Lochry's Defeat - Planning Clark's Campaign

Planning Clark's Campaign

In late 1780, Clark traveled east to consult with Thomas Jefferson, the governor of Virginia, about an expedition in 1781. Jefferson devised a plan which called for Clark to lead 2,000 men against Detroit, with the hope of preventing a rumored British offensive against Kentucky. To avoid potential conflicts over rank with Continental Army colonels while organizing the campaign, Clark requested that Jefferson promote him to brigadier general in the Continental Army. Army rules precluded Clark from receiving a Continental commission, however, because Clark held his colonel's commission from Virginia rather than the United States. Jefferson instead promoted Clark to the Virginia rank of "Brigadier General of the forces to be embodied on an expedition westward of the Ohio". In January 1781, Clark left for Fort Pitt in western Pennsylvania to assemble his men and supplies. His goal was to have the expedition ready for departure from Fort Pitt by June 15.

As with earlier campaigns, recruiting enough men was a problem. Jefferson called for the western counties of Virginia to provide militia manpower for Clark's campaign, but county officials protested that they could not spare the men. Militiamen did not want to set out on a lengthy expedition—they would be gone for six months to a year—while their families and homes were threatened by Lord Cornwallis's army in the east, by Indian raids from the north, and by Loyalists at home. Because of this resistance, Jefferson called for volunteers rather than ordering the militia to accompany the expedition.

In addition to volunteers, Jefferson also arranged for a regiment of 200 regular soldiers under Colonel John Gibson to accompany Clark. Longstanding tensions between Continental Army officers and the militia made such cooperation problematic, however. Colonel Daniel Brodhead, the Continental Army commander at Fort Pitt, refused to detach men for Clark's campaign because he was staging his own expedition against the Delaware Indians, who had recently entered the war against the Americans. Brodhead marched into the Ohio Country and destroyed the Delaware Indian capital of Coshocton in April 1781, but this only made the Delawares more determined enemies, and deprived Clark of badly needed men and supplies for the Detroit campaign.

Clark also had problems recruiting men from Pennsylvania because lingering resentment from the recently settled border dispute between Virginia and Pennsylvania meant that few Pennsylvanians were willing to participate in an expedition headed by a Virginian. Clark's controversial attempt to draft Pennsylvanians into service created even more ill will. One Pennsylvanian who supported Clark was Colonel Archibald Lochry, commander of the Westmoreland County militia. On July 4, 1781, Lochry wrote to Joseph Reed, the President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania:

We have very distressing times Here this summer. The Enemy are almost constantly in our County Killing and Captivating the Inhabitants. I see no way we can have of defending ourselves other than by offensive operations. General Clarke has Requested our assistance to Enable him to carry an Expedition into the Indian Country.

With Reed's approval, Lochry began recruiting men for Clark's expedition. Many Westmoreland men did not want to leave their homes undefended, and so Lochry was only able to enlist about 100 volunteers for the campaign.

When Clark finally left Fort Pitt in August 1781, he was accompanied by only 400 men, although he expected to meet Lochry and his Pennsylvanians at Fort Henry (present Wheeling, West Virginia). Clark was angry about the lack of support given his campaign, but he still hoped that the Kentucky militia, who were to rendezvous with him at Fort Nelson (Louisville, Kentucky), would provide additional men. He intended to at least carry out an expedition against enemy Indians if he did not have enough men to attack Detroit.