Peter Francisco
Peter Francisco. Believed to be the son of a high ranking official of the Portuguese empire, he was found wandering the docks at City Point, Virginia in 1765. It is thought that he and his sister were kidnapped to be held for ransom. Why the parents were not contacted or what the hell happened is not part of this essay, nor does it matter. This is one of the most remarkable fighters in history.
He was apprenticed as a blacksmith and grew to be 6' 8" and weighed some 280, big for the day. Ha ha! Big anywhere and anytime. But we are talking about the size of the fight in the dog, not the other way around. He was adopted by Judge Anthony Winston, an uncle of Patrick Henry, and raised as his son.
In 1776, at the age of 16, Peter joined the 10th Virginia, and was soon noted for his aggression and ability. That such a large fellow survived volley firing argues a lot of luck, but, as will be shown, luck was the least of it.
As none of these essays are complete, or intended to be complete, suffice it to say that Peter was in a lot of battles. He was wounded many times, and could have got out of service on the strength of any of these. He was the second man to enter Stony Point when it was taken by Mad Anthony Wayne, of whom I am a descendant. He killed three British Grenadiers and captured the flag. Wayne mentioned him in dispatches
Following the battle of Camden, Peter picked up an abandoned 1,100 lb. cannon and carried it back to American lines.
He killed one of that mother-fucker Tarleton's men there.
He killed eleven men at Guilford Courthouse, the fight where Cornwallis showed what he was made of, by turning his cannon on his own troops. While I deplore such a thing, Cornwallis was determined to win. He behaved poorly at Yorktown, but then put paid to Tippu Sahib and his bullshit. Of course, Tippu was fighting an invader and is now a great hero.
Well, that's it for me tonight.
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