The Capture of Fort Kaskaskia.
"Fort Kaskaskia, an old French fort of western Illinois, situated on Kaskaskia River, and garrisoned by the British was, at the time of its capture in splendid repair with a well drilled militia and spies constantly on the lookout. Rochenblave, the commandant of the fort, had two or three times as many men as Col. Clark, and would have made a vigorous fight if he had not been taken by surprise. Clark's force after the toil and hardships of much traveling across rivers and tangled pathless forests, was much reduced, and it was only his audacity and the noiseless speed of his movements, that gave him a chance of success with the odds so heavily against him. He ferried his men across the stream under cover of darkness and profound silence. Inside the forts, lights were lit, and through the windows came the sound of violins. The officers of the fort had given a ball, the young men and girls were dancing, revelling within, while the sentinels had left their posts. One of the men whom Clark had captured, on his approach to the fort, showed him a postern gate by the river side, through which he entered the fort, having placed his men about the entrance. Advancing to the great hall, where the revel was held he leaned silently, with folded arms, against the door post, looking at the dancers. An Indian lying on the floor of the entry suddenly sprang to his feet uttering the unearthly war whoop. The dancing ceased, the women screamed, while the men ran towards the door, but Clark standing unmoved and with unchanged face, grimly bade them continue their dancing, but to remember that they now danced under Virginia and not Great Britain. At the same time his men seized the officers, including the commandant, Rochenblave, who was sent a prisoner to Williamsburg, Virginia."
Among his papers falling into the hands of Colonel Clark, were the instructions which he had from time to time received from the British Governor of Quebec and Detroit, urging him to stimulate the Indians to war by the proffer of large bounties for the scalps of the Americans. This shows of what importance the capture of this fort was at that period, a defence against the scalping knife of the Indians as well as the power of the British tyrant.
The Capture of Cohokia and Vincennes.
After the capture of Kaskaskia, without the shedding of a drop of blood, Clark pushed on to the taking of fort Cohokia, where the French, as soon as they were made to know that France had acknowledged the independence of America, shouted for freedom and the Americans. Clark then marched to fort Vincennes which, without the firing of a gun, surrendered, and the garrison took the oath of allegiance to Virginia July 19th, 1778. Very soon after this the British under Governor Hamilton, left Detroit and recaptured Vincennes, only to be forced by Clark to surrender it a second time in February, 1779, and to yield himself a prisoner of war. The taking of this fort the second time was a most remarkable achievement.
"Clark took, without artillery, a heavy stockaded fort, protected by cannon and swivels and garrisoned by trained soldiers. Much credit belongs to Clark's men but most belongs to their leader. The boldness of his plan and the resolute skill with which he followed it out, his perseverance through the intense hardship of the midwinter march of two hundred miles, through swamps and swollen rivers, with lack of force, the address with which he kept the French and Indians neutral, and the masterful way in which he controlled his own men, together with the ability and courage he displayed in the actual attack, combined to make his feat the most memorable of all the deeds done west of the Alleghenies in the Revolutionary war. It was likewise the most important in its results, for had he been defeated in the capture of these forts we would not only have lost Illinois but in all probability Kentucky also."
As it was "he planted the flag of the Old Dominion over the whole of the northwestern territory, and when peace came the British boundary line was forced to the big lakes instead of coming down to the Ohio, and the State of Virginia had a clear title to this vast domain, out of which were carved the states of Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan and a part of Minnesota." Virginia's share in the history of the nation has been gallant and leading, but the Revolutionary war was emphatically fought by Americans for America; no part could have won without the help of the whole, and every victory was thus a victory for all in which all alike can take pride—American Monthly Magazine.