Born into a prominent New York family on July 27, 1840, Ranald Slidell Mackenzie was destined to live his life seated in a McClellan saddle on the back of an Army horse—and trail the painful growth of his nation through two major wars. The son and brother of distinguished naval officers, Mackenzie chose his own path for a military career. He graduated at the head of his West Point class in 1862, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac. He quickly witnessed the c
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