a.

On the evening of the fourth of July [Footnote: So says Clark; and the
Haldimand MSS. contains a letter of Rocheblave of July 4th. For these
campaigns of 1778 I follow where possible Clark's letter to Mason as
being nearly contemporary; his "Memoir," as given by Dillon, comes next
in authority; while Butler, who was very accurate and painstaking, also
got hold of original information from men who had taken part in the
expedition, or from their descendants, besides making full use of the
"Memoir."] they reached the river Kaskaskia, within three miles of the
town, which lay on the farther bank. They kept in the woods until after
it grew dusk, and then marched silently to a little farm on the hither
side of the river, a mile from the town. The family were taken
prisoners, and from them Clark learned that some days before the
townspeople had been alarmed at the rumor of a possible attack; but that
their suspicions had been lulled, and they were then off their guard.
There were a great many men in the town, but almost all French, the
Indians having for the most part left. The account proved correct.
Rocheblave, the creole commandant, was sincerely attached to the British
interest. He had been much alarmed early in the year by the reports
brought to him by Indians that the Americans were in Kentucky and
elsewhere beyond the Alleghanies. He had written repeatedly to Detroit,
asking that regulars could be sent him, and that he might himself be
replaced by a commandant of English birth; for though the French were
well-disposed towards the crown, they had been frightened by the reports
of the ferocity of the backwoodsmen, and the Indians were fickle. In his
letters he mentioned that the French were much more loyal than the men
of English parentage. Hamilton found it impossible to send him
reinforcements however, and he was forced to do the best he could
without them; but he succeeded well in his endeavors to organize troops,
as he found the creole militia very willing to serve, and the Indians
extremely anxious to attack the Americans. [Footnote: Haldimand MSS.
Carleton to Hamilton, May 16, 1777; Rocheblave to Carleton, February 8,
1778; Rocheblave to Hamilton, April 12, 1778; Rocheblave to Carleton,
July 4, 1778.] He had under his orders two or three times as many men
as Clark, and he would certainly have made a good fight if he had not
been surprised. It was only Clark's audacity and the noiseless speed of
his movements tha