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American Revolution

Gen. Hugh Mercer's 1776 Staten Island Raid

New York, New York, New York

Marker Inscription

1776 IN MEMORY OF THE PATRIOTS WHO UNDER GENERAL HUGH MERCER CROSSING FROM PERTH AMBOY SURPRISED AND OVERCAME THE ENEMY ON THIS SPOT ON OCTOBER 16, 1776. TAKING TWENTY PRISONERS BESIDES ARMS AND AMMUNITION.

The Story

In the autumn of 1776, the British had just captured New York City and turned nearby Staten Island into a major staging ground, its shores watched across the narrow tidal waters of the Arthur Kill from New Jersey. Hugh Mercer—a Scottish-born physician who became one of Washington's most trusted generals—commanded American forces in the region and pressed the kind of swift, small-scale raids that kept a larger enemy off balance. This spot marks one such strike: patriots crossing from Perth Amboy fell upon the enemy by surprise, carrying off prisoners along with captured weapons and ammunition. Mercer would be mortally wounded only months later at the Battle of Princeton, sealing his place among the Revolution's early martyrs.

Why it matters

It preserves the memory of the daring cross-water raids that defined the Revolution's darkest season around New York, when audacity had to make up for what the Continental cause lacked in strength.

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Related people

  • · General Hugh Mercer

Related events

  • · American Revolution
  • · 1776 raid from Perth Amboy onto Staten Island

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American RevolutionMemorial

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