Hugh Weedon Mercer Brigadier General, CSA. There is some question on the exact location of his grave, with some feeling that he is buried in Baden-Baden, Germany, where he died, and was initially buried. However, records indicate that his body was brought home to Savannah, Georgia, in 1879, and his grave there is marked in Section F, Lot 19, grave #7, in Bonaventure Cemetery. In 1861, he enlisted in the Confederate army, and was commissioned as the colonel of the 1st Georgia Infantry. He was promoted to brigadier general by the end of October. He served as commander of the District of Georgia. In August 1862, he played a major role in impressing the first group of slaves and free blacks into service for the Confederacy. By November, however, he lost his authority to impress workers, and depended on Gov. Joseph E. Brown and local sheriffs to provide slaves to join the Confederate effort. At the beginning of the Atlanta Campaign, he left Savannah and took command of a brigade in the Army of Tennessee. Fighting at Dalton, Marietta, Kennesaw Mountain (where his son was wounded), and the Battle of Atlanta, he became ill during the subsequent campaigning in Tennessee. Mercer was relieved of command and sent home to Savannah, serving under Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee. He commanded the 10th Battalion, Georgia Infantry, which was charged with the defense of the Savannah area. When Hardee retreated in December 1864, Mercer left the city, returning after the fighting ended. He was briefly imprisoned on at Fort Pulaski, which he had once commanded, on Cockspur Island after the end of the war, along with other prominent Confederate leaders. After the war, he again returned to Savannah and resumed his work in banking, and moved to Baltimore in 1869, where he worked as a commission merchant. Mercer traveled to Baden-Baden, Germany, in order to find a cure for his illness. Instead, he died there. His body was returned to Savannah and buried in Bonaventure Cemetery, owned by City of Savannah, located in Thunderbolt, Ga. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_W._Mercer findagrave/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSsr=41&GSvcid=50473&GRid=8726&
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 06:14:37 +0000
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