Rodgers' squadron patrolled the waters off the American upper east coast until the end of August, 1812. He commanded "President" for most of the war, capturing 23 prizes, one of the most successful records in the conflict. On land, Rodgers rendered valuable service by transferring his command briefly to Baltimore in September 1814, during the Battle of Baltimore defending the city's east side extensive dug-in fortifications devised by the Maryland Militia's state commander, Major General Samuel Smith at Baltimore on Loudenschlager's Hill (today's Hampstead Hill in western Patterson Park), known as "Rodgers' Bastion", one of several holding some of the near 100 pieces of artillery with 20,000 troops Smith had amassed for facing the British after sending down the southeastern "Patapsco Neck" peninsula, Brigadier General John Stricker's regiments of the City Brigade at the Battle of North Point and the additional simultaneous naval attack on Fort McHenry protecting the harbor and when Washington was invaded and burned, the month before after the Battle of Bladensburg.