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Robert Rogers, Ranger: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon
Robert Rogers, commander of Rogers’ Rangers during the French and Indian War, was the war’s best-known colonial military hero and, in the ensuing peace, one of the best-known Americans of any description, rivaling Benjamin Franklin in popularity. He was revered in the colonies as an example of the self-made man based on merit, in contrast to the hide-bound, hierarchical British military establishment. Yet this American icon ultimately alienated his peers,fought as a loyalist in the Revolutionary War, ruined himself financially, and died in obscurity in London, estranged from the country of his birth. Rogers is known today for his role in developing the mystique of the modern Ranger, but what explains his meteoric rise and his long, depressing fall?
Robert Rogers, Ranger: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon by Martin Klotz is a fresh look at the life of this famous, yet highly flawed man. Rogers undeniably had great personal strengths. He was brave nearly to the point of fearlessness. He was physically robust, always the one to cover the retreat, carry the wounded, or go for help when no one else could carry on. He was an intrepid explorer who wrote with eloquence about the splendors of the American frontier. He was bold and unconventional, good at thinking outside the box. He was an outstanding scout and intelligence gatherer who provided invaluable service to a British army inexperienced in woodland warfare. At the same time Rogers had enormous weaknesses that undermined his ability to lead effectively. His boldness was never tempered by judgment, and he was prone to grandiose schemes that came to nothing or, worse, to disaster. His constant self-promotion—including embellishing and lying about his battlefield successes—contributed to his popularity but damaged his reputation with peers and superiors. He succumbed to alcoholism and gambling, was profligate, especially with money—his debts were enormous—and routinely skirted the edges of the law. Rogers never found a comfortable place in America. Instead, his aristocratic patrons in London, who knew him mostly from his own self-description, gave him his most valuable opportunities, including commanding an important military and trading center on the colonial frontier and establishing the Queen’s Rangers to fight alongside Crown forces during the Revolution. But when the British cause failed in America, Rogers became an anathema on both sides of the Atlantic.
A fascinating inquiry into an eighteenth-century life, Robert Rogers, Ranger presents this American legend as he lived, crossing the line between fame and misfortune.
Robert Rogers, Ranger: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon by Martin Klotz is a fresh look at the life of this famous, yet highly flawed man. Rogers undeniably had great personal strengths. He was brave nearly to the point of fearlessness. He was physically robust, always the one to cover the retreat, carry the wounded, or go for help when no one else could carry on. He was an intrepid explorer who wrote with eloquence about the splendors of the American frontier. He was bold and unconventional, good at thinking outside the box. He was an outstanding scout and intelligence gatherer who provided invaluable service to a British army inexperienced in woodland warfare. At the same time Rogers had enormous weaknesses that undermined his ability to lead effectively. His boldness was never tempered by judgment, and he was prone to grandiose schemes that came to nothing or, worse, to disaster. His constant self-promotion—including embellishing and lying about his battlefield successes—contributed to his popularity but damaged his reputation with peers and superiors. He succumbed to alcoholism and gambling, was profligate, especially with money—his debts were enormous—and routinely skirted the edges of the law. Rogers never found a comfortable place in America. Instead, his aristocratic patrons in London, who knew him mostly from his own self-description, gave him his most valuable opportunities, including commanding an important military and trading center on the colonial frontier and establishing the Queen’s Rangers to fight alongside Crown forces during the Revolution. But when the British cause failed in America, Rogers became an anathema on both sides of the Atlantic.
A fascinating inquiry into an eighteenth-century life, Robert Rogers, Ranger presents this American legend as he lived, crossing the line between fame and misfortune.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published October 25, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 22, 2025
Robert Rogers, Ranger: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon was a very interesting book. For years I've considered him a wonderful man, but this book describes him as he actually was. Rogers was an explorer, an excellent scout and could gather intelligence to help the Americans. He also could fight. Unfortunately, though, he also was an alcoholic, a gambler, and didn't know how to handle money, which put him into a lot of debt that he couldn't get out of. He created the Queen's Rangers, but hardly ever visited his wife. In the end most people in Britain and in America hated him.
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June 29, 2026I'm devastated! From an early age when I first read of Robert Rogers in the Kid's Landmark series- Robert Rogers and the French and Indian War, I became interested in him. Then after reading Kenneth Robert's Northwest Passage, he became an idol. (I have read this book 4 times in my 78 years. Through the years I have continued to read whatever came across my path and he continued to be my idol. Now, with Klotz's book, Robert Rogers: The Rise and Fall of an American Idol, I feel dissolutioned. How could my lifelong hero be such a Shit. He reminds me somewhat of our current president in many ways- a con man, cheat, liar, womanizer, wife abuser, exaggerator, narcissist, debtor, traitor and counterfeiter.
This was a well written, finely documented biography of a jaded and complex man. I'm sorry that I read it. I was happier when he was solely a hero.
This was a well written, finely documented biography of a jaded and complex man. I'm sorry that I read it. I was happier when he was solely a hero.
January 29, 2025
Fascinating! Learned a ton about the details of French and Indian war. My only complaint was that the author seemed to go back and forth with the time line. This is a book about colonial America worth reading .
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews