GIDEON PEET:  (1742 - 1823)

Gideon Peet was born February 24, 1742, in Stratford, Connecticut   

He was enlisted April 9, 1759 into the 3rd Regiment of the 1759 Campaign (French and Indian War) and was discharged November 25, 1759. 

He was married March 12, 1764 to Bethia (Betty) Burton, who was born 1742 in Danbury Connecticut, the daughter of William and Eunice Burton.  Gideon and Bethia then moved to Trumbull Connecticut.

He was recorded as being involved in several military campaigns. 

It is recorded in the history of Kent, CT., that in June 1775, Gideon Peet, along with a Connecticut militia, were sent to Fort Ticonderoga.  The fort had been captured the previous summer, but due to disagreements with Ethan Allen and Gideon's militia, Benedict Arnold had abandoned taking up an inventory of captured arms to set aside for future use, and had resigned his commission.

The famous Knox Expedition, also referred to as

"The Noble Train of Artillery"

The following winter, Gideon's Connecticut militia escorted Henry Knox, when George Washington assigned him to retrieve the 59 cannons that been set aside, the previous summer.   The cannons  were mounted on sleds, and hauled back by teams of oxen, under the escort of the Connecticut militia.  They were carried  across 200 miles of iced rivers and snow-covered wilderness,    Strategically mounted on the hills surrounding Boston, they would aid General Washington, in holding General Gage under siege, and after several failed attempts to counter his attacks, the English were forced to retreat by sea, from Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia on March 17, 1776.  Following this enterprise, Gideon returned to Connecticut, and would be credited with seven months of service.

In a third enterprise, he served as private in the 5th Connecticut Line under Capt. Josiah A. Lacey's Company of Col. Philip Burr Bradley's Regiment from July 1, 1777 to January 1, 1778.  They marched to Saratoga, to thwart Burgoyne's attempt to invade from Canada, in the English drive to gain control of the Hudson River and force an overwhelming retreat on the part of the colonists.

The names of Sgt. Gideon Peet and others, all of Trumbull, CT., are found on a 1778 alarm list  of the 9th company of the 4th Connecticut Regiment. 

Bethia died April 24, 1803, in Woodbury, CT, and at 61 years of age, Gideon rode horseback from Stratford, Connecticut to Cortland, New York, where he lived the remainder of his life with his son, Gideon, Abigail and their family.

 Gideon died 1823, in Solon, NY, and is buried in Solon, Cortland Co, NY cemetery.  His grave is obliterated

(DAR death records #30309; Abstract of graves of revolutionary patriots, v 3, serial 10094; v 5)