Author Rogers Robert

he War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) broke out in Europe and in 1744 the war spread to North America where it was known as King George's War (1744-1748). During Robert's youth (1746) he saw service in the New Hampshire militia as a private in Captain Daniel Ladd's Scouting Company and in 1747, also as a private, Ebenezer Eastman's Scouting Company both times guarding the New Hampshire frontier. [4] In 1754 Robert became involved with a gang of counterfeiters. He was indicted but the case was never brought to trial. [5] In 1755, war engulfed the colonies, spreading also to Europe. Britain and France declared war on each other. The British in America suffered a string of defeats similar to that of Braddock. Encouraged by the French victories, Americans Indians launched a series of savage attacks along the colonial frontier with the intent of driving the British inhabitants into the sea. Rogers raised and commanded the famous Rogers' Rangers that fought for the British during the French and Indian War. This militia unit operated primarily in the Lake George and Lake Champlain regions of New York. They frequently undertook winter raids against French towns and military emplacements, traveling on crude snowshoes and across frozen rivers. Never fully respected by the British regulars, Rogers' Rangers were one of the few non-Indian forces able to operate in the inhospitable region due to the harsh winter conditions and mountainous terrain. Rogers evidenced an unusual talent for commanding his unit in conditions that the regular armies of the day were unaccustomed to working in. He took the initiative in mustering, equipping and commanding ranger units. He wrote an early guide for commanding such units is Robert Rogers' 28 "Rules of Ranging". The Queen's York Rangers of the Canadian Army, the U.S. Army Rangers and the 1st Battalion 119th Field Artillery all claim Rogers as their founder, and "Rogers' Rules of Ranging" are still quoted on the last page of the U.S. Army's Ranger handbook. As he was personally responsible for paying his soldiers, Rogers went deeply into debt and took loans to ensure his soldiers were paid properly after their regular pay was raided during transport. He was never compensated by the British Army or government, though he had reason to believe he should have had his expenses reimbursed. [6] The war broke out in the midst of Robert Rogers' counterfeiting trial. The colonial government decided it needed experienced frontiersmen more than it needed to punish counterfeiters; hence, the charges against Rogers were dismissed. Upon his release, Rogers was appropriated in 1755 as an official recruiter for the renowned Colonel John Winslow. In 1756, Rogers arrived in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and, using the authority invested in him by Colonel Winslow, began to muster soldiers for the British Crown. It was probably during this time that the recruits enlisted by him began to be called "Rogers' Rangers" by the local populace. Due to attacks by Americans Indians along the frontier, Rogers' recruitment drive was well supported by the frightened and angry provincials. The masons of St. John's Lodge in Portsmouth received him with two degrees. In Portsmouth, he also met his future wife, Elizabeth Browne, the youngest daughter of Reverend Arthur Browne (Anglican). By the end of 1756, Rogers had raised three more companies of rangers, totaling four, one of which he commanded. Robert's brothers — James, Richard and possibly John — all served in Rogers' Rangers. Richard died of small pox in 1757 at Fort William Henry; his corpse was later disinterred and mutilated by hostile natives.[7] James would later assume Robert's post in the King's Rangers at the end of the American Revolutionary War. It is not known what became of John, but it is suspected that he remained in the south after Robert's 1762 visit to Charleston, South Carolina. From 1755 to 1758, Rogers and his rangers served under a series of unsuccessful British commanders operating over the northern accesses to the British colonies: Major General William Johnson, Major General William Shirley, Colonel William Haviland, and Major General James Abercromby. At the time, the British could do little more than fight defensive campaigns around Lake Champlain, Crown Point, Ticonderoga and the upper Hudson. However, the British were victorious in Nova Scotia (Acadia), from which they transported the French Acadians to Louisiana. During this time, the rangers proved indispensable; they grew gradually to twelve companies as well as several additional contingents of natives who had pledged their allegiance to the British cause. The rangers were kept organizationally distinct from British regulars. Rogers was their acting commandant, as well as the direct commander of his own company. Rogers routinely gave advice to his British superiors, which was ignored for the most part. On 21 January 1757, at the First Battle of the Snowshoes, Rogers' Rangers ambushed and captured seven Frenchmen near Fort Carillon but then encountered a hundred French and Canadian militia and Ottawa Indians from the Ohio Country. After taking casualties, Rogers' force retreated. After British forces surrendered Fort William Henry in August 1757, the Rangers were stationed on Rogers Island near Fort Edward. This allowed the Rangers to train and operate with more freedom than the regular British forces. On 13 March 1758, at the Second Battle of the Snowshoes, Rogers' Rangers ambushed a French and Indian column and, in turn, were ambushed by enemy forces. The Rangers lost 125 men in this encounter, as well as eight men wounded, with 52 surviving.[8] Rogers estimated 100 killed and nearly 100 wounded of the French-Indian forces; however, the French listed casualties as total of ten Indians killed and seventeen wounded.[9] On 7 July 1758, Rogers' Rangers took part in the Battle of Carillon. In 1758, Abercromby recognized Rogers' accomplishments by promoting him to Major, with the equally famous John Stark as his second-in-command. Rogers now held two ranks appropriate to his double role: Captain and Major. In 1759, the tide of the war turned and the British advanced on the city of Quebec. Major General Jeffrey Amherst, the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of British forces in North America, had a brilliant and definitive idea: He dispatched Rogers and his rangers on an expedition far behind enemy lines to the west against the Abenakis at Saint-Francis in Quebec, a staging base for native raids into New England. Rogers led a force of two-hundred rangers from Crown Point, New York, deep into French territory to Saint-Francis. At this time, the natives near Saint-Francis had given up their aboriginal way of life and were living in a town next to a French mission. Rogers burned the town and claimed to have killed 200-the actual number was 30 killed and 5 captured. Following the 3 October 1759 attack and successful destruction of Saint-Francis, Rogers' force ran out of food during their retreat back through the rugged wilderness of northern Vermont. Once the Rangers reached a safe location along the Connecticut River at the abandoned Fort Wentworth, Rogers left them encamped, and returned a few days later with food, and relief forces from Fort at Number 4 now Charlestown, New Hampshire, the nearest British town. The destruction of Saint-Francis by Rogers was a major psychological victory: The colonists no longer felt that they were helpless. The unfortunate residents of Saint-Francis — a combined group of Abenakis and others — understood that they were no longer beyond reach. Abenaki raids along the frontier did not cease, but significantly diminished. Connecticut River in Massachusetts Plains of Abraham in Quebec Quebec fell in 1759 to be followed by Montreal in 1760. Native activity against colonials in the east ceased. Rogers' service there was over. General Amherst transferred him to Brigadier General Robert Monckton, commanding at Fort Pitt (formerly Fort Duquesne). Following Amherst's advice, Monckton sent the rangers to capture Detroit, far to the north, which they did. On 29 November 1760, Rogers received the submission of the French posts on the Great Lakes. It was the final act of his command. Shortly thereafter, his rangers were disbanded. Monckton offered Rogers command of a company of regulars in South Carolina but, after visiting the place, Rogers chose instead to command another company in New York. That unit was soon disbanded, however, and Rogers was forced into retirement at half-pay. No longer preoccupied with military affairs, Rogers returned to New England to marry Elizabeth Browne in June, 1761, and set up housekeeping with her in Concord, New Hampshire. Like many New Englanders, they had indentured servants and slaves, including a native lad captured at Saint-Francis. Some historians claim the state of Rogers' finances at this time is not compatible with what he and others professed it to be later. Rogers received large grants of land in southern New Hampshire in compensation for his services. He sold much of it at a profit and was able to purchase and maintain slaves. He did deed much of his land to his wife's family, which served to support her later. These facts are not compatible with the image of the debt-ridden soldier struggling to pay the salaries he had advanced his men at his own expense.