Arrival of George Rogers Clark in Kentucky--Anecdote of his
conversation with Ray--Clark and Jones chosen as delegates for the
Colonies to the Virginia Legislature--Clark's important services in
obtaining a political organization for Kentucky, and an abundant
supply of gunpowder from the government of Virginia--Great labor
and difficulty in bringing the powder to Harrodstown--Clark's
expedition against Kaskaskias--Surprise and capture of their
fort--Perilous and difficult march to Vincennes--Surprise and
capture of that place--Extension of the Virginian
settlements--Erection of Fort Jefferson.
Among the most celebrated pioneers of the West, was General George
Rogers Clark, who, at the time we are now writing of, bore the rank of
Major. Anxious for the protection of the Western settlements, he was
already planning his celebrated conquest of the British posts in the
northwest.
He first came to Kentucky in 1775, and penetrated to Harrodsburg, which
had been reoccupied by Colonel Harrod. In this visit, from his well
known and commanding talents, he was voluntarily placed in command
of the irregular troops then in Kentucky In the fall he returned to
Virginia, and came back again to Kentucky in 1776. Mr. Butler relates
the following anecdote, received from the lips of General Ray, as having
occurred with General Clark upon his second visit: "I had come down,"
said General Ray, "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 traveler
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 afterward became acquainted with his
noble and gallant soul." After satisfying his questions, he inquired of
the stranger his own name and business in this remote region. "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." General Ray, then a boy of sixteen, conducted Clark to
Harrodsburg, where he spent his time in observation on the condition
and prospects of the country, natural to his comprehensive mind, and
assisting at every opportunity in its defense.
At a general meeting of the settlers at Harrodstown, on the 6th of June,
1775, General George Rogers Clark, and Gabriel John Jones, were chosen
to represent them in the Assembly of Virginia.
This, however, was not precisely the thing contemplated by Clark.[31]
He wished that the people should appoint _agents_, with general powers
to _negotiate_ with the government of Virginia, and in the event that
that commonwealth should refuse to recognize the colonists as within its
jurisdiction and under its protection, he proposed to employ the lands
of the country as a fund to obtain settlers and establish an independent
State. The election had, however, gone too far to change its object when
Clark arrived at Harrodstown, and the gentlemen elected, although aware
that the choice could give them no seat in the legislature, proceeded to
Williamsburg, at that time the seat of government. After suffering the
most severe privations in their journey through the wilderness, the
delegates found, on their arrival in Virginia, that the Legislature had
adjourned, whereupon Jones directed his steps to the settlements on the
Holston, and left Clark to attend to the Kentucky mission alone.
He immediately waited on Governor Henry, then lying sick at his
residence in Hanover County, to whom he stated the objects of his
journey. These meeting the approbation of the governor, he gave Clark a
letter to the Executive Council of the State. "With this letter in his
hand he appeared before the council, and after acquainting them fully
with the condition and circumstances of the colony, he made application
for five hundred-weight of gunpowder for the defense of the various
stations. But with every disposition to assist and promote the growth of
these remote and infant settlements, the council felt itself restrained
by the uncertain and indefinite state of the relations existing between
the colonists and the state of Virginia, from complying fully with his
demand. The Kentuckians had not yet been recognized by the Legislature
as citizens, and the proprietary claimants, Henderson & Co., were at
this time exerting themselves to obtain from Virginia, a relinquishment
of her jurisdiction over the new territory. The council, therefore,
could only afford to _lend_ the gunpowder to the colonists as
_friends_, not _give_ it to them as _fellow-citizens_."[32]
At the same time, they required Clark to be personally responsible for
its value, in the event the Legislature should refuse to recognize the
Kentuckians as citizens, and in the mean time to defray the expense of
its conveyance to Kentucky. Upon these terms he did not feel at liberty
to accept the proffered assistance. He represented to the Council, that
the emissaries of the British were employing every means to engage the
Indians in the war; that the people in the remote and exposed Stations
of Kentucky might be exterminated for the want of a supply which he, a
private individual, had at so much hazard and hardship, sought for their
relief, and that when this frontier bulwark was thus destroyed, the fury
of the savages would burst like a tempest upon the heads of their own
citizens.
To these representations, however, the Council remained inexorable; the
sympathy for the frontier settlers was deep, but the assistance already
offered was a stretch of power, and they could go no further. The keeper
of the public magazine was directed to deliver the powder to Clark; but
having long reflected on the situation, prospects, and resources of the
new country, his resolution to reject the assistance, on the proposed
conditions, was made before he left the Council chamber.
He determined to repair to Kentucky, as he had at first contemplated, to
exert the resources of the country for the formation of an _independent
State_. He accordingly returned the order of the Council in a letter,
setting forth his reasons for declining to accept their powder on these
terms, and intimating his design of applying for assistance elsewhere,
adding "that a country which was not worth defending was not worth
claiming." On the receipt of this letter the Council recalled Clark to
their presence, and an order was passed on the 23d of August, 1776, for
the transmission of the gunpowder, to Pittsburg, to be there delivered
to Clark, or his order, for the use of the people of Kentucky. This was
the first act in that long and affectionate interchange of good offices
which subsisted between Kentucky and her parent State for so many years;
and obvious as the reflection is, it may not be omitted, that on the
successful termination of this negotiation hung the connection between
Virginia and the splendid domain she afterward acquired west of the
Alleghany Mountains.
At the fall session of the Legislature of Virginia, Messrs. Jones and
Clark laid the Kentucky memorial before that body. They were, of course,
not admitted to seats, though late in the session they obtained, in
opposition to the exertions of Colonels Henderson and Campbell, the
formation of the territory, which now comprises the present State of
that name, into the County of Kentucky. The first efficient political
organization of Kentucky was thus obtained through the sagacity,
influence, and exertions of George Rogers Clark, who must be ranked as
the earliest founder of that Commonwealth. This act of the Virginia
Legislature first gave it form and a political existence, and entitled
it, under the constitution of Virginia, to a representation in the
Assembly, as well as to a judicial and military establishment.
Having obtained these important advantages from their mission, they
received the intelligence that the powder was still at Pittsburg, and
they determined to take that point in their route home, and carry 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
banks. They then turned their boat adrift, and directed their course to
Harrodstown, intending to return with a sufficient escort to insure the
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.[33]
It was fortunate for Virginia, says a recent writer,[34] that she had
at this time, on her western borders, an individual of rare military
genius, in the person of Colonel George Rogers Clarke, "_the Hannibal
of the West_," who not only saved her back settlements from Indian
fury, but planted her standard far beyond the Ohio. The Governor of the
Canadian settlements in the Illinois country, by every possible method,
instigated the Indians to annoy the frontier.
Virginia placed a small force of about 250 men under Clark, who,
descending the Ohio, hid their boats, and marched northwardly, with
their provisions on their backs. These being consumed, they subsisted
for two days on roots, and, in a state of famine, appeared before
Kaskaskias, unseen and unheard.
At midnight they surprised and took the town and fort, which had
resisted a much larger force; then seizing the golden moment, sent
a detachment who with equal success surprised three other towns.
Rocheblave, the obnoxious Governor, was sent to Virginia. On his person
were found written instructions from Quebec to excite the Indians to
hostilities, and reward them for the scalps of the Americans.
The settlers transferred their allegiance to Virginia, and she, as the
territory belonged to her by conquest and charter, in the autumnal
session of 1778 erected it into a county to be called Illinois.
Insulated in the heart of the Indian country, in the midst of the most
ferocious tribes, few men but Clark could have preserved this
acquisition.
Hamilton, the Governor of Detroit, a bold and tyrannical
personage, determined, with an overwhelming force of British and
Indians, to penetrate up the Ohio to Fort Pitt to sweep all the
principal settlements in his way, and besiege Kaskaskias. Clark
despaired of keeping possession of the country, but he resolved to
preserve this post, or die in its defense. While he was strengthening
the fortifications, he received information that Hamilton, who was at
Fort St. Vincent (Vincennes,) had weakened his force by sending some
Indians against the frontiers.
This information, to the genius of Clark, disclosed, with the rapidity
of an electric flash, not only safety but new glory. To resolve to
attack Hamilton before he could collect the Indians was the work of a
moment--the only hope of saving the country. With a band of 150 gallant
and hardy comrades, he marched across the country. It was in February,
1779. When within nine miles of the enemy, it took these intrepid men
five days to cross the drowned lands of the Wabash, having often to wade
up to their breasts in water. Had not the weather been remarkably mild,
they must have perished.
On the evening of the 23d, they landed in sight of the fort, before the
enemy knew any thing of their approach. After a siege of eighteen hours
it surrendered, without the loss of a man to the besiegers. The Governor
was sent prisoner to Williamsburg, and considerable stores fell into the
possession of the conqueror.
Other auspicious circumstances crowned this result. Clark, intercepting
a convoy from Canada, on their way to this post, took the mail, forty
prisoners, and goods to the value of $45,000; and to crown all, his
express from Virginia arrived with the thanks of the Assembly to him and
his gallant band for their reduction of the country about Kaskaskias.
This year Virginia extended her western establishments through the
agency of Colonel Clark, and had several fortifications erected, among
which was Fort Jefferson, on the Mississippi.[35]
[Footnote 31: Collins.]
[Footnote 32: Collins.]
[Footnote 33: Collins. "Historical Sketches of Kentucky."]
[Footnote 34: Howe. "Historical Collections of Virginia."]
[Footnote 35: Howe.]