American naval officer, born in New York City, on the 6th of April 1803. His original name was Slidell, he being the brother of the United States Senator of that name, but he adopted his uncle’s name, Mackenzie, at the request of the latter, in 1837. He entered the navy in 1815 as midshipman; was made lieutenant in 1825; commander in 1841. In 1842 he was put in command of the brig Somers, manned by naval cadets, and on its passage from Africa discovered a plot among the crew to mutiny. After a council of officers had been called, he ordered the hanging of three of the conspirators, among whom was the son of John C. Spencer, the Secretary of War. The order was carried out, and upon the arrival of the brig in America a court of inquiry was instituted, which, however, upheld Mackenzie’s action. He also was acquitted by a court-martial held at his own request. The criticisms of his accusers, however, could not be silenced, and they embittered the remainder of his life. During the Mexican War he took part in the siege of Vera Cruz and the storming of Tabasco. Mackenzie devoted considerable time to authorship, and published, among other works, A Year in Spain (1829); Popular Essays on Naval Subjects (1833); Life of John Paul Jones (1841); and Life of Decatur, in Jared Sparks’s Library of American Biography (1846). He died at Tarrytown, NY, on the 13th of September 1848.
