Encyclopedia · People, inventors, and ordnance officers

Alfred Mordecai

Alfred Mordecai (1804-1887) was a distinguished United States ordnance officer and author of ordnance experiments and reports who resigned rather than take part in the Civil War.

Also known as: Major Alfred Mordecai.

Born1804
Died1887
FieldUnited States ordnance officer and scientist
NoteResigned at the outbreak of the war rather than fight

Ordnance scientist

Alfred Mordecai was one of the most scientific of the antebellum United States ordnance officers, known for careful experiments on gunpowder and ordnance and for the reports and manuals he prepared. His work helped put American ordnance on a more exact footing.

Unwilling to take up arms against either side, Mordecai resigned from the army at the outbreak of the Civil War, leaving the service in which he had done so much technical work.

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Sources & further reading

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