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Commodore Karl ROHRER, U.S. Navy
Commandant of Naval Station, Puerto Rico
Karl Rohrer was born in Blumberg, Baden, Germany on January 28, 1848, and came to the United States in 1857. He was appointed Midshipman on July 20, 1865. He participated in a cruise on the Macedonian in 1866, and on Savannah in 1867, and on Macedonian in 1868 before graduating from the Naval Academy in 1869.
He served on Sabine in 1869 and 1870, and was promoted to Ensign on July 12, 1870.
Between 1870 and 1874, he served on the Pawnee, Kansas and Colorado in the North Atlantic Squadron, and did ordnance duty at the Torpedo Station.
He was promoted Master on November 10, 1872. From 1874 to 1876 he served on Juniata in the European Squadron; from 1876 to 1878, he was stationed at the Torpedo station and Washington Navy Yard.
He was promoted to Lieutenant on April 26, 1876. On January 15, 1878, he reported to Constitution, and detached on leave, July 9, 1879, awaiting orders. From 1879 to 1881 he was on ordnance duty at the Washington Navy Yard.
From 1881 to 1885 he served on Essex, South Atlantic, Pacific and China Squadrons. From 1885 to 1889, he was on ordnance duty at the Torpedo Station. Between 1889 and 1892 he served on Chicago, Boston and Vesuvius, the latter with the Squadron of Evolution.
He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on December 5, 1897. On November 14, 1900, he was placed in command of the gunboat Annapolis, and was promoted to Commander eight days later, Annapolis departed Hampton Roads, Va., in December, and steamed to the Far East, staying there for three years, mostly in the Philippine Islands. Annapolis returned to Mare Island, California in June 1904, and was decommissioned.
On November 22, 1900, he was promoted to Commander.
He retired as a Commodore on June 30, 1906, however, on January 1, 1907, he is listed as Commandant of Naval Station, Puerto Rico.
Commodore Rohrer died May 29, 1913, in Washington, D.C.
MILITARY ORDER OF THE LOYAL LEGION OF THE UNITED STATES also known by its acronym MOLLUS or simply as the Loyal Legion, member, Vermont Commandery.
Other Comments:
20 July 1865, appointed Midshipman from Missouri
1869, graduated US Naval Academy
12 July 1870, promoted to Ensign
10 November 1872, promoted Master (LTjg)
26 April 1876, Lieutenant 5 December 1897, LieutenantCommander [temporary] 7 February 1898, Lieutenant Commander
23 November 1900, Commander [temporary]
29 January 1901, Commander
14 July 1905, Captain [temporary]
8 February 1906, Captain
30 June, 1906, Commodore [Retired]
1 January, 1907, recalled to duty
13 April 1911, Commador [Retired]
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Civil War
From Month/Year
April / 1861
To Month/Year
April / 1865
Description The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America. The Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U.S. history.
Among the 34 U.S. states in February 1861, seven Southern slave states individually declared their secession from the U.S. to form the Confederate States of America. War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U.S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to include eleven states; it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona and New Mexico (called Confederate Arizona). The Confederacy was never diplomatically recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North. The war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865.
The war had its origin in the factious issue of slavery, especially the extension of slavery into the western territories. Four years of intense combat left 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers dead, a higher number than the number of American military deaths in World War I and World War II combined, and much of the South's infrastructure was destroyed. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed (most of them by Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation). The Reconstruction Era (1863–1877) overlapped and followed the war, with the process of restoring national unity, strengthening the national government, and granting civil rights to freed slaves throughout the country.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1865
To Month/Year
April / 1865
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Karl Rohrer appointed to the US Naval Academy in July 1865. He did not participate in any Civil War combat.
