Ranald Slidell Mackenzie | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nicknames | "Bad Hand", "No-Finger Chief", "Three-Finger Jack"[1] |
| Born | (1840-07-27)July 27, 1840 |
| Died | January 19, 1889(1889-01-19) (aged 48) Staten Island, New York, U.S. |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance | United States Union |
| Branch | United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1862–1884 |
| Rank | Brigadier General BrevetMajor General |
| Commands | 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery 41st U.S. Infantry 24th U.S. Infantry 4th U.S. Cavalry |
| Battles / wars | |
| Alma mater | United States Military Academy |
| Relations | John Slidell (uncle) Alexander Slidell Mackenzie (father) Alexander Slidell MacKenzie (brother) |
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, also calledBad Hand, (July 27, 1840 – January 19, 1889) was a careerUnited States Army officer and general in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War. He was described by GeneralUlysses S. Grant as its most promising young officer. He also served with great distinction in the followingIndian Wars.
Mackenzie was born inWestchester County, New York, toCommodoreAlexander Slidell Mackenzie and Catherine Alexander Robinson. He was the nephew of diplomat and politicianJohn Slidell and the older brother of twoUnited States Navy officers:Rear Admiral Morris Robinson Slidell Mackenzie andLieutenant CommanderAlexander Slidell MacKenzie. His grandfather was John Slidell, a bank president and a political power broker in New York City.[2]
He initially attendedWilliams College, where he was a member of theKappa Alpha Society, and then accepted an appointment to theUnited States Military Academy, where he graduated at the head of his class in 1862. He immediately joined theUnion forces already fighting in the Civil War.
Commissioned asecond lieutenant in theCorps of Engineers, Mackenzie served in the battles ofSecond Bull Run,Antietam,Gettysburg, and through theOverland Campaign andPetersburg in 1864. He was wounded at Bull Run, Gettysburg and Jerusalem Plank Road. His wounding at Jerusalem Plank Road during the siege of Petersburg cost him the first two fingers of his right hand and was the probable cause for his nickname, "Bad Hand". By June 1864, he had beenbrevetted to lieutenant colonel in the Regular Army due to bravery.
In July 1864, he was appointedcolonel of the2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery. He moved with theVI Corps when it opposedEarly'sWashington Raid at thebattle of Fort Stevens. He was again wounded atOpequon. He was given command of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, VI Corps and was again wounded at theBattle of Cedar Creek. Upon his recovery, on November 30, 1864,PresidentAbraham Lincoln appointed Mackenziebrigadier general of volunteers, to rank from October 19, 1864.[3] The President submitted the nomination to the U.S. Senate on December 12, 1864, and the Senate confirmed the appointment on February 14, 1865.[3] After his appointment, Mackenzie assumed command of theCavalry Division in theArmy of the James, which he led at the battles ofFive Forks andAppomattox Courthouse. Ulysses S. Grant wrote in his memoir that MacKenzie led an army corps at the very end of the battles to capture Lee's army. He wrote, "Griffin, Humphreys, and Mackenzie were good corps commanders, but came into that position so near to the close of the war as not to attract public attention. All three served as such, in the last campaign of the armies of the Potomac and the James, which culminated at Appomattox Court House, on the 9th of April, 1865. The sudden collapse of the rebellion monopolized attention to the exclusion of almost everything else. I regarded Mackenzie as the most promising young officer in the army. Graduating at West Point, as he did, during the second year of the war, he had won his way up to the command of a corps before its close. This he did upon his own merit and without influence."
Mackenzie was mustered out of the volunteer service on January 15, 1866.[3] On January 13, 1866, PresidentAndrew Johnson appointed Mackenzie to thebrevet grade ofmajor general of volunteers, to rank from March 31, 1865, for services in theShenandoah Valley campaign and the U.S. Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12, 1866.[4] Mackenzie was known for his harsh discipline and was not well liked by troops serving under him, who called him the "Perpetual Punisher". However, he was respected by his peers and superiors for his skill and abilities. He had been wounded six times and received seven brevets.
After the Civil War, Mackenzie remained in theregular army and reverted to his permanent rank of captain in the Army Corps of Engineers. Appointed colonel of the 41st U.S. Infantry (later24th U.S. Infantry, one of theBuffalo Soldier regiments) in 1867, Mackenzie spent the rest of his career on the Frontier. Some officers were reluctant to lead African-American regiments, but Mackenzie did well with the 41st. On February 25, 1871, he assumed command of the4th U.S. Cavalry atFort Richardson inJacksboro, Texas. He led the regiment in theBattle of Blanco Canyon and at theBattle of the North Fork in theLlano Estacado ofWest Texas. In October 1871, he was wounded a seventh time by an arrow in the leg. AtFort Clark he led a punitive raid against the Indians operating out of Mexico.
Mackenzie fought in theRed River War, routing a combined Indian force at theBattle of Palo Duro Canyon far to the north from his headquarters atFort Concho inSan Angelo, Texas. In 1876, he defeated theCheyenne in theDull Knife Fight, which helped bring about the end of theBlack Hills War. This led to his appointment as commander of the District of New Mexico in 1881. In 1882, he was appointed brigadier general and assigned to the Department of Texas (October 30, 1883). He bought a Texas ranch and was engaged to be married; however, he began to demonstrate odd behavior which was attributed to a fall from a wagon atFort Sill, Oklahoma, in which he injured his head. Showing signs of mental instability, he was retired from the Army on March 24, 1884, for "general paresis of the insane".[5]
Mackenzie died at his sister's home inNew Brighton,Staten Island, New York, and is buried inWest Point National Cemetery.The New York Times, which had once followed and reported upon his career so closely over the years, printed only a short notice at his death. However, theArmy and Navy Journal carried a lengthy article on his career and personal life, which began, "The sorrow with which the Army will learn of the death of the once brilliant Ranald Slidell MacKenzie derives an additional pang from the recollection of the cloud which overshadowed his later years and consigned him to a living death."
In 1964, the TexashistorianErnest Wallace publishedRanald S. Mackenzie and the Texas Frontier, a definitive study of the officer.[6] Wallace also wrote the historical article "Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie's Expedition Across the South Plains" in Volume 38 of theWest Texas Historical AssociationYear Book.[7]
The 1950John Ford filmRio Grande contains some similarities to Mackenzie's action on the frontier.[citation needed]
The 1958–1959syndicatedtelevision series,Mackenzie's Raiders, starringRichard Carlson in the title role, is loosely based on Mackenzie's time at the former Fort Clark nearBrackettville, Texas.[12]
