Lieutenant Colonel-commandant Robert "White Devil" Rogers, known by his former title of Major, is a former mercenary officer for the British Army and the former leader of the Queen's Rangers.
Biography[]
Early life[]
At one point, Rogers was married and had fallen in love with another woman during his marriage.
French and Indian War[]
In 1755, Rogers and the Queen's Rangers were fighting for the British against French and Indian forces. Near Crown Point, New York, Rogers led the Queen's Rangers to a French and Indian fortification, with the intentions of capturing a prisoner of war. As they approached, Rogers threw an axe into the head of a French soldier and was soon noticed by an Indian, being called Wobomagonda ("White Devil").
Roger later met with his superior officer and informed him that the prisoner couldn't be secured, though intelligence information could. The officer informed Rogers that he would recommend to General Amhearst that he be promoted to major, but Rogers cared little for a promotion. During the conversation, the officer examined the recently deceased General Edward Braddock's blade, and mentioned his displeasure with Colonel George Washington, who Rogers said should be revered, not reviled.
Rogers receives his new orders.
Rogers was then ordered to take the Queen's Rangers and continue raiding French encampments in the north, to get behind enemy lines and do whatever it takes to end the war. Rogers agreed as the officer left, with Braddock's blade remaining on his desk. Rogers took the blade.
American Revolutionary War[]
In 1775, Rogers arrived in America from London. He soon made his way to the Duchess of Gordon, where he met with General Henry Clinton. At the meeting, Rogers offered his services to the General Clinton and the British. However, another man told him not to be too hasty. General Clinton introduced him -- Captain John André, one of his most trusted aides. General Clinton then told Rogers that his offer would be considered. Rogers left, telling them not to wait too long to decide.
Rogers then took his services to the newly appointed General and Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, George Washington and also returned to him the blade that Braddock had given him years earlier. Rogers offered his services to Washington as well, but Washington was aware of his meeting with the British and placed him under arrest, ordering him to be taken to New Hampshire, to be tried for treason.
On the way to New Hampshire, Rogers killed one of the Continental soldiers transporting him and knocked out the other, soon returning to Clinton and André, warning them that Washington is wily, dangerous and that even if he is outnumbered, he can still achieve victory. Clinton and André accepted his offer.
Rogers aims at Ben.
Later, André received intel from General Charles Lee about a regiment of Continental forces including Captain Benjamin Tallmadge. In New Jersey, Rogers and the Queen's Rangers ambushed and killed all of them, except for Ben. Having survived, Ben killed Welsh, one of the Queen's Rangers and took his jacket and bonnet, to disguise himself. Rogers soon took notice and fired a shot into Tallmadge, who escaped. Rogers soon informed one of his Queen's Rangers that he intended to retrieve the bonnet that Ben took.
Later, in Brooklyn Harbor, two Redcoats visited Rogers on his armed sloop and gave him his payment. They notified him that Major André wanted to meet. Rogers saw André watching from a window on shore and went to meet with him. André asked him to ambush a rebel safe house in Connecticut. Rogers questioned the source of André's intel and said he'll only do it for double the price. André refused to pay and Rogers declines the safe house ambush.
Due to intel gathered by Abraham Woodhull, the ambush became a failure, with the British being ambushed instead by Continental forces including Ben and Caleb Brewster. 19 British soldiers were killed and one, Captain John Graves Simcoe, was captured. Ben left the bonnet that he had taken from Welsh on the head of one of the dead British soldiers as a warning to Rogers.
André meets with Rogers in the theater.
The bonnet was later recovered by the British and later returned to Rogers by André during a meeting in a New York City theater. André then warned Rogers that a rebel has it out for him. Rogers deduced the bonnet was left by Ben, the dragoon who escaped his earlier ambush, whose identity Rogers was still unaware of. Angered, Rogers immediately left to investigate the Connecticut ambush himself.
Rogers traveled to Setauket and met Major Edmund Hewlett, as well as Richard Woodhull, who Hewlett dismissed from the room before the meeting took place. Rogers shared his hopes to question the lone surviving officer of the Connecticut raid -- Captain Simcoe, who Hewlett informed him was still missing.
Rogers is told again that he will be seen when called.
Two months after his command of the Queen's Rangers was removed, Rogers went to London to petition King George III, even having shaved, putting his hair up and dressing formally for the occasion. He petitioned on multiple days and was constantly informed that he would be seen when called upon. He soon met with the King’s manservant once again and introduced himself to Patience Wright. He was informed again that he would be seen with called, which upset him as the two well pulled away to return to the King.
Soon after, while being sculpted for a bust by Patience, the King had an angry outburst and ranted about the cost of ruling the colonies, tearing apart a financial ledger. Patience quietly swept a page from the ledger underneath her drop cloth and later hid it in the bust, to be shipped to the United States.
Rogers accepts his mission.
After days of waiting, Rogers finally met with the King and petitioned to lead an expedition to discover the Northwest Passage and claim it for England. The King offered to grant the petition if Rogers agreed to track down the bust with intelligence hidden inside of it, created by Patience Wright, before it fell into the hands of the Continentals or French. Rogers accepted the mission, and was given a badge which officially designated him as a King’s Messenger.
Rogers later arrived in Brooklyn Harbor. After attacking a British soldier for asking if he was drunk, and being confronted by other soldiers, Rogers waved his King’s Messenger badge, taking one of their pistols and the attacked soldier's horse.
Rogers tells Hallum about Ryder and the Revege.
Rogers later arrived at the home of Dr. Charles Hallum in Hackensack, New Jersey – the destination of the King George bust shipped from London by Patience Wright. Hallum told Rogers that the bust never arrived because it was seized by rebel privateers from a ship called the Revenge. Rogers told Hallum that he knew the ship's captain, Ryder, and vowed to track him down. Rogers then left.
Rogers failed to retrieve the bust or the paper inside it, but later succeeded in retrieving it from the dead Captain de Francy after he tried to return to the French disguised as a fur trader. However, instead of issuing payment to Rogers, Major André set a trap for him on authority of King George himself, though Rogers saw right through the ruse. This began Rogers' vendetta against André and the Crown, using Abraham Woodhull for information; Abraham later pitted Simcoe against him in turn when Rogers' rash actions threatened to expose the Ring. Rogers' eye was injured in the subsequent skirmish with Simcoe and his fellow Rangers.
Rogers returned to York City looking for the woman causing grief for Major André, and used Miss Philomena Cheer to glean information on his movements. He tracked André, on-board the HMS Vulture, and used local skinners to have him captured in neutral territory and delivered to the West Point rebels.
Robert Rogers fell into a life of drunken vagrancy after that, though he made one last attempt at vengeance when he met up with Benedict Arnold in England, taunting him and trying to convince him to kill the King. This nearly succeeded, but Arnold stopped himself last minute, perhaps realizing he would be killing off what little honor and security he had left. Robert Rogers died alone, still trying in his dying breath to have another drink.
Characters met[]
- Akinbode
- John André
- Caleb Brewster
- Philomena Cheer
- Clayton
- Henry Clinton
- Théveneau de Francy
- George III
- Edmund Hewlett
- Charles Lee
- John Robeson
- John Graves Simcoe
- Anna Strong
- Selah Strong
- Benjamin Tallmadge
- Robert Townsend
- Samuel Townsend
- George Washington
- Abraham Woodhull
- Richard Woodhull
- Patience Wright
Behind the Scenes[]
Robert Rogers was portrayed by Angus Macfadyen in Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Turn: Washington's Spies.
Appearances[]
Episode
Turn: Washington's Spies - "Rivals"- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Pilot" (first appearance)
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Who by Fire"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Epiphany"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Mr. Culpeper"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Mercy Moment Murder Measure"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Challenge"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "The Battle of Setauket"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Thoughts of a Free Man"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Hard Boiled" (mentioned only)
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "False Flag"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Men of Blood"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Sealed Fate"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Providence"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "The Prodigal" (offscreen only)
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Valediction"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Cold Murdering Bastards"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Benediction"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Hypocrisy, Fraud, and Tyranny"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Many Mickles Make a Muckle"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Judgment" (mentioned only)
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Mended"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Blade on the Feather"
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Trial and Execution" (mentioned only)
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "The Black Hole of Calcutta" (mentioned only)
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Blood for Blood" (mentioned only)
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Reckoning" (mentioned only)
- Turn: Washington's Spies - "Washington's Spies"
Description[]
Season 1[]
- "The mercenary leader of the Queen’s Rangers, Rogers fought alongside Washington in the French and Indian War when they were both soldiers in the King’s militia. After the war, Rogers returned to England where he drank and gambled his way into debtors’ prison, losing his wife and respectability in the process. The seductive lure of British pounds and a thirst for battle brought him back to America on the eve of the Revolutionary War, where he was determined to wipe out Washington’s rebellion and make back his fortune. A wild card operating outside the system, Rogers is as revered as he is feared. His only loyalty: coin."
- ―Official description
Season 2[]
- "The mercenary leader of the Queen’s Rangers, Rogers fought alongside Washington in the French and Indian War where they were both soldiers in the King’s militia. He is the man personally responsible for capturing Ben Tallmadge’s best friend -- the ill-fated spy scout Nathan Hale. An expert in guerrilla combat and a skilled spy hunter, Rogers set his sights on Ben and planned to set a trap by using his brother Samuel as bait. When Rogers discovered that Samuel died on a prison ship, he remained undeterred, deciding to use Selah Strong as a decoy instead. At the end of season one, Rogers breaks the military rules of engagement and disrupts an official prisoner exchange, prompting John André to remove him from his command of the Queen’s Rangers, and leaving Rogers with nothing."
- ―Official description
Season 3[]
- "Regarded as a "killing gentleman" by none other than King George III, Rogers is a fearsome hunter and tracker, America's most notorious mercenary. With only one allegiance – to himself – Rogers is cast aside by John André as the leader of the Queen's Rangers. During the second season, Rogers worked himself back into the good graces of the Crown by recovering a crucial piece of intel stolen from the Royal Court. Instead of being rewarded for his service, Rogers was ambushed by assassins, and holds John André responsible for this betrayal. Season Three finds Rogers seeking to enact his revenge upon André. He returns to Setauket and prepares to employ his best trap yet - Abraham Woodhull."
- ―Official description