71, Vol.

I., p.

267.] Clark Determines to Strike the First Blow.
Clark instantly decided to forestall his foe, and to make the attack himself, heedless of the almost impassable nature of the ground and of the icy severity of the weather.

Not only had he received no reinforcements from Virginia but he had not had so much as "a scrip of a pen" from Governor Henry since he had left him, nearly twelve months before.

[Footnote: _Do._] So he was forced to trust entirely to his own energy and power.