ROD 



RODEBACK, in Geography, a town of the duchy of 

 Holftein ; 10 miles E.N.E. of Braamfted. 



RODELHEIM, a town of Germany, which gives title 

 to a branch of the houfe of Solms ; 3 miles W. of Franc- 

 fort on the Maine. 



RODEMACK, or Rodemacheron, a town of France, 

 in the department of the Mofelle ; 7 miles N. of Thion- 

 ville. 



RODEN, a town of the duchy of Wnrzburg ; 8 miles 

 S. of Gemunden. — Alfo, a town of Pruffia, in the pala- 

 tinate of Culm ; 4 miles N.W. of Bretchen. 



RODENBERG, a town of Weftphalia, in the county 

 of Schauenburg, annexed to Heffe Caffel ; near which is a 

 medicinal fpring ; 4 miles S. of Hagenburg. 

 Rodenburg. See Ardenburu. 



RODENTHALL, a town of Saxony, in the circle of 

 Erzgeberg ; 6 miles E. of Chemnitz. 



RODEO de Tala, a town of South America, in the 

 province of Tucuman ; 100 miles N. of St. Miguel deTu- 

 cuman. 



RODER, Gros, a river of Saxony, which runs into 

 fhe Schwartz Elfter, 2 miles below Elllerwerda. 



Roder, Klein, a river of Saxony, which runs into the 

 Schwartz Elfter, near Hertzberg. 



RODERICKE, a town of Switzerland, in the canton 

 of Berne ; 3 miles S. of Aarburg. 



RODERODE, a town of Germany, in the county of 

 Henneberg ; 4 miles E.N.E. of Smalkalden. 



RODERSDORF, a town of Saxony ; 4milesS.W.of 

 Plauen. 



RODES, or Rhodez, a town of France, and principal 

 place of a diftrift, in the department of the Aveyron, and 

 capital of that department ; before the revolution the fee of 

 a bifhop, fuffragan of Bourges ; 32 miles N.N.E. of Alby. 

 The place contains 6233, and the canton 12,168 inhabit- 

 ants, on a territory of 247-5 kiliometres, in 33 communes. 

 N. lat. 44 21'. E. long. 2° 39'. 



RODHEIM, a town of Germany, in the county of 

 Hanau Munzenberg ; 9 miles N. of Francfort on the 

 Maine. 



RODIA, a town of Naples, in Capitanata, on the coaft 

 of the Adriatic ; 14 miles W.N.W. of Viefte. 



RODIALOW1TZ, a town of Bohemia, in the circle 

 of Boleflau ; 12 miles S.E. of Jung Buntzel. 



RODIGA, a town of Italy, in the duchy of Mantua ; 

 9 miles N.W. of Mantua. 



RODING, or Roden, a river of England, in the 

 county of Eflex, which runs into the Thames, below 

 Barking. 



RODITZ, a town of Germany, in the principality of 

 Culmbach ; 2 miles W. of Hof. 



RODNEY, George Brydges, in Biography, a cele- 

 brated naval commander, was the fon of Henry Rodney, 

 efq. of Walton on Thames, a naval officer, who com- 

 manded the yacht in which king George I., attended by 

 the duke of Chandos, ufed to embark in going to or coming 

 from Hanover, and who, in confequence, alked leave that 

 his fon might be called George Brydges. He was the 

 fecond fon, and born in 1718. At the defire, or by the 

 command, of his royal and noble god-fathers, he entered early 

 into the navy, and in 1742 he was lieutenant in the Namur, 

 commanded by admiral Matthews. In November of the 

 fame year, he was promoted by the admiral to the command 

 of the Plymouth, of fixty guns ; on returning home he was 

 removed into the Sheernefs, a fmall frigate ; and in 1744 

 he was appointed to the command of the Ludlow-caftle, of 

 forty -four guns. Captain Rodney was, during the war, very 



ROD 



fuccefsful, and attained to a confiderable degree of profef- 

 iional eminence. In 1753 he married Mils Compton, 

 daughter of Charles Compton, efq. and filler to Spencer, 

 then earl cf Northampton. In 1757 he was engaged, under 

 the command of admirals Hawke and Bofcawen, to attempt 

 a defcent on the coaft of France, near Rocliefort : and in 

 1759 he was advanced rear-admiral of the blue. In this 

 lame year he was fent to bombard Havre de Grace, where 

 a large force was colledted for the purpofe of attempting an 

 invalion of this country; He executed the truft committed 

 to him fo completely, that the town itfelf was feveral times 

 on lire, and the magazines of ftores and ammunition burnt 

 with fury upwards of fix hours, notwithftanding the exer- 

 tions ufed to extinguilh it. Thus had admiral Rodney the 

 happinefs of totally fruftrating the defign of the French 

 court ; and io completely did he deltroy their preparations, 

 that the fort itfelf, as a naval arfenal, was no longer, during 

 the war, in a ftateto annoy Great Britain. In 1761 admiral 

 Rodney was very inltrumeiital in the capture of the iflands of 

 St. Pierre, Granada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent, when the 

 whole Caribbees came into the poffeifion of the Engliih. 

 For his fkill and bravery in the war, he was, after the con- 

 clufion of it, raifed to the dignity of a baronet. In 1768, 

 after an expenlive, and to fir George Rodney a ruinous, 

 conteft with Mr. Howe, he was elected member of parlia- 

 ment for Northampton. His affairs were now fo deranged 

 that he exiled himfelf to France, the government of which 

 had long lince trembled at his name. The French king wiflied 

 to take advantage of his pecuniary embarraffments, and 

 through the duke de Birou made him the molt unbounded 

 offers, if he would quit the Engliih for the French fervice. 

 In reply to this fhameful propofal, he laid, " my diltrelfes, 

 fir, it is true, have driven me from the bofom of my country, 

 but no temptation can eftrange me from her fervice. Had 

 this offer been voluntary on your part, I mould have deemed 

 it an infult, but I am glad to learn it proceeds from a fource 

 that can do no wrong." The duke was fo ftruck with the 

 patriotifm of the admiral, that he became attached to him as 

 a friend. 



Before fir George Rodney's arrival in England, the French 

 had united with the Americans in a war again ft this country. 

 Towards the clofe of the year 1779, the chief command of 

 the Leeward iflands was given him ; upon which he hoifted 

 his flag on board the Sandwich. From this time he was very 

 fuccefsful againft. his majefty's enemies, but our limits do 

 not allow us to particularize all the advantages that refulted 

 from his fervices during the remainder of the war of which 

 we are fpeaking. In the firll year he had done enough to 

 obtain a vote of thanks from the houfe of lords ; and the 

 freedom of the cities of London and Edinburgh ; but his 

 great triumph, and that which muft not be palled over, was 

 on the izth of April 1782, in an engagement in the Weit 

 Indies with count de Graffe. This battle was fought among 

 the iflands of Guadaloupe, Dominique, the Saintes, and 

 Marigalante. As foon as the day broke, admiral Rodney 

 threw out the fignal for clofe action, and every veffel obeyed 

 it mod fcrupuloufly. The Britilh line was formed at the 

 diftance of one cable's length between each fliip. As the 

 (hips came up feparately, they ranged clofe alongfide their 

 opponents, pafling along the enemy for that purpofe, giving 

 and receiving, while thus taking their itations, a molt dread- 

 ful and tremendous fire. The action continued in this 

 manner till noon, when admiral Rodney refolved to carry 

 into execution a manoeuvre, which he expected would gain 

 him a complete and deciiive victory : for this purpofe, in his 

 own (hip, the Formidable, fupported by the Namur, the 

 Duke, and the Canada, he bore down with all the fail let 



OR 



