Portrait of George Rogers Clark

Clark accepting Hamilton's surrender

The George Rogers Clark Memorial

George Rogers Clark

George Rogers Clark was historically significant to the city of Vincennes in the state of Indiana. Clark was born on

November 19, 1752 in the colony of Virginia. He was the second son of John and Ann Rogers Clark. He had five brothers and four sisters. Willam Clark, his youngest brother, went on a westward expedition with Meriweather Lewis. His father’s occupation was farming and landholding. His mother and father mostly home schooled him, but later he was sent to live with his grandfather and attended a private school there. Clark had red hair, six foot tall, and weighed two hundred pounds. Clark’s main hobby was surveying which he learned from his grandfather.

George Rogers Clark was a surveyor, soldier, and leader. Clark learned to survey from his grandfather. He surveyed west of the Appalachian Mountains especially in Kentucky. Over the next four years, he claimed land for himself and his family. Clark participated in Lord Dunmore’s War and gained recognition as an Indian fighter. Clark formed the Kentucky Militia to defend settlers from the Indian raids. He took his plan of defense to Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia for approval. At the age twenty- three, he was named captain of the militia and a delegate to the Virginia legislature. Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton was paying the Indians for settlers’ scalps. On June 26, 1778 Clark and one hundred seventy- five men traveled on the Ohio River to Kaskaskia. They surprised the fort at Kaskaskia on July 4, 1778, and they took the fort and town without firing a shot. On July 5, 1778 Clark captured Fort Cahokia from the British. Father Gibault, Kaskaskia’s priest, went to Vincennes to secure allegiance with the French. Captain Helm was sent to capture Fort Sackville. Hamilton learned about Helm’s capture of Fort Sackville so he prepared his forces and traveled down the Maumee and Wabash Rivers reaching Vincennes on December 17, 1778. At the time Helm was forced to surrender. Determined to capture Hamilton, Clark, with approximately one hundred seventy- five men, marched eighteen days through freezing floodwaters. On February 23, 1779 Clark’s army entered Vincennes and surrounded the fort. On February 25, 1779 Hamilton surrendered and handed Clark his sword. Clark’s leadership continued in military actions until the end of the war. In 1783 and1784, he was named surveyor of the public lands for men who served in the Virginia in military forces.

In Vincennes a memorial stands on the site of Fort Sackville. On September 1, 1931 demolition and site preparation started. On June 1932, work began on the dome, which, like the rest of the rotunda interior was made of limestone and anchored to a concrete dome with heavy copper bolts. In August the concrete dome was poured and brickwork was laid to the top of the memorial with granite. It took seven months to complete the octagonal terrace and steps, which encircled the structure. The last piece of the granite was laid in April 1933. The years 1933-1936 were devoted to landscaping, decorating, and lighting the memorial grounds. The memorial’s interior has a marble floor and wainscoting. Inscribed on the entablature are Clark’s words: “Great things have been affected by a few men well conducted.” Clark’s memorial is more than eighty feet tall. Every wall in the memorial is two feet thick. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set June 14, 1936 for the dedication of George Rogers Clark Memorial. A quarter of a million visitors attended the dedication.

George Rogers Clark had a stroke in 1809, which necessitated the amputation of his right leg. This was performed without anesthetic; Clark wanted two fifers and two drummers to play outside for two hours during the operation. He died at the age of sixty-six on February 13, 1818. Clark died at Locust Grove near Louisville, Kentucky. His body was moved from his family plot to Cave Hill Cemetery. He accomplished many tasks at a young age. It was a shame that the Americans didn’t recognize him sooner. Clark was intelligent, brave and enjoyed exploring the new lands. Because of Clark’s capture of Fort Sackville and the construction of the Memorial, our city is an historical showplace.

Hailey and Corbin