as soon as the winter broke. He would then have had probably over a
thousand men, and light cannon with which to batter down the stockades.
He rightly judged that with this force he could not only reconquer the
Illinois, but also sweep Kentucky, where the outnumbered riflemen could
not have met him in the field, nor the wooden forts have withstood his
artillery. Undoubtedly he would have carried out his plan, and have
destroyed all the settlements west of the Alleghanies, had he been
allowed to wait until the mild weather brought him his hosts of Indian
allies and his reinforcements of regulars and militia from Detroit.

Panic among the Illinois French.

But in Clark he had an antagonist whose far-sighted daring and
indomitable energy raised him head and shoulders above every other
frontier leader. This backwoods colonel was perhaps the one man able in
such a crisis to keep the land his people had gained. When the news of
the loss of Vincennes reached the Illinois towns, and especially when
there followed a rumor that Hamilton himself was on his march thither to
attack them, [Footnote: The rumor came when Clark was attending a dance
given by the people of the little village of La Prairie du Rocher. The
Creoles were passionately fond of dancing and the Kentuckians entered
into the amusement with the utmost zest.] the panic became tremendous
among the French. They frankly announced that though they much preferred
the Americans, yet it would be folly to oppose armed resistance to the
British; and one or two of their number were found to be in
communication with Hamilton and the Detroit authorities. Clark promptly
made ready for resistance, tearing down the buildings near the fort at
Kaskaskia--his head-quarters--and sending out scouts and runners; but he
knew that it was hopeless to try to withstand such a force as Hamilton
could gather. He narrowly escaped being taken prisoner by a party of