Letter from Benjamin Rush to Richard Henry Lee. Rush asks on behalf of Hugh Mercer to inform his wife Isabella Gordon that he is improving after his significant wounding from bayonets. Mercer would die of his wounds a few days later, although Rush writes that "there are reasonable hopes of his recovery." Rush describes Mercer's injuries in detail. He goes on to describe the Battle at Princeton, including number of wounded on both sides and the death of Captain Leslie. In describing the death of Captain Leslie, Rush writes, "I wept for the first time for a victory gained over british troops. Our attachment to each other was reciprocal for when I was introduced to a Capt. McPher[]son in order to dress his wounds, he asked if I was the Dr Rush who used to correspond with Capt Leslie. I told him I was - He Told me that he had heard his friend Leslie say a thousand times that he forgot in [] the political enemy in [] personal friend." Rush describes the village of "Princetown" as so deserted that "you would think it has been desolated with the plague and an earthquake as well as with the calamities of war." Rush details the current state of the village. Rush completes his letter by describing the retreating British Army and other matters related to the army and the war.; American Philosophical Society
The Valley Forge Orderly Book contains records of General, Divisional, and Brigade orders received under the command of George Weedon between August 25, 1777 and May 7, 1778. Evocative of the hardships faced by the Continental Army during the bitter winter of 1777-1778, the orderly book records orders relating to duties, disciplinary matters, promotions, and desertions. The orderly book also includes a plan of battle for the Battle of Germantown, 1777, and plans for the troops at Mount Holly (November 1777) and what appears to be Whitemarsh (November 1777). It also includes several illustrations of troop formations and an insert of an 1897 Valley Forge map.; American Philosophical Society