Alexander Slidell Mackenzie

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Alexander Slidell Mackenzie

Alexander Slidell Mackenzie (* 6. April 1803 in New York City ; † 13. September 1848 in Tarrytown , New York ) was an American Navy - officer who served during the first half of the 19th century. He has also written several contemporary essays and biographies of important US Navy figures of the early 19th century.

Life

Origin and private life

He was born as Alexander Slidell on April 6, 1803 in New York City. He was the son of John Slidell and Margery née Mackenzie . His older brother, John Slidell , later became a US Senator for Louisiana , best known for his role in the Trent Affair . His sister married Commodore Matthew Perry , the brother of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry .

He was the father of General Ranald Slidell MacKenzie and Lt. Commander Alexander Slidell MacKenzie. In order to be able to claim an inheritance from a maternal uncle, he underwent an official name change and has since called himself Alexander Slidell Mackenzie.

After a long military career, he died suddenly of a heart attack on September 13, 1848 at his country estate near Tarrytown .

Military career

Alexander Slidell Mackenzie was the commanding officer on the USS Somers at the time of the Somers affair

In January 1818 he joined the US Navy as a cadet ( Midshipman ). At the instigation of his father, who pointed out in a letter that his son had been doing regular service on ships of the navy since 1815, where he was, among other things, in the Mediterranean and improved his knowledge of French and Spanish, his entry into service was in 1815 backdated. This fact makes him one of the youngest officers in the American Navy. In 1825 he was promoted to lieutenant and in 1841 to commander . He served on a number of ships - most recently on the paddle steamer Mississippie - and was the commanding officer on the USS Somers when the Somers affair broke out there in 1842 .

Military historian and author

Alexander Slidell Mackenzie was a contemporary of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and a personal friend of Washington Irving . His first work, A Year in Spain, by a Young American (1829), quickly became popular not only in America but also in England. He then wrote other noteworthy essays on general, but primarily on military topics and personalities in shipping, including the US national hero John Paul Jones and Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.

Published works (excerpt)

  • By a Young American: A Year in Spain. Hilliard, Gray, Little, and Wilkins, Boston MA 1829 ( digitized ).
  • By the author of "A year in Spain": The American in England. Harper & Bros., New York NY 1835.
  • Spain Revisited. 2 volumes. Harper & Bros., New York NY 1836.
  • The life of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. 2 volumes. Harper & Bros., New York NY 1840 ( digitized volume 1 and digitized volume 2 ).
  • The Life of Paul Jones. Harper & Bros., New York NY 1841.
  • Life of Commodore Stephen Decatur (= Library of American Biography. 2nd Series, Vol. 11). CC Little and J. Brown, Boston MA 1846 ( digitized ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 1838 or 1839
  2. ↑ biography at navy.mil
  3. ^ Letter from the US Navy
personal data
SURNAME Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American naval officer and author
DATE OF BIRTH April 6, 1803
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH September 13, 1848
Place of death Tarrytown , New York