Gibson, George

GIBSON, GEORGE. (1747–1791). Continental officer. Pennsylvania. Born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on 10 October 1747, Gibson joined his brother, John, and together they operated a trading post in Pittsburgh. After that endeavor failed, Gibson returned to eastern Pennsylvania. He served briefly in Dunmore's War (1774). Commissioned Captain of the First Virginia Regiment on 2 February 1776, he organized a company of frontiersmen and took them to join General Hugh Mercer's Brigade at Williamsburg, Virginia. This unit saw no action, but earned a reputation for rowdiness. Appointed agent to deal with Oliver Pollock in New Orleans, he left Fort Pitt on 19 July 1776 with about 25 men disguised as traders, reaching the Spanish city in mid-August, and returned with close to 10,000 pounds of powder. He was promoted to major of the Fourth Virginia Regiment on 4 January 1777, then served in the 1777–1778 military operations in New York and New Jersey. He was promoted to colonel of the First Virginia State Regiment on 5 June 1777. In 1779 he was put in charge of prisoners at York, Pennsylvania, and held this position until January 1782. With the war's end, Gibson returned to his farm at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. In 1791 he was commissioned colonel of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey levies to take part in General Arthur St. Clair's ill-fated expedition against the Indians. Twice wounded at Black Swamp, near Fort Recovery, on 4 November, he was evacuated about 30 miles to Fort Jefferson and died there on 14 December 1791.

SEE ALSO Gibson, John; Pollock, Oliver.

                            revised by Michael Bellesiles