Robert Rogers (1731-95) was born to an Irish settler in Methuen, Massachusetts. Soon after the family moved to the frontier at Dunbarton, New Hampshire. He became a trader and skilled frontiersman. When the French and Indian War broke out he scout. By 1755 he was captain of a New Hampshire regiment. In March 1756 Sir William Johnson (c.1715-74), then British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, made Rogers leader of a group of soldiers called rangers. They were chosen for their ability to work as a group or individually, in an early form of guerilla warfare often fighting behind enemy lines. Johnson was skilled at the Mohawk language and critical to keeping the Iroquois in check.

By 1758 he had been appointed Major and was in command of 600 men known as ‘Rogers’ Rangers’. They took part in battles at Halifax (1757, Ticonderoga (1758), Crown Point (1759), and was at Quebec (1760), His activities took him as far west as Detroit, and in 1761 fought against the Cherokee in South Carolina. In 1763 he took part in Pontiac’s War (1763-64).

Despite a remarkable career he had to flee America due to trading irregularities and an accrued debt. He was also known to like his drink. Arriving in London he took to writing, the most famous account of which is his ‘Journals of major Robert Rogers’, published in 1765. This first edition is one of the most famous and influential accounts of frontier warfare. It commences with his account of a scouting expedition on Lake George in September 1755. It concludes with the surrender of the French at Detroit in February 1761. The book made him one of the most famous figures of the war and became the basis of many fictional works most notably Kenneth Roberts’ ‘Northwest Passage’. Provenance: William (ownership inscription on title-page verso with surname erased, dated 1767); Gordon of Cairnfield (bookplate) – Ernest E. Keet (bookplate). ANB; Howes (1962) R-419; Sabin (1868-1936) 72725; Storm ‘Graff’ (1968) 3555; Streeter sale II.1029; Vail (1970) 563.