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rtie !P 110.11 T4- Vllt.lMi AKtfS.Sonic account of the uchuvemcnts of the ceUhra* ltd Vn‘gim,iii fu i o t.c'i'zr f foyers CiurJce, lit the h eMcra country Ti 6— 9.GKOGE ROGERS CLARKE.^ tern pest w^s hanging over him, which of j Peri,al's* 11 ’ 1 dfirts hot Ins CiUld have dispelaill)eofn-'y Ic- I •dv.»lst t • -on pr.se and intercept the c- nvny.The plar wa* completely effected—4U prisoners g od ami prov s. us t . the amount 1 10-U I—Ihe in.* i from Canada to Governor Hamil on, Wrt* I ro \di o ’’ Cl ke and toadd t ih ■ g • ia j v . i exp es to ih Ho-vermin, who wa h ui'l.i have been kiH-d,near he 'alls of t e Oh o, 1 n -ed wipo verys.i s cto v letters from th executive, ami t ;o tii.i lc' of tin- As emb j to Uns ^adant littleb ind, t r the r duct in of th* c * nt » aboutI led. I’hfe governor of Detroit, If.milt n, a man m. lepb ie.naikahle tor his boUln ss and j Ka^k kias. Tho* cl m ix o fo»tuiwt c .cu n activity, ihaii for his barbarous disposition, | dances, so s.nguia iia it ve m topar.afcr ofand lus tyrp.noicul aim e of delegated power, formed die (taring pr ject of driving Clarke tifim his conquest On the 15ih oft) c witha s roJig* b dy of men, lie took possession of Fort St Vincent—repaired its mined battle menrs, and converted it into a formed.hi • repository of wai iike implements of every de-*tln- marvellous and romantic, and might if riot wlt; P authenticated, excite doubt and even incredulity, so much elated the brave men under Clio ke, that they w nKl have attempted ine rediicii n of Detroit, had lie led them a* gamst 11Kii place lie \v«s not disinclined to the measure ; but the lie easily of securingsenption. liis ptan w;.*lo attack K iskaskias I h's P1 '-oners, ami the di ficulty of raising a ^ in tiie spring’ This [)l Cr lie cnmideivd as an ! timber of men, such as he then thought re-j 'easy conquest. Two bundled Indians from qmsitef r such an expedftion, prevented him .M .chillimachmac, and five Imnd.ed Cherokee* *rom indulging the a.do ofhis associates, ai dl and CJiu kasaws, were then to join his banker, his own impuUe. 'flits he h id soon caihe to W$h t!i:s bodi he inteiidtd to penetrate up ,vtf el He w*s informed that, upon receiv-. the Ohio to ^ort Pitt—the devastation of Ken-} I? Hie intelligence of his success at Foi» St. tucky Was a branch «.t his^xrensive Sf heme ot j ^ indent, the people of I) iroit,and ot the cir-rtun—lie proposed to sweep it- pi ncipal set- 1 cumjacent country, openly maurfe.-tcd iieir* l!emenl«on hi way For llfis pm p. se be was joy,during thiet w hole dais, by ev? r nu hod supplied with light b a.'-s Cann n—ai d, as in which social festivity Could (ifvise, and iheytfi-i!IIII-VIIII«l(I•Iytischis advance, lie t xpect* d to see Ins numbersh .mlv acce-si ns of Indians, he proudly and confidently nnt’cipa ed the su’ in gation and* in in of all West Aug-u^ta In no resource conmc’ed wi i» the suc.es.s of his [l n, w s Hum.lion deficient I he Hrjush connn.mder i i Canada hail fur s led him with ample me. ns Destruction hovered on tin we-tiru bo ders of the comm nweahlt— Clarke received no re info ceirn nlt;s— In his let ter to Cove nr r Ht niy, written lt;n the 9iii if Hpril, 1779. be says, that at the time of th seformiduhl pri pa rations, he had no' hea*d Torn die Kxeculivi f(i nearly ’we 1 ve mi nth-1‘lie commuiiicai ion was diihcu't ami uncer-lam. — A heady h st ile detachments inf steo die neighborhood of Kaskaskias, but they did not presume to attack Ifnde” tliese c ircum-slances Clarke thougfit it piudent to c ncen irate his sm.ill t. rce Muj. r H-winan was directed to tvacuaie the fi t at the Colies,In order to strengtlien d»e principal point otde’ence VVIn-n comparing his si uath n W*th dial of die expected assailants, (duike des paired of his ability to keep ihecouulrt—-till,-lie was resr lvt d to'maintam a siege ai.d pre *ei ve, at least, die pos ot Ku-ka: kias, or die in the attempt To this end, he and his gallant associates were making active pu-para-lions, strengthening the fortifications of the place, ei’ecling or dtmo! shmg as necessity dictated—Whilst they were (bus cmpl ved.a Spanish merchant, who had been at Fori St Vincent, arrived He informed Col Clarke dial Harm It n had weakened himself bv se; d • ng hi*. I idians against the frontiers, and on he'Muo—In the F rt he had only retained•ighleen nten diree pieces ofcann- n, and a lew mounted swivels — Hit intention was to attack Kaskafkias as soon as the season W uhl permit — and he had no ch ubt of clearing the western vveteis before autumn This mfor • anon w as for the genius of Claike, a fla h of electric light. Ii di cov- ied to him not only safety, but new glory He saw the whole bv intuition—Hamilton mus he attacked bt-fore lie could c- llect his Indians—There was no llher means of saving 1 lie country — \Yii|» Cla ke to resolve required but am meni—Im mtd ately dispatch ng a small gailey w h ch lie had lilted up. mounting two four p under9, and four sw ivels, wi'b a comjomy of men and necessary stoies on board, he directed tfie person whom he appointed to commai.d her, to forcf,llls Ua P »he Wah.ish it poss.ble, and stat ion liiimelt a few miles belo .v the enemy — ufllt; ring no' lung to p.,ss—and awuitingfurtber orders In the mean time garrisoning K i*dcas kias with militia, endxidying the inhabitants tor the protection of the other towns, and eu | H listing for the expedition several of tin ir Cl yi ung men, who displayed the most promising ^ ardor, he himself marched across the country, : h with i ne hundred and fifty gallant comrades; on whose devotions in repidity and |im severance, he could welI rely. Although his band was small and unincumbered with heavy Ing-gugt, such was t he inclemency of the season, and such the difficulty of I lie route, that hei —f’ slowly adv.*nc*d, i.- t with tit appiehension «f!c' i! Ultimate fa hire When within thiee leagues aj ot ilie enemy, it t r k this Spartan hand five . ' davs to cross the drowned lands of the Wabash —having to wade, often upwards of two- leagues, to their breast in w-ater. Had not,1 I during this-period of the expedition, the weather assumed ami presen'cd a milder character, all these nrave men mum inevitably have c•pC-rished Heavpn sfemed to shield them | On the evening of the 23d, mey reached the- dry lai d, unperceived by the enemy, vet hav ii ing themselves a sufficient view of the Fo» t —No time was to be wasted—no *h--liberation to p ect-de the long meditated blow—at seven o’clock, the attack was made, before the enemy knew any tiling ol die assailants The | btown immediately surrendered with joy. and assisted in the siege of the fArt For eighteen hours, a continual fire was kept, up on both sides Col Jlaike did not calculate on carry, ing dip fort bef re the arrival ot his artillery During the night, however, after the setting f the mo n. he had an ei trenchment thrown up.w i bin rifle shot of ‘he enemy s strongest battery, and, at morning, poured into their posts such a shower of well directed balls, tHat he silenced in 15 minutes, two pieces i fcann n, without having one of Ids men killed or even wounded. As his numbers were small, lu took tl every possible precauti *n to prevent a wa te of t / lives. On the following d. y. Governor Hamil-ton demanded a parley, and^ intimated an m-_jtent'on to stur-nder—difficulties a'ost—but ^ j in the evening, the terms of the surrender were arranged I he Governor and the ga'risoo became prisoners ot war. and considerable stores fell into the hands of the conquerorIn the heiglit of the attack upon the fort, one of the V dian parties detached on all sidesby Hamilton, returned. Ign« rant of what hadhappened, the savages were marching info the town, with two prisoners Clarke, upon hear-1 ti ing of this, detached a party of Ins men to give them battle in the commons—nine Indians were taken, and the tw prisoners releasedOther circumstances equally auspicious crowned this wonderful success. A convoy of goods from Detroit was on its way to the plt; st Clarke info-med of th s, sent a party of 601 men^ in armed boats, well mounted with swi- nns.» tar c.unfed up n Cla-ke's speedy arrival, that the nieichants provided for him and his men those necessaries and comf its viluch Hu y imagined w uld bt wanted Most of fie inhabitants oo. vve »* the descendants of Freucliset hrs, aid the news ol llie alliance had justreached them The garrison, amounting only to .' 9 men, con d not pgose this burst of sentiment- but when Clarke received tins intelligence, Detroit had been sui nndered ; tho fair opportmuty was no imueI lie ahove liar a: .ve, though it contains snme of the mo t import «n» operations of the g.diani CenrKe Rogers Cla ke, faffs far short ! the full extern of h exjhoits for the ag-gi oid st menl Vi gmia. in teri it ry and in tame We havt recorded those expl • it in a vvoi k, u Inch so n will be submit id to ihe public e\e, and g atify. we tins', the laudable cm-io-ity of Virginiuit in respect to the West* trn llannibulvvtit(naitoirrdot(tiIi*fiittls.c;tltluSatnetitloIInnO'atsateiCdttl.ofti.toanVVim
Newspaper Details
Lexington Kentucky Gazette
Lexington, Kentucky, US
Mon, May 06, 1816
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Michael P.
CA, USA 11 Jan 2022
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