This biography was edited and augmented by PRS staff.

Peter Mauzy was born in March 1751 in Fauquier County, Virginia, the eldest son of Henry Mauzy and Ann Withers. The Mauzy family descended from French Huguenots who settled in colonial Virginia. Peter was raised on a working farm in the northern Piedmont region.

In 1770, Peter married Sarah "Sally" Hughes, daughter of Thomas Hughes and Mary Tanner. They were the parents of the following known children:

• George was born about 1771 and married Elizabeth Furnish.
• Ann was born about 1775 and married William Corbin.
• John was born on 4 May 1776 and married Nancy Ramey.
• Elizabeth was born about 1780 and married Henry Burgess.
• Mary was born on 15 April 1784 and married 1) Gunnell Saunders and 2) Henry Johnson.
• Henry was born about 1785 and married Eliza Bell.
• Thomas Routt was born on 4 July 1793 and married Lucinda Lawson.

In July 1776, he entered the service of the United States as a drafted militia soldier from Stafford County, Virginia. He served under Captain John Mountjoy and marched to Marlborough on the Potomac River to defend against British naval forces in the area. He remained there for several days and was later sent up the river toward Richland, the seat of Brent Esq., though the enemy had already landed and burned Berthouse by the time they arrived. He then marched to the residence of Bailey Washington to procure powder and, under the command of Colonel Thomas Mountjoy, volunteered to march approximately 40 miles down the Potomac River to the home of Henry Washington. After a period stationed there, with the British naval forces having withdrawn, he was permitted to return home near the end of September 1776.

In March 1777, Mauzy was again ordered to rendezvous at Falmouth on the Rappahannock River. He served under General George Weedon and was discharged in April 1777.

Later, he was drafted for an eighteen-month term of service but chose to hire a substitute in his place.

In July 1781, he was once more drafted and joined the Continental forces at Falmouth under Captain William Ballard, Lieutenant George Mountjoy, and Ensign Bodley, in a regiment commanded by Colonel James Garrard. They marched to Springfield and remained there until their forces increased, after which they proceeded to York, Virginia. Mauzy served until the surrender of British General Cornwallis in October 1781 and was discharged by General Adam Stephen. He returned home in November 1781.

Mauzy affirmed that his actual time in service totaled more than six months, not including the term for which he hired a substitute.

Regimental history suggests that he likely participated in the campaigns at Brandywine (September 1777), Germantown (October 1777), Monmouth (June 1778), and the Siege of Charleston (March–May 1780), although his pension makes no mention of them.

After the war, Peter returned to Fauquier County before relocating with family members to Fleming County, Kentucky, in 1792. He acquired land along the South Fork of the Licking River and established a farm. In 1799, he inherited an enslaved man named Killis from his father’s estate, a reminder of the contradictions between Revolutionary ideals and the institution of slavery.

The Patriot died on 15 August 1841 in Fleming County, Kentucky. He is buried alongside his wife, Sarah.

Sources:

1. Revolutionary War Pension File S36090, Peter Mauzy, National Archives and Records Administration.
2. “10th Virginia Regiment,” Historical Register of the Continental Army, Francis B. Heitman, Washington, D.C., 1893, p. 63.
3. Fauquier County, Virginia, Will Book 6: 322–325, will of Henry Mauzy, probated 23 December 1799.
4. Fleming County, Kentucky, Deed Book C: 41, land purchase by Peter Mauzy, 1793.
5. 1830 and 1840 U.S. Federal Census, Fleming County, Kentucky.