*Includes pictures
*Includes Clark's quotes about his life and career
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
"I am George Rogers Clark. You have just become a prisoner of the Commonwealth of Virginia." - George Rogers Clark
The last days of the colonial era in America seemed to spawn a number of Renaissance men, unique individuals who were as comfortable in a log cabin as a ballroom and could write as well as they could hunt. George Rogers Clark was one of these men, and in many ways he was a paler, less-accomplished version of his illustrious neighbor, George Washington. Like the Continental Army's leader, George Rogers Clark was an accomplished surveyor who helped map out their Virginia homeland, a good soldier, and an officer in the Virginia militia before and during the Revolutionary War. While Washington led the army, he tasked Clark with leading the American troops along the frontier border in that portion of Virginia that would one day become Kentucky.
While he did not necessarily share Washington's success and military genius, Clark played a major part in winning the war, including capturing the important town of Kaskaskia, Illinois, then in the hands of the British, on July 4, 1778. The following year, he took Vincennes, Indiana, in a similarly successful maneuver. These two victories weakened the British presence in the Northwest Territory and allowed the patriots to focus its attention on battles further east. After the war ended and the British gave the Northwest Territory to the United States as part of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the newly formed nation proclaimed Clark "Conqueror of the Old Northwest," a noble and serious title for a man not yet 30 years old.
With the rest of his life still ahead of him, Clark had to find something to do to earn a living, and perhaps just as importantly, figure out a way to regain the sense of fulfillment he enjoyed fighting during the war. To this end, he took up command of yet another militia unit, this one engaged in fighting the Native Americans on the American frontier. Sadly, before the Northwest Indian War came to an end, Clark's career did; like so many other military men, he succumbed to the bottle and developed a problem with alcohol.
Now just one more man among a large number of former heroes, Clark abandoned his old Kentucky home for a life on the frontier, returning to the site of his wartime conquests, Indiana. Left nearly penniless after sacrificing most of his income in the cause of American independence, he joined the significant ranks of Founding Fathers who were better known to their creditors than they were to their friends. In an attempt to keep food on his table and a roof over his head, Clark became involved during the last half of his life in some shady dealings, trying on more than one occasion to sell his military services to the French for use in their war against Spain. These attempts ultimately failed, as did his health, and he spent that last years of his life as an invalid, dependent on his family for care and sustenance.
George Rogers Clark: The Life and Legacy of the Revolutionary War's Conqueror of the Old Northwest chronicles the adventurous life of one of Revolutionary America's most famous figures. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about George Rogers Clark like never before.