Compared to events in the East, the American Revolutionary War in the West has received sparse attention despite its major impact on the geographical extent of the United States after the war. In 1779, in response to George Rogers Clark conquering the Illinois country and Spain entering the war, Lord George Germain set in motion a grand plan to conquer the entire Mississippi River Valley for the British. The lynchpin of the plan was a simultaneous attack by over one thousand men against Spanish St. Louis and American Cahokia—attacks that were repelled by each town on May 26, 1780. Historian Stephen L. Kling, Jr., discusses the details of this little-known, yet important history of the Revolutionary War.
About the Speaker
Stephen L. Kling, Jr., is an independent historian and the author of several books and articles on the western theater of the American Revolutionary War. His books include The Battle of St. Louis, the Attack on Cahokia, and the American Revolution in the West, co-authored with Kristine Sjostrom of Seville, Spain (THGC Publishing, 2017); Cavalry in the Wilderness: Cavalry in the Western Theater of the American Revolutionary War (THGC Publishing, 2021) and James Colbert and His Chickasaw Legacy (THGC Publishing, 2022). Additionally, Mr. Kling is the editor of the anthology The American Revolutionary War in the West (THGC Publishing, 2020) and was the historical consultant of a documentary film, “House of Thunder,” highlighting the Battle of St. Louis, that was awarded the St. Louis Filmmakers Award and a Mid-America Emmy for the best historical documentary. Mr. Kling is also a co-curator of the exhibition The American Revolutionary War in the West, which opened in 2022 at the St. Charles County Heritage Museum in Missouri.