Full Text of HJR0002 96th General Assembly
HJ0002 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, It is highly fitting that the Illinois General | 3 |
| Assembly pays honor and respect to the truly great individuals | 4 |
| who served our country in its time of greatest need; and
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| WHEREAS, George Rogers Clark was born on November 19, 1752 | 6 |
| in Albemarle County near Shadwell, Virginia; he passed away at | 7 |
| the age of 66 on February 13, 1818 in Jefferson County, | 8 |
| Kentucky; and
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| WHEREAS, As with most children of the time, George Rogers | 10 |
| Clark was tutored at home; he eventually became a farmer and | 11 |
| surveyor; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1777, as the American Revolutionary War | 13 |
| intensified in the territory west of the colonies, George | 14 |
| Rogers Clark was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel in the | 15 |
| Virginia militia and was authorized to capture the British | 16 |
| posts in the region; and
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| WHEREAS, During the winter of 1778, British soldiers, | 18 |
| French volunteers, and Indian warriors under the direction of | 19 |
| British Lt. Governor Henry Hamilton, captured Fort Sackville | 20 |
| located at Vincennes, in what is now known as Indiana; and
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| WHEREAS, Under George Rogers Clark's determined leadership | 2 |
| and direction, a force of approximately 170 men made an | 3 |
| incredible eighteen-day trek from Kaskaskia, through the | 4 |
| freezing flood waters of the undeveloped Illinois countryside, | 5 |
| to Fort Sackville; and
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| WHEREAS, Upon arriving at nightfall on the evening of | 7 |
| February 23, 1779, George Rogers Clark surrounded the enemy | 8 |
| with his men and masterfully displayed sufficient flags for an | 9 |
| army of 500 men, thus giving the impression of having a much | 10 |
| larger army than he actually had; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, Along with other military maneuvers, George | 12 |
| Rogers Clark's men continued firing at the fort and discharging | 13 |
| explosives under the walls of Fort Sackville; and
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| WHEREAS, The British Flag would not be raised above Fort | 15 |
| Sackville on the morning of February 25, 1779, as Lt. Governor | 16 |
| Hamilton and his garrison marched out of the fort and | 17 |
| surrendered to American Colonel George Rogers Clark; and
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| WHEREAS, George Rogers Clark's recapture of Fort Sackville | 19 |
| at Vincennes is credited by historians as confounding the | 20 |
| British plans to attack the newly formed United Colonies, as | 21 |
| well as the British war efforts from the west; and
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| WHEREAS, Without George Rogers Clark's brilliant military | 2 |
| actions, General George Washington would have faced a | 3 |
| debilitating war on two fronts that might well have changed the | 4 |
| outcome of the American Revolution; and
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| WHEREAS, As a result of George Rogers Clark's successful | 6 |
| battles, the British ceded to the United States a vast area of | 7 |
| land west of the Appalachian Mountains, which includes the | 8 |
| present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, | 9 |
| Wisconsin, and the eastern portion of Minnesota; and | 10 |
| WHEREAS, George Rogers Clark was a peerless military | 11 |
| leader, who knew his enemy as well as he knew his own men; and
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| WHEREAS, The virtues that George Rogers Clark exhibited | 13 |
| transcended his era; his actions during times of great distress | 14 |
| serve as a reminder that acts of truly great heroes should be | 15 |
| recognized and preserved for future generations; and
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| WHEREAS, The United States National Park Service maintains | 17 |
| a George Rogers Clark National Historical Park and a beautiful | 18 |
| George Rogers Clark Memorial in Vincennes, directly across the | 19 |
| Wabash River from Illinois on what is believed to be the site | 20 |
| of Fort Sackville; and
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| WHEREAS, A portion of U.S. Route 50 extends from Salem to |
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| Vincennes, Indiana, and most closely represents the path that | 2 |
| Clark and his men took after marching north from Kaskaskia; | 3 |
| therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 6 |
| SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the portion of U.S. Route 50, | 7 |
| extending east between Salem and the Indiana border at | 8 |
| Vincennes, be designated the George Rogers Clark Memorial | 9 |
| Highway; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Transportation | 11 |
| is requested to erect at suitable locations, consistent with | 12 |
| State and federal regulations, appropriate plaques or signs | 13 |
| giving notice of the name of the George Rogers Clark Memorial | 14 |
| Highway; and be it further | 15 |
| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 16 |
| delivered to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of | 17 |
| Transportation, the Secretary of the Illinois Department of | 18 |
| Transportation, and the Mayors of Lawrenceville, Bridgeport, | 19 |
| Sumner, Claremont, Olney, Clay City, Noble, Flora, Xenia, Iuka, | 20 |
| and Salem.
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