Joshua Dewey (April 7, 1767 – February 23, 1864) was an American politician and veteran of the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. Dewey was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, April 7, 1767, where his father, Daniel Dewey, resided as a farmer. The son was fittedfor college in his native town, at the Lebanon School of the well-known "Master Tisdale", Nathan Tisdale. After the burning of New London in the Battle of Groton Heights in 1781, he shouldered his musket and became fora time one of the garrison of Fort Griswold on the Thames River.