Hugh Mercer (113)

Hugh Mercer (16 January 1726–12 January 1777) was a physician and military officer, and a member of the American Philosophical Society via his 1768 election to the American Society. Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, he graduated from Marischal College in 1744 and served as a surgeon’s mate in the Jacobite army. After fighting in the Battle of Culloden he fled to America, where he became a physician in the frontier settlement of Conococheague near present-day Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. With the outbreak of the French and Indian War Mercer returned to soldiering. He served as a captain, major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel of the Pennsylvania Regiment. He was wounded in General Edward Braddock’s failed expedition to capture Fort Duquesne in 1755, receiving a medal from the city of Philadelphia for his service. Three years later Mercer joined a second, successful campaign against Fort Duquesne led by Brigadier-General John Forbes. Mercer was then appointed commandant of the outpost that replaced it, Fort Pitt. There, he oversaw treaty negotiations with the Six Nations and other native groups. After the war, he settled (on the advice of his friend George Washington) in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Returning to medicine, he treated members of Washington’s family and corresponded with APS member Dr. John Morgan. He also operated a ferry and joined the Masons. But the War of Independence brought Mercer to the battlefield once more. He served as a minutemen commander, as colonel of the 3rd Virginia regiment, and (at Washington’s request) as brigadier-general. He oversaw the Flying Camp, fought the Hessians in the decisive battle at Trenton, and then marched on Princeton, where he was killed in battle in 1777. His bayoneted body was then taken to Philadelphia where it served to evidence British savagery and cemented Mercer’s reputation as one of the war’s early heroes. (PI, DNB, DAB)