[Mercer] county was
named in honor of Hugh Mercer, a
distinguished physician and soldier in the Revolution. He was born in
Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1721. In 1746, at the battle of Culloden, between
the Highlanders and the royalists under the fluke of Cumberland, he served
as assistant surgeon. He had been finely educated for his profession, in
that battle he was among the forces led by the pretender, Charles
Edward, and on their defeat he became a refugee and sought asylum
in America.
He became the first
physician in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. After Braddock’s defeat in
1755, the Indians made forays into the Cumberland valley, and for
protection the settlers formed themselves into militia companies, of one
of which Dr. Mercer became captain. He took
part in the Indian campaigns, and in 1757 was promoted major in the forces
of the Province of Pennsylvania. While on the expedition of General
John Forbes against Fort DuQuesne, he first became acquainted with
George Washington, and a warm friendship resulted between them. After the
successful outcome of this expedition, Mercer was left in command of the
captured Fort DuQuesne, having now been promoted colonel.
Between the close
of the French and Indian war and the outbreak of the Revolution,
Colonel Mercer was induced by Washington to take up his residence
at Fredericksburg, Virginia. When the war for independence began, Dr.
Mercer was commissioned colonel in a Virginia regiment, and soon after, on
the recommendation of General Washington, was
made a brigadier general. He was with Washington’s arms’ in its
retreat across New Jersey, assisted in the capture of the Hessian troops
at Trenton after the crossing of the Delaware on Christmas, 1776. At the
battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777, while leading the vanguard of the
Americans. his horse was shot under him, and he was compelled to continue
the contest on foot. He was speedily surrounded by British officers, who
ordered him to surrender. Disregarding the summons, he drew his sword and
began an unequal contest. He was finally beaten to the ground with muskets
and his body pierced with bayonet thrusts. With five wounds in his body
and two in his head, he was left on the field supposed to he dead. He was
carried to a neighboring house. When Washington heard of the fate of his
old friend, he sent his nephew. Major Lewis, to
watch over the final moments of the dying hero, who passed away January
12, 1777.
Twentieth
Century History of Mercer County,
1909, Vol. I, pages 24-25.
