Alfred Mordecai contributed to United States' military development through his research and writing, particularly in the area of artillery.
21 Facts About Alfred Mordecai
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2.
Alfred Mordecai was instrumental in the United States' adoption of the M1857 12-pounder Napoleon.
3.
Alfred Mordecai was one the first Jewish Americans to choose the army as a career.
4.
Alfred Mordecai studied at the US Military Academy at West Point, where he remained as an assistant professor after graduating top of his class.
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Alfred Mordecai grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home, observing Shabbat and kashrut.
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Alfred Mordecai later became an agnostic and never returned to Judaism.
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In 1836 Alfred Mordecai married Sara Ann Hays of Philadelphia, a niece of Rebecca Gratz.
8.
In 1839 Alfred Mordecai set free a slave, Eugenia Hemings, who had once belonged to Thomas Jefferson.
9.
Alfred Mordecai had bought her in 1833, and she worked as his housekeeper and cook.
10.
Alfred Mordecai was commissioned in the US Army Corps of Engineers and in 1825 he became assistant engineer in the construction of Fort Monroe and Fort Calhoun.
11.
Alfred Mordecai commanded the Frankford Arsenal from 1834 to 1838, after which he was appointed assistant to the Chief of Ordnance.
12.
Alfred Mordecai became assistant inspector of arsenals in 1842 and was engaged in constructing and experimenting with ballistic pendulums and gunpowder, with the idea of measuring muzzle velocity.
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Alfred Mordecai was again placed in command of the Washington Arsenal in 1844 and later of the Watervliet Arsenal in 1857.
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In 1853 Alfred Mordecai was one of a small group selected by Secretary of War Jefferson Davis to travel to Mexico on a secret mission.
15.
Alfred Mordecai praised the Canon obusier de 12 gun-howitzer, which soon afterward was manufactured in the United States as the M1857 12-pounder Napoleon.
16.
Alexander Rose notes that Alfred Mordecai's report is a "masterpiece of unbiased scholarship" but that he was curiously dismissive of repeaters and breechloaders.
17.
In 1858, Alfred Mordecai was sent by President James Buchanan as a special diplomatic agent to Mexico.
18.
Alfred Mordecai retired to private life, "dejected, broken-spirited and depressed".
19.
Alfred Mordecai was one the first Jewish Americans to choose the army as a career.
20.
Alfred Mordecai's memory is entitled in a peculiar degree to the care of army historians, for his work was such as appeals to technical and professional men rather than to the multitude.
21.
Alfred Mordecai's contributions came, not in the shape of a few large nuggets, but in a steady stream of gold dust sustained for many years and far outweighing the nuggets in the end.