Rogers' Rangers


Rogers' Rangers was initially a provincial company from the colony of New Hampshire, attached to the British Army during the Seven Years' War. The unit was quickly adopted into the British army as an independent ranger company. Major Robert Rogers trained the rapidly deployed light infantry force tasked mainly with reconnaissance as well as conducting special operations against distant targets. Their tactics were built on earlier colonial precedents and were codified for the first time by Rogers. The tactics proved remarkably effective, so much so that the initial company was expanded into a ranging corps of more than a dozen companies. The ranger corps became the chief scouting arm of British Crown forces by the late 1750s. The British forces in America valued Rogers' Rangers for their ability to gather intelligence about the enemy. They were disbanded in 1761.
Later, the company was revived as a Loyalist force during the American Revolutionary War. Nonetheless, a number of former ranger officers defected to fight for the Continental Army as Rebel commanders. Some ex-rangers participated as Rebel militiamen at the Battle of Concord Bridge.
The Queen's York Rangers of the Canadian Army, formed by Rogers and Loyalist veterans of Rogers' Rangers, claims descent from Rogers' Rangers.

Regimental history

French and Indian War

Rogers' Rangers began in 1755 as a company in the provincial forces of the colony of New Hampshire in British North America. It was the latest in a long line of New England ranger companies dating back to the 1670s. The immediate precursor and model for the unit was Gorham's Rangers, formed in 1744. Both were initially organized by William Shirley. Gorham's Rangers are always depicted as precursors of Rogers' Rangers; however, they were also active throughout the French and Indian War, which makes them contemporaries of Rogers' Rangers. In fact, the Nova Scotia ranger corps that Gorham's company belonged to operated in cooperation with units of Rogers' corps on several occasions, most notably when Moses Hazen's company joined Rogers' Rangers at the Siege of Louisburg in 1758 and the Siege of Quebec in 1759. Rogers' company was formed to fight in the French and Indian War in the borderlands of the colonial Northeast. They were commanded by Captain Robert Rogers and operated primarily in the Lake George and Lake Champlain regions of New York. The unit was formed during the winter of 1755 from forces stationed at Fort William Henry. The Rangers sometimes undertook raids against French towns and military emplacements, traveling on foot, in whaleboats, and even on snowshoes during winter. Israel Putnam fought as a Connecticut militia captain in conjunction with Rogers, and at one point saved his life.
The usefulness of Rogers' company during 1756 and 1757 prompted the British to form a second ranger company, which was soon followed by more. By early 1758, the rangers had been expanded to a corps of fourteen companies composed of between 1,200 and 1,400 men. This included three all-Indian units, two of Stockbridge Mahicans and one of Indians from Connecticut. Rogers was then promoted to major and served as commandant of the Ranger Corps.

First Battle on Snowshoes

On January 21, 1757, during the First Battle on Snowshoes, Rogers led 74 rangers to ambush the French, capturing seven prisoners near Fort Carillon at the south end of Lake Champlain. They then were attacked by about 100 French and Canadien militia and their Ottawa allies from the Ohio Country. Rogers' men suffered casualties and retreated without further losses, since the French lacked snowshoes and were "floundering in snow up to their knees." Rogers' Rangers had maintained positions on the high ground and behind large trees. According to Francis Parkman, Ranger casualties were 14 killed, 6 captured, and 6 wounded, the wounded returning with 48 men who were unharmed. The French consisted of 89 Regulars and 90 Canadians and Indians; they had 37 killed and wounded. The French and Indian casualties may have included one of the captured prisoners. One wounded and captured Ranger who was later exchanged claimed to have killed one of the captured Frenchmen by striking him on the head with a tomahawk after the Rangers were ambushed. It is unclear if this was the fate of the other captured French, as well.
A company of the rangers led by Noah Johnson was stationed at Fort William Henry in 1757 during the siege. The siege ended with the surrender of the British forces and a massacre in August. After this, the Rangers were stationed on Rogers Island near Fort Edward. This allowed them to train and operate with more freedom than the regular forces.

Second Battle on Snowshoes

On March 13, 1758 at the Second Battle on Snowshoes, Rogers' Rangers ambushed a French-Indian column and were then ambushed in turn by enemy forces. The Rangers lost 125 men in this encounter, as well as eight men wounded, with 52 surviving. One reference reports casualties of the Regulars, who had volunteered to accompany the Rangers, as 2 captured and 5 killed. Of Rogers' Rangers, 78 were captured and 47 killed and missing. Rogers estimated 100 killed and nearly 100 wounded of the French-Indian forces. The French, however, reported their casualties as just 10 Indians killed and 17 wounded, and three Canadians wounded.
The French originally reported killing Rogers in the second battle. This was based on their finding some of his belongings, including his regimental coat containing his military commission; however, he had escaped. This episode gave rise to the legend of Rogers' sliding down the side of a mountain to the frozen surface of Lake George. There is no conclusive proof this actually happened, but the rock face is still known as "Rogers' Slide" or "Rogers Rock".

Siege of Louisbourg

Four companies of Rogers Rangers arrived on the provincial vessel King George and were at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia from April 8 until May 28, awaiting the Siege of Louisbourg. While there, they scoured the woods to stop raids on the capital. During the Siege, the rangers were the first to go ashore at Freshwater Cover and encountered 100 Mi'kmaq and French soldiers. James Wolfe and Scott followed up the rangers. The Rangers killed and scalped the Chief Mi'kmaq. In their retreat, the rangers captured 70 defenders and killed more than 50. Historian Burt Loescher describes this as "one of the most admirable feats ever performed by a detachment of the Corps."

Carillon and Crown Point

On July 7–8, 1758, Rogers' Rangers took part in the Battle of Carillon. On July 27, 1758, between Fort Edwards and Half-Way Brook, 300 Indians and 200 French/Canadians under Captain St. Luc ambushed a British convoy. The British lost 116 killed and 60 captured.
On August 8, 1758, near Crown Point, New York, a British force of Rangers, light infantry, and provincials was ambushed by a French-Canadian-Indian force of 450 under Captain Marin. In this action, Major Israel Putnam was captured. He was reportedly saved from burning at the stake by the Abenaki through the intervention of a French officer and a providential thunderstorm. Francis Parkman reported 49 British fatalities and "more than a hundred" killed of the enemy. Rogers claimed the British losses were 33 and that those of the enemy as 199. Another source reports that the French casualties were four Indians and six Canadians killed, and four Indians and six Canadians wounded, including an officer and a cadet.

Raid on Saint-Francis

During 1759, the Rangers were involved in one of their most famous operations, the St. Francis Raid. They had been ordered to destroy the Abenaki settlement of Saint-Francis in Quebec. It was the base of the raids and attacks on British settlements. Rogers led a force of 200 Rangers from Crown Point deep into French territory. Following the October 3, 1759 attack and successful destruction of Saint-Francis, Rogers' force ran out of food on their retreat through the wilderness of northern New England. They reached a safe location along the Connecticut River at the abandoned Fort Wentworth, where Rogers left them encamped. He returned a few days later with food and relief forces from Fort at Number 4, the nearest British outpost.
In the raid on Saint-Francis, Rogers claimed 200 enemies had been killed, leaving 20 women and children to be taken prisoner; he took five children as captives and released the rest. The French recorded 30 deaths, including 20 women and children. According to Francis Parkman, Ranger casualties in the attack were one killed and six wounded; in the retreat, five were captured from one band of Rangers, and nearly all in another party of about 20 Rangers were killed or captured. One source alleges that only about 100 returned of about 204 Rangers, allies, and observers.

Montreal campaign

In the Spring of 1760 the Rangers joined in Amherst's campaign on Montreal but before doing so conducted a successful preemptive raid on Fort Sainte Thérèse which was used to supply the French army as well as being a vital link in the communication and supply line between Fort Saint-Jean and the French forces at Île aux Noix. The settlement and fort were then burned by Rogers following which French and Indian ambushes were repelled before their return to Crown Point with only minor losses.
Roger's Rangers were part of William Haviland's force who marched from Lake Ontario in the west along the St Lawrence River and from upper New York via the Richelieu River in August. Along the way the Rangers fought to reduce the fortified French island of Île aux Noix. During the bombardment of the island Haviland sent Rogers' four ranger companies as well as light infantry and a force of Indians to drag three cannon through the forest and swamps further down to the rear of the French position. With much difficulty this was achieved and in a few days the guns were planted on the river-bank where a French naval force stood defending it. Rogers' cannon opened up upon the these vessels surprising them; the closest sloop cut her cable and a strong west wind then drove her ashore into the hands of the British. The other vessels and gunboats made all sail downstream but stranded in a bend of the river, where the rangers, swimming out with their tomahawks, boarded and took one of them, and the rest soon surrendered. With their communications cut the French evacuated the island which then fell to the British. Soon after the Forts of Saint Jean and Chambly were burned by the French; the Rangers then led the final advance on Montreal which surrendered without a fight the following month.

Pontiac's Rebellion

At the end of the war, the Rangers were given the task of taking command of Fort Detroit from the French forces. After the war, most of the Rangers returned to civilian life. In 1763, Rogers recruited several volunteers for the reinforcement of Detroit commanded by James Dalyell of the 1st Royal Regiment and formerly of the 80th Regiment of Light Armed Foot. Upon arrival at Detroit, Dalyell talked post Commandant Henry Gladwin into allowing Dalyell to take his reinforcements to attack an Indian village near Parent's Creek. The force of 250-300 soldiers of the 55th and 60th regiments, Rogers' volunteers, and the Queen's Royal American Rangers under the command of Captain Joseph Hopkins was ambushed, as the advanced guard made up of men from the 55th regiment crossed the bridge at Parent's Creek. Rogers' men were responsible for effectively covering the retreat of the force back to Fort Detroit.

American War of Independence

When the American Revolution began in 1775, Robert Rogers offered his services to General George Washington. However, Washington turned him down, fearing he might be a spy, since Rogers had just returned from a long stay in England. Infuriated by the rejection, Rogers offered his services to the British, who accepted. He formed the Queen's Rangers and later the King's Rangers. Several of his former rangers served under General Benedict Arnold in the revolutionary forces around Lake Champlain.

Rogers' Rules of Ranging

  1. All Rangers are to be subject to the rules and articles of war; to appear at roll-call every evening, on their own parade, equipped, each with a Firelock, sixty rounds of powder and ball, and a hatchet, at which time an officer from each company is to inspect the same, to see they are in order, so as to be ready on any emergency to march at a minute's warning; and before they are dismissed, the necessary guards are to be draughted, and scouts for the next day appointed.
  2. Whenever you are ordered out to the enemies forts or frontiers for discoveries, if your number be small, march in a single file, keeping at such a distance from each other as to prevent one shot from killing two men, sending one man, or more, forward, and the like on each side, at the distance of twenty yards from the main body, if the ground you march over will admit of it, to give the signal to the officer of the approach of an enemy, and of their number,
  3. If you march over marshes or soft ground, change your position, and march abreast of each other to prevent the enemy from tracking you till you get over such ground, and then resume your former order, and march till it is quite dark before you encamp, which do, if possible, on a piece of ground which that may afford your sentries the advantage of seeing or hearing the enemy some considerable distance, keeping one half of your whole party awake alternately through the night.
  4. Some time before you come to the place you would reconnoitre, make a stand, and send one or two men in whom you can confide, to look out the best ground for making your observations.
  5. If you have the good fortune to take any prisoners, keep them separate, till they are examined, and in your return take a different route from that in which you went out, that you may the better discover any party in your rear, and have an opportunity, if their strength be superior to yours, to alter your course, or disperse, as circumstances may require.
  6. If you march in a large body of three or four hundred, with a design to attack the enemy, divide your party into three columns, each headed by a proper officer, and let those columns march in single files, the columns to the right and left keeping at twenty yards distance or more from that of the center, if the ground will admit, and let proper guards be kept in the front and rear, and suitable flanking parties at a due distance as before directed, with orders to halt on all eminences, to take a view of the surrounding ground, to prevent your being ambuscaded, and to notify the approach or retreat of the enemy, that proper dispositions may be made for attacking, defending, And if the enemy approach in your front on level ground, form a front of your three columns or main body with the advanced guard, keeping out your flanking parties, as if you were marching under the command of trusty officers, to prevent the enemy from pressing hard on either of your wings, or surrounding you, which is the usual method of the savages, if their number will admit of it, and be careful likewise to support and strengthen your rear-guard.
  7. If you are obliged to receive the enemy's fire, fall, or squat down, till it is over; then rise and discharge at them. If their main body is equal to yours, extend yourselves occasionally; but if superior, be careful to support and strengthen your flanking parties, to make them equal to theirs, that if possible you may repulse them to their main body, in which case push upon them with the greatest resolution with equal force in each flank and in the center, observing to keep at a due distance from each other, and advance from tree to tree, with one half of the party before the other ten or twelve yards. If the enemy push upon you, let your front fire and fall down, and then let your rear advance thro' them and do the like, by which time those who before were in front will be ready to discharge again, and repeat the same alternately, as occasion shall require; by this means you will keep up such a constant fire, that the enemy will not be able easily to break your order, or gain your ground.
  8. If you oblige the enemy to retreat, be careful, in your pursuit of them, to keep out your flanking parties, and prevent them from gaining eminences, or rising grounds, in which case they would perhaps be able to rally and repulse you in their turn.
  9. If you are obliged to retreat, let the front of your whole party fire and fall back, till the rear hath done the same, making for the best ground you can; by this means you will oblige the enemy to pursue you, if they do it at all, in the face of a constant fire.
  10. If the enemy is so superior that you are in danger of being surrounded by them, let the whole body disperse, and every one take a different road to the place of rendezvous appointed for that evening, which must every morning be altered and fixed for the evening ensuing, in order to bring the whole party, or as many of them as possible, together, after any separation that may happen in the day; but if you should happen to be actually surrounded, form yourselves into a square, or if in the woods, a circle is best, and, if possible, make a stand till the darkness of the night favours your escape.
  11. If your rear is attacked, the main body and flankers must face about to the right or left, as occasion shall require, and form themselves to oppose the enemy, as before directed; and the same method must be observed, if attacked in either of your flanks, by which means you will always make a rear of one of your flank-guards.
  12. If you determine to rally after a retreat, in order to make a fresh stand against the enemy, by all means endeavour to do it on the most rising ground you come at, which will give you greatly the advantage in point of situation, and enable you to repulse superior numbers.
  13. In general, when pushed upon by the enemy, reserve your fire till they approach very near, which will then put them into the greatest surprise and consternation, and give you an opportunity of rushing upon them with your hatchets and cutlasses to the better advantage.
  14. When you encamp at night, fix your sentries in such a manner as not to be relieved from the main body till morning, profound secrecy and silence being often of the last importance in these cases. Each sentry therefore should consist of six men, two of whom must be constantly alert, and when relieved by their fellows, it should be done without noise; and in case those on duty see or hear any thing, which alarms them, they are not to speak, but one of them is silently to retreat, and acquaint the commanding officer thereof, that proper dispositions may be made; and all occasional sentries should be fixed in like manner.
  15. At the first dawn of day, awake your whole detachment; that being the time when the savages choose to fall upon their enemies, you should by all means be in readiness to receive them.
  16. If the enemy should be discovered by your detachments in the morning, and their numbers are superior to yours, and a victory doubtful, you should not attack them till the evening, as then they will not know your numbers, and if you are repulsed, your retreat will be favoured by the darkness of the night.
  17. Before you leave your encampment, send out small parties to scout round it, to see if there be any appearance or track of an enemy that might have been near you during the night.
  18. When you stop for refreshment, choose some spring or rivulet if you can, and dispose your party so as not to be surprised, posting proper guards and sentries at a due distance, and let a small party waylay the path you came in, lest the enemy should be pursuing.
  19. If, in your return, you have to cross rivers, avoid the usual fords as much as possible, lest the enemy should have discovered, and be there expecting you.
  20. If you have to pass by lakes, keep at some distance from the edge of the water, lest, in case of an ambuscade or an attack from the enemy, when in that situation, your retreat should be cut off.
  21. If the enemy pursue your rear, take a circle till you come to your own tracks, and there form an ambush to receive them, and give them the first fire.
  22. When you return from a scout, and come near our forts, avoid the usual roads, and avenues thereto, lest the enemy should have headed you, and lay in ambush to receive you, when almost exhausted with fatigues.
  23. When you pursue any party that has been near our forts or encampments, follow not directly in their tracks, lest they should be discovered by their rear guards, who, at such a time, would be most alert; but endeavour, by a different route, to head and meet them in some narrow pass, or lay in ambush to receive them when and where they least expect it.
  24. If you are to embark in canoes, battoes, or otherwise, by water, choose the evening for the time of your embarkation, as you will then have the whole night before you, to pass undiscovered by any parties of the enemy, on hills, or other places, which command a prospect of the lake or river you are upon.
  25. In paddling or rowing, give orders that the boat or canoe next the sternmost, wait for her, and the third for the second, and the fourth for the third, and so on, to prevent separation, and that you may be ready to assist each other on any emergency.
  26. Appoint one man in each boat to look out for fires, on the adjacent shores, from the numbers and size of which you may form some judgment of the number that kindled them, and whether you are able to attack them or not.
  27. If you find the enemy encamped near the banks of a river or lake, which you imagine they will attempt to cross for their security upon being attacked, leave a detachment of your party on the opposite shore to receive them, while, with the remainder, you surprise them, having them between you and the lake or river.
  28. If you cannot satisfy yourself as to the enemy's number and strength, from their fire, conceal your boats at some distance, and ascertain their number by a reconnoitering party, when they embark, or march, in the morning, marking the course they steer, when you may pursue, ambush, and attack them, or let them pass, as prudence shall direct you. In general, however, that you may not be discovered by the enemy upon the lakes and rivers at a great distance, it is safest to lay by, with your boats and party concealed all day, without noise or shew; and to pursue your intended route by night; and whether you go by land or water, give out parole and countersigns, in order to know one another in the dark, and likewise appoint a station every man to repair to, in case of any accident that may separate you.

    Legacy

After the conclusion what the British describe as the American War of Independece, Rogers Rangers were granted tracts of land for farming in what is now Pownal, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The Rangers were reactivated during the War of 1812 and a large training camp was built there, complete with barracks, a field hospital and musket range.
The Queen's York Rangers of the Canadian Army claim to be descended from Rogers' Rangers. Also claiming descent from Rogers' Rangers are the 1st Battalion 119th Field Artillery of Michigan and the U.S. Army Rangers.
Rogers' Rangers are featured on a New Hampshire historical marker along New Hampshire Route 10 in Haverhill.

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