Wahbunou nodded again, spoke to his Indian companions and motioned for them to follow him. They found their canoe and paddled rapidly away.
Meanwhile the men were busy making buffalo stew. When it was ready the weakest men were fed first. Though there wasn’t enough stew to go around, it revived many exhausted soldiers and improved the spirit of all the soldiers.
Vincennes
Chapter X
CAPTURE OF VINCENNES
From their camp the men could see the hundred cabins making up the town of Vincennes, and Fort Sackville over which the Union Jack was flying. If settlers in Vincennes turned toward Warrior’s Island, they could see American soldiers; so George Rogers Clark employed a trick of war to make them think he commanded a large army.
While the men were resting after their taste of buffalo stew, two more of Clark’s scouts came into camp bringing a very frightened Frenchman from Vincennes. They said they had found him lurking near the camp. Willie and Jim had been sitting near the colonel and could hear everything he said to the Frenchman.
Clark spoke sternly to the man cowering in front of him. “I will permit you to go into town under certain conditions. First you are to alert all French inhabitants and tell them we will take Vincennes tonight. They are to stay in their houses, keep quiet and not to let any one at Fort Sackville know of our presence. Oh, yes, and tell them to have a fine supper ready for us.”
“Yes, sir,” the man replied. “And to think you’ve marched all the way from Kentucky!”
Clark did not correct the man’s guess about Kentucky. He merely said, “Now you may go, but do not go near the fort.” As the Frenchman hurried to Vincennes to deliver his message, Colonel Clark watched through his field glass to see that he did not go to the fort.