Presents:

Brigadier General

Hugh Mercer

Doctor, Fugitive, Indian Fighter, Soldier, Patriot, and Freemason.

Scottish Son, Masonic Brother, and American Father

A Warrior-Poet

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We, the Freemasons of Virginia and Sons of Fredericksburg wish to give our gracious thanks to all present here in commemoration of those heroes who have been the shield, sword, and spirit of this nation. Every year on this day it is our noble duty as citizens of the United States to offer a proper benediction of worthy praise in remembrance of the actions and sacrifices of those who have secured the Rights and Freedoms we now cherish. For there is no greater thing that a man or woman can do than to lay down his life for the love of another, or for the hope that something greater is attainable with only the self-instilled faith that his service will bear fruit. And though, there are many names that we can render a tribute to; on this Memorial Day I wish to commemorate a particular individual. Let us celebrate General Hugh Mercer.

"I am willing to serve my adopted country in any capacity she may need me."

Hugh Mercer, 1776

When Colonel Hugh Mercer first arrived in Fredericksburg, Virginia at the recommendation of his friend, Colonel George Washington in 1760, he was well received as a veteran of the Jacobite War and a hero of the recent war against the French and Indians but more important; he was a Scotsman! Fredericksburg had a thriving Scottish community that must have been a happy sanctuary for a fugitive Scotsman who could never again see his homeland. Already a physician he became a noted member in town. He also took to other ventures such as surveying, the buying and selling of land and involved himself in local trade.

Hugh Mercer married Isabella Gordon and fathered three children; Hugh Tennant Mercer, William Mercer, and Ann Mercer Patton from whom American General, George Patton of World War II could trace his lineage. Mercer found another dear friend of his would become his brother-in-law when future-American General George Weedon married Isabella’s sister Catherine and it is he who now rest in our Masonic Cemetery.

As did his Masonic friends Weedon and Washington, Hugh Mercer became a member of Fredericksburg Masonic Lodge in 1767 and a few years later he sat as Master of our Lodge. He opened a physician’s apothecary and practice which to this day still stands in our town. One of his most famous patients was George Washington’s mother Mary who greatly trusted him, and he prospered as the most respected Doctor in the area.

In 1774, Washington sold his childhood home of Ferry Farm to Mercer who wanted to make this prize the land that he and his family would settle for the remainder of his days. Fredericksburg was the happiest fifteen years of his life but when the call to arms came, Hugh Mercer once again answered in service to his new nation.

Although Brother Mercer was initially commissioned a Militia Captain commanding the Independent Company of the Town of Fredericksburg, he was eventually promoted to full Colonel commanding the Third Virginia Regiment of the Continental Line. Young James Monroe and the future Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall served as officers under Mercer's command. Within the back room of Hugh’s Apothecary Shop on Princess Anne Street and at the behest of General George Washington to Congress, Hugh Mercer was commissioned a brigadier general in June 1776.

Washington’s trust in Mercer was absolute. When he went to defend New York City and Brooklyn, he entrusted Mercer to defend a position that was his only means of retreat should that be necessary, a circumstance which inevitably came to pass. Mercer’s contributions were even more vital to Washington’s victory at Trenton and Princeton than any other person: In fact it is believed that the plan to “Cross the Delaware” was conceptualized by Hugh Mercer. True or not, what we do know is that he was honored with the center thrust during Trenton, the focus of the defense at the second battle and was in the vanguard at Princeton, and because of those victories the British were thrown off balance at a time when the Americans were at their weakest. Washington gained the trust and confidence of his soldiers who decided to reenlist and the French finally approved arms and supplies for the Americans. But all this was at a heavy price because Washington lost a devoted friend, a comrade at arms, a Masonic Brother and a veteran warrior.

Washington eventually came to trust some of his other officers as he did Mercer but let us remember that it was Mercer who stood by Washington during the most difficult period of the Revolution and his sacrifice upon the Altar of Freedom won for us the time necessary for those friends in Europe to rally to the American Cause, friends such as Baron Von Steuben and the Marquis de Lafayette. It is also no small thing to be said that his martyred name became the rebel cry for the colonies of America, especially for those Americans who once stood undecided between the Rebels and Loyalist. As far back as the Battle of Kittanning, Mercer’s name was cherished by the colonies and was still popular in America into the new century. The Marquis de Lafayette, on his final tour of the United States in 1824, became a member of our Masonic Lodge in Fredericksburg and was asked if he was well acquainted with General Mercer during the war to which in a soft French-accented English he stated;

“Oh!, no, you well know that Mercer fell in January of 1777 and I reached the United States that spring; but on my arrival, I found that the army and the whole country had his name on their lips and he was so well praised and adored that I felt as if I knew him personally!”

Princeton, January 3, 1777 while leading a vanguard of 350 Americans, General Mercer encountered two British regiments and a mounted unit. A fight broke out at an orchard grove and Mercer’s horse was shot from under him. Getting to his feet, he was quickly surrounded by British officers who believe him to be George Washington and ordered him to surrender. Outnumbered, he drew his saber and began an unequal contest. He was viciously beaten to the ground with muskets and bayonet thrusts. In learning of the British attack Washington himself entered the fray rallying his men and pushing back the British regiments. Still alive, Mercer was found surrounded by a few loyal men with a dozen wounds in his body and two in his head, yet he refused to leave the battlefield. Nine agonizing days later, he died in the arms of Dr. Benjamin Rush and Major George Lewis who was Fielding Lewis’ son and Washington’s nephew. In General James Wilkinson's Memoirs several interesting particulars of the life and services of General Mercer are related, and in alluding to his death, that writer remarks:

"In General Mercer we lost at Princeton a chief who for his education, talents, disposition, integrity and patriotism, was second to no man but the commander-in-chief, and was qualified to fill the highest trusts of the country."

General Wilkinson also noted, that the evening before the battle of Princeton, Mercer was in the tent of General St. Clair with several other officers who were talking about their recent promotions that they worked hard for and earned in service to which Mercer remarked,

“If this War was for Ambition, then I would have no part in it, for each man should just be happy to serve in the position that he would be most useful.”

Mercer also stated that he had only one objective: the success of the American cause and before God, he would be happy to lay down his life if that is what it would take to secure it. Little did Hugh Mercer or any of those officers know that a few hours later this pact with God would be kept.

Every Freemason is taught to build the temple within one’s self, to pursue the Arts and Sciences and to give our devotions to God that we may be an example for others to follow. Proper application of these pursuits helps us translate the physical into the spiritual and through such translations can such a person inspire the world. There is no question that Doctor, General and Worshipful Brother Hugh Mercer epitomized every one of these traits. Scottish Rebel, Town Physician, Indian Fighter, American Soldier and Freemason; Hugh Mercer represented the best in the many faces of the 18^th century American. He once said:

"I am willing to serve my adopted country in any capacity she may need me."

As Freemasons and as Americans, what are you willing to do!

Thank you ladies and gentlemen.

Brother Shelby Lee Chandler II, Senior Steward

Fredericksburg Lodge #4 A.F. & A.M.

Hugh Mercer Statue, Memorial Day, 2006

Memorial Day ’06 Tribute to Brother Hugh Mercer (above) and a prayer at the Masonic Cemetery of Fredericksburg, Virginia (below).

THE END