nothing of the kind was ever actually attempted, unless McIntosh's campaign be considered such an attempt. This was because the journey between them could be accomplished only by a long, tedious land march over the Great Trail,[1] or by a desperate journey over small inland streams and the portages between them. Difficult as the land journey over the Indian trail would seem, it is clear that it was considered preferable to any water route in Revolutionary days.[2]
Thus Hamilton's campaign over the Wabash route upon Vincennes was an exceptional feat, successfully accomplished after great hardships and delays. Clark's marvelously intrepid recapture of this fort by wading through the drowned lands of the Wabash has so far eclipsed all other events of that campaign that the heroism of other actors has been forgotten.
- ↑ Historic Highways of America, vol. ii, p. 107.
- ↑ Irvine–Washington, February 7, 1782 (Washington–Irvine Correspondence, p. 92).
121, 140 (note), 354–55; Wisconsin Historical Collections, vol. xi, pp. 128, 130; Irvine Papers (MSS.), Wisconsin Historical Society, vol. ii, A A. pp. 66, 67; Washington MS. Journal, September 1784 (State Department).
