Alexander Slidell Mackenzie

Who was Alexander Slidell Mackenzie?

Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, born Alexander Slidell, was a U.S. naval officer most famous for his 1842 decision to execute three suspected mutineers aboard a ship under his command, the USS Somers. Mackenzie was also an accomplished man of letters, producing several volumes of travel writing and biographies of early important U.S. naval figures, some of whom he knew personally. Mackenzie was the brother of U.S. Senator John Slidell of Louisiana, who was later involved in the American Civil War's "Trent Affair."

Mackenzie was captain of the USS Somers when it became the only U.S. Navy ship to undergo a mutiny which led to executions, including Philip Spencer, the nineteen-year-old son of the Secretary of War John C. Spencer. Mackenzie's handling of the Somers Affair, including its lack of a lawful court martial, was controversial; the incident was described at length in Vina Delmar's novel The Big Family. It also inspired the novella Billy Budd by American author Herman Melville. The Somers Affair also led to the founding of the United States Naval Academy.