John Slidell

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John Slidell

John Slidell (1793 – July 26, 1871), a native of New York City, moved to Louisiana and became a U.S. representative and a U.S. senator from that state in the mid-nineteenth century.

He was born to the merchant John Slidell and the former Margery Mackenzie, a Scot. He graduated from Columbia University (then "College") in 1810. In 1835, Slidell married the former Mathilde Deslonde, and they had three chldren, Alfred Slidell, Marie Rosine (later comtess de St. Roman), and Matilda (later baronness d'Erlanger).

Slidell was in the mercantile business in New York before he relocated to New Orleans. He practiced law in New Orleans from 1819-1843. He was the district attorney in New Orleans from 1829-1833. He also served in the state's House of Representatives. Though he lost an election to the United States House in 1828, he was elected in 1842 and served one term from 1843-1845. He was minister plenipotentiary to Mexico from 1845-1846.

Prior to the Mexican-American War, Slidell was sent to Mexico, by President James Knox Polk, to negotiate an agreement whereby the Rio Grande River would be the southern border of Texas. With the guidance of General Zachary Taylor, U.S. troops were stationed at the U.S./Mexico border, ready to attack upon orders. The Mexican government rejected Slidell's mission, and the United States declared war on Mexico on May 13, 1846.

At the Democratic Convention in Charleston, South Carolina, in April 1860, Slidell plotted with "fire-eaters" such as William Lowndes Yancey of Alabama to defeat the only candidate who could have conceivably won the general election, namely, Senator Stephen Arnold Douglas, of Illinois.

During the American Civil War John Slidell was one of the two CSA diplomats involved in the Trent Affair in November, 1861. After having been appointed the Confederate States of America's commissioner to France in September, 1861, he ran the blockade from Charleston, South Carolina, with James Murray Mason of Virginia. They then set sail from Havana on the British mail steamer Trent, but were intercepted by the US Navy while en route and taken into captivity at Fort Warren in Boston. After the resolution of the Trent Affair, the two diplomats set sail for Europe on January 1, 1862.

John Slidell was a brother of Alexander Slidell Mackenzie, a naval officer who commanded the USS Somers on which a unique event occurred in 1842 off the coast of Africa during the Blockade of Africa. In that incident, three crewmen were hanged after being convicted of mutiny at sea. Mackenzie reversed the order of his middle and last names to honor a maternal uncle.

Another brother, Thomas Slidell, was chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Slidell moved to Paris, France, after the Civil War. He died in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. He is interred in the Saint-Roman family private cemetery near Paris. He and Judah P. Benjamin were among the high-ranking Confederate officials buried abroad.

Slidell was also the brother-in-law of the American naval Commodore Matthew C. Perry, who was married to Slidell's sister, Jane. Perry is remembered for opening United States trade with Japan in 1853.

The city of Slidell in St. Tammany Parish is named in his honor.