The Mercer Oak

Born in 1726, Hugh Mercer was a soldier who worked his way up the ranks to become a Brigadier General in the Continental Army, and it was Mercer who accompanied General George Washington to New York and New Jersey in 1776. Following the Battle of Trenton, Mercer led troops north, where he was met by a large number of British soldiers in what would become known as the Battle of Princeton. During the skirmish, Mercer was wounded after taking a British bayonet to the chest and his soldiers moved him to the large oak tree on the field. While the Continental Army succeeded in driving the British troops out of Princeton, General Mercer died from his injury on January 12, 1777. 

The oak tree that sheltered the dying General Mercer has been dubbed the Mercer Oak and has a history plagued by disaster. After a lightning strike and numerous wind storms, the tree collapsed in 2000. Standing in its place today is a sapling, planted in 2001, that was grown from an acorn of the original Mercer Oak. The legacy of Hugh Mercer lives on as the Mercer Oak has become a symbol of Princeton, memorialized on the town’s logo.

Websites

1. Landmarks of the Princeton Battlefield (The Princeton Battlefield Society)
2. Hugh Mercer (American Battlefield Trust)
3. The Mercer Oak (The Historical Marker Database)
4. Images of the Mercer Oak (Historical Society of Princeton)

Articles

1. “From storied Mercer Oak, a sapling grows” by Jane Karlicek (Princeton Packet, 16 May 2000)
2. “Oak Tree Planting” (Town Topics, 10 April 1991)
3. “The Heart of Oak and the Oak Tree Should be Combined Princeton’s New Image” by Sylvia Elvin (Town Topics, 9 October 1996)
4. “In Focus The Mercer Oak falls Rooted in history, and leaving a legacy” by Rich Tucker (Daily Princetonian, Volume 124, Number 30, 9 March 2000)
5. Untitled (Town Topics, 26 December 2001)