George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10

[196] strengthen the posts of Detroit and Niagara, had

Chap. VIII.} 1778.

withdrawn the small British garrison from Kaskaskia, and the government was left in the hands of Rocheblave, a Frenchman, who had neither troops nor money. ‘I wish,’ he wrote in February, 1778, ‘the nation might come to know one of its best possessions, and consent to give it some encouragement;’ and he entreated Germain that a lieutenant-governor might be sent with a company of soldiers to reside in Illinois.¹

On the passage down the Ohio, Clark was overtaken by news of the alliance with France. Having learned from a band of hunters the defenceless condition of Kaskaskia, he and his party, landing three leagues below the mouth of the Tennessee, struck across the country on foot, approached Kaskaskia on the fourth of July, in the darkness of evening surprised the town, and without bloodshed seized Rocheblave, the commandant. The inhabitants gladly bound themselves to fealty to the United States. A detachment under Bowman was despatched to Kahokia, and received its submission. The people, of French origin and few in number, were averse to the dominion of the English; and this disaffection was confirmed by the American alliance with the land of their ancestors.

In a long conference, Giboult, a Catholic priest, dissuaded Clark from moving against Vincennes. His own offer of mediation being accepted, he, with a small party, repaired to the post; and its people, having listened to his explanation of the state of affairs, went into the church and took the oath of