July 20: George Rogers Clark

On this date in History .... July 20, 1778:

George Rogers Clark captured the fort at Vincennes, Indiana, from the French.  

When Clark informed the French that France has declared war against the British, making France and the colonists now on the same side, the French were elated, and those at the Vincennes fort pledged allegiance to the Americans. When the British learned of this, troops were sent to capture the fort, and was held under British control through the winter. 

Clark recaptured the fort the following February with significantly fewer troops than the British had and in effect, tricked the British into surrendering the fort. Because of how Clark’s men had survived the winter in their approach to the fort and how Clark tricked the British into surrendering, Clark is described as “a true military genius and patriot.”

George Rogers Clark Memorial
Vincennes, Indiana

.

A memorial for Clark was built in Vincennes when, in the 1920s as the 150th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War was approaching, an "intense interest" arose in recognizing the accomplishments of Clark and how he secured the West for the Americans.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the memorial on June 14, 1936.