Major Robert Rogers

Date1776

Publisher Thomas Hart

Publisher Johann Martin Will (1727 - 1806)

OriginEurope, Germany, Augsburg

MediumMezzotint engraving on laid paper

DimensionsOH: 19" x OW: 12 5/8"; Plate H: 14 1/8" x W: 9 1/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1976-23

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "Major Robert Rogers,/ Commander in Chief of the INDIANS in the Back Settlements of America./ Ioh. Martin Will excudit Aug. Vind./ Published as the Act directs. Oct.r 1. 1776, by Tho's Hart London."
Label TextMajor Robert Rogers became famous for his formation of the militia force “Robert’s Rangers” during the French and Indian War (1754–63), stands in front of three native Americans. This print from 1776 depicts the Major in military attire holding a gun while the Native Americans wear headdresses and wield an ax. This reference to Rogers as the “Commander in Chief of the INDIANS” likely refers to his appointment as governor of the Michilimackinac territory in 1766 by King George III. This was so that Rogers could pursue his goal of finding the Northwest passage. With this position, he was given “lose superintendency over neighboring Indians” (1) He only held this position until 1767 when enemies of his in the British forces accused him of planning to give the land to the French (he was later acquitted but his reputation never recovered.)

The portrait is part of a fourteen piece collection of American military leaders during the eighteenth century. It is inscribed with the name Thomas Hart as the publisher. This is a pseudonym thought to have been used by the British printers Robert Sayer and John Bennett, who were likely the actual publishers of the collection. Other pseudonyms used in this collection are C. Shepherd and John Morris. The portraits contained in this collection depict several other prominent leaders in America, including two each of George Washinton and John Hancock. Despite “General Warrants” allowing the crown to issue search and seizure for libelous products being outlawed in 1766, the use of pseudonyms was the best way for artists to avoid backlash. Aware of market demands for current event media, Bennett and Sayer quickly produced this collection for profit. These prints did not depict the leaders' likenesses accurately but their source material made them appealing to British who were interested in American affairs with the political and military conflict of the revolutionary war beginning. Reproductions of these prints in German and French suggest that British and Americans were not the only consumers of these portraits. This print collection traveled to Augsburg, Germany, a center for print publishing as many residents were fascinated by the war in America. Johann Martin Will (1727-1806), a mezzotint engraver from Augsburg, produced a copy of Sayer and Bennett's mezzotint of Robert Rogers, and that copy is the print on display. Will produced copies of other Sayer and Bennett prints. Perhaps most notably, during the 1770s or 1780s, Will produced a copy of "The Bostonians in Distress" in reverse.(2)

1) Stephen Brumwell, White Devil: A True Story of War, Savagery, and Vengeance in Colonial America (Cambridge, MA.: Da Capo Press, 2005), Brumwell , 275.
2) Emily (Amy) Torbert, “Dissolving the Bonds: Robert Sayer and John Bennett, Print Publishers in an Age of Revolution.,” PhD diss. (University of Delaware, 2017), 286-287, 311.

ProvenanceBefore 1976-23, Sotheby's Park-Bernet (New York, NY); 1976-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).