Revolutionary War Veteran

Revolutionary War Veteran. . John Dudley was born February 25, 1758 in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. In 1776 at the age of 18, he enlisted in the New Hampshire militia and served at Fort Ticonderoga in Colonel Reed's Regiment. There Dudley and the rest of the American troops guarded against a British attack from Canada. In December John's brigade marched to Newton, Pennsylvania to join the main forces of General George Washington's army. , A short time later, on a bitterly cold Christmas night, General Washington led John Dudley and 2,400 other American troops in the legendary crossing of the Delaware River. Dudley assisted in the capture of 900 Hessian soldiers in the subsequent surprise attack at the Battle of Trenton on December 26. It was an American victory that did much to boost the fledgling nation's morale. On January 3, 1777 John Dudley saw action in the Battle of Princeton, at which hundreds of British soldiers were captured. In May he returned to Fort Ticonderoga with the militia, and in September 1777 he fought at the Battle of Saratoga, where British General Burgoyne surrendered. Following this the militia was discharged, and Dudley returned home to Newport. New Hampshire. , In 1782 John married Lydia Stevens. They raised a family over the next fifteen years, including a son named John born in 1795. In 1816 the Dudleys moved to Ogden, Monroe County, New York, where Lydia passed away some years later. During the 1830s John received a government pension for his Revolutionary War service. It was around that time that John Dudley, Jr. and his wife Mary Barrows moved to Lisle Township. DuPage County, Illinois. John Sr. joined them there by the summer of 1840 because he was “aged and unable to support himself.” John Dudley passed away at his son's home on January 2, 1846 at the age of 87 years, 10 months. He is buried in Section 2, Plot 506 of the Naperville Cemetery in Naperville, Illinois.