Alexander Slidell Mackenzie (April 6, 1803 – September 13, 1848), born Alexander Slidell, was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

officer, famous for his 1842 decision to execute three suspected mutineers aboard a ship under his command in the

Somers Mutiny The Somers Affair was incident on board the American brig while on a training mission in 1842 under Captain Alexander Slidell Mackenzie (1803-1848). Midshipman Philip Spencer (1823-1842) was accused of plotting a mutiny that would kill those who o ...

. Mackenzie was also an accomplished man of letters, producing several volumes of travel writing and biographies of early important US naval figures, some of whom he knew personally. Mackenzie was the brother of Senator John Slidell of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, who was later involved in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

's ''Trent'' Affair. Mackenzie was the captain of USS ''Somers'' when it became the only US Navy ship to undergo a mutiny, which led to executions, including Philip Spencer, the 19-year-old son of the Secretary of War

John C. Spencer John Canfield Spencer (January 8, 1788May 17, 1855) was an American lawyer, politician, judge and United States Cabinet secretary in the administration of President John Tyler. Early life John Canfield Spencer was born on January 8, 1788, in H ...

. Mackenzie's handling of the ''Somers'' Mutiny, including its lack of a lawful court martial, was highly controversial and public opinion ran against him. The mutiny proved the need for systematic training of cadets before they went to sea. In 1845,

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

George Bancroft George Bancroft (October 3, 1800 – January 17, 1891) was an American historian, statesman and Democratic politician who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state of Massachusetts and at the national and internati ...

seized on the Somers affair as a reason to establish the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

Early life

Mackenzie (then Slidell) was born April 6, 1803, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, to Margery (also spelled Marjorie) ( Mackenzie) and John Slidell. Alexander was one of a large family of children. His older siblings included:

Thomas Slidell Thomas Slidell (c.1807 – April 20, 1864) was chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was a brother of John Slidell, a diplomat of the Confederate States of America in France. He entered Yale College from New York and graduated in ...

, chief justice of

's state Supreme court; John Slidell, US Senator from Louisiana; and Jane Slidell, who married Commodore

Matthew C. Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He played a leading role in the op ...

. Jane's marriage to Perry was to have a particularly profound influence on her younger brother's life, bringing him into close contact with one of the nation's leading naval families, which included Matthew's heroic older brother, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, and members of Commodore John Rodgers' family, with whom the Perrys intermarried. In 1837–1838, Alexander Slidell petitioned the New York State legislature and obtained the right to change his name to Mackenzie, reputedly as a condition of claiming the inheritance of a maternal uncle.

Naval service

Mackenzie entered the U.S. Navy as a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

in 1815. A contemporary of

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

and a personal friend of

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

, he published a number of books, including ''A Year in Spain'', ''Life of John Paul Jones'', ''Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur'', and ''Life of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry'' (his late brother-in-law). He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on January 13, 1825, and to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on September 8, 1841. was launched by the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a ...

on April 16, 1842, and was commissioned on 12 May 1842, with Mackenzie in command. After completing a shakedown cruise to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and back, the new

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

sailed out of New York Harbor on September 13, 1842, with orders to head for the Atlantic coast of Africa with dispatches for the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

. ''Somers'' was also acting as an experimental

schoolship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

for naval apprentices on this voyage; the ''Somers'' crew was mostly inexperienced sailors and seamen. After looking for ''Vandalia'' at

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

, and

Porto Praia Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, ''Somers'' arrived at

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...

, Liberia, on November 10, only to discover that the sloop had already sailed for home. The next day, Mackenzie set sail for the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

hoping to meet up with ''Vandalia'' at St. Thomas before the return journey back to New York.

''Somers'' mutiny

On the passage to West Africa, some of the ''Somers'' officers noticed a steady worsening of morale among the crew. On the way home on November 26, 1842 Mackenzie learned of the plot and arrested Midshipman Philip Spencer, the 19-year old son of Secretary of War John Canfield Spencer, for inciting mutiny. The other two young plotters arrested with Spencer were Elisha Small and Samuel Cromwell. Mackenzie was not legally empowered to convene a court martial. So he charged his officers with making an investigation. They unanimously concluded that the three sailors were guilty and recommended their immediate execution, which took place at sea on December 1, 1842. Only 13 days later, ''Somers'' arrived in New York, where a naval court of inquiry was immediately ordered to investigate the affair. Mackenzie was completely exonerated at the court of inquiry and at a subsequent court martial. However the controversial incident drew nationwide attention and colored the remainder of his life. It was customary then to commend officers cleared at a court martial, but Mackenzie's court martial made very clear that it was not commending him. The entire affair resulted in a great sensation, and Mackenzie's conduct was as severely criticized by his opponents as it was ardently defended by his supporters. His fiercest detractor was the famous novelist and naval historian

James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...

Naval historian and author

Mackenzie was also an accomplished author and naval historian. While his tours of duty in the navy were broadening, he also used several extended leaves to travel in Europe, where he mingled with other literary Americans including Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and fellow New Yorker Washington Irving, a lifelong friend. Mackenzie's first work, ''A Year in Spain, by a Young American'' (1829), made him known in America as well as in England. Other works followed: ''Popular Essays on Naval Subjects'' (1833), ''The American in England'' (1835), ''Spain Revisited'' (1836), ''Life of John Paul Jones'' (1841), ''Life of Commodore Oliver H. Perry'' (1841), and ''Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur'' (1846). Mackenzie also wrote a manuscript, ''A Journal of a Tour in Ireland, The Case of the 'Seiners; "Defence of A. S. Mackenzie", 1843.

Personal life

Mackenzie married Catherine Alexander Robinson (b. 1814), eldest daughter of Morris Robinson, a founder of the

Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York (also known as Mutual of New York or MONY) was the oldest continuous writer of insurance policies in the United States. Incorporated in 1842, it was headquartered at 1740 Broadway, before becoming a wh ...

. Together, they were the parents of: General Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, who, after a successful

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

career, commanded the

4th Cavalry Regiment (United States) The 4th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment, whose lineage is traced back to the mid-19th century. It was one of the most effective units of the Army against American Indians on the Texas frontier. Today, the regiment exi ...

, securing the line of settlement in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and throughout the West. Ranald Mackenzie was arguably the best Indian fighter of the American West. Another son was Lieutenant Commander Alexander Slidell MacKenzie. According to a letter written by Captain D.W. Knox, USN (ret.) on July 1, 1938, in response to a query to the

Department of the Navy Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy, * Navy Department (Ministry of Defence), in the United Kingdom, 1964-1997 * Confederate States Department of the Navy, 1861-1865 * Department of the Na ...

, "Commander MacKenzie died suddenly September 13, 1848, at his residence, near Tarrytown, N.Y., of heart disease. The Department was notified of his death on September 14, by Captain Isaac McKeever, Commandant at New York, who stated that he had been informed of it by Commodore

." He was a resident of Scarborough, New York.

Published works

* Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell
(1915) ''Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry : famous American naval hero, victor of the battle of Lake Erie, his life and achievements'' (Akron, Ohio: Superior Printing Co.)

Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell (1840) ''The life of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.'' (New York, Harper) Volume 1Volume 2
* *

Early life

Naval service

''Somers'' mutiny

Naval historian and author

Personal life

Published works

See also

References

Further reading