Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/805

NAME MERCER 783 MERCIER his services in these Indian wars he received from the Corporation of Philadelphia a note of thanks and a memorial medal. The summer of 1757 saw him in command of the garrison at Shippensburg; December, promoted to the rank of major and placed in command of the forces of the province of Pennsylvania west of the Susquehanna. The next year he commanded part of the forces under Gen. Forbes in the expedition against Fort Du Quesne, and during this war Mercer made the acquaintance of Washington and a friendship sprung up between them which led to Virginia becoming the home of the former on the advice of the latter. Dr. Mercer some time after the end of the French and Indian wars removed to Virginia and settled in Fredericksburg. Here he lived and practised until the beginning of the Revo- lution. The reputation he gained as a phy- sician and citizen is attested by an English traveller who visited Fredericksburg during the Revolution, an account of which visit was published in 1784. He wrote "In Fredericks- burg I called upon a worthy and intimate friend. Dr. Hugh Mercer, a physician of great eminence and merit, and, as a man, possessed of almost every virtue and accomplishment." The building where the doctor had his con- sulting room and apothecary's shop is still standing (1908) and is situated on a corner of Princess Ann and Amelia streets. The beginning of the Revolution found him actively engaged in raising and drilling troops, for, abandoning his large and lucrative prac- tice he entered the service of the colonies as colonel of the third Virginia continentals. In appreciation of his distinguished services he was soon promoted to be a brigadier-general, the date of his appointment being June 5, 1776. Gen. Mercer participated with great dis- tinction in the campaigns of Washington, until refusing to surrender, he was clubbed and bayonetted, and left for dead on the field of Princeton. Despite, however, his seven bayonet wounds of the body and many of the head from the butts of muskets, he was not yet dead, and after the battle was removed to a farm-house, where he was tenderly cared for by Mrs. Clark and her daughter, the wife and child of the owner of the house, and by Maj. Lewis, whom Gen. Washington sent for the purpose. The surgeons who at- tended him were Dr. Benjamin Rush (q. v.) and Dr. Archibald Alexander, of Virginia. In spite of every care and attention that could be given him, he succumbed to his wounds, pass- ing away on January 12, 1777. He was buried in Christ Church yard, Philadelphia. Many years later his remains were removed to Laurel Hill Cemetery and a monument erected to his memory by the St. Andrew's Society, of which he had become a member in 1757. This monu- ment was dedicated on November 26, 1840, and bears as part of its inscription these words: "Gen. Mercer, a physician of Fred- ericksburg, in Virginia, was distinguished for his skill and learning, his gentleness and de- cision, his refinement and humanity, his ele- vated honor and his devotion to the cause of civil and religious liberty." Soon after his death it was recommended that a monument be erected at Fredericks- burg and on June 28, 1902, an act was passed by Congress directing that the resolution of 1777 be carried into effect. Mercer married, not long after coming to Fredericksburg, Isabella Gordon of that town and had a daughter and four sons. A por- trait of Mercer is in possession of the Mer- cersburg (Pa.) Academy, and in the historical paintings of the battle of Princeton by Peale, at Princeton, and by Trumbull at New York, he is given a prominent position. Robert M. Slaughter. Various Encyclopedias of American Biography. Southern Messenger, April, 1838. The Life of Hugh Mercer, John T. Goolrick. Mercier, Alfred (1816-1894) Alfred Mercier, better known as a writer than a physician, was born at McDonough, Louisiana, June 3, 1816. In his fourteenth year he was sent to France to be educated. In 1842 he published at Paris a volume of poems, the principal of which were "La Rose de Smyrne" and "L'Ermite de Niagara" which were highly prased in the Revue de Paris. He travelled extensively through Europe and made a philosophic study of men and things. In 1848 he wrote a romance for La Reforme, a prominent literary journal of the day, but on the morning that the first feuilleton was to appear, the commune broke into the office and "pied" the forms. Originally intended for the bar, his tastes led him into literature ; but republican France making small account of letters, he suddenly resolved to study medicine. After he gradu- ated in that science he practised for three years in New Orleans. In 1859 he returned to France, remaining there until the close of the Civil War, when he finally returned to New Orleans, resuming practice until the end of his life. His works of fiction include "Le Fou de Palerme" (1873), "La FiUe du Pr^tre" (1877), "L'Habitation de St. Ybars" (1881), and "Johnelle" (1891). His style was virile and