Includes two letters which Jefferson wrote to John Randolph in 1775 at the commencement of the Revolution, and a letter written by George Rogers Clark to the governor of Virginia in 1779, describing the warfare along the frontier.
Sketches of the enterprise and proceedings in the Illinois Country by Colonel George Rogers Clark, Commander of that Expedition, in a letter to Colonel George Mason of Gunston Hall, Virginia. In this letter, Clark writes about the origins of the mission, his contact with Native Americans and British, and the conquest of the Illinois territory.
Bowman's letter to Isaac Hite discusses trade with New Orleans, the abundance of money at Kaskaskia, British and American troops in the northwest, and a message he wrote that was not received because the messenger was killed at the Falls of the Ohio. Bowman gives a detailed description of the retaking of Vincennes in February 1779 by the Americans led by George Rogers Clark. Bowman mentions guns, military stores, and Native-American goods captured by Clark's men, and notes the Virginia Assembly's indifference to the western territory. Bowman died not long after writing this letter from wounds received during the retaking of Vincennes several months earlier.