American Revolution Museum Receives New Artifact
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The future home of the Museum of American Revolution in Old City Philadelphia is taking shape.
It's scheduled to open in about three months, and artifacts that will be on display are arriving daily.
At a special ceremony inside the Museum of the American Revolution, the sword of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer was presented to the museum by the St. Andrew's Society of Philadelphia.
The charitable organization, in which Mercer was a member, is lending it to the museum to display.
General Mercer, a friend of George Washington, died 240 years ago from several bayonet wounds he received during the Battle of Princeton in the now-named Mercer County.
R. Scott Stephenson, PhD is the VP of Exhibitions, Collections, and Programming at the museum.
"And so with the sword, he defended himself from a group of British soldiers who bayoneted him repeatedly, struck him about the head with their muskets, and he lingered for nine days afterwards until the 12th of January 1777," Stephenson explained.
Workers are continuing to create the exhibit space to house the precious artifacts.
The Museum of the American Revolution in Old City opens to the public on April 19th.
