Hugh Mercer
Hugh Mercer (January 16, 1726 – January 12, 1777) was a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He fought in the New York and New Jersey campaign and was mortally wounded at the Battle of Princeton.
Hugh Mercer | |
|---|---|
Hugh Mercer | |
| Born | 16 January 1726 Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Died | 12 January 1777 (aged 50) Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Place of burial | Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Allegiance | Jacobites Great Britain United States |
| Service/ | Jacobite Army Pennsylvania Militia Continental Army |
| Years of service | Jacobite Army (1745–1746) Pennsylvania Militia (1755–1776) Continental Army (1776–1777) |
| Rank | Brigadier general (Continental Army) |
| Battles/wars | |
| Alma mater | University of Aberdeen |
| Relations | Hugh W. Mercer (grandson) Johnny Mercer and George S. Patton (great-great-great grandsons) |
| Other work | Surgeon, apothecary |
He was born in Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and studied medicine at the University of Aberdeen. He served as an assistant surgeon in Charles Edward Stuart's army during the Battle of Culloden in the Jacobite rising of 1745.
After the failed uprising, Mercer escaped to the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania, where he lived in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, which is present-day Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and Fredericksburg, Virginia. He worked as a physician, and established an apothecary. He served alongside George Washington in the provincial troops during the French and Indian War, and he and Washington became close friends.