[AFRICAN AMERICANA]. MERCER, Hugh (1726-1777). Manuscript last will and testament, describing a plantation purchased from George Washington. Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, VA, 20 March 1776.

4 pages, tall 4to, 7 1/2 x 11 9/16 in., string bound, toning, short separations at old creases, small loss to 2nd leaf at lower corner, light pencil marks and inscriptions throughout.

Hugh Mercer (1726-1777) was a physician with a storied military career. Originally from Scotland, he served as an assistant surgeon with the Jacobites under Bonnie Prince Charlie, and was present at Charles' defeat at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746. He thereafter fled to America, settling in Pennsylvania and practicing medicine. He joined and was commissioned a captain in a Pennsylvania regiment during the Seven Years' War. He rose to the rank of colonel and become close friends with George Washington, also a colonel and both serving under General John Forbes during the second attempt to capture Fort Duquesne. Mercer was put in command of the newly-constructed Fort Pitt after Forbes's health made a steep decline. After the Seven Years' War, he relocated to Fredericksburg, VA where he continued his medical practice and opened an apothecary. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge which counted George Washington and others who would become generals in the Continental Army among their membership.

In 1774, Washington sold Mercer his childhood home, Ferry Farm, which is mentioned here in Mercer's last will and testament: "I direct that after my decease my dear wife Isabella, if she survive me, and my children do reside on my plantation in King George County adjoining to Mr James Hanler's Land a rich Plantation I purchased from General George Washington and that my executors here after named out of my personal estate purchase or hire negroes as they shall think best to work the said plantation during my said dear wife's life time for the benefit of her and all my children equally." He includes further instructions regarding the buildings: "I do hereby order and direct my executors after named to repair the old House now standing on the said Plantation or erect a new one for the residence of my said dear wife and children."

This document was composed after Mercer had joined the Continental Army. He was appointed colonel on 11 January 1776 of what became the 3rd Virginia Regiment of the Virginia Line. Both future President James Monroe and future Chief Justice John Marshall served as officers under his command. By June 1776, he was appointed brigadier general and left for New York to oversee the construction of Fort Lee. He played major roles in the First and Second Battles of Trenton. While leading a vanguard of soldiers en route to Princeton on 3 January 1777, he was mistaken for Washington and ordered to surrender but drew his sword though heavily outnumbered. He was bayonetted seven times and despite medical attention, died nine days later.