The name of Fort Sackville has echoed like a clarion call across the pages of Indiana history. Just the mention of the name conjures up visions of a battle, while small in number of men involved, that still has a vital place not only in Indiana history, but also the history of the united States.
If George Rogers Clark and his gallant band of men had not captured the fort and it had remained in British hands at the end of the Revolutionary War, the course of history may very well have a different ending.
Think of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin as a part of Canada. It’s hard to visualize, but without Clark’s victory the heartland of America may very well have become the heartland of Canada. Just what was Fort Sackville really like?
In 1766, after Pontiac’s War, Lieutenant John Rumsey was given the command of Fort Vincennes, as it was then known. It had not been garrisoned during Pontiac’s War, thus was not attacked. Rumsey found the fort in a bad condition. He set to work his party of soldiers and started making much needed repairs. He soon had the fort in some state of order and re-christened it Fort Sackville for Lord George Sackville, then the acting Secretary of State for the American colonies.
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