Francois Marie Bissot - Sieur de Vincennes, was born in Montreal, June 17th, 1700. He was the third generation of a successful military family. In 1730, he was promoted to lieutenant. His orders were to establish a new fort and protect the French fur business from the British. He persuaded the Piankeshaw Indians to go with him down the Wabash River. In 1732, he wrote that he completed the fort. His first daughter was also born in 1732. This was the beginning of the city of Vincennes.
Some 42 years later, in 1778, the small French poste Of Vincennes has a population of over 600 French Inhabitants. It was on the 20th of July, 1778, that Father Gibault gave them the Oath of Allegiance to 185 Frenchmen of Vincennes, for the American cause.
In February of 1779, George Rogers Clark knew that time was not on his side. Spies told him that the British officer Hamilton was planning to attack him in the spring. Clark made a daring plan, and he rallied his men along with fifty volunteers from the French population of Kaskaskia, to march to Vincennes. What followed was unlike anything one can imagine. They had little provisions, and in the brutal cold, they marched through half frozen water that at times came to their shoulders. Clark’s men eventually arrived in Vincennes.
The French villagers gave Clark their gunpowder that they had hidden from the British and helped him fire on Fort Sackville. This helped him greatly since his boat the "Willing" had not arrived with supplies.
The British surrendered to Clark on February 25th, 1779. They were completely out witted by Clark. The George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes is the site of the largest Memorial Monument west of Washington D.C. which honors the heroic accomplishments of Colonel Clark and his men.
The surrender of Fort Sackville to George Rogers Clark made this the largest land conquest in the American Revolution.
Some 42 years later, in 1778, the small French poste Of Vincennes has a population of over 600 French Inhabitants. It was on the 20th of July, 1778, that Father Gibault gave them the Oath of Allegiance to 185 Frenchmen of Vincennes, for the American cause.
In February of 1779, George Rogers Clark knew that time was not on his side. Spies told him that the British officer Hamilton was planning to attack him in the spring. Clark made a daring plan, and he rallied his men along with fifty volunteers from the French population of Kaskaskia, to march to Vincennes. What followed was unlike anything one can imagine. They had little provisions, and in the brutal cold, they marched through half frozen water that at times came to their shoulders. Clark’s men eventually arrived in Vincennes.
The French villagers gave Clark their gunpowder that they had hidden from the British and helped him fire on Fort Sackville. This helped him greatly since his boat the "Willing" had not arrived with supplies.
The British surrendered to Clark on February 25th, 1779. They were completely out witted by Clark. The George Rogers Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes is the site of the largest Memorial Monument west of Washington D.C. which honors the heroic accomplishments of Colonel Clark and his men.
The surrender of Fort Sackville to George Rogers Clark made this the largest land conquest in the American Revolution.