THE GEORGE ROGERS CLARK EXPEDITION
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the latters base of supplies. He natu- rally assumed, therefore, that Clark was easy prey and that he could safely delay crushing him until the dawn of Spring made it easy to campaign. He accordingly made arrangements for large re-enforcements. He sent mes- sages to Stuart, the British Indian agent in the South, directing Stuart to give war belts to the Chickasaws, the Cherokees and the Creeks, that a combined attack might be made on the frontier in the Spring, thus depriving Clark of any hope of succor from the pioneer settlements. He expected him- self to command a thousand men, and thought that without doubt he must conquer Clark with this force at his command.
In the meantime, Clark was at Kas- kaskia. The French settlers of Kas- kaskia and Cahokia were panic-stricken when they heard of Hamilton's re-cap- ture of Vincennes. They declared to Clark that it would be folly to attempt to resist such a force as Hamilton s, and Clark saw that no dependence could be placed on them. His handful of Scotch-Irish pioneers were his only reliance. While in doubt what to do, Clark learnt that Hamilton had sent home to Detroit a portion of his force, retaining only eighty white men in his garrison with three pieces of cannon. Qark instantly decided to take time by the forelock and attack Hamilton at Vincennes before the latter's re-en- forcements could reach him. He sent forty of his troops under the command of Lieutenant John Rogfers to Vin- cennes by water, but this detachment did not reach their destination in time to be of service. Clark with the re- mainder marched overland, leaving Kaskaskia on the 5th of February, 1779. A large number of the French had been induced to join the expedition, espec- ially by the persuasions of the Creole sirls, whose enthusiasm for Clark was J?reat.
The weather had moderated by the time the expedition had started, but . it was raining and the route lay through a flat country from which the water did ^ot easily drain off. Captain Bowman's journal of the journey from Kaskaskia to Vincennes is exceedingly interesting.
The hardships of the trip may well be imagined. The men had no tents or camp equipage of any kind. The first week they trudged through mud and waded through flooded country with the rain beating down most of the time. They killed considerable game during the first week of their journey and therefore had plenty to eat. On the 13th of February they arrived at the two branches of the Little Wabash. These rivers, though usually a league apart, now made but one. The men made a canoe and ferried across. This brought them so near to Vincennes that Clark forbade the firing of guns, and the men were therefore unable to hunt.
On the 1 6th day of February, they crossed Fox river and their provisions began to be short. It rained constant- ly. On the 17th they were wading through the flooded country in ice cold water with the rain pelting on them all day long. At night-fall they could find no dry land on which to sleep, and Bowman closes his account for the day with these words: "We found the water falling from a small spot of ground ; stayed there the remainder of the night. Drizzly and dark weather." Next morning they heard Hamilton's morning gun go off and they started on their march down the river. At two o'clock on the i8th, they came to the junction of the Embarrass River with the Wabash.* They spent twenty-four hours in making a canoe to ferry^ them across to the east bank of the Wabash, the bank on which Vincennes was built. They had now been for two days with- out anything to eat, all wet to the skin, and wading much of the time in ice water, waist deep. They made some more canoes and captured five French- men from Vincennes, who told them that they had not yet been discovered. On the 2oth of February, they secured a deer and each man had a little food. On the 2ist of February, they succeed- ed in crossing the Wabash. It rained all day and they had nothing to eat. On the 22nd, they continued their march toward Vincennes in water often up to their shoulders and still without food. Some of the men were too weak to continue the march and thes,e wercr
