OF THE

NAVAL COURT MARTIAL

IN THE CASE OF

ALEXANDER SLIDELL MACKENZIE,

A COMMANDER IN THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES, &c.

INCLUDING

THE CHARGES AND SPECIFICATIONS OF CHARGES,

PREFERRED AGAINST HIM BY THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.

TO WHICH IS ANNEXED,

AN ELABORATE REVIEW,

BY JAMES FENNIMORE COOPER.

NEW YORK:

HENRY G. LANGLEY, 8 ASTOR HOUSE.

US 5084.20

1859, úpril 30,

usift of

Bowen

Cambridge,

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844,

BY HENRY G. LANGLEY,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York.

42

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE following pages comprise an authentic account of the Official Proceedings of the Naval Court Martial, convened in the case of ALEXANDER SLIDELL MACKENZIE, including the several Charges and Specifications adduced against him by the late Secretary UPSHER, of the United States Navy. The intense and absorbing interest awakened amongst all classes of the community in our land, as well as abroad, on the first announcement of the events that occurred on board the brig Somers, cannot, it is believed, have so abated as to render the present volume-combining the only complete historical record yet offered-unacceptable to the public. To which is added a Review, by Mr. J. FENNIMORE COOPER.

CHARGES AND SPECIFICATIONS.

CHARGES AND SPECIFICATIONS OF CHARGES PREFERRED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE NAvy, AGAINST ALEXANDER SLIDELL MACKENZIE, A COMMANDER IN THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES, TO WIT:

蔷

CHARGE I.

MURDER ON BOARD A UNITED STATES VESSEL ON THE HIGH SEAS.

Specification 1st.—In this that the said Commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, of the navy, commanding the United States brig Somers, being on the high seas, to wit, in 17° 34′ 28′′ north latitude, and 57° 57′ 45′′ west longitude, from Greenwich, or thereabouts, on the first day of December, A. D. eighteen hundred and forty-two, did then and there, without form of law, wilfully, deliberately, and with malice aforethought, hang and caused to be hanged by the neck, at the main yard-arm of the aforesaid brig, until he was dead, Philip Spencer, an acting midshipman, then in the service of the United States, thereby violating the 21st article of the act of Congress, entitled, "An act for the better government of the navy of the United States," approved April, 23d, 1800.

Specification 2d.—In this, that the said Commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, of the navy, commanding the United States brig Somers, being on the high seas, to wit, in 17° 34′ 28′′ north latitude, and 57° 57′ 45′′ west longitude from Greenwich, or thereabouts, on the first day of December, A. D. eighteen hundred and forty-two, did, then and there, without form of law, wilfully, deliberately, and with malice aforethought, hang and cause to be hanged by the neck, at the main yard-arm of the aforesaid brig, until he was dead, Samuel Cromwell, a boatswain's mate, then in the service of the United States, and borne on the muster-roll of said brig, thereby violating the 21st article of the 1st section of the act of Congress, entitled, "An act for the better government of the navy of the United States," approved April 23d, 1800.

Specification 3d.-In this, that the said Commander Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, of the navy, commanding the United States brig Somers, being on the high seas, to wit, in 17° 34′ 28′′ north latitude, and 57° 57′ 45′′ west longitude from Greenwich, or thereabouts, on the first day of December, eighteen hundred and