Old Cathedral 'French and Indian' Cemetery
Vincennes, Knox County, Indiana
Marker Inscription
The Old Cathedral "French and Indian" Cemetery, 1750-1846. Contains the graves (mostly unmarked) of some 4,000 inhabitants of early Vincennes, including soldiers and patriots of the American Revolution who helped Colonel George Rogers Clark to capture nearby Fort Sackville in 1779. The cemetery marks the site of the log church where the people of Vincennes swore an oath of allegiance to the Republic of Virginia and the United States on July 20, 1778. During the siege of Fort Sackville (February 23-24, 1779), Clark's men took up positions at the church and cemetery. It was at the church that Colonel Clark and the British commander, Lieutenant Governor Henry Hamilton, negotiated terms of surrender on February 24. The surrender of Fort Sackville occurred the next day., February 25, 1779. As a result, Hamilton's plan to crush the Revolution in the West was checked and a basis was laid for the United States to later claim the area northwest of the Ohio River, from which were eventually formed the states of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota. The Old Cathedral and Cemetery are located in the Vincennes Historic District, which was placed on the National Register of Historical Places on December 31, 1974
Erected by Sons of the American Revolution
The Story
This cemetery holds the mostly unmarked graves of some 4,000 early residents of Vincennes, among them Revolutionary soldiers who aided George Rogers Clark. On its ground stood the log church where townspeople swore allegiance to Virginia and the United States in 1778, and where in February 1779 Clark and British commander Henry Hamilton negotiated the surrender of nearby Fort Sackville.
Why it matters
Clark's capture of Fort Sackville checked British power in the West and helped the young United States lay claim to the vast Northwest Territory, from which five states were later carved.
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Related people
- · George Rogers Clark
- · Henry Hamilton
Related events
- · Siege of Fort Sackville, 1779
- · Oath of allegiance at Vincennes, 1778
Themes & tags
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