HJ0002 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0002 LRB096 02950 GRL 12964 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, It is highly fitting that the Illinois General Assembly pays honor and respect to the truly great individuals who served our country in its time of greatest need; and

WHEREAS, George Rogers Clark was born on November 19, 1752 in Albemarle County near Shadwell, Virginia; he passed away at the age of 66 on February 13, 1818 in Jefferson County, Kentucky; and

WHEREAS, As with most children of the time, George Rogers Clark was tutored at home; he eventually became a farmer and surveyor; and

WHEREAS, In 1777, as the American Revolutionary War intensified in the territory west of the colonies, George Rogers Clark was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Virginia militia and was authorized to capture the British posts in the region; and

WHEREAS, During the winter of 1778, British soldiers, French volunteers, and Indian warriors under the direction of British Lt. Governor Henry Hamilton, captured Fort Sackville located at Vincennes, in what is now known as Indiana; and

WHEREAS, Under George Rogers Clark's determined leadership and direction, a force of approximately 170 men made an incredible eighteen-day trek from Kaskaskia, through the freezing flood waters of the undeveloped Illinois countryside, to Fort Sackville; and

WHEREAS, Upon arriving at nightfall on the evening of February 23, 1779, George Rogers Clark surrounded the enemy with his men and masterfully displayed sufficient flags for an army of 500 men, thus giving the impression of having a much larger army than he actually had; and

WHEREAS, Along with other military maneuvers, George Rogers Clark's men continued firing at the fort and discharging explosives under the walls of Fort Sackville; and

WHEREAS, The British Flag would not be raised above Fort Sackville on the morning of February 25, 1779, as Lt. Governor Hamilton and his garrison marched out of the fort and surrendered to American Colonel George Rogers Clark; and

WHEREAS, George Rogers Clark's recapture of Fort Sackville at Vincennes is credited by historians as confounding the British plans to attack the newly formed United Colonies, as well as the British war efforts from the west; and

WHEREAS, Without George Rogers Clark's brilliant military actions, General George Washington would have faced a debilitating war on two fronts that might well have changed the outcome of the American Revolution; and

WHEREAS, As a result of George Rogers Clark's successful battles, the British ceded to the United States a vast area of land west of the Appalachian Mountains, which includes the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the eastern portion of Minnesota; and

WHEREAS, George Rogers Clark was a peerless military leader, who knew his enemy as well as he knew his own men; and

WHEREAS, The virtues that George Rogers Clark exhibited transcended his era; his actions during times of great distress serve as a reminder that acts of truly great heroes should be recognized and preserved for future generations; and

WHEREAS, The United States National Park Service maintains a George Rogers Clark National Historical Park and a beautiful George Rogers Clark Memorial in Vincennes, directly across the Wabash River from Illinois on what is believed to be the site of Fort Sackville; and

WHEREAS, A portion of U.S. Route 50 extends from Salem to Vincennes, Indiana, and most closely represents the path that Clark and his men took after marching north from Kaskaskia; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the portion of U.S. Route 50, extending east between Salem and the Indiana border at Vincennes, be designated the George Rogers Clark Memorial Highway; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs giving notice of the name of the George Rogers Clark Memorial Highway; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the Mayors of Lawrenceville, Bridgeport, Sumner, Claremont, Olney, Clay City, Noble, Flora, Xenia, Iuka, and Salem.