Jedidiah Preble (1707–1784) was Captain of Infantry in Samuel Waldo's Regiment, whom he brought land from and settled in Falmouth, Maine (present-day Portland, Maine).

He accompanied John Winslow on his expedition up the Kennebec River and participated with him the following year in the Battle of Fort Beauséjour (1755) where he was wounded.

[3][4] He then participated in the Cape Sable Campaign, part of the expulsion of the Acadians.

Gen. Jedidiah Preble, with Gen. Artemas Ward and Col. Seth Pomeroy, were chosen General Officers of the Provincial forces by the House of Representatives of Massachusetts that resolved itself into a Provincial Congress.

He was forced to decline his appointment on account of ill health and advanced age, and it was then bestowed upon Gen. Artemas Ward, who at a later period was superseded by George Washington.