In the third year of the American Revolutionary War, Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark and his army of 170 Virginians set out from Fort Massac (Metropolis) to liberate the town of Kaskaskia from British control. On July 3, 1778, Clark's army crossed the old state ford near Welge and established its fifth and final camp on the west side of St. Mary's River. On July 4th, Clark's army marched to a staging point at Diamond Cross and later that evening attacked and secured Kaskaskia.