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CLARK, GEORGE ROGERS (1752—1818)

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 442 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CLARK, See also:GEORGE See also:ROGERS (1752—1818) , See also:American frontier military See also:leader, was See also:born near See also:Charlottesville, in See also:Albemarle See also:county, See also:Virginia, on the 19th of See also:November 1752. See also:Early in See also:life he became a See also:land-surveyor; he took See also:part in See also:Lord See also:Dunmore's See also:War (1774), and in 1775 went as a surveyor for the See also:Ohio See also:Company to See also:Kentucky (then a See also:district of Virginia), whither he removed early in 1776. His See also:iron will, strong passions, audacious courage and magnificent physique soon made him a leader among his frontier neighbours, by whom in 1776 he was sent as a delegate to the Virginia legislature. In this capacity he was instrumental in bringing about the organization of Kentucky as a county of Virginia, and also obtained from See also:Governor See also:Patrick See also:Henry a See also:supply of See also:powder for the Kentucky settlers. Convinced that the See also:Indians were instigated and supported in their raids against the American settlers by See also:British See also:officers stationed in the forts See also:north of the Ohio See also:river, and that the See also:conquest of those forts would put an end to the evil, he went on See also:foot to Virginia See also:late in 1777 and submitted to Governor Henry and his See also:council a See also:plan for offensive operations. On the 2nd of See also:January 1798 he was commissioned See also:lieutenant-See also:colonel, received £1200 in depreciated currency, and was authorized to enlist troops; and by the end of May he was at the falls of the Ohio (the site of See also:Louisville) with about 175 men. The expedition proceeded to Fort Kaskaskia, on the See also:Mississippi, in what is now See also:Illinois. This See also:place and See also:Cahokia, also on the Mississippi, near. St See also:Louis, were defended by small British garrisons, which depended upon the support of the See also:French habitants. The French being willing to accept the authority of Virginia, both forts were easily taken. Clark gained the friendship of See also:Father See also:Pierre Gibault, the See also:priest at Kaskaskia, and through his See also:influence the French at See also:Vincennes on the See also:Wabash were induced (late in See also:July) to See also:change their See also:allegiance. On the 17th of See also:December Lieut.-Governor Henry See also:Hamilton, the British See also:commander at See also:Detroit, recovered Vincennes and went into See also:winter quarters.

Late in See also:

February 1779 he was surprised by Clark and compelled to give up Vincennes and its fort, Fort See also:Sackville, and to surrender himself and his See also:garrison of about 8o men, as prisoners of war. With the exception of Detroit and several other posts on the See also:Canadian frontier the whole of the North-See also:West was thus brought under American influence; many of the Indians, previously hostile, became friendly, and the See also:United States was put in a position to demand the cession of the North-West in the treaty of 1783. For this valuable service, in which Clark had freely used his own private funds, he received practically no recompense either from Virginia or from the United States, and for many years before his See also:death he lived in poverty. To him and his men, however, the Virginia legislature granted 150,000 acres of land in 1781, which was subsequently located in what are now Clark, See also:Floyd and See also:Scott counties, See also:Indiana; Clark's individual See also:share was 8049 acres, but from this he realized little. Clark built Fort See also:Jefferson on the Mississippi, 4 or 5 M. below the mouth of the Ohio, in 178o, destroyed the See also:Indian towns See also:Chillicothe and See also:Piqua in the same See also:year, and in November 1782 destroyed the Indian towns on the See also:Miami river. With this last expedition his active military service virtually ended, and in July 1783 he was relieved of his command by Virginia. Thereafter he lived on part of the land granted to him by Virginia or in Louisville for the See also:rest of his life. In 1793 he accepted from See also:Citizen See also:Genet a See also:commission as " See also:major-See also:general in the armies of See also:France, and commander-in-See also:chief of the French Revolutionary See also:Legion in the Mississippi Valley," and tried to raise a force for an attack upon the See also:Spanish possessions in the valley of the Mississippi. The See also:scheme, however, was abandoned after Genet's recall. Disappointed at what he regarded as his See also:country's ingratitude, and broken down by excessive drinking and See also:paralysis, he lost his once powerful influence and lived in See also:comparative See also:isolation until his death, near Louisville, Kentucky, on the 13th of February 1818. See W. H.

See also:

English, Conquest of the Country north-west of the River Ohio, 1778-1783, and Life of George Rogers Clark (2 vols., See also:Indianapolis and See also:Kansas See also:City, 1896), an accurate and detailed See also:work, which represents an immense amount of See also:research among both printed and See also:manuscript See also:sources. Clark's own, accounts of his expeditions, and other interesting documents, are given in the appendix to this work.

End of Article: CLARK, GEORGE ROGERS (1752—1818)

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