1760. J MAJOR ROBERT ROGERS. 163 



bear witness that his style as a writer was not 

 contemptible. But his vain, restless, and grasping 

 spirit, and more than doubtful honesty, proved the 

 ruin of an enviable reputation. Six years after 

 the expedition of which I am about to speak, he 

 was tried by a court-martial for a meditated act of 

 treason, the surrender of Fort Michillimackinac 

 into the hands of the Spaniards, who were at that 

 time masters of Upper Louisiana.^ Not long after, 

 if we may trust his own account, he passed over 

 to the Barbary States, entered the service of the 

 Dey of Algiers, and fought two battles under his 

 banners. At the opening of the war of inde- 

 pendence, he returned to his native country, where 

 he made professions of patriotism, but was strongly 

 suspected by many, including Washington himself, 

 of acting the part of a spy. In fact, he soon 

 openly espoused the British cause, and received a 

 colonel's commission from the crown. His ser- 

 vices, however, proved of little consequence. In 

 1778, he was proscribed and banished, under the 

 act of New Hampshire, and the remainder of his 

 life was passed in such obscurity that it is difficult 

 to determine when and where he died.^ 



1 MS. Gage Papers. 



2 Sabine, American Loyalists, 576. Sparks, Writings of Washington, 

 III. 208, 244, 439 ; IV. 128, 520, 524. 



Although Rogers, especially where his pecuniary interest was con- 

 cerned, was far from scrupulous, I have no hesitation in following his 

 account of the expedition up the lakes. The incidents of each day are 

 minuted down in a dry, unambitious style, bearing the clear impress of 

 truth. Extracts from the orderly books and other oflScial papers are 

 given, while portions of the narrative, verified by contemporary docu- 

 ments, may stand as earnests for the truth of the whole. 



Rogers's published works consist of the Journals of his ranging service 



