The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-02-12

FIRST Commodore Perry; a sister Of Com
modore Oliver Hazard Perry, of Lake Erie
fame; of Commodore NJ. g. Perry, who
opened Japan to our commerce; of the two
young Perrys who commanded under Nc
Donough at Lake Champlain; and of En-
sign Alexander Perry, who at 10 years
old served so bravely at Lake Erie as
to win the thanks of Congress and a
sword of honor. In army service his grand
father was Col. Rogers, of the SD Mass,
in our civil war; one of his brothers was
Lieut.. Alexander Rodgers, who fell ut
Chapultepec: another brother was for a
time in the Qua-termaster's Department:
and brother-in-law, Lieut.. Smith, went
down in mid-ocean in command of troops
| on the San Francisco.
|. Thus George Rodgers seemed predes-
| tined to the United States service. and by
his own free will he was in the navy from
boyhood, entering it before he was IA
years old. 1t is unnecessary here to speak
of the varied service to which he was
called before our civil war, the opening
| of, which found him an instructor at the
| Naval Academy at Annapolis, giving the
impress of his character and spirit to the
young men like Preston and Porter and
| Gushing, who were there preparing for a
| greater work than they yet suspected. My
| purpose is to speak of him in his dis
q
ing my intercourse with him in the latter
months of his life.
/ had known George Rodgers in his
| mothers home. in the days of my boyhood.
In war time l first met him again in the
waters of South Carolina, in the Spring
| of 1863, where he was in command of the
| feet of ironclads in North Edisto Inlet
My regiment. rs have already said, was
then on duty on Seabrook Island. He
n Ind fhnr ar,l TOW. SaI p,
visit him on his vessel, the monitor Cat
skill. On the occasion of my first dining
with him, l was impressed with the SYM
metry of his Christian character. Our
only companion at table was my terminate
and loved friend, Adjt. Camp, the
''Knightly Soldier" AS we three sat to-
gether, the steward brought wine to us.
The Adjutant and I declined it. would
you like lighter wine than this?' asked
was the reply from each of us. do
neither of you drink wine?" Neither of
u.s." "Then, steward, you can remove the
| wine." he said. 81 have not used wine
for 20 yG1rs." Strictly abstemious him
self, he did not force his views upon 9TH
ers. 1t was only when he found that we
three were in accord on this point that
he told of his practice of total abstinence.
Then, in the freedom of after-dinner
chat, he spoke of his interest in the relig-
ious welfare of his men. He had already
invited me to come, when I could, and
preach on his vessel on a Sunday, or on
weekday evening. 1 now learned that,
while an Episcopalian, and accustomed to
the more formal services of that commun-
ion, he would leave his cabin of a Sunday
evening, and, despite the barrier which
necessarily separates officers and men in
the discipline of a man-of-war, would lead
social prayer-meeting among the men of
his command. Reading a portion of the
Scripture, he would make familiar COM
ments on it, would lead in prayer and
singing, and then would cali on one aud
another of his godly sailors to take part
in the meeting at their pleasure. As we
talked together of such work as this, he
raised cushion from one of his cabin
seats, and opened below it locker slowed
with religious books and papers. of which
he. kept supply for distribution among
his men.
The impressions of that first visit to his
vessel were deepened in my mind by all
our subsequent intercourse. 1 was fire.
quently with him on ship and shore. He
made an arrangement with my honored
commander, Gen. "Tom" Stevenson, to
signal to him from headquarters when
the church call notified religious service
in our camp; and he rarely failed of COM
ing at once on shore for part in the SER
vice. l had many delightful conversations
with him; and latterly his increasing spir-
ituality and interest in religious themes
forced upon me a conviction that he was
ripening for Heaven. / had never seen
anything of this nature so marked in one
in full health. 1t was not a presentiment
of death. for he apparently had no antici-
patton of his speedy decease. Neither was
there gloom in his manner. He was al
ways cheerful, and seemed thoroughly to
enjoy life. But there was manifest in
him a growing power of spirit over mat
ter; and his face came to glow as with
a. preternatural light from the already
opening gates of glory toward which his
steps were trending. Again and again
spoke of this to my friend the Adjutant.
On the first Sunday in July, 1863. when
Commander Rodgers had been signaled of
an approaching church service in our
camp, he came hurriedly on shore to say
that he had just received orders to coal up
at once for a new move against Charles
ton, and he could not remain at the meet
ing as he wished to. As we stood to-
gether then for few minutes. and he
spoke with deep-toned earnestness of the
duty of the hour, of the impending en-
gagement, and of his regret at losing the
privileges of worship that day. 1 was more
than ever convinced that his days in this
life we're few. AS he babe us good-by.
and turned with my tent-rnate toward
our little rustic chapel, 1 said:
'We shall never see George Rodgers
again on EARTH"
In few weeks the army and navy were
cooperating actively against the defenses
of Charleston. Adjt. Camp and I were
prisoners of war. and George Rodgers was
laundering with his huge Dahlgrens
against Wagner and Sumter and Mou!trie
When, in August. he had been called to
duty as Chief-of-Staff to Admiral Dahl
gren, he obtained permission to continue
in command of the monitor Catskill during
one more attack on the defenses of
Charleston Harbor, before leaving his
monitor for his new place with the Adj
miral. 1t was while he was on this SER
vice, in advance of the rest of the fleet
that huge shot from the fort struck the
iron pilot-house in which he stood, and
shivered scale and bolt from its inner
surface, killing him instantly When I
learned through the papers in my prison
home in Columbia that promi-
nent officer-unnamed-ha been killed on
one of the Federal ironclads, said - my
friend the Adjutant:
''That is George Rodgers!''
"You seem determined to kill him off,"
he replied.
"Ah, but he was almost ready for trans
lation when we left himr'
The correctness of my impression of his
identity was verified when the captured
naval officers from Fort Sumter brought
the story of his death to Columbia.
Six years later found unlooked-for evil
dence that the remarkable change in the