Alexander Slidell Mackenzie
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Alexander Slidell Mackenzie (1803-1849) was a U.S. Navy officer who served during the first half of the 19th century. He was the brother of U.S. Senator John Slidell, who was involved in the Civil War's "Trent Affair."
Mackenzie entered the U.S. Navy as a midshipman in 1815. In honor of a maternal uncle, he assumed the surname Mackenzie in 1837. A contemporary of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and a personal friend of Washington Irving, 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 O.H. Perry. Commodore Perry was the brother of Matthew Perry, MacKenzie's brother-in-law.
While in command of the USS Somers in 1842, en route to the United States from the West African coast, Commander Mackenzie oversaw the arrest, trial, and execution of three American sailors who had supposedly plotted to take control of the ship. The ring leader, Philip Spencer, was the son of Secretary of War John Canfield Spencer. Although he was completely exonerated at a trial and at a subsequent court martial, the controversial incident (known as the "Somers Affair") colored the remainder of Mackenzie's life.
[edit] Family
Mackenzie was the father of General Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, who, after a successful Civil War career, commanded the 4th US Cavalry Regiment[1], securing the line of settlement in Texas and throughout the West. Ranald Mackenzie was arguably the best Indian fighter of the American West. Another son was Lt. Commander Alexander Slidell MacKenzie.
A sister married Commodore Matthew C. Perry, the brother of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
[edit] In popular culture
The story of the Somers Affair and the subsequent trial was dramatized in the penultimate episode of the sixth season of the television show JAG. The regular cast portrayed the individuals involved, with the role of Mackenzie played by Trevor Goddard. The incident is also described in the biographical novel about the Slidell family, The Big Family by Vina Delmar.
[edit] References
- McFarland, Philip Sea Dangers: The Affair of the Somers (New York: Schocken Books, 1985), 308p., illus. ISBN 0-8052-3990-1
