| Collections | Curator's Corner
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First American military decoration on exhibit in Clash of Empires
The History Center's new Ann and Martin G. McGuinn Gallery is the temporary home for several hundred rare objects and works of art from the era of the French & Indian War gathered together for the first time in Clash of Empires: the British, French and Indian War, 1754-1763 (running through April 15, 2006). Among the many treasures of local and national significance, a small, unassuming silver medal in a clear plastic mount bears a fascinating history.
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When fighting broke out on the Pennsylvania frontier following the July 1755 defeat of British Gen. Edward Braddock's army, the Delaware Indian town of Kittanning (located 40 miles north of Pittsburgh) served as a base for raiding parties. With material support from French forces at Fort Duquesne, Delaware warriors returned to their ancestral homes in eastern Pennsylvania to launch a series of devastating attacks on frontier settlements. By the summer of 1756, several hundred captives had been carried back across the Allegheny Mountains, and many were living as adopted family members in the cluster of houses situated along the banks of the Allegheny River at Kittanning.
On Sept. 8, 1756, a detachment of about 300 Pennsylvania provincial soldiers under the command of Lt. Col. John Armstrong attacked and burned Kittanning in a surprise raid. Although most of the Indian inhabitants escaped, Armstrong's force killed more than 30, including a noted war leader known as Captain Jacobs. Only a handful of captives were released.
Despite limited military success, the Kittanning expedition buoyed the spirits of Pennsylvanians who had been unable to mount an effective defense against French and Indian attacks. Pennsylvania proprietor Thomas Penn presented a sword and belt to Armstrong, and the Corporation of the City of Philadelphia commissioned a silver medal to be struck for the expedition's officers. This medal, the first American military decoration, is also one of the rarest: while a number of commemorative copies struck from the original dies during the 19th century have survived, the piece on display in Clash of Empires is the only original example presently known.
This Kittanning medal belonged to Hugh Mercer, (c.1725-1777) a Scottish physician who had immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1747. Following Braddock's defeat, Captain Mercer raised a company of provincial soldiers and served on the frontier west of the Susquehanna River. He was wounded during the attack on Kittanning, and straggled through the forest for 14 days after he became separated from the retreating provincials. He eventually found his way to Fort Littleton (near the present-day Pennsylvania Turnpike exit of that name) after subsisting on two dried clams, a rattlesnake, and a few berries.
Mercer continued to serve in the Pennsylvania forces, participating in the 1758 Forbes expedition against Fort Duquesne along with Virginia Col. George Washington. Mercer was commander of the first British garrison at the newly renamed Pittsburgh during the winter of 1758-59, and, after retiring from military service at the end of the French & Indian War, settled in Fredericksburg, Va., to practice medicine.
He accepted a command in Virginia's revolutionary forces in 1775, and crossed the Delaware River with Washington's army the following winter. During the Jan. 3, 1777 Battle of Princeton, Mercer refused to surrender to a group of British soldiers, who then mortally wounded him with their bayonets. American artist Jonathan Trumbull commemorated the incident in a monumental painting that was part of his celebrated series on the American Revolution.
Hugh Mercer's Kittanning medal is on loan from the City of Fredericksburg, Va. Its provenance is recorded in an 1835 letter from Mercer's son. Exhibit visitors also have an opportunity to view the silver hilted sword that Mercer used to defend himself from British bayonets at the Battle of Princeton. This piece, which Mercer is believed to have used during the French & Indian War as well, has been loaned by the Saint Andrews Society of Philadelphia, and appears for the first time on public display in North America in Clash of Empires.
-By R. Scott Stephenson, Ph.D., curator
Photo: The medal is on loan from the City of Fredericksburg, VA.
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