Colonel Andrew Fuller Rodgers (1827 - 1922)
Veteran of the Mexican-American and Civil Wars
Prisoner of War
Andrew Fuller Rodgers was born October 13, 1827, in Fayette,
Howard County, Missouri. He was the son of a pioneer Baptist
minister, Rev. Ebenezer Rodgers (1788-1854) and Permelia M. Jackson
Rodgers (1805-1883). The Rev. Ebenezer Rodgers was born in England
and came to America in 1818, locating at Louisville, Kentucky. He
moved to Howard County, Missouri, where he met and married in 1823
to Permelia Jackson, one of a family that settled in Howard County
in 1818. In 1834, the Rev. Mr. Rodgers and his family moved to Upper
Alton and located on a farm of 40 acres, since included in the
limits of Upper Alton. Rev. Rodgers was one of the early trustees of
Shurtleff College in Upper Alton. Ebenezer and Permelia had ten or
twelve children, eight of whom are: Sarah Ann Rodgers Badley
(1826-1899); William L. Rodgers (1831-1851); Andrew Fuller Rodgers
(1827-1922); Dr. John Milton Rodgers (1829-1856, drowned in the
Mississippi); Edward Rodgers (1839-1920, founder of the Alton Brick
Company); Reynold Rodgers (1843-1922); Henry Preston Rodgers
(1844-1905); and Susan Permelia Rodgers Lemen (1847-1899).
Colonel Rodgers was one of the early students of Shurtleff College.
In 1844 he became a clerk in a St. Louis hardware establishment, but
returned to Upper Alton before the beginning of the war with Mexico.
When the war with the southern republic broke out, Colonel Rodgers
became a member of Colonel Bissell's Second Illinois Infantry under
Captain Lott in Company E. It was in the Mexican War that the career
of adventure of Colonel Rodgers dawned. Brave, and possessing that
fire and determination so necessary, he was the ideal soldier. He
gave distinguished service with his regiment in a number of
engagements, the chief of which was at Buena Vista.
After the war, he returned home, but farm life was without the
excitement and thrills sought by this conquering American. He joined
the gold rush to California in 1849. A year at the mines was
followed by service more suitable to young Rodgers. He served as a
deputy sheriff of Sacramento County, and was a member of the famed
Sutter Rifle Company. He returned home for a visit, and on his
return voyage to California added to his adventures that of being
shipwrecked.
His vessel was wrecked in the Pacific in 1853, with the
loss of 250 passengers. Colonel Rodgers, with a few other survivors,
was cast on Margueretta Island. At that time, he saved the life of a
girl passenger. Fifty years later he learned that the girl he saved
was living in St. Louis, the mother of a clergyman of the Episcopal
Church. The survivors were finally picked up by a whaling vessel,
which landed them at San Francisco. Colonel Rodgers again served as
a deputy sheriff and lived in Sacramento County until 1853, when he
went to the mines. The following year his father died, and he
returned to Alton in July 1854.
Colonel Rodgers was married on May 31, 1860, to Jane E. Delaplain, a
member of one of Madison County's oldest families. Young Rodgers
continued at home, tending the farm and sawmill, until the outbreak
of the Civil War. In 1862 he entered the service as Captain of
Company B of the Eightieth Illinois Infantry, and when the troops
were mustered in on August 25 of the same year, he was appointed
Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment. His service in the Civil War was
arduous, eventful and of a distinguished order. He was carried from
the field of battle at Perryville, Kentucky, wounded. In April 1863,
having recovered, he commanded his regiment in a raid against
Bragg's army. His audacious leadership won for his regiment many
victories. The resourcefulness of the young commander made of the
outfit an efficient, able fighting force. In 1863, his force was
captured at Rome, Georgia. He and his fellow officers were made
prisoners and kept at Danville. Later, they were transferred to the
notorious Libby prison. Colonel Rodgers spent 12 months there. He
was afterward transferred to the prison at Macon, and finally to
Charleston. At Charleston, Colonel Rodgers and his fellow officers
were placed in a cell directly in line with the enemy's fire, and in
this perilous position remained for six weeks, until released by
exchange. While in the Southern prisons, Lieut. Colonel Rodgers was
commissioned Colonel, a title he had fully earned, by his service in
the field and exposure in the prisons. Upon his return to the North,
he recruited 500 men for the 144th Illinois Regiment, at the request
of Governor Yates and General Rosecrans. He resigned from the army
on November 25, 1864.
When his regiment was captured at Rome, a sword given Colonel
Rodgers by Alton friends upon his departure from home, was stolen.
On the handle of the sword were a Masonic emblem and the name of the
owner. Fifty years later, Colonel Rodgers was informed by the
adjutant general of Illinois that a man in Texas was seeking an
officer by name of A. F. Rodgers. The sword was returned to the
Alton officer by a brother of the man who led the Southern troops
which captured Colonel Rodger's force. The sword had been used in a
Texas Masonic lodge as the Tyler's sword [a Tyler guards the door
during Masonic meetings.]
Colonel Rodgers was a leader in civic affairs. His energy and
ability were in demand when a public movement was projected. In
politics, he was a staunch Democrat, and in his earlier years was
devoted to Stephen A. Douglas. He was frequently a delegate to
district and State conventions, and in 1870 was elected to the State
legislature. He was prominent in Masonic circles, and was the oldest
Knight Templar in the city. He was made a Mason in Upper Alton in
1852. Following his retirement from the army, Colonel Rodgers lived
on his estate near Upper Alton.
Colonel Rodgers was one of Alton's most picturesque characters. Many
anecdotes are told of him. One of them is that he attached a small
bell to his fishing pole when fishing, so that he might be warned
when fish were biting.
Mr. Rodgers' children were John B., Catherine, William, Sarah H.,
and Henry F Rodgers. Colonel Rodgers engaged in two wars, and lived
during four of the nation's six important wars. A veteran of the
Mexican and Civil Wars, he lived during the Spanish-American and
Great War [WWI]. After having fought in two, he had sons and
grandsons in the other two. Colonel Rodgers' death in 1922 was the
first in his own immediate family, all his children and
grandchildren being alive. On the other hand, he was the last of his
father's children, the funeral of his brother taking place the day
before his death. Describing the meeting with the girl he saved in
the shipwreck in the Pacific, in "Reminiscences," as prepared from
Colonel Rodgers' story by a daughter, the Colonel said:
"A few years ago (the Reminiscences were collected in 1910), the
Rev. Henry Watson Minzer of St. Louis read an account of a gathering
of the few remaining Mexican soldiers in Alton. Later, when here, he
asked to be taken to see them, as he wished to know if they
remembered his father who was at Buena Vista with the same regiment.
I happened to be chosen. At college and in the Mexican War I knew
his father well, and immediately asked if it was true that he had
married Ella Watson. Strange to say, the answer was 'Yes,' and I
could scarcely realize that before me stood the son of the beautiful
young girl I last saw during the wreck of the 'Independence.'
Several months later, when Mrs. Ella Watson Mizner was visiting her
son, they stopped at Alton, and although after a lapse of 55 years,
we were immediately taken back to our last meeting on the burning
'Independence.'" The reminiscences of Colonel Rodgers are concluded
with: ‘With all the children away, we are alone again, just as we
started our journey together, 50 years ago.’”
Colonel Rodgers died on January 20, 1922, at his home on College
Avenue in Upper Alton. He had been ill for about two weeks, and his
death was due to a physical breakdown from old age. He would have
been 95 years of age on October 13, 1922. He was buried in the Upper
Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES:
COLOREL ANDREW F. RODGERS SHOT BY SENATOR COPPINGER
Heated Political Discussion the Cause
Source: Alton Telegraph, December 7, 1893
At 2 o’clock p.m. Friday, Senator Coppinger and Colonel Andrew F.
Rodgers became engaged in a bitter political discussion, which
terminated in a scene and bloodshed. Congressman Forman, Messrs.
Coppinger, Rodgers, Milnor, Pfeiffenberger, Raible, and others, were
in Doran’s restaurant on Belle Street, quietly setting post office
pins. There was apparently no ill feeling brewing. Mr. Coppinger and
Mr. Rodgers began a heated discussion accusing each other of
treachery. It was the burning embers of an old grudge, which were
lighted when they were opponents for the office of State Senator.
Bitter words passed. Mr. Rodgers’ statement of the affair is as
follows:
“Coppinger claimed that his father supported a brother of mine when
he ran for office. I informed him that he did nothing of the kind,
for no brother of mine ever ran for office. He commenced cursing me,
and started toward me. I ordered him back, and saw that I either had
to run or get struck, so as he approached me, I struck him with my
cane on the head. It hit him above the eye and scalped his face. Mr.
Milnor caught my arm, and others caught hold of me. While I was
standing near the entrance a few minutes after I struck him, he drew
his revolver and shot me in the leg. It barely missed Mr. Milnor,
and must have passed within an inch of him.” Mr. Coppinger could not
be found, nor his statement would also be given.
Colonel Rodgers was immediately taken to Marsh’s Drugstore, and Drs.
Haskell and Lemen attended him. The ball entered the fleshy part of
the left leg, several inches below the thigh. It was soon extracted
by the physicians. His underclothing was soaked with blood, which
ran into his shoe. The wound was dressed, and after a change of
clothes he walked about and discussed the matter.
Mr. Coppinger received a hard blow. The cane used was ordinary
sized, with a rounded handle and father heavy. Mr. Coppinger
received the blow above the eye. It made a severe bruise and cut the
skin. As soon as the affair was over, he was taken away in a
carriage by friends.
Mr. Milnor, when asked for a statement, said he did not see the
affair, and knew nothing of the cause of the trouble. He said it was
a surprise to him. Mr. Doran stated he did not see the affair, and
the facts gleaned were principally on the statements of Colonel
Rodgers.