Peck was killed in spring 1855 in a skirmish between Democratic forces and their Republican rivals at Jalteva, Nicaragua (near Granada) in the Filibuster War. The latter forces had been deposed after an election in 1854. Peck's death is recollected by Charles William Doubleday (1829–1909) in Chapter 4 of his "Reminiscences of the 'Filibuster' War in Nicaragua." Peck died as the result of concussion injuries sustained when a Republican cannonier fired on the position from which Doubleday and Peck had been observing their activities.