Battle of St. Louis - Battle

Battle

On May 25, Hesse sent out scouting parties to determine the situation at St. Louis. These parties were unable to get close to the village due to the presence of workers, including women and children, in the fields outside the village. The next day Hesse sent Jean-Marie Ducharme and 300 Indians across the river to attack Cahokia, while the remainder headed toward St. Louis, arriving about 1:00 pm. A warning shot was fired from the tower when they came in view, with the Sioux and Winnebagoes leading the way, followed by the Sac and Fox, and the fur traders, including Hesse, bringing up the rear. Leyba directed the defense from the tower, and opened a withering fire from there and the trenches when the enemy force came in range. On the first volley, most of the Sac and Fox fell back, apparently unwilling to fight, leaving many of the other participants suspicious of their motives in joining the expedition and complaining of their "treachery".

Wapasha and the Sioux persisted for several hours in attempts to draw the Spanish defenders out, going so far as brutally killing some captives they had taken in the fields. Although this angered some of the townspeople to the point where the militia requested permission to make a sortie, Leyba refused, and the attackers eventually withdrew and headed north, destroying crops, livestock, and buildings as they went.

On the other side of the river, Ducharme's attack on Cahokia was easily repulsed. The timely arrival of George Rogers Clark to lead its defense played a role; Clark's reputation as a frontier fighter made the Indian force reluctant to pursue the attack.