John Rodgers (1772–1838)
| John Rodgers | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
July 11, 1772 Havre de Grace, Maryland |
| Died | August 1, 1838 (aged 66) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Navy
|
| Years of service | 1798–1837 |
| Rank | Commodore |
| Commands held |
USS John Adams USS President USS Constitution USS Insurgent USS Maryland USS Guerriere United States Mediterranean Squadron |
| Battles/wars |
War of 1812 *Battle of Baltimore *Bombardment of Fort McHenry ("Rodgers' Bastion" on Hampstead Hill) Aegean Campaign |
| Relations |
John Rodgers (son) William Ledyard Rodgers (grandson) John Rodgers (great-grandson) George Washington Rodgers (grandson) Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers (grandson) |
John Rodgers (July 11, 1772 – August 1, 1838) was a senior naval officer in the United States Navy who served under six Presidents for nearly four decades during its formative years in the 1790s through the late 1830s, committing the bulk of his adult life to his country. His service took him through many operations in the Quasi-War with France, both Barbary Wars in North Africa and the War of 1812 with Britain. As a senior officer in the young American navy he played a major role in the development of the standards, customs and traditions that emerged during this time. Rodgers was, among other things, noted for commanding the largest American squadron in his day to sail the Mediterranean Sea. After serving with distinction as a lieutenant he was soon promoted directly to the rank of captain (the rank of Master Commandant did not exist at that time). During his naval career he commanded a number of warships, including the USS John Adams, the flagship of the fleet that defeated the Barbary states of North Africa. During the War of 1812 Rodgers fired the first shot of the war aboard his next flagship, the USS President, and also played a leading role in the recapture of Washington after the capital was burned by the British, while also having to endure his own hometown and house burned and his family displaced. Later in his career he headed the Navy Board of Commissioners and served briefly as Secretary of the Navy. Following in his footsteps, Rodgers' son and several grandsons and great-grandsons also became commodores and admirals in the United States Navy.
Many of Rodgers' family emigrated to America from the British Isles in the years prior to the American Revolution. Rodgers' father, Colonel John Rodgers, was born in Scotland in 1726 and was a proponent of the patriot cause. He emigrated to America and married Elizabeth Reynolds from Delaware in 1760. Born in 1742, she also was of Scottish ancestry. They had eight children, four sons and four daughters, of which John Rodgers was among the oldest. Rodgers was born in 1772 on a farm in a village near the "Susquehanna Ferry" on the north shore of the Susquehanna River (flowing into the northeastern Chesapeake Bay near today's Perryville in Cecil County, where the tavern house still exists) where he was raised for the first thirteen years of his childhood. While Rodgers was still a youth, the village on the south shore (in Harford County) was named "Havre de Grace" by the passing Marquis de Lafayette after a famous port of the same name in France. The young Rodgers was an unusually strong and vital boy who spent much of his time fishing in the waters of the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay near his home. He attended school in this locale and read many books about seafaring life, fostering his love of ships and the sea. He had often seen schooner-rigged ships berthed at Havre de Grace but longed to see the large square-rigged vessels he had always read about. With a strong desire to see such ships he decided to go to Baltimore and, not revealing this desire to anyone, made his way on foot to the city. Upon realizing that John was missing, Rodgers' father, Colonel Rodgers, set out on horseback and came upon his son just as he was entering the city, insisting that his son return home to the family. But John, now in his mid-teens and with Baltimore in sight, ardently refused. Realizing that his son had his heart set on seeing the large seagoing ships berthed at Baltimore and its famous waterfront neighborhood of Fells Point and even going to sea, Colonel Rodgers relented and arranged his son's apprenticeship with Captain Benjamin Folger, a master ship builder of Baltimore, a veteran of the American Revolution who had served aboard merchant ships and as commander of the Felicity, the ship used in the capture of the notorious privateer 'Jack-o-the-Lantern'. By the time the young Rodgers joined him, Folger was captain of his own ship, the Maryland. John Rodgers was put aboard a ship on which he would remain for the five years of his apprenticeship. Upon bidding his son farewell, Colonel Rodgers requested that his son never indulge in strong drink, and to this request the younger Rodgers promised, and kept his word. In adult life Rodgers did not indulge in spirituous drink.
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