Andrew Fuller Rodgers (13 October 1827 – 20 January 1922) was a colonel in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

and member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

Early life and career

Rodgers was born on 13 October 1827 in

Howard County, Missouri Howard County is located in the U.S. state of Missouri, with its southern border formed by the Missouri River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 10,151. Its county seat is Fayette, Missouri, Fayette. Settled o ...

, to Ebenezer Rodgers and Purinelia Jackson Rodgers. Ebenezer was a native of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and emigrated to America in 1818. He settled in the Boonslick region of Missouri and worked as a teacher. In 1833 he moved to Upper Alton, Illinois, where he served as a preacher and helped get

Shurtleff College Shurtleff College was a Baptist liberal arts school in Alton, Illinois until 1957. History Founded in 1827 by Reverend John Mason Peck (a Baptist missionary) as Rock Spring Seminary in St. Clair County, Illinois, and relocated to Alton, Illinoi ...

off the ground and running. Purinelia was the daughter of Capt. John Jackson, a veteran of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

. Andrew Rodgers was educated at

. In 1844, at the age of seventeen, he clerked at a hardware store and pursued a business life until the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846. In 1846, Rodgers volunteered to fight in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

and joined Company E of the Second Illinois Regiment under the leadership of Col. William Henry Bissell. Their unit saw substantial action at the

Battle of Buena Vista The Battle of Buena Vista (February 22–23, 1847), known as the Battle of La Angostura in Mexico, and sometimes as Battle of Buena Vista/La Angostura, was a battle of the Mexican–American War. It was fought between U.S. forces, largely vol ...

. Afterward Rodgers set out to California in 1849 along with thousands of others in the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

. In 1851 he was appointed deputy sheriff of

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

Benjamin McCulloch Brigadier-General Benjamin McCulloch (November 11, 1811 – March 7, 1862) was a soldier in the Texas Revolution, a Texas Ranger, a major-general in the Texas militia and thereafter a major in the United States Army (United States Volunteers) ...

and then later served a second term while still mining. At the death of his father in 1853, Rodgers returned home to Illinois and farmed.

American Civil War

In 1862, Rodgers volunteered to fight in the American Civil War, joined the 80th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and was chosen its lieutenant colonel. As part of the 80th Illinois, Rodgers saw substantial action at the

Battle of Perryville The Battle of Perryville, also known as the Battle of Chaplin Hills, was fought on October 8, 1862, in the Chaplin Hills west of Perryville, Kentucky, as the culmination of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign) during the Ame ...

in the fall of 1862, where he was effectively the regimental commander due to Col. Thomas Allen's absence at the battle scene. With Allen's resignation in April 1863, Rodgers took command as colonel. The unit was an integral part of

Streight's Raid Streight's Raid (19 April – 3 May 1863) took place in northern Alabama during the American Civil War (1861-1865). It was led by Union Army Col. Abel D. Streight (1828-1892) and opposed by the Confederate States Army of Brig. Gen. Nathan Bed ...

in northern Alabama. Due largely to poor supplies and poor planning it ended with the defeat and capture of the men at Cedar Bluff, Alabama, by Confederate General

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was an List of slave traders of the United States, American slave trader, active in the lower Mississippi River valley, who served as a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Con ...

. As a captured officer, Rodgers was sent to

Libby Prison Libby Prison was a Confederate States of America, Confederate prison at Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. In 1862 it was designated to hold officer prisoners from the Union Army, taking in numbers from the nearby Seven Days battl ...

in Richmond, Virginia, and spent a year there where he was forced to endure its many horrors, including disease, tight confinement, and malnutrition. Later he was moved to

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

, and then to Charleston along with about fifty other officers where he was used by the rebels as a hostage to prevent Union fire on the city. In July 1864 Rodgers was exchanged and returned home. Gen.

William Rosecrans William Starke Rosecrans (September 6, 1819March 11, 1898) was an American inventor, coal-oil company executive, diplomat, politician, and U.S. Army officer. He gained fame for his role as a Union general during the American Civil War. He was ...

persuaded Rodgers to recruit and organize the 144th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Rodgers ultimately organized approximately 800 men in the 144th and Gov. Richard Yates offered Rodgers the colonelcy of the unit, but he turned down the offer and opted for discharge from the Army. Some sources suggest Rodgers was upset he was not offered command of his old unit, the 80th Illinois, but later in life Rodgers suggested he was simply tired and worn out from fighting and his time in prison.

Life after the war

After his discharge from the Army, Rodgers returned home to Illinois and focused on farming and his growing family, which eventually included two sons and two daughters. Rodgers was nominated as the Democratic Party's nominee for Madison County Clerk in 1865, but lost. In 1870 he was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the

and won. In 1896 he was Mayor of Upper Alton, which has since been incorporated in the larger city of Alton. Rodgers died on 20 January 1922 at the age of ninety-four.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Andrew 1827 births 1922 deaths Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives People of Illinois in the American Civil War People from Howard County, Missouri 19th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly