The Revolutionary War intensifies in Kentucky in 1777.

British lieutenant governor Henry Hamilton, from his headquarters at Fort Detroit, arms and encourages his Native American allies to wage war on the Kentucky settlers in hopes of reclaiming the region as their hunting ground.

The Continental Army can spare no men for an invasion in the northwest or for the defense of Kentucky, which is left entirely to the local population.

George Rogers Clark spends several months defending settlements against the Native American raiders as a leader in the Kentucky County militia, while developing his plan for a long-distance strike against the British.

Clark's strategy involves seizing British outposts north of the Ohio River to destroy British influence among its Native American allies.

In December 1777 Clark presents his plan to Virginia's governor, Patrick Henry, and asks for permission to lead a secret expedition to capture the British-held villages at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes in the Illinois country.

Governor Henry commissions Clark as a lieutenant colonel in the Virginia militia and authorizes him to raise troops for the expedition.

George Rogers Clark's volunteers had departed the Falls on June 24 to begin their military campaign.

In July 1778, Clark and about one hundred and seventy-five men cross the Ohio River at Fort Massac and march to Kaskaskia, capturing it on the night of July 4 without firing their weapons.

Lieutenant Colonel Clark and his officers, after heavy recruiting, have attracted volunteers from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina.

The men gather in early May near the Falls of the Ohio, south of Fort Pitt.

The group of one hundred and fifty soldiers, eventually known as the Illinois Regiment spends about a month along the Ohio River preparing for its secret mission.

They set out or the Illinois Country on May 12 from Redstone, today's Brownsville, Pennsylvania, taking along eighty civilians who hope to claim fertile farmland and start a new settlement in Kentucky, and ...

Clark and about one hundred and seventy-five men cross the Ohio River at Fort Massac in July 1778, and march to Kaskaskia, capturing it on the night of July 4 without firing their weapons.

Captain Joseph Bowman and his company of men capture Cahokia in a similar fashion on July 5 without firing a shot.

The garrison at Vincennes along the Wabash River surrenders to Clark in August.

Several other villages and British forts will subsequently be captured, after most of the French-speaking and native inhabitants refuse to take up arms on behalf of the British.

Hamilton, to counter Clark's advance, recaptures the garrison at Vincennes, which the British call Fort Sackville, with a small force in December 1778.

Colonel Clark, prior to initiating a march on Fort Detroit, has used his own resources and has borrowed from his friends to continue his campaign after the initial appropriation of funds from the Virginia legislature had been depleted.

Clark has reenlisted some of his troops and recruited additional men to join him.

While Governor Hamilton waits for spring to begin a campaign to retake the forts at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, Clark plans another surprise attack on Fork Sackville at Vincennes.

Clark and about one hundred and seventy men leave Kaskaskia on February 6, 1779, beginning an arduous overland trek, encountering melting snow, ice, and cold rain along the journey.

Clark and his men had arrived at Vincennes on February 23, and launched a surprise attack on Fort Sackville.

Hamilton, who surrenders the garrison on February 25, is captured in the process.

The winter expedition, Clark's most significant military achievement, becomes the basis of his reputation as an early American military hero.