Clark instantly decided to forestall his foe, and to make the attack
himself, heedless of the almost impassable nature of the ground and of
the icy severity of the weather. Not only had he received no
reinforcements from Virginia but he had not had so much as "a scrip of a
pen" from Governor Henry since he had left him, nearly twelve months
before. [Footnote: _Do._] So he was forced to trust entirely to his own
energy and power. He first equipped a row-galley with two four-pounders
and four swivels, and sent her off with a crew of forty men, having
named her the Willing. [Footnote: Under the command of Clark's cousin,
Lt. John Rogers.] She was to patrol the Ohio, and then to station
herself in the Wabash so as to stop all boats from descending it. She
was the first gun-boat ever afloat on the western waters.

His March against Vincennes.

Then he hastily drew together his little garrisons of backwoodsmen from
the French towns, and prepared for the march overland against Vincennes.
His bold front and confident bearing, and the prompt decision of his
measures, had once more restored confidence among the French, whose
spirits rose as readily as they were cast down; and he was especially
helped by the creole girls, whose enthusiasm for the expedition roused
many of the more daring young men to volunteer under Clark's banner. By
these means he gathered together a band of one hundred and seventy men,
at whose head he marched out of Kaskaskia on the 7th of February.
[Footnote: Letter to Henry. The letter to Mason says it was the 5th.]
All the inhabitants escorted them out of the village, and the Jesuit
priest, Gibault, gave them absolution at parting.

The route by which they had to go was two hundred and forty miles in
length. It lay through a beautiful and well watered country, of groves