74. General Hugh Mercer Mystery Cache

This educational field puzzle cache is one of four Princeton Battlefield puzzle caches. Its recommended to complete the four field puzzles first, as all these cache final locations are in nearby Institute Woods property.

On January 12, 1777, American Brigadier General Hugh Mercer dies from the seven bayonet wounds he received during the Battle of Princeton.

Mercer’s military service ranged over two continents and three armies. Born in Rosehearty, Scotland, Mercer studied medicine at the University of Aberdeen and first served as an assistant surgeon in Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army of 1745. After the Scots uprising against the British met its devastatingly bloody end at Culloden on April 16, 1746, Mercer returned to Aberdeenshire, where he spent a year in hiding before moving to Pennsylvania in March 1747.

Once in America, Mercer enlisted in the army of the Hanoverian king, George III, whom he had sought to overthrow during the uprising in Scotland. During the Seven Years’ War, he first served in General Edward Braddock’s disastrous expedition of 1755, in which he was wounded, and then again with Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong’s army at the raid of Kittanning in 1756.

From 1760 to 1775, Mercer worked as an apothecary and practiced medicine in Fredericksburg, Virginia. When the colonies took up arms against the British, he quickly returned to his rebellious roots. When first commissioned as a captain in the Continental Army, Mercer was charged with leading the Independent Company of the Town of Fredericksburg. He was soon made a lieutenant colonel, commanding a militia battalion. By December 1775, he was a full colonel and the first commander of the 3rd Virginia Regiment, with luminaries including James Monroe and John Marshall under his command. General George Washington personally requested Mercer’s promotion to brigadier general in June 1776.

In the early days of the Revolution, Mercer took command of a small force of Virginia Minute Men from Spotsylvania, King George, Stafford, and Caroline Counties. Eventually, he rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Continental Army, and in the winter of 1776 accompanying his old acquaintance, George Washington, in the New York City Campaign, and subsequent retreat to New Jersey.

Following the Patriot victory at Trenton, New Jersey, Mercer led a vanguard of 350 soldiers toward Princeton, New Jersey with orders from Washington to destroy the Stony Brook Bridge. On January 3, 1777, Mercer met a larger British force under the command of Col. Charles Mawhood at Clarke’s Orchard. The struggle between these two forces quickly turned into a race to secure the strategic position on the heights of a nearby hill. During the struggle, musket and rifle fire turned to hand-to-hand combat with bayonets. Unfortunately, an overwhelming majority of Mercer’s men had no bayonets on their muskets. As his men began to fall back, Mercer stepped forward and desperately rallied his men with the words “Forward! Forward!” His command was met by the forceful thrust of British bayonets to his chest, and he fell to the ground.

Finding Mercer still alive, Continental soldiers removed him to a nearby oak tree, which would later bear his name, and finally to the field hospital in the Thomas Clarke House. Although famed medic Benjamin Rush tended to Mercer’s seven bayonet wounds, he could not save his medical colleague and fellow Patriot. He died of his wounds on January 12, 1777. The battle ended in victory for the Patriots ultimately succeeded in driving the British from Princeton, and the legacy of General Mercer’s courageous efforts became a rallying cry for American troops.

The posted coordinates take you the the "MERCER OAK PLAQUE" where you will use your smart phone to scan the bar code to watch the video for the following clues;

A = "What year was James Wilkerson's Memoir?"

1800 = (3) 1780 = (3) 1816 = (7)

B = What was the post and rail fence in front of "?

Rock wall = (35) Orchard = (21) House = (27)

C = Who said "Damn him he is dead, leave him"?

Soldier = (7) Murderer = (8) British Captain = (6)

D = Video brought to you by Boy Scout of American Troop#?

#43 = (72) #58 = (80) #24 = (65)

This cache is one of "The American Revolution Geo~Trail" caches throughout New Jersey. These special geocaches are hidden at many historic locations which have a connection to important New Jersey's American Revolutionary War history. To participate in the optional Geo-Trail, after you find the geocache, locate the secret code and record it into your passport which you will print from this website. Information at njpatriots.org

The Northern New Jersey Cachers, NNJC is about promoting a quality caching experience in Northern New Jersey. For information on The Northern New Jersey Cachers group you can visit: www.nnjc.org.