CHAPTER III.

CLARK'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST VINCENNES, 1779.

Hamilton, at Detroit, had been so encouraged by the successes of his war
parties that, in 1778, he began to plan an attack on Fort Pitt
[Footnote: Haldimand MSS. Hamilton to Carleton, January, 1778.]; but his
plans were forestalled by Clark's movements, and he, of course,
abandoned them when the astounding news reached him that the rebels had
themselves invaded the Illinois country, captured the British
commandant, Rocheblave, and administered to the inhabitants the oath of
allegiance to Congress. [Footnote: _Do_. Hamilton's letter of August
8th.] Shortly afterwards he learned that Vincennes likewise was in the
hands of the Americans.

Hamilton Prepares to Reconquer the Country.

He was a man of great energy, and he immediately began to prepare an
expedition for the reconquest of the country. French emissaries who were
loyal to the British crown were sent to the Wabash to stir up the
Indians against the Americans; and though the Piankeshaws remained
friendly to the latter, the Kickapoos and Weas, who were more powerful,
announced their readiness to espouse the British cause if they received
support, while the neighboring Miamis were already on the war-path. The
commandants at the small posts of Mackinaw and St. Josephs were also
notified to incite the Lake Indians to harass the Illinois country.