The Somers Affair was incident on board the American

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

while on a training mission in 1842 under Captain

Alexander Slidell Mackenzie Alexander Slidell Mackenzie (April 6, 1803 – September 13, 1848), born Alexander Slidell, was a United States Navy officer, famous for his 1842 decision to execute three suspected mutineers aboard a ship under his command in the Somers Mutin ...

(1803-1848). Midshipman Philip Spencer (1823-1842) was accused of plotting a mutiny that would kill those who opposed him and then use the Somers as a very fast, well-armed pirate ship. Spencer was arrested and executed when the Somers was thirteen days away from shore along with two other alleged co-conspirators via hastily assembled shipboard court-martial. The ship then returned to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. An inquiry and a court martial both cleared Mackenzie. There was enormous public attention, most of it unfavourable to Mackenzie.

Background

Newly constructed to take children considered “the sweepings of the street,” including orphans and the poor of a nation ravaged by a long economic depression and train them into personnel of the US Navy, the brig USS Somers was placed under Captain Mackenzie in which they were beaten for "infractions" such as not being fast enough, being "disorderly", not being clean or neat enough, for rebellious adolescent behavior, and for masturbation. Philip Spencer, who was son of Secretary of War John C. Spencer, was given a commission of Midshipman after he ran away to work on a whaler at Nantucket after an abortive stay at Union College. His father located him and convinced him that if a life on the sea was what he wanted, to live it as "a gentleman"; i.e., as a commissioned officer. Considered "wild and uncontrollable despite displaying signs of high intelligence" at his attendance of Geneva College (now Hobart College), he would assault a superior officer twice assigned to the USS North Carolina, having punishment of a court-martial averted to forced resigning due to the prominence of his father, and then re-assignment to the USS Somers. He was popular with a large amount of the "sweeping of the streets" enlisted personnel onboard of the USS Somers and provided them gifts of money, tobacco, alcohol, and probably at least had sex with one of them, probably more. He was mainly disliked by his fellow officers though. Philip Spencer was a founding member of the

Chi Psi Chi Psi () is a fraternity consisting of active chapters (known as "Alphas") at 33 American colleges and universities. The mission of Chi Psi is to create and maintain an enduring society which encourages the sharing of traditions and values, res ...