of Portsmouth. He also chose to start a family, the descendants of whom are still living today. Vindication Gage sent Rogers to Montreal to stand trial but, once there, Rogers was among friends of Amherst. Due to Amherst's influence, Rogers was acquitted of all charges and the verdict was sent to King George III for approval. The king approved, but could not call Gage a liar openly. Instead, he made a note that there was reason to think Rogers might have been treasonous. Returning to Michigan under the power of Gage was unthinkable; hence, Rogers went to England in 1769 to petition again for debt relief. However, the king had decided that he could do nothing more to help Rogers, and had become preoccupied by the issue of the disaffected colonies. Rogers went again to debtors' prison and tried suing Gage for false imprisonment. Gage settled out of court by offering Rogers the half-pay of a major in return for dropping the suit. American Revolutionary War Because of his legal troubles in England, Robert Rogers missed the major events in the disaffected colonies. He heard that revolution was likely to break out and returned to America in 1775. The Americans were as out of touch with Rogers as he was with them, looking upon him as the noted ranger leader and expecting him to behave as one; they were at a total loss to explain his drunken and licentious behavior. At that time, Rogers was perhaps suffering from the alcoholism that blighted his later life and led to the loss of his family, land, money, and friends. It is unclear exactly what transpired between the revolutionary leaders and Rogers. Rogers was arrested by the local Committee of Safety as a possible spy and released on parole that he would not serve against the colonies. He was offered a commission in the Revolutionary Army by the Continental Congress, but declined on the grounds that he was a British officer. He later wrote to George Washington asking for a command, but instead Washington had him arrested. He escaped from Washington's custody only to find revolutionary ranks firm against him, so he offered his services to the British Army. They also were hoping that he would live up to his reputation. In August 1776, he formed another ranger-type unit called the Queen's Rangers as its colonel. In September 1776, Rogers assisted in the