The Fall of Fort Sackville - Bibliography

Bakeless, John. Background to Glory: The Life of George Rogers Clark. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1957.
Well-written, entertaining account of Clark's life.

Barnhart, John D., ed. Henry Hamilton and George Rogers Clark in the American Revolution. Crawfordsville, Ind.: R. E. Banta, 1951.
Good, general biography of Hamilton; contains his journal recounting the expedition from Detroit to Vincennes, the fall of Fort Sackville, and his subsequent imprisonment in Virginia.

Bearss, Edwin C. George Rogers Clark: Vincennes Sites Study and Evaluation, George Rogers Clark National Historic Park, Vincennes, Indiana. Washington, D.C.: Division of History, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1967.
Good secondary source with very useful maps.

Carruth, Gorton. The Encyclopedia of American Facts and Dates. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1993.
Extensive, easy-to-read timeline of American history.

English, William Hayden. Conquest of the Country Northwest of the River Ohio, 1778-1783 and Life of Gen. George Rogers Clark. 2 vols. Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merrill Company, 1896, 1897.
Excellent work, which first brought together important Clark materials; still considered by many the best available source on Clark and the Illinois campaign.

James, James Alton, ed. George Rogers Clark Papers, Vol. 1, 1771-1781, Vol. 2, 1781-1784. Reprint ed., New York: AMS Press, Inc., 1972.
Originally published in 1912 and 1926 as part of the Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library, Virginia series. Transcriptions reflect the content and style of the original documents. Documents are included which are not in English.

Waller, George M. The American Revolution in the West. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1976.
Good and readable narrative history completed for the bicentennial.

Additional Resources

Barnhart, John D., and Dorothy L. Riker. Indiana to 1816: The Colonial Period. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau & Indiana Historical Society, 1971.
Authoritative account of early Indiana includes excellent materials concerning Clark.

Donnelly, Joseph P. Pierre Gibault, Missionary, 1737-1802. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1971.
Interesting biography of Gibault's sometimes stormy, sometimes controversial relationship with his superiors and his parishioners. Also covered is his critical role in the Clark campaign.

Indiana Historical Bureau, website
Site contains complete version of Clark's Memoir and other relevant material as possible.

Seineke, Kathrine Wagner. The George Rogers Clark Adventure in the Illinois and Selected Documents of the American Revolution at the Frontier Posts. New Orleans: Polyanthos, 1981.
Well-researched secondary source containing many primary documents.

Suggested student resources

Carter, Alden R. The American Revolution: War for Independence. New York: Franklin Watts, 1992.
Causes, events, campaigns, personalities, and aftermath of American Revolution are briefly discussed. Work includes historical images, bibliography, and an index for intermediate readers.

The Clark Campaign: A Play. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1994.
Contains a radio play by Hank Fincken and materials on interpreting history.

A Few Men Well Conducted. Family Holiday Film Corporation, 1980.
A 23-minute video dealing with Clark's western campaign.

Gay, Kathlyn, and Martin Gay. Revolutionary War. New York: Twenty-First Century Books, 1995.
Quotations from primary sources, an index, and chapter source notes included in this student overview of the American Revolution.

"George Rogers Clark." The Nineteenth State, Episode 5-37.
The Nineteenth State is a radio program featuring Indiana history topics. The cassettes of the history programs are available in many school libraries.

Kent, Deborah. The American Revolution: "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!" Hillside, N.J.: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1994.
Good beginning source for intermediate readers.

Meltzer, Milton, ed. The American Revolutionaries: A History in Their Own Words, 1750-1800. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1987.
Letters, diaries, memoirs, etc. are used to depict life and events in the colonies in the second half of the eighteenth century; for intermediate readers.

Young, Robert. The Real Patriots of the American Revolution. Parsippany, N.J.: Dillon Press, 1997.
The war is reviewed in light of the American patriots and British loyalists. A glossary, timeline, and bibliography are included in this work for intermediate readers.

Note: There are no current biographies of George Rogers Clark. Older biographies of Clark may not meet today's historical standards.

Special thanks to

• George Rogers Clark National Historical Park, Vincennes; 812-882-1776.
• Indiana Historical Society.
• Indiana State Museum.
• Indiana State Library.
• the printing staff of the Wabash Valley Correctional Facility, Carlisle for their cooperation in making possible this special issue.