Peter Lesley was born in New Jersey on January 13, 1761. He later became a resident of Guilford County, where he joined the local state militia regiment as a private, serving from 1780 to 1781, seeing battle at Guildford Court House, among other skirmishes. In about 1801 Lesley moved to Tennessee, where applied for a veteran's pension in 1832. His application was successful and he received compensation for nine months and ten days of service for the remainder of his life. He died in Williamson County, Tennessee on December 8, 1843.