OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (RoE ROGERS.) 



463 



bound to the Gulf of Mexico to join the squadron 

 under Perry blockading Vera Cruz, but was ship- 

 wrecked on Eleuthera island, West indies. Sub- 

 sequently he served on the Alleghany, and on Oct. 

 20, 1847, was ordered to the Naval Academy, 



where, in 1848, he 

 was graduated and 

 promoted to passed 

 midshipman. On 

 Sept. 26, 1848, he 

 was ordered to 

 the Albany, and 

 cruised among the 

 West India is- 

 lands, and in 1849 

 was dismissed the 

 service, by sen- 

 tence of court- 

 martial, for dis- 

 obedience of an il- 

 legal order, but a 

 year later was re- 

 appointed to the 

 service, with orig- 

 inal rank and 

 place on the navy 



list. During 1850-'52 he was executive officer 

 of the mail-steamer Georgia, and on Dec. 27, 

 1852, was ordered to the Porpoise, of the North 

 Pacific and Bering Strait Expedition, to serve 

 in a similar capacity. While in China he had 

 an action with a fleet of 13 heavy-armed pirate 

 junks in Koulan Bay. He defeated the pirate 

 fleet, destroying 6 junks, and dispersing the re- 

 mainder, in a heated action of two hours, fought 

 under canvas under way. In August, 1854, he 

 was transferred to the Vincennes, the flagship of 

 the exploring expedition, serving as executive offi- 

 cer of that vessel, in which he cruised in the 

 arctic regions as far north as 72 5' and along 

 the north and east coast of Siberia, and Japan 

 and the Kurile Islands. He was promoted to 

 lieutenant in September, 1855, and in November 

 was detached from the Vincennes and ordered to 

 the service of the Coast Survey, with which he 

 continued until April, 1858, when he was assigned 

 to the Macedonian, on which he cruised in the 

 Gulf of Mexico and in the Mediterranean. Soon 

 after the expiration of that cruise he was as- 

 signed to ordnance duty in the New York Navy- 

 Yard, where he remained until July, 1861, when 

 he was ordered to the Pensacola, and served as 

 executive officer during the passage of that ship 

 down the Potomac river through 9 miles of bat- 

 teries and under constant fire. He then carried 

 the Pensacola to New Orleans, where he joined 

 Farragut and led the starboard column of that 

 fleet during the battle and passage of Forts Jack- 

 son and St. Philip, and, 80 miles above, the 

 Chalmette batteries. For his conduct on this 

 occasion he was specially commended, and rec- 

 ommended for promotion. In August, 1862, he 

 was ordered to the command of the gunboat 

 Katahdin, and on Aug. 5 he fought the battle 

 of Baton Rouge against John C. Breckinridge. 

 In February, 1863, he was sent north on account 

 of failing health, but in the meanwhile had par- 

 ticipated in fights at Plaquemine, Bonnet Carre", 

 College Point, and the engagement with the Con- 

 federate ram Arkansas. In August, 1863, he re- 

 ceived command of the Sassacus, which served 

 on the blockade off Wilmington, where he de- 

 stroyed 2 blockade-runners. At Norfolk, Va., had 

 been collected large quantities of stores, and, in 

 order to secure possession of these, an iron ram 

 had been constructed by the Confederates, with 

 which they sought to destroy the Union fleet in 



Albemarle Sound. On May f, 1 h<; Allx marie came 

 down the Sound accompanied by tin; lioml *hell 

 and engaged the National vessel-. Tin s<ji 

 had been pouring ineffective shot, on i.h 

 sides of the ram for some time \\lioi it <>, 

 to Roe that by striking the nun mnl' i 

 the sharp false stern of the Sa.ssacti- IK: 

 disable her. With a speed of 9 or JO knot.-. On- 

 black hull of the iron ram was struck with ,\. 

 right-angle blow. At the moment when this oc- 

 curred a shot burst the boilers of the Sas^ucus, 

 setting free a dense cloud of vapor, which en- 

 veloped both the contestants. For a quarter of 

 an hour the two boats were held in close embrace 

 and the guns were served, firing muzzle to muz- 

 zle. Hand grenades were thrown from the fore- 

 top of the Sassacus into the enemy's hatch, driv- 

 ing back the sharpshooters and creating con- 

 sternation among the closely packed crew of the 

 ram. When the two boats separated, the Albe- 

 marle retreated up the Sound. The attendant 

 gunboat Bombshell surrendered to the Sassacus 

 early in the engagement. A contemporary ac- 

 count describes the brave commander as " firmly 

 enunciating his instructions and orders, and 

 guiding every movement of his gallant ship with 

 a coolness, precision, and relentless audacity that 

 find no parallel since the days of Decatur and 

 Bainbridge, displaying a perfect indifference to 

 danger worthy of one of Farragut's salamanders." 

 After some months in the hospital Roe received 

 command of the Michigan, then serving on the 

 Great Lakes, and quelled an insurrection of the 

 miners of the iron region at Marquette and the 

 copper region at Houghton. A privateer, which 

 had been equipped by the miners, was pursued 

 by him into English waters, and was taken pos- 

 session of by British authorities at Collingwood, 

 Canada. After further service in various capaci- 

 ties, in January, 1867, he received command of 

 the Tacony, was ordered to Vera Cruz, and was 

 active in the negotiations that led to the sur- 

 render of that town, the commander of which, 

 refusing to surrender to the Republican forces, 

 after Maximilian had been executed, turned the 

 city over to Commander Roe, who established a 

 provisional government until the city was occu- 

 pied by the Republican troops under Gen. Bene- 

 videzt At this time he took the famous agitator 

 Santa Anna a prisoner out of an American steam- 

 er, and sent him away from the scene of action. 

 For his skilful handling of a delicate matter he 

 was, on his return to Washington, publicly 

 thanked and congratulated by President Johnson, 

 in the presence of his Cabinet. Subsequently he 

 served as fleet captain on the Asiatic station, 

 having command of the Delaware, and was pro- 

 moted captain April 1, 1872. In 1873 he was 

 made executive officer of the Boston Navy-Yard, 

 and a year later he received command of the 

 Lancaster, in which he cruised on the Brazilian 

 station. In 1875 he was ordered to New London, 

 and subsequently -he served on various boards 

 and was governor of the Naval Station for Re- 

 tired Seamen, at Philadelphia, where he remained 

 until his retirement in October, 1885. He was 

 commissioned rear-admiral Nov. 3, 1884. Wash- 

 ington then became his permanent residence, and 

 he devoted his leisure to literary studies, con- 

 tributing frequently to magazines. 



Rogers, Jacob S., manufacturer, born in Pat- 

 erson, N. J., about 1820; died in New York city, 

 July 2, 1901. His father, Thomas Rogers, settled 

 in Paterson in 1814, and was a pioneer locomotive 

 builder. He was a partner in and succeeded to 

 the business of Rogers, Ketcham & Co., of Pater- 

 son. Jacob S. Rogers succeeded his father upon 



