Support for Clark’s Siege

When Tobacco's Son heard that Clark had arrived to capture Fort Sackville, he volunteered to have 100 of his men assist Clark. While Clark declined his offer, Tobacco's Son’s gesture shows his strong alliance with Clark. Tobacco's Son’s offer of support is quite remarkable because in the Illinois Country (present day Midwest), there were dozens of different American Indian groups with differing loyalties and overall, there were far more Indian groups who supported the British or tried to remain neutral than ones who actively supported the Americans.

 The Miami generally favored the British, the Wea tried to remain neutral and many of the Piankashaw came to openly support the Americans. The Delaware, who had already been pushed into present day Indiana and Ohio from the East coast, were divided throughout the war in loyalties, but increasingly favored the British as the war went on. The Shawnee were some of the fiercest supporters of the British and consequently, George Rogers Clark attacked many of their villages in southern Ohio in 1780 and 1782, at the end of the war. The Wyandot, who lived near Detroit, had formed a strong alliance with the British and would have served as a first line of defense against the Americans making it to Detroit. The Potawatomi, on the other hand, were split. The western half of the group that lived closer to Lake Michigan supported Clark and the Americans, while the eastern half, located closer to Detroit, favored the British. 

If you were Tobacco's Son, would you have allied with George Roger Clark? Would you have continued to support him, even when many other Indiana groups around you did not?