George Washington Rodgers (October 30, 1822–August 17, 1863) was a United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 officer

Officer (armed forces)

An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...

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Rodgers was born in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, the son of George Washington Rodgers (1787–1832) and Anna Maria Perry. His maternal grandfather was Christopher Raymond Perry

Christopher Raymond Perry

Christopher Raymond Perry was an officer in the United States Navy. He was the father of Oliver Hazard Perry and Matthew Calbraith Perry.-Early life:...

 and he came from a family with an extensive history in the Navy.

Rodgers was warranted midshipman

Midshipman

A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...

 in the Navy on April 30, 1836 and was promoted to passed midshipman

Passed midshipman

A Passed Midshipman, sometimes called as Midshipman, Passed, is an unused and historic term which describes a Midshipman who had passed the Lieutenant exam and was eligible for promotion to Lieutenant as soon as there was a vacancy in that grade....

 on July 1, 1842. He served in the West Indies

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, and Mediterranean. During the Mexican-American War (1846–1848), Rodgers served in the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 as acting master

Master (naval)

The master, or sailing master, was a historic term for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel...

 on the steamer

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 Colonel and frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

 John Adams

USS John Adams (1799)

The first John Adams was originally built as a frigate in 1799, converted to a corvette in 1809 and later converted back to a frigate in 1830 for use in the United States Navy...

. Rodgers served with the Coast Survey

U.S. National Geodetic Survey

National Geodetic Survey, formerly called the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey , is a United States federal agency that defines and manages a national coordinate system, providing the foundation for transportation and communication; mapping and charting; and a large number of applications of science...

 from 1849 to 1850 and was promoted to lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 on June 4, 1850. Rodgers was assigned to duty on the sloop

Sloop-of-war

In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...

 Germantown

USS Germantown (1846)

USS Germantown was a sloop-of-war in the United States Navy.Germantown was launched at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 22 August 1846; sponsored by Miss Lavinia Fanning Watson; because of damaging ice, transferred 18 December to Norfolk Navy Yard for fitting out; and commissioned 9 March 1847,...

from 1851 to 1853.

In 1861 Rodgers became Commandant of Midshipmen

Commandant of Midshipmen

The Commandant of Midshipmen is the second-in-command at the United States Naval Academy. According to the Naval Academy, the Commandant of Midshipmen is "responsible for the professional development and day-to-day activities of all 4,000 Midshipmen in the Brigade" and equates to a dean of students...

 at the United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

, replacing his brother Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers

Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers

Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers was an officer in the United States Navy. He served in the Mexican-American War, the American Civil War, as Superintendent of the Naval Academy, and Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Squadron.-Early career:Rodgers was born in Brooklyn, New York, into a naval family...

 (1819–1892). In April 1861 he prevented capture of the USS Constitution

USS Constitution

USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named by President George Washington after the Constitution of the United States of America, she is the world's oldest floating commissioned naval vessel...

 by secessionists; he also transferred the Naval Academy to Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

, where it would remain until returning to Annapolis

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

 in 1865, after the end of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Rodgers was promoted to commander

Commander (United States)

In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military title, depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Naval rank:In the United States...

 on January 16, 1862. In 1863, seeking an active post in the Union Navy

Union Navy

The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...

, left his post and took command of a new ship, the Toga, patrolling the James River

James River

The James River may refer to:Rivers in the United States and their namesakes* James River * James River , North Dakota, South Dakota* James River * James River * James River...

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Rodgers served in the West Indies enforcing the Union blockade

Union blockade

The Union Blockade, or the Blockade of the South, took place between 1861 and 1865, during the American Civil War, when the Union Navy maintained a strenuous effort on the Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the Confederate States of America designed to prevent the passage of trade goods, supplies, and arms...

 against Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 blockade runner

Blockade runner

A blockade runner is usually a lighter weight ship used for evading a naval blockade of a port or strait, as opposed to confronting the blockaders to break the blockade. Very often blockade running is done in order to transport cargo, for example to bring food or arms to a blockaded city...

s. Rodgers commanded the ironclad

Ironclad warship

An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship in the early part of the second half of the 19th century, protected by iron or steel armor plates. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The first ironclad battleship, La Gloire,...

 monitor

Monitor (warship)

A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...

 USS Catskill

USS Catskill (1862)

USS Catskill was a monitor that served the United States Navy during the American Civil War in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America...

 in two unsuccessful attacks on Charleston Harbor

Charleston Harbor

The Charleston Harbor is an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean at Charleston, South Carolina. The inlet is formed by the junction of Ashley and Cooper rivers at . Morris and Sullivan's Island, shelter the entrance...

, in October 1862 and on April 7, 1863, at the First Battle of Charleston Harbor

First Battle of Charleston Harbor

The First Battle of Charleston Harbor was an engagement near Charleston, South Carolina that took place April 7, 1863, during the American Civil War. The striking force was a fleet of nine ironclad warships of the Union Navy, including seven monitors that were improved versions of the original ....

. Rodgers was appointed chief of staff to Rear Admiral

Rear admiral (United States)

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...

 John A. Dahlgren

John A. Dahlgren

John Adolphus Bernard Dahlgren was a United States Navy leader. He headed the Union Navy's ordnance department during the American Civil War and designed several different kinds of guns and cannons that were considered part of the reason the Union won the war...

 on July 4, 1863, and "was distinguished for his bravery in the silencing of Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter

Fort Sumter is a Third System masonry coastal fortification located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The fort is best known as the site upon which the shots initiating the American Civil War were fired, at the Battle of Fort Sumter.- Construction :...

 and the batteries

Artillery battery

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...

 on Morris Island

Morris Island

Morris Island is an 840 acre uninhabited island in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, accessible only by boat. The island lies in the outer reaches of the harbor and was thus a strategic location in the American Civil War.-History:...

."

Rodgers was killed aboard the Catskill on August 17, 1863 after a shot pierced the pilothouse

Pilothouse

A pilothouse or pilot-house is a glass-enclosed room from which a ship is controlled by the ship's pilot. The pilothouse also is known as the wheelhouse....

 while Rodgers commanded the attack on Fort Wagner

Fort Wagner

Fort Wagner was a beachhead fortification on Morris Island, South Carolina, that covered the southern approach to Charleston harbor...

 in the Second Battle of Charleston Harbor

Second Battle of Charleston Harbor

The Second Battle of Charleston Harbor, also known as the Siege of Charleston Harbor, Siege of Fort Wagner, or Battle of Morris Island, took place during the American Civil War in the late summer of 1863 between a combined Union Army/Navy force and the Confederate defenses of Charleston, South...

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