayed genuine regard for the Americans, to the important post of Vincennes, with the object of persuading its garrison and population to follow the example of the people of Kaskaskia and Cahokia. The expedition was entirely successful. PÈre Gibault gathered the inhabitants of Vincennes in the church and at the close of a convincing argument induced the majority of them to take the oath of allegiance to the American Congress. Clark was delighted at the result of this venture but, having no garrison to spare for Vincennes, was compelled to content himself with a commander, who was permitted to raise the American flag without any opposition.

It was now August, so that in three short months an intrepid leader in command of fewer than two hundred men had succeeded in reducing three British posts and placing a considerable extent of territory under the flag of his own country. And this wonderful achievement had been accomplished without the loss of a single life on the side of the invaders.