Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/92



started with an army of British and Indians to “punish the rebels.” He determined to recover the Illinois towns, and carry the war into Kentucky. He recaptured Vincennes *  and sent a force to destroy Colonel Clark's little army. But that young officer was on the alert, made a bold dash upon Fort Vincennes, where General Hamilton was in command, and captured the post, taking the British general prisoner, seizing his stores, baggage and army equipments.

But the English made yet another effort to recover possession of the Mississippi Valley. An army of fourteen hundred was speedily equipped with Indian allies to march on St. Louis. The citizens sent a special messenger to Colonel Clark for aid. The fearless young commander did not hesitate, but selecting five hundred of his best men hastened to the relief of the besieged town. The citizens were making a gallant defense against overwhelming numbers and anxiously watching for the arrival of their friends. Suddenly the sharp report of hundreds of rifles smote the Britishs army in the rear. The Indian allies, who had a wholesome fear of the young American commander, were panic stricken and fled in terror, soon followed by the British, and St. Louis was saved.

Colonel Clark had a fort erected at the “Falls of the Ohio,” where Louisville was subsequently built. In the spring of 1780 he built Fort Jefferson on the Mississippi below the mouth of the Ohio. Natchez had been taken from the British and Colonel Clark now held the entire upper Mississippi Valley, from Illinois to the Spanish boundary. If he could have been reinforced by two thousand men, he was confident that he could have captured Detroit and expelled the British from the entire northwest. But the American armies were so hard pressed by the British in the Atlantic colonies, that it was impossible to reinforce him. But he had by his foresight, skill and

* Fort Vincennes, or St. Vincent as the French named it, was on the Wabash River, one hundred and fifty miles from its mouth. It was on a direct line from Detroit to Kashkashis. The entire region northwest of Ohio was commanded by these posts.