Josias Rogers
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Captain Josias Roberts (1755-24 April 1795), was a British naval officer who fought in the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
and the campaigns in
Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...
and
Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...
.


Life

Born at
Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest (district), New Forest district of Hampshire, England. The town faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a Roll-on/roll-off, car ferry s ...
, Hampshire, Rogers' father seems to have had a large interest in the local
saltern A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of Halophile, halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but ...
s. In October 1771 he entered the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
on board the fifth-rate with Captain (afterwards Sir) Andrew Hamond, whom he followed to HMS ''Roebuck'' in 1775. In March 1776 he was sent away in charge of a
prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
taken in
Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...
, and, being driven on shore in a gale, fell into the hands of the American enemy. He was carried, with much rough treatment, into the interior, and detained for upwards of a year, when he succeeded in making his escape, and, after many dangers and adventures, in getting on board his ship, which happened to be at the time lying in the
Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...
. For the next fifteen or eighteen months he was very actively employed in ''Roebuck''s boats or tenders, capturing or burning small vessels lurking in the creeks along the North American coast, or landing on foraging expeditions. On 19 October 1778 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and after serving in several different ships, and distinguishing himself at the
Siege of Charleston The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town (today Charleston), the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The British ...
, South Carolina in May 1780, on 2 December 1780, he was promoted to the command of HMS ''General Monk'', a prize fitted out as a sloop of war with eighteen guns. After commanding her for sixteen months, in which time he took or assisted in taking more than sixty of the enemy's ships, on 7 April 1782 ''General Monk'', while chasing six small
privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...
s round
Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...
, got on shore, and was captured after a stout defence, in which the lieutenant and master were killed and Rogers himself severely wounded. He was shortly afterwards exchanged, and arrived in England in September, still suffering from his wound. From 1783 to 1787 he commanded in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, on anti-
smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...
operations, and from her, on 1 December 1787, he was advanced to post rank. In 1790 Rogers was flag captain to Sir John Jervis (afterwards Earl of St. Vincent) in the
second-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...
. In 1793 he was appointed to the fifth-rate frigate , and in her, after a few months in the North Sea and off
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
, he joined the fleet which went out with Jervis to the
West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
. He served with distinction at the reduction of Martinique and
Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...
in March and April 1794, and was afterwards sent in command of a squadron of frigates to take
Cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...
in French Guiana. One of the frigates, however, was lost, two others parted company, and the remainder of his force was unequal to the attempt. In May 1794, along with Robert Faulknor in and two other ships, Rogers took the
Saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...
from the French. He then rejoined the admiral at a time when yellow fever was raging in the fleet, and ''Quebec'', having suffered severely, was sent to
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...
. By the beginning of the following year she was back in the West Indies and was under orders for home, when, at Grenada, where he was conducting the defence of the town against an insurrection of the slaves, he died of yellow fever on 24 April 1795. He was married and left children; his second daughter Augusta Louise (1791–1852) married Edmund Lyons, 1st Baron Lyons on 18 July 1814 at Southwick, Hampshire. After his death Rogers' widow erected a plaque in his memory at the Church of St Thomas the Apostle, Lymington.


References

;Bibliography * *


External links


Portrait of Josias Rogers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Josias 1755 births 1795 deaths Royal Navy captains English sailors