BOOK REVIEW: Till the Extinction of This Rebellion: George Rogers Clark, Frontier Warfare, and the Illinois Campaign of 1778–1779 by Eric Sterner (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2024. $29.95, cloth)
In Till the Extinction of This Rebellion: George Rogers Clark, Frontier Warfare, and the Illinois Campaign of 1778–1779, Eric Sterner presents a focused overview of one of the western theater’s most critical campaigns. Often treated as a sidebar to the events of the Revolution in the east, Sterner succeeds in portraying Clark’s 1778-79 invasion as an important component of a larger war effort by both British and Patriot officials. Sterner employs a dual fulcrum to support his narrative, placing his emphasis on the persons of George Rogers Clark and Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton. The resulting story is balanced and fair, which is not an easy accomplishment given the extraordinary level of partisan violence witnessed in the conflict.
In the opening sections of the work, Sterner offers an insightful glimpse into the unique pressures felt by Henry Hamilton in the west. Often called “The Hair Buyer” by Patriot soldiers, Hamilton’s unsavory reputation for instigating Indian raids across the frontier has lingered into the present day. Rather than portraying him as a callous opportunist, Sterner shows how Hamilton’s superiors compelled him to act, and how his Native allies often committed atrocities that undermined his efforts. On the inverse was George Rogers Clark, a Virginian who adopted the west as his home country, and who was defined by an unpredictable streak. Sterner does not seek to glorify the actions of Clark like so many others that have studied him, but instead offers an honest assessment of the partisan commander.
While Clark offers a plethora of chest-thumping quotes (“I glory in war”), Sterner strips away much of the mythology that surrounds him. He was brave, but also rash, inexperienced, too narrow in his perspectives, and flatly wrong in his assessments. He held his plans close to his vest, even refusing to share them with his subordinates at the expense of the mission. He was repeatedly scolded by superiors for going rogue. In one instance he was admonished by Virginia Governor Patrick Henry for operating too far beyond the scope of his orders. With these opening chapters, Sterner prepares the reader to brace for impact: the story of the Illinois Campaign is far more complex than it seems.
In the middle chapters of the book, Sterner turns his attention to Clark’s diplomatic efforts. Although he is often portrayed as a daredevil, Sterner uses primary source material to show another side of the Virginian. During his mission to conquer the Illinois Country, Clark was prepared for a brutal partisan fight, but avoided it through calculated diplomatic efforts. On July 4, 1778, Clark and his troops entered the city of Kaskaskia, a critical settlement in the “American Bottom” region of the Mississippi River valley. Using promises of peace, citizenship, and supplies, Clark convinced the population to surrender without resistance. Although he did not enter the village forcefully, Clark knew that many of its primarily French residents believed the Americans to be inherently violent actors. Using that reputation to his advantage, he did nothing to assuage them of their fears. Following the peaceful surrender of Kaskaskia, the settlements of Cahokia and Vincennes soon followed suit. Sterner’s analysis shines in this portion of the text as he carefully explains the complex ethnic, social, racial, and economic diversity of the Midwest. Kaskaskia was nearly fifty percent enslaved, and though Britain tacitly controlled the region, there was little loyalty to the crown amongst its remnant French communities. Clark went so far as to promise protection for the Catholic faith, and though it was beyond his authority, it allowed his men to capture the settlements in a bloodless manner. “Through masterful psychological warfare, achieved largely by employing surprise, intimidation, and incentives,” Sterner writes, “Clark had displaced Britain without killing anyone.”
In the third act of the book, Sterner traces Lieutenant Governor Hamilton’s counteroffensive against Clark, and the two inevitably meet in a battle at Fort Sackville. Included in the book is a fabulous map showing the two parties en route to their historic clash. Just as Clark captured settlement after settlement without violence, so too did Hamilton reclaim them, illustrating the tepid nature of frontier allegiance. The final section of the book details the climactic engagement at Fort Sackville, and Sterner uses it to further elucidate the complex and often brutal politics of the Revolution’s western theater. In a famous incident, Patriot Captain John Williams captured an Indian war party, and Clark ordered them all to be summarily executed. After tomahawking them to death and throwing their corpses into the Wabash River, Clark wrote to George Mason that he hoped to convince their fellow warriors that “Governour Hamilton could not give them the protection that he had made them to believe he could.” According to Sterner, “Clark’s … actions were not motivated by vengeance or blind racial hatred but had a calculated political purpose.” The Americans succeeded in capturing the fort and claimed the Illinois Country for the United States. As the final section concludes, Sterner details the lengthy and frustrating attempts at surrender between Clark and Hamilton. Both leaders were strong willed partisans, and neither had an appetite for compromise.
In Till the Extinction of This Rebellion, Eric Sterner adds to his growing collection of books detailing the American Revolution in the west. When read together, they reveal the frontier to be a confusing, violent, and politically uncertain place. It was home to thousands of French, Spanish, African American, Scots-Irish, and Indigenous peoples, and each sought to carve out a piece of America’s future. Although this book is brief (only 128 pages of content with 18 pages of endnotes) it is focused, clear, and direct. The Revolution’s western theater was none of those things, and Sterner has written an outstanding account that helps to make sense of it all.
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One thought on “Till the Extinction of This Rebellion: George Rogers Clark, Frontier Warfare, an the Illinois Campaign of 1778-1779”
My 5th great grandfather, Christopher Windsor IV, participated in this campaign with Clark. Look forward to reading the book.