On the Kentucky Frontier: A Story of the Fighting Pioneers of the WestOtis, James
History
On the Kentucky Frontier: A Story of the Fighting Pioneers of the West
Otis, James
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Juvenile fiction
"He planned an expedition against Vincennes, and on the seventh of
February commenced his march through the wilderness, with one hundred
and seventy-five men. He had previously despatched Captain Rogers and
forty men, two four-pounders, and a boat, with orders to force their way
up the Wabash to a point near the mouth of White River, and there wait
for further orders.
"For a whole week Colonel Clarke's party traversed the drowned lands of
Illinois, suffering every privation from wet, cold and hunger. When they
arrived at the Little Wabash, at a point where the forks of the stream
are three miles apart, they found the intervening space covered with
water to a depth of three feet. The points of dry land were five miles
apart, and all that distance those hardy soldiers waded the cold
snow-flood, sometimes armpit deep.
"On the evening of the eighteenth they halted a little distance from the
mouth of Embarrass Creek, and so near Vincennes that they could hear the
booming of the evening gun. Here they encamped for the night, and the
next morning at dawn, with their faces blackened with gunpowder to make
themselves appear hideous, they crossed the river in a boat they had
secured, and pushed on through the floods toward the town.
"Just as they reached dry land, in sight of Vincennes, they captured a
resident, and sent him into the town with a letter demanding the
immediate surrender of the place and fort. The people, taken by
surprise, were greatly alarmed, and believed the expedition to be from
Kentucky, composed of the fierce and strong of that advancing
commonwealth. Had armed men dropped in their midst from the clouds, they
could not have been more astonished, for it seemed impossible for this
little band to have traversed the deluged country. The people were
disposed to comply with the demand, but Governor Hamilton, who commanded
in person, would not allow it.
"A siege commenced, and for fourteen hours a furious conflict continued.
The next day the town and fort were surrendered, and the garrison were
made prisoners of war. The stars and stripes took the place of the red
cross of St. George; a round of thirteen guns proclaimed the victory,
and that night the exhausted troops of Colonel Clarke reposed in
comfort."
THE END
A. L. BURT'S PUBLICATIONS
For Young People
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=Bonnie Prince Charlie=: A Tale of Fontenoy and Culloden. By G. A.
HENTY. With 12 full-page Illustrations by GORDON BROWNE.
12mo, cloth, price $1.00.
The adventures of the son of a Scotch officer in French service. The
boy, brought up by a Glasgow bailie, is arrested for aiding a Jacobite
agent, escapes, is wrecked on the French coast, reaches Paris, and
serves with the French army at Dettingen. He kills his father's foe in a
duel, and escaping to the coast, shares the adventures of Prince
Charlie, but finally settles happily in Scotland.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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