Military Commission to Europe, in 1855 and 1856. Report of Major Alfred Mordecai, of the Ordnance Department

Report of Alfred Mordecai who introduced scientific method into the development of American artillery. Maj. Alfred Mordecai (1804-1887) was one of the first Jews to achieve prominence in the U.S. military. In 1823, aged 19, Mordecai graduated West Point at the top of his class. Gifted mathematically, he taught engineering at West Point for two years. In 1841 Mordecai compiled the Army's first ordnance manual and in 1849 reorganized the army's artillery. At the outbreak of the Civil War (1861), Mordecai, a native of Warrenton, North Carolina, resigned his commission in the Army, for fear he would be forced to fight against family and friends in the South. For the duration of the Civil War, Mordecai taught mathematics in Philadelphia, near the family of his wife Sara Ann Hays Mordecai. After the War, Mordecai turned to railroading, briefly in Mexico and later as an official of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Alfred was the son of Jacob Mordecai of Philadelphia (1762-1838) and Rebecca Myers. The elder Mordecai was reputed to be a Bible scholar. Alfred's wife, Sara Ann Hays, was a niece of Rebecca Graetz. In 1855 Alfred Mordecai was dispatched to Europe by then Secretary of War Hon. Jefferson Davis to study the latest European armaments and stratagems and report back to the U.S. military. His report is breathtaking in its attention to detail