The War in the Northwest 229 



and keep it. 12 They never had the chance to execute 

 this plan; but, on January 2, 1781, a Spanish cap- 

 tain, Don Eugenio Pierro, led a hundred and twenty 

 men, chiefly Indians and Creoles, against the little 

 French village, or fur post, of St. Joseph, where 

 they burned the houses of one or two British traders, 

 claimed the country round the Illinois River as con- 

 quered for the Spanish king, and forthwith returned 

 to St. Louis, not daring to leave a garrison of any 

 sort behind them, and being harassed on their re- 

 treat by the Indians. On the strength of this exploit 

 Spain afterward claimed a large stretch of coun- 

 try to the east of the Mississippi. In reality it was 

 a mere plundering foray. The British at once re- 

 took possession of the place, and, indeed, were for 

 some time ignorant whether the raiders had been 

 Americans or Spaniards. 13 Soon after the recap- 

 ture, the Detroit authorities sent a scouting party 

 to dislodge some Illinois people who had attempted 

 to make a settlement at Chicago. 14 



At the end of the year 1781 the unpaid troops 

 in Vincennes were on the verge of mutiny, and it was 

 impossible longer even to feed them, for the inhabi- 

 tants themselves were almost starving. The garri- 

 son was therefore withdrawn; and immediately the 

 Wabash Indians joined those of the Miami, the 



12 Clark to Todd, March, 1780. Va. State Papers, I, 338. 



13 Haldimand MSS. Haldimand to De Peyster, April 10, 

 1781. Report of Council at St. Joseph, March n, 1781. 



14 Do. Haldimand to De Peyster, May 19, 1782. This is 

 the first record of an effort to make a permanent settlement 

 at Chicago. 



