George Rogers Clark National Historical Park

A memorial stands on the site of Fort Sackville to commemorate the capture of the fort from British soldiers by Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark and his frontiersmen on February 25, 1779 - one of the greatest feats of the American Revolutionary War. Clark's army, aided by French residents of the Illinois country, had marched through freezing floodwaters to gain this victory. The fortís capture assured United States claims to the frontier, an area nearly as large as the original 13 states.