Author Talk with Eric Sterner

In late 1778, leading a small force of one hundred and fifty men, George Rogers Clark entered the Illinois Country where they would capture Great Britain’s major posts along the Mississippi and take British lieutenant governor Henry Hamilton prisoner to achieve one of the most singular victories during the American Revolution. Having suffered at the hands of British-supported Native American raids in Kentucky, Clark and his men embraced a confrontational approach, lumping all Native American nations together as inveterate blood enemies. For years, Clark’s daring achievement was lionized as the embodiment of American initiative. Now, in light of Clark’s treatment and participation in the subjugation of Native peoples, his legacy has reversed, with his statue at the University of Virginia recently being removed. His lack of nuance led him to misinterpret Indian responses to his military campaign and conclude that his approach produced results. In fact, many Native American nations simply used the American presence on the Mississippi to extort greater support from the British. In Till the Extinction of This Rebellion: George Rogers Clark, Frontier Warfare, and the Illinois Campaign of 1778–1779 Eric Sterner views the campaign from the American, British, and Indigenous perspectives and illustrates the wide geographic impact of the American Revolution west of the Appalachians, particularly on the French and Native American communities in the area.