William Ledyard Rodgers

Who was William Ledyard Rodgers?

William Ledyard Rodgers was a vice admiral of the United States Navy. His career included service in the Spanish-American War and World War I, and a tour as President of the Naval War College. Rodgers was also a noted historian on military and naval topics, particularly relating to ancient naval warfare.

He was the third generation in a well-known family of able naval officers. He was the son of Rear Admiral John Rodgers, who fought in the Second Seminole War and the American Civil War, and the grandson of Commodore John Rodgers, who fought in the War of 1812. Rodgers's own son, John Rodgers, born in 1881, also served as a U.S. Navy officer and was an early aviator, reaching the rank of commander before dying in a plane crash in 1926.