Daviess County, Indiana - Chapter 3, 1886

Chapter 3

The Colony from - 1767 to 1779 - British Rule - George Rogers Clark - His Dream of Empire - The First Filibustering Expedition - The Second Scheme of Conquest - Description of Fort Sackville - The Subjugation of Kaskaskia - The Movement upon Vincennes - The British Occupation - Generalship of Clark - Investment of Fort Sackville - Correspondence Between the British and American Commanders - The Capitulation.

A COLONY will not long remain separated from the parent stock, until it exhibits a peculiar and distinct character. At the seat of its origin, men and customs may slowly vary, in the colony occur developments, vast in their consequences, changing, often within a single generation, instincts and race peculiarities transmitted by inheritance through many centuries. The commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell was supplanted without difficulty by the restored monarchy: not all England could have reared a throne in her colonies after the battle of Bunker Hill. The French in- habitants of Vincennes, and their neighbors on the Mississippi, had little resemblance to the gay and frivolous Frenchmen of Louis XIV; and while around the old ancestral towns, his kinsmen yet bent in awe at a syllable from the king, the Frenchman of the New World looked royalty in the face without pallor, and without servility demanded his rights. As early as 1773 these people maintained their agent in London (Daniel Blinn), and through him laid before Lord Dartmouth, a protest against the proposed exercise of power over them by the crown, in language of as lofty independence and just indignation as that contained in the immortal Declaration in Congress three years later.

George Rogers Clark

On the 19th of November, 1752, in the old county of Albemarle, in the State of Virginia, was born George Rogers Clark. Let it be said in most patriotic reverence, as "Washington achieved the title Father of his Country (and his name shall be forever adorned with that splendor), Clark, by deeds of valor and counsels of wisdom and prudence ; by braver acts ; bythegrasp^ of vaster designs ; amid the sufferings from greater privations; by generalship of surpassing brilliancy; and by an administrative policy never equaled, won the right to be called the Father of the West. In 1775 he entered Kentucky. It was the era of new governments, and it was Clark's purpose to erect an independent State out of the territory lying west of the Blue Ridge. And even after the great domain he had carved frorn Britain was irrevocably joined to the Republic, this dream of a separate empire in the Mississippi Valley tormented him with its sublimity and swayed him by its magic.

The First Filibustering Expedition

In October, 1786, he conceived the project of invading the Spanish possessions west of the Mississippi, and to that end enlisted over 100 infantry and a company of artillery at Vincennes, under the immediate command of Valentine Thomas Dalton. John Rice Jones was detailed from the militia to act as commissary, and that officer at once began provisioning the garrison by impressments from the Spanish merchants at Vincennes. At the head of a guard Dal ton proceeded at night to the store-house of Laurient Barzedon, a Spaniard, upon the corner of Second and Broadway Streets, and demanded through an interpreter to be admitted into his cellar. The Spaniard asked what he wanted. Dalton answered he was sent by the commanding officer to search his cellar. The Spaniard lighted a candle and conducted the company through his premises. A guard was left over the stores that night, and upon the succeeding day, there was transfered to Fort Patrick Henry, upon First and Church Streets, $4,000 worth of goods consisting of peltry, wine, tafia (a West India compound of rum and syrup), honey, tea, coffee, sugar, cordial, French brandy, dry goods and powder. Clark dispatched Maj. Francis Bosseron to the Illinois to inflame the inhabitants against the Spanish, and to justify his seizure of property upon the ground of reprisal for certain alleged seizures of American property by the Spanish commandant at Natchez. February 28, 1787, the council of Virginia disavowed these acts of Clark, and on the 24th of April succeeding, by a resolution of Congress, the Secretary of War was directed to order the commanding officer of the troops of the United States on the Ohio to take immediate and efficient measures " for dispossessing a body of men who had in a lawless and unauthorized manner taken possession of Post Vincennes in defiance of the proclamation and authority of the United States." November 14, 17S7, Gen. Josiah Harmar was directed by the Secretary of War "to form a post of such strength, if in your power, as will be able to prevent the passage" of any party with hostile designs out of the United States into Spanish territory. Thus ended the first American filibustering expedition, the fii-st of those lawless dreams which have since made the Antilles and the Peninsula the graves of American heroes.

Clark'S Second Project

But to return to Kentucky. It was then but a hunter's camp, and the primitive laws of defense against the savage constituted its entire system of government. Neither governors nor courts attempted to exercise authority, and each little community felt the possession of sovereignty amid a solitude where there was none to dispute. Daring Clark's first visit he was placed in command of the irregular militia by a general consent. In the spring of 1776 he came again, with the intention of taking up his permanent home. In a few months he invited the settlers to a meeting at Harrodstown (now Harrodsburgh), "where matters to their interest would be considered." It was Clark's intention to propose at that meeting the creation of an independent government, but upon the day appointed he was delayed by an accident in crossing a stream, which prevented his arrival at Harrodstown until late in the afternoon. He then found the assembled settlers conducting an election to appoint two delegates to the Virginia Assembly. Clark acquiesced in the plan, and remained silent concerning his own ambitious projects. The election resulted in selecting Clark and Jones as delegates. Upon arriving at Williamsburg, the seat of government for Virginia, these delegates found that the Assembly had arisen, and Clark determined to remain until its next sitting. After various meetings with Gov. Patrick Henry and his executive council, Clark received authority to recruit four companies for the defense of Kentucky. Two sets of instructions were delivered to him, the one general, and the other directing him to attack the British posts at Vincennes and Kaskaskia. Vincennes was at that time - 1778 - as large as Williamsburg, and mustered 400 militia. The old French fort, then known as Sackville, had been greatly strengthened, until it bore to the country, relatively, a position of importance equal to that of Fortress Monroe at the beginning of the civil war.

Description Of Vincennes' Defenses

Upon the river's side, and within forty feet of the water's edge, two lines of palisades, reaching twenty feet above the surface of the earth, constructed of large timbers from the forest, planted firmly in the earth, were backed by a line of earthworks thrown up about eight feet high, behind which were mounted four six-pounders en barbette. Along the line of Vigo Street, at right angles with the river and crossing First Street, with the principal entrance or gateway opening upon the latter highway, protected by a ditch, were similar lines of defenses, protected by guns at each angle of the same caliber, mounted upon platforms of heavy timbers. At an elevation of twenty-five feet, at each side of the gateway, were swivels, trained to command the approach along the street. The entire walls were pierced, at convenient height, by a row of port-holes from which musketry could be fired. A similar palisade, defended by two guns of ten-pound caliber each, protected the flanks next to the church, and the rear of the works, south of Barnet Street, where were two towers or bastions pierced for musketry, was made exceptionally strong against an assault by a line of heavy timbers joined tightly together and covered with earth. Within the fortification were barracks for 1,000 men, a magazine and officers' quarters.

clark's conquest of kaskaskia. On the evening of the 23d of June, 1778, Clark's command, consisting of four companies, numbering, rank and file, 308, paraded upon Corn Island, at the head of the falls of the Ohio. These companies were commanded by Capts. Bowman, Helm, Harrod and Dillard. Clark now disclosed his daring designs against Post Vincennes and Kaskaskia, and that night a part of Capt. Dillard's company, under Lieut. Hutchings, recruited upon the Holston, deserted. The next day, all being in readiness, the boats were drawn up a few miles to obtain headway in shooting the falls, and moored to the bank, waiting the command to begin the voyage. In the afternoon the sun entered a total eclipse, a phenomenon inspiring the unlettered and simple backwoods soldier with terror and awe. Clark says: "I waited until the moment of greatest totality, and then gave the command to cut loose." While the youthful commander was inspired by visions of conquest, and led by the hope of immortality from founding a State, the sturdy pioneers behind him had fallen into his ranks, and now continued to follow his fortunes from far other motives. Kaskaskia was founded shortly after the discovery of the Mississippi, probably as early as 1688, and had grown to be a capital of civilization and the seat of French power in the northern valleys of the Mississippi, before the advent of British authority west of the Alleghanies. Fort Chartres, within eighteen miles of the village, was once the strongest forfress, next to Quebec, on the North American continent. Built of stone, thoroughly provided with armament, at a complete cost of 9,000,000 livres/from Jts casemates it had power to speak the destiny of the soil from the Blue Ridge to the Rocky Mountains, from the Ohio to the Lake of the Woods ; and only in the despair born of ignorance of strength was the royal signature appended to the treaty with England, after the. disaster upon the Plains of Abraham, whereby this vast domain passed from Latin civilization.

Chartres had been lapped by the ever shifting Father of Waters ; her huge stones and hollow engines of war tossed as toys in the sport of his waves, while the frail adobe church of the Immaculate Conception, and the wooden Indian council-house, still gathered the good and the bad of the painted sons of the forest within the gates of this village in greater number than all of her distant neighbors. From around this favorite spot, instigated by English influences, often by public offers of bounties for scalps of American settlers, had gone out war parties, whose screams would soon be heard at night around the blazing cabin of the Kentucky settler. The dream of ambition, the glory of country, had fired the heart of the commander, but it was the cry of the babe, the white cheeks of the wife, that summoned the guns into the ranks.

Below the mouth of the Tennessee, the flotilla was drawn to the northern bank, and the marcb overland began. Two trappers, recently from Kaskaskia, were impressed as guides. One who professed himself familiar with the country, became confused and reported himself lost. Clark informed him that he suspected treachery, and that unless he found the road which he had professed to know of within two hours, he should suffer death. The frightened guide fell in a convulsion ; the imperturbable commander announced to the suffering man that his "time was going on.1' Presently he arose, and after "circling around a few moments found the path."

It was near sunset of the 4th of July, 1778, while halted in a pecan grove about three miles from the village, this little army heard the bell tolling the Angelus, announcing to it that a foreign city, under a foreign flag, using a foreign language, garrisoned in unknown strength, defended by Great Britain, and succored by a wilderness of savages, lay before it. Crossing the Kaskaskia in the darkness of the night, Clark sent one division of his command to surround the village, while with the other he rapidly ascended the slight eminence upon which stood the fort. Breaking in the gates, with shouts which were the preconcerted signals to the party sent to take possession of the village, Clark stood in the presence of the British commander, Gov. Rocheblave. "The garrison are my prisoners. Give instant orders to destroy no papers or stores, at the peril of your lives," was the first salute the English officer received from his midnight intruder. The battalion occupying the town dispersed through the several streets, commanding the inhabitants to remain in their houses, and answering each qui vice "the long knives, the long knives!" At daylight Clark sent out a detachment to arrest the principal inhabitants, whom he caused to be ironed in the presence of their families, and without explanation to be brought to the fortifications. In the morning Father Pierre Gibbault waited upon the conquerers to prefer a petition. When ushered into the presence of the Americans, who, unshaven, their clothing spattered with mud and torn with thorns in their march, looked the uncouth ruffians their proceedings had already caused the terrified villagers to believe them. He glanced from one to another inquiringly. At last he asked, "Who is the commander?" "I am," said the youngest-appearing of the group. "What do you wish?" The good priest, summoning all his English to his aid, said: "By the fortunes of war and through no fault of ours, we are your jarisoners. Expecting the most rigorous treatment, I have come to ask one privilege for these poor people." "What is it?" sternly inquired the captor. "In all times of great calamity we have been accustomed," answered the Father, "to partake of the sacraments in the church. We request, before taking final leave of each other, to be allowed to assemble once more in our church." Clark remained silent a few moments, as if considering the petition, and then said: "I am not ready to answer you yet. Return at noon." The priest retired, and the general gave private orders to have the bell rung at noon as usual. At the appointed hour the priest, with a number of the principal men of the town, appeared at the fort gate. Just than some awkward hand began the ringing of the bell in the manner of an alarm. The Father begged to be permitted to return to die with his people. "What do you take us for?" exclaimed Clark, "savages? that we could put to death a whole village with its women and children? It is to save our wives and families we are here. The United States," he continued, "makes no war on any man's religion. All are free to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences. Every one is free to go where he pleases. Those of you who desire to join the enemy shall have safe conduct out of the town ; those who desire to remain shall be protected by the whole force of the United States. No sooner had they heard this thau joy sparkled in their eyes, and they fell into transports of joy that really surprised me," wrote Clark to George Mason, of Gunston Hall, Virginia. But wherever those sublime words of religious tolerance (then first uttered on the river whose waters forever after sing them) go around this planet, they still bring to the eye "a light never upon sea or land;" to the heart a transport of joy not all the revelations which have parted the clouds can match.

That evening the streets were decked with pavilions and festooned with garlands of flowers, Gen. Clark was escorted to the market place, where, around numerous bonfires and illuminations, the priest, this new-found friend of the States, explained the colonies' cause against Great Britain, and there by that savage light these sons of St. Louis lifted their hands in the oath of allegiance to the republic of Virginia, beyond the eastern mountains. All records are challenged to find among our varied population a race more thoroughly patriotic, law-abiding and faithfid than these French inhabitants, won in this midnight conquest from beneath the ramparts of an English fort.

The Conquest Of Vincennes

Vincennes still engrossed the thoughts of Clark. He sent for Gibbault, and sought information from the priest as to the obstacles he must overcome to reduce that post. The Father assured him, that although -secular matters did not pertain to his calling, yet if the General would commit the whole matter to him there need be no further uneasiness, for he might "give them such spiritual advice as would do the business." Accordingly upon the 14th of July, 1778, Gibbault with Dr. La Font as civil magistrate, Capt. Leonard Helm, representing the military and Moses Henry, interpreter and envoy to the Indians, the peaceful reduction of the post was undertaken. This commission was delayed upon the route by the reported presence of a war party of Osages, led by Langlade, toward Detroit, and did not arrive at Vincennes until the 1st of August.

Sackville was then garrisoned by the militia under St. Marie Racine. Its magazine was abundantly supplied with munitions of war, and all its approaches protected by recently repaired defenses. Gov. Abbott had, the month before, thoroughly inspected every part of its equipment and pronounced it impregnable against any force likely to be employed against it. He had gone to Detroit to assure the military officer in command there that with a small detail of troops and such Indian allies as could be readily enlisted the rumored demonstrations from the Ohio border must prove futile. The armament, size and location of the fortress have been described elsewhere. Around it clustered nearly 400 houses, of uniform construction, from St. Jerome (now Perry) Street to Dubois and more densely from St. Peter's (now Broadway) to Church, between St. Honore (Second) and St. Louis (First) Streets. The gate of the fort opened into St. Louis Street at the present intersection with Vigoj the church stood near the northeast corner of the grounds of the present cathedral. On tbe 6th of August, all being ripe for the coup d'etat, Francis Bosseron, a trader residing at Vincennes, to whom the priest had imparted an account of what had occurred in the Illinois and the purpose of his visit to Vincennes, arose in the church at the close of the services, and in the presence of the detained audience, interrogated the holy father so skillfully concerning the power of the arms of Virginia and the justice of the colonies' cause against England, that all* the assembly were at once inclined to make friends with this new power. " Then," said Bosseron, "why do we delay? Let us show Clark we are his friends ; and if Virginia will receive us let us become her subjects." LaFont announced that he was authorized to accept their allegiance, and to pledge them the whole power of the confederate colonies to protect them. Without a word more a roll of citizenship was displayed and each adult, attesting his name in this American doomsday-book, had apportioned to him and his posterity from that time forward the inestimable treasures of civil and religious liberty as members of the great republic. Crowding around the old altar built by the pious hands of Mermet, where Vinsenne had knelt, where Senat had prayed, where St. Ange had partaken of the sacraments, the " ancient inhabitant" repeated after his pastor a vow of fidelity to republican institutions, which, even under the persecutions of the mad hours of political and religious intolerance which have since sometimes afflicted the land, has never waned or broken. The assembly with great joy, after electing Helm to command, with drums and instruments of music marched into the fort and received from its willing commander the master keys. In a few hours the glittering stars and blazing stripes climbed the bastions of Sackville and floated out in the summer air to the astonishment of the Indians, who were told that their old father, the French king, had come to life again.*

The British Occupation

The surprised Indians soon conveyed an account of the revolution at Vincennes to the authorities at Detroit. Langlade was dispatched to assemble the tribes in the northwest with instructions to rendezvous the 1st of March at L' Arbre Crochet. Lieut.- Gov. Henry Hamilton began preparations for descending by boat from Detroit. In the first week of October, with a company of British soldiers under the immediate command of Maj. Hay, numbering eighty-four, and 100 Indian allies, he set out for the reoccupation of Vincennes, and the destruction of Clark at Kaskaskia. Suddenly on the morning of the 6th of December, the river was darkened by the fleet of descending batteaux and canoes. Capt. Helm and Indian Agent Henry were the sole occupants of Sackville. '>Let us prepare for defense,'' said Helm. "AVe can make our lives cost them something," replied his companion. Pressing from the landing up to the fort gate, which was swung open to reveal the intrepid soldier within, standing by a loaded gun match in hand, the British came to a halt across the line of the street. "I demand the surrender of the works,', n my possession an account rendered by Francis F.osseron against i ol. ( lark lor d and monev advanced to (he garrison in the summer oT 17. s. one item ol which i follows: "August 8th paid to Madame Goddare for making I he dag, ten livres." -

Hamilton said. Helm lifted the burning match and answered, "By heaven! no man enters here until I know the terms." "You shall have the honors of war," said Hamilton. And, then, as the British army, at parade rest, saluted the lowering flag, the officer, with his command of one single man, in military precision marched out of the fortifications.

Clark's position in the Illinois became now untenable. Parties were sent out by Hamilton to make him a prisoner by surprise, giving directions for his treatment highly creditable to the humanity and generosity of the enemy. The terms of enlistment of the troops from Virginia and Kentucky had expired, and their places were now to be rilled by the new citizens gained from conquest. Clark was anxious to hear authentically from Vincennes. Francis Vigo, a Sardinian by birth, a trader at the town of St. Louis, a settlement established by St. Ange Belle Bive, after his evacuation of Vincennes, had already rendered inestimable services to the American army at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, at the former of which places Vigo had a branch store or trading house. When Clark set out from Virginia his sole supply of money consisted of £1,200 in Virginia currency. It was kept at par only by the persona) guarantee of Vigo in the Illinois, and Bosseron at Vincennes.

About the holidays, at the request of Col. Clark, Vigo, with one servant, started to ride to Vincennes to obtain information of the situation there. At the Embarrass, nine miles west of the town, he was made prisoner and taken to the fort, where he was kept under strict guard, until upon the demand of the citizens, after about two weeks of incarceration, he was liberated upon parole " to do nothing inimical to Great Britain on his way to St. Louis." He embarked in a pirogue, and passing down the Wabash and Ohio he ascended the Mississippi, passing within a few miles of Kaskaskia, to St. Louis, where, without stopping to exchange greetings, with any one, he re-embarked and proceeded down to Kaskaskia, and communicated to Clark the knowledge of the continued fidelity of the inhabitants to the American cause, the weakness of the garrison, and that Hamilton was expecting Langlade with his Indian forces early in April.

The Tincennes Campaign

This news determined Clark at once. He set about raising troops among the villages in the Illinois ; and soon the American colors waved above more recruiting stations than ever again seen in these once populous streets, until eighty-three years had brought on its new generations, with undiminished love of the Republic. All preparations had been made. A boat manned by twenty-five men, armed with four pieces of artillery, taken from the fortifications at Kaskaskia, with clothing and provisions, had been dispatched to proceed by water down the Mississippi and up the Ohio or Wabash to the mouth of White River, where it was to meet the land forces upon their march across the country. After a solemn absolution ajt the church and the blessing of these many banners by the priest, on the afternoon of the 4th of February, 1779, this little army, numbering 172, crossed the Kaskaskia River, and began a march the most memorable for its herorism, for its hardships and sacrifices, the most dauntless in the courage of it, and the most important in the cause of independence and freedom, of greater consequences to the destiny of the American people, of any that made glorious the period of the Revolution. The glory, the majesty of this nation was achieved in the West. Histories have all been written on the sea-board. There will come a time when the splendor of this conquest shall be fully made known to the world, and then Lexington, Bunker Hill, Monmouth and even great Yorktown will be seen of less consequence than the assault of Vincennes.

The companies recruited in the Illinois, were commanded by Capts. McCarty and Francis Charleville. William Worthington, of the Light Horse, had succeeded Capt. Harrod, and Capt. Dillard remained in command of Fort Jefferson, at Kaskaskia. On the 13th the Little Wabash was reached, which although three miles from another stream of that name, was one with it, " the flowed water between them being at least three feet deep, and in many places four: Being near five miles to the opposite hills. * * * This would have been enough to have stoped any set of men that was not in the same temper that we was," says Clark in the letter already quoted from. Three days were consumed in crossing the Little Wabash, and in the evening of the 17th the low lands of the river Embarrass were reached, between which and Vincennes lays a sheet of deep water nine miles in width. Passing down the Embarrass on its southwest side, the Wabash was reached at the point where the Vincennes and St. Francisville road passes nearest the river. The boat with provisions and artillery was delayed ; game, which had served as his sole subsistence upon this march of 240 miles, could not be obtained from the watery plain. On the evening of the 23d Clark encamped upon the hills to the south of the elevation known as Bunker Hill, then called Warrior's Island, and from there despatched by the hands of Gabriel Hunat, whom he had captured at the crossing of the Wabash, the following proclamation:

To The Inhabitants Op Post Vincennes

Gentlemen: Being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing to surprise you, I take this method to request 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 tight like men. And if any such as do not go to the fort shall be discovered, they may depend on severe punishment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend on being well treated; and I once more request them to keep out of the streets, for every one I find in arms on my arrival I shall treat him as an enemy.

Clark anxiously viewed this messenger until he entered the town, and in a few minutes could discover by his glasses, some stir in every street; great numbers were seen running or riding out into the commons to view the invaders. A little before sunset, Clark took up the line of march in full view of these curious crowds. The commander felt that he was plunging into certain destruction or success - " there wasno midway thought of." Across the undulating prairie, then filled with long lakes, alternating with ridges seven or eight feet higher than the sunken plain, usually running in an oblique direction, he slowly and silently moved until he reached the elevation just west of the present Catholic Cemetery, behind which he halted. As the young Frenchmen in the command had decoyed and taken several hunters with their horses, while encamped upon Warrior's Island, soldiers were now mounted upon those horses, and rode back and forth upon this elevation " like officers giving their commands," while the various flags, to the number of "ten or twelve pair," presents to the young volunteers from the ladies of Kaskaskia, Cakokia and Prairie de Bocher, were displayed upon long poles at different points, as if to mark separate commands. At dark, Capt. Ckarleville crossed the low ground followed by Willow Street, east of Sixth, and moved to the heights, at Ninth and Vigo; Bowman, with McCarthy and Worthington, taking a position some 200 yards nearer the fort at Sixth and Church. This marching and counter-marching was intended to impress the sentries at Sackville with the strength of the besiegers, but it entirely failed of- its purpose. The confident soldiery within Sackville never dreamed of a freak so mad, of a march so impossible, as an assault from the Mississippi at such a season, they did not see a single one of these impressive maneuvers, nor would the inhabitant, faithful to his vow of allegiance, even hint to the garrison the danger the night would bring to it. At about 8 o'clock that night Clark detailed Lieut. Bagley, with fourteen selected men, to march directly under the fort and open fire upon its port holes.

Investment Of Fort Sackville

At the first fire Charleville quickly moved down and took up a position among the houses at the rear of the fort, from whence he opened fire on the barracks. Bowman brought the remainder of the command to the river bank at the foot of Busseron Street. Lieut. Bagley was quickly re-enforced, and the attack was opened upon the front, flank and rear of the fortress. The garrison believed the firing to proceed from a party of drunken Indians, and did not reply. A British soldier was shot down at a port-hole. Capt. Helm, who was a prisoner, sitting with Hamilton, suddenly leaped to his feet and with an oath exclaimed: "That is Clark." Hamilton ordered the drums sounded, and the long roll of alarm emptied the barracks of the men, who, passing over the parade to reach the port-holes, became a fair mark for Charleville's French company, now largely recruited, in spite of Clark's objections, by the young men of the village. The boat containing the precious stores of ammunition and food still lay somewhere in the lower rivers, and the besiegers, famishing for food, were almost without ammunition. But fortunately it had been a short time before circulated that all the goods in the town were to be taken by Hamilton for the king's use.

Col. LeGras and Maj. Bosseron had succeeded in burying the greater part of their stores of powder and ball. These were now produced by their patriotic owners and given to Clark. The Indian chief Tobaccos mustered thirty of his warriors, cam." to Clark, and said: "Let these young men go to the front. They will climb in.'1 Clark thanked him for his friendly disposition, and assured him that he was strong enough without assistance ; that there were a great many Indian enemies in and near the town, and in the darkness confusion was likely to occur; but he hoped that the chief would give him his company and during the night, which was agreeable to the Indian.

In the meantime the women were busy cooking a for the hungry Americans, which was the next morning distributed in the "street behind the Church, the first food we had tasted," says Clark, "for two days." All night long the firing continued, the cannon of the fort shattering the houses, but almost useless against woodsmen covered by houses, palings, ditches, and the banks of the river. The embrasures of their cannon had to be frequently shut, for the trained riflemen among the besiegers learned from the flash their location, and made the working of these guns extremely hazardous. Two of the American troops were wounded in this night attack, while the enemy suffered the loss of seven - three killed and four wounded. The besiegers sought to aggravate the garrison into opening these port-holes; if successful, instantly fifty rifles would be leveled at the opening. Sometimes an irregular fire, as hot as possible, was kept up for a few minutes, and then only a continual scattering fire at the ports as usual, and a great noise and laughter immediately commenced from all parts of the town, as if the firing was by parties regularly relieved. Bowman began the entrenchment of his position by a line along Main Street, and prepared to blow up the magazine when the artillery should arrive from some works constructed on the river bank at Vigo. Capt. La Motte, with twenty hostile Indians, hovered about the town trying to make his way into the fort, to re-enforce Hamilton. Parties sought to surprise him. A few of his forces were taken, among them Maisonville. Two French lads of the village brought him down to the intersection of Main and First Streets, and tied him in the street, and taking their places behind him for a breastwork, opened fire upon the posts. Being discovered by an officer, they were ordered to untie their prisoner and take him to the guard, which they did. "But," says Clark, "they took part of his scalp on the way.'1 A little before daylight the troops were withdrawn from their positions about the fort, except a few parties of observation, and these were instructed by Clark to make no alarm if La Motte and his party approached, as it was the design of Clark to get all the active forces, if possible, within the walls. And although the garrison was provisioned for a month, and this re-enforcement would count heavily against the weak besiegers, he confidently believed he could force a surrender. In ten minutes" La Motte and his followers entered the fort by ladders flung from the inside. As they mounted the walls, the concealed Americans who had witnessed the approach set up a shout, which so terrified the re-enforcers, that many of them fell to the ground, some inside and some out. Immediately, the whole line moved to the assault, and a continual blaze outlined the walls in flame, until the rising sun made every part of the fort a target, and the use of the cannons through the ports an impossibility. At 0 o'clock, while the starving men were being fed from the viands at the hands of the village ladies, Clark sent a flag with the following letter to Hamilton :

Sir: - In order to save yourself from the impending storm that now threatens you, I order you to immediately surrender yourself, with all your garrison, stores, etc., etc. For if I am obliged to storm, you may depend on such treatment as is justly due to a murderer. Beware of destroying stores of any kind, or letters that are in your possession, or hurting one house in town - for, by Heavens ! if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you.

Lieut. -Gov. Hamilton begs leave to acquaint Col. Clark that he and his garrison are not disposed to be awed into any action unworthy British subjects.

The firing continued until toward evening, resulting in the wounding of three others within the fort. At 4 o'clock Hamilton Bent a flag of truce to Clark with the following proposals :

Lieut.-Gov. Hamilton proposes to Col. Clark a truce for three days, during which time he promises there shall be no defensive works carried on in the garrison, on condition that Col. Clark shall observe on his part a like cessation of any defensive work; that is, he wishes to confer with Col. Clark as soon as caa be, and promises that whatever may pass between them two, und another person mutually agreed upon to be present, shall remain secret till matters be finished, as he wishes that whatever the result of the conference may be, it may tend to the honor and credit of each party. If Col. Clark makes a difficulty of coming into the fort, Lieut. -Gov. Hamilton will speak to him by the gate.

Within three days the delayed boat would certainly arrive, yet so confident was Clark of his mastery of the situation that he determined to press his present advantage to the utmost. He returned the following answer to Hamilton's note:

Col. Clark's compliments to Lieut. -Gov. Hamilton and begs leave to inform him that he will not agree to any terms other than Mr. Hamilton 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 Capt. Helm.

The conference occurred at the church. Gov. Hamilton and Maj. Hay, superintendent of Indian affairs upon the part of the British, and Col. Clark and Maj. Bowman, representing the American forces, with the prisoner, Capt. Helm, mutually selected as a witness. Hamilton produced articles of surrender, providing that the officers and men should be permitted to go to Pensacola on parole. Clark rejected the articles as a whole, and refused to propose any terms except to repeat the demand for an unconditional surrender, already made. He said to Hamilton, '"Your troops have behaved with spirit ; they cannot suppose they will be worse treated in consequence of it. If you choose to comply with my demand, though hard, perhaps the sooner the better. It is in vain for you to make any proposition to me; you must by this time be sensible that the garrison will fall, and we must both view all blood spilt in the future by the garrison, as murder. My troops are already impatient and demand permission to tear down and storm the fort, and in such an event it will be out of the power of an American officer to save a single man." Capt. Helm interposed to soften the terms demanded. Clark said to him, " You are a British prisoner, and I doubt whether you can with propriety speak on the subject." "He is from this moment liberated and may use his pleasure," said Hamilton. "I cannot receive him on such terms. He must return to the garrison and await his fate," returned Clark. Clark then informed Hamilton that hostilities should not be resumed until five minutes after the drums gave the alarm. And thereupon the conference was declared at an end. A few steps outside of the church, Hamilton asked ClarFs reasons for refusing to surrender except at discretion. Clark replied, "I desire an excuse for putting to death some Indian partisans now within the fort. The cries of the widows and the fatherless on the frontiers now demand their blood at my hands. I will not be so timorous as to disobey the absolute commands of their authority, which I look upon as little less than divine. I would rather lose fifty men than not to empower myself to execute this piece of business with propriety. If you choose to risk the massacre of your garrison for the sake of these, it is your own pleasure. I may take it into my head to send for some of those widows to see justice executed." Maj. Hay quickly asked, "Pray, sir, who is it that you call Indian partisans?" "Sir," replied Clark, "I take Maj. Hay to be one of the principal." Pale and trembling. Hay sank back abashed, while his commander blushed.

The Capitulation Of The English

From that moment Clark's stern purpose relaxed. Sympathy for the gallantry of Hamilton softened the hard fate in store for the doomed fort. In the course of the afternoon of the 24th the following articles of capitulation were signed:

Signed at Post St. Vincent. 24th of February, 1779. Agreed for the following reasons: The remoteness from succor; the state and quantity of provisions, etc.; unanimity of officers and men in its expediency; the honorable terms allowed; and, lastly, the confidence in a generous enemy.

Henry Hamilton, Lieutenant-Governor and Superintendent. Thus fell the strong fortress of Sackville ; and on the 25th of February, 1779, with all of its dependencies, with all it represented in territorial command, since carved into five free and independent States, with over 10,000,000 of people, passed to the possessions of the United States. Seventy-nine prisoners, twelve pieces of artillery and stores of the value of £50,000 fell to the captors. The American loss was one killed and three wounded. The British had four killed and nine severely wounded.