Hugh Mercer
Hugh Mercer | |
|---|---|
Hugh Mercer | |
| Born | 16 January 1726 Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Died | 12 January 1777 (aged 50) |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance | Jacobites Great Britain United States |
| Branch | Jacobite Army Pennsylvania Militia Continental Army |
| Service years | Jacobite Army (1745–1746) Pennsylvania Militia (1755–1776) Continental Army (1776–1777) |
| Rank | Brigadier general (Continental Army) |
| Conflicts | |
| Alma mater | University of Aberdeen |
| Relations | Hugh W. Mercer (grandson) Johnny Mercer and George S. Patton (great-great-great grandsons) |
| Other work | Surgeon, apothecary |
Hugh Mercer (January 16, 1726 – January 12, 1777) was a Scottish 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.
Mercer 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.
The uprising failed, and Mercer escaped to the Province of Pennsylvania where he lived in Greencastle, near 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.