The Life of General Hugh Mercer

THE LIFE OF GENERAL HUGH MERCER With brief sketches of General George Wash in ton J ohn Pau J ones Genera Geor e eedon g , l , l g W , J ame nr r M r Ball ashin o s Mo oe an d M s . a y W gt Who were friends and as soc iates of General Mercer at Fredericksbur a so a sketch of Lod e No g l g . 4 A F f hi h h n n d A . M . o c n eral i o . an W Ge s as , , W gt an d Mercer were members ; and a genealogical ab f t le o the Mercer family. J O H N T G OQLRICK I llustr a ted NEW YORK W ASHING TON THE NEALE PUBLISHING C OMPANY 1 906 ” ILLUSTR A T IONS G enera l Hugh Mercer Frontisp iece OPPOSITE PA G E r r as a coun r oc or in Penns vania 26 Hugh Me ce t y d t y l . an d a ot ecar s o of u ercer The offi ce p h y h p H gh M , u ak r in ou se Prince on N. J The Q e Meet g H , t , . Th e ba ttlefi eld of Princeton ’ Th e C ark ouse Prin ce on W ere G en ercer l H , t , h l M Th e m onum ent to G eneral Hugh Mercer a t Fred ericksb ur g , Va . The grave of G en era l Merc er in La urel - Hill C eme te P i a e hi a Pa . m onum en erec e b ry , h l d lp , , t t d y An i St . drews Soc ety ri r The Ri si ng Sun Tavern , Frede cksbu g, Va . J ohn Paul J ones ” The Sen r Box the ome of ercer Fre t y h M , d 88 Th e om e of ar th e m ot er of W ashi n n h M y , h gto The m on um ent to ar the mo er of W a s in on M y , th h gt , G eneral G eorge W as hin gton as a mason and m em b er of 4 F Lodge No . A . F . and rederi cks M21 9 785 THIS book is affectionately dedicated to - e my Wife , a great granddaughter of Georg wa s i e and Mason, Who an int mat friend l r associate of Genera Hugh Me cer . INTRODUCTION A N INTRODUCTION is only necessa ry to this Life of Mercer in order to return thanks to others for what I have herein ob ta in ed to from them , as well as disclaim any very marked originality for some I things herein written . For instance, coul d n ot and do not claim any great origi na lity for the brief description of the e battl s of Culloden or of Princeton . Both have been described so often and by so ! hi many writers , that there is not ng new un e he d r t sun to be said about them . I only introduce them here that I may give a full and complete history of the life of Mercer ; without them I could not have done m so . I return thanks and acknowledge y e s lf under obligations to James D . Law, e Pa Esq . , of G rmantown , . ; Rev . J . Lindsay Va . Patton , Ashland, ; Judge Beverly R hm a V . Wellford, Ric ond, , and Corbin W . e m a . V . M rcer, Esq , Rich ond, , for some things that I have embodi ed in thi s small volume, and which appear with quotation marks . 1 0 Introduction I was constrained to write of General Hugh Mercer because I thought that such a e he a s lif as lived , and such a death he died, should be written about ; and should be written about by some one who is identi fied with Fredericksburg, the home of Mer c e I cer . How perfe tly or imperf ctly have performed the task which I have volunta r I ily undertaken, submit to the charitable criticism of my readers . Respectfully, J H N . OOLBI K O T G C . 1 1 0 Va . 9 6 Fredericksburg, , March , . CHAPTER I TH E hl a Hig ands of Scotl nd , land of brown heath and shaggy wood—! land of ” — the mountain and the fio od has always been celebrated in song and sto ry . Its stern and wild mountains , its dark and si e - the lent glens , its d ep lying lochs beneath hi shadow of the lls , its silent , whirling o a re e mists and sudden st rms , the sc nes of e d strang romance and ghastly trage y . It ’ is a very playground for the novelist s ex cited imagination and the poet ’ s wildest fancy . But withal , so barren in soil and nh harsh in climate , that the i abitants of the Highl ands early gave themselves up to the e of delights of the chas , or the dangers the ’ f o sea, the pursuit o arms , or the j y of battle . in um in Picturesque cost e , splendid mus l u s e on ar development , trained in the of e to arms , proud of th ir race, loyal their fi clan , they boasted their delity to their e e friends , and that they n v r turned their backs to a foe . Restless , inclined to travel , quick to adapt themselves to new surround 1 1 1 2 The Life of General Hugh Mercer ings , the Highlanders of Scotland sought their fortunes abroad, rising to fame and a b e wealth in many a Continent l country, coming the leaders in trade and commerce , in Colonial enterprise and in war, in all parts of the Northern Hemisphere . Fru e gal, industrious , persevering and brav , e success rewarded th ir undertakings . Characterised beyond all else by loyalty to o e their King, they were the m st d voted of the adherents of the ill - fated house of e Stuart, and they gather d around that fatal standard with romantic devotion . To their loyalty this land is indebted for not a few e e e of its b st citizens and noblest h ro s . The — land of the Highlanders Bonnie Scotland — has given to the world in all departments who c ons icu of life , great men have taken p ous parts in its history in war and peace . The men from the land of Bobby Burns have made their impress on the a g e and on the people among whom they have lived , and none occupies a higher ni che in its Hal l of Fame than General Hugh Mercer . Hugh Mercer was born in Aberdeen , 1 2 c 5. Sco tland , in the year 7 He des ended on his paternal side from a long line of mi n ; isters of the Church of Scotland . The Rev wa s e William Mercer, his father, in charg Pit li o of the Manse at ts g , Aberdeenshire , The Life of General Hugh Merc er 1 3 1 720 1 48 from to 7 , and although some biog raphers of Mercer give the date of hi s birth 1 21 the o as 7 , records of this church sh w that he was baptised in 1 726 ; it is therefore o thought now, that more accurate hist ry should place his birth in the year 1 725. On his mother ’ s side he was closely related to the Munro family ; her name being Anna Munro , daughter of Sir Robert Munro , who fought with conspicuous di stinction in the o t British Army at Fontenoy, on the C n i e e wh e n nt, and lsewhere ; and o, order d u home to oppose the yo ng Pretender, was killed in 1 746 while commanding British troops at the Battle of Falkirk . Mercer matriculated in the School of Medicine of Marschall College in the yea r 1 740 1 44 , graduating in the year 7 . He had hardly comm enced the practice of his pro ! fes sion ere Prince Charlie made hi s dash ” for a throne which startled and, for a s tu efied while , p the British by its daring hi e hem and brilliancy, but w ch was very p e . S e eral in its xistence The cotch , esp ciall hl s a l y those from the Hig and , were ways loyal to the House of Stuart , and ! Wha shall be King but Charlie ! ” as it was played on the ba gpipes by the kilted e e Highland rs , his admiration for the p ople d whom the Pretender represente , and his 1 4 The Life of General Hugh Mercer c Of onvictions of the justice his cause, stirred up the martial and patriotic spirit Ed of Hugh Mercer, who joined Charles ’ wa rd s Army as an Assista nt Surgeon . History and tradi tion are both silent as to ! when Mercer linked his fortune and hi s ” e fat to the cause of the Pretender . Whether he was on the fatal field of Fal 1 7 1 746 e kirk on January , , we hav no rec 1 6 1 46 ord ; but on April , 7 , at Culloden, e e near Inv rn ss , he is found in the army of e uk um Prince Charl s .

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