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Posted on 04/06/2005 9:41:34 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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A six-and-a-half-foot-tall Hercules who wielded a six-foot-long broadsword, Peter Francisco was arguably the most remarkable soldier of the Revolutionary War.  Peter Francisco, giant member of the American forces at Guilford, who slew 11 men with his oversized sword during the battle. If such a film were made, one can imagine the opening scene: in the foreground a wooden pier juts out into a misty harbor, where the stillness is broken only by the cries of a few gulls. Gradually, the sound of splashing oars becomes audible. A longboat emerges from the fog; then, as the scene brightens, the silhouette of the merchantman from which it came appears in the distance. The boat pulls alongside the dock; sailors' rough voices mutter unintelligibly as the form of a small person is lifted from the bobbing craft and set on the pier. A shout is heard and the boat quickly departs. The bewildered castaway turns toward the camera. He is a young boy, no more than four or five years old, dressed in a once-fine suit that now is dirty and worn. On his shoes expensive silver buckles spell out the initials "P.F." At daybreak the pier begins to come to life. Waterfront residents gather curiously around the waif, asking questions. Unable to speak their language, he simply repeats the words "Pedro Francisco." Eventually a woman comes along, takes the child by the hand, and leads him away, saying "I'll take him to the poorhouse. They'll know what to do with him." This scenario, though a bit romanticized, is roughly what happened at City Point (now a part of Hopewell), Virginia, on June 23, 1765. The boy later grew up--and up--to become the most remarkable fighting man of the Revolutionary War, a giant of a soldier of whom General George Washington is reputed to have said: "Without him we would have lost two crucial battles, perhaps the War, and with it our freedom. He was truly a One-Man Army."  Diorama of Col. William Washington's cavalry attacking British regulars. Peter Francisco, left foreground. Soon after young Pedro Francisco was taken to the Prince George County poorhouse, his plight came to the attention of Anthony Winston, a local judge and uncle to Virginia firebrand Patrick Henry. Winston took the lad in and taught him to speak English. Once the boy could communicate with his new guardian, he recounted what he remembered of his past, but it wasn't much. He had lived in a mansion near the ocean, he said. His mother spoke what he thought was French; his father spoke another language--what, he couldn't say. One day, when Pedro and his younger sister were playing in the garden, rough men seized them. The girl fought and got away, but Pedro was bound, blindfolded, gagged, and carried to a ship. After what seemed an endless voyage, he was put ashore at the City Point dock. Winston never learned anything more about the boy's past, but later investigators have been more successful in piecing together what appears to be a likely, if partial, solution to the Peter Francisco mystery. In 1971, Virginia researcher John E. Manahan, reporting on studies he had carried out while teaching overseas, argued convincingly that Francisco's original home had been at Porto Judeu, on Terceira Island in the Portuguese-held Azores, and that he was the same Pedro Francisco born there on July 9, 1760. Why Francisco was abducted remains a mystery. Manahan theorized that the child had been kidnapped by sailors who intended to sell him in the New World as an indentured servant, but the researcher offered no explanation of why they abandoned their captive instead. An Azorean legend has it that the Francisco family, fearful of political enemies, engineered Pedro's abduction as a means of protecting him from some grisly form of reprisal planned against his parents. While this may be true, evidence is lacking. But that Peter Francisco was a Portuguese (which he himself suspected) seems almost certain, and Portuguese-Americans have eagerly accepted him as an illustrious forebear.  Peter Francisco's shoe. The shoe is equivalent to a size 10 1/2 D. "Mr. Francisco" is written in lining. Whether or not the sailors in fact intended to sell the boy into indentured servitude, that more or less became his fate. Rather than provide Peter with formal schooling, Judge Winston put him to work doing chores around his plantation, a 3,600-acre estate in Buckingham County, Virginia, known as "Hunting Tower." In adulthood Peter was destined to attain the then-prodigious height of six-feet-six-inches--nearly a foot taller than the average man at the time--and weigh at least 260 pounds. Already of surpassing stature by his early teens, the youth was instructed in the brawny trade of blacksmithing--an obvious calling for a person of his size and amazing strength. It was the latter rather than his height that got him noticed. In March 1775, when he was not yet fifteen, Francisco went along with Judge Winston to Richmond for a meeting of the Virginia Convention. Tempers flared as delegates hotly debated the colony's relationship with Great Britain.Young Peter contributed to the excitement when he broke up one tavern dispute by lifting the combatants into the air and banging them together until they ceased their argument.  Francisco's strength, bravery, and size made him one of the most famous soldiers of the American Revolution. Virginia Historical Society It was during this convention that the lad stood outside St. John's Church and heard through the window the renowned speech by Patrick Henry that ended: "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" Peter, as the story goes, was ready right there to take up arms against the British oppressors, but Judge Winston prevailed upon him to wait: though large enough to go to war, he was not quite old enough. In 1776 Winston relented, and at the age of sixteen Peter enlisted with the 10th Virginia regiment as a private. Although Francisco was not at Bunker Hill or Saratoga, in many other respects his military career closely followed the course of the War of Independence. After a stay of several months in New Jersey following his enlistment, Francisco received his first taste of action in September 1777 at Brandywine Creek in neighboring Pennsylvania, where General Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army, attempted to halt the advance toward Philadelphia of some 12,500 British troops under the command of General William Howe. Outflanked by Howe, the Americans suffered a defeat in the ensuing battle, and Washington's army was forced into a disorderly retreat. The regiment of which Francisco was a member held the line at a narrow defile called Sandy Hollow Gap for a crucial forty-five minutes, allowing the rest of the force to withdraw and preventing an all-out rout. The young soldier suffered a gunshot wound to his leg during this hard-fought rear-guard action.
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Thank you and Good afternoon Mayor.
First in, yep!
Thanks for the He-Man links.
ROFLOL
I've been thinkin' totally seriesly that if I get this house sold and move to Alabama.... when I get a job in Alabama.... I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy one of those for the grandkids with the first Alabama paycheck. :-)
I'm purdy sure they *need* it. :~D
Bitty Girl learned to drink from a straw today.
hehe, it *is* pretty cool!
Whoa, great going Bitty Girl!
Has she discovered bubbles yet?
Amazing!
Comcast is experiencing regional server failure. On and off loading and slower than whale dung rolling on the ocean floor. If you get this . . . wonderful read! If not talk to ya later.
PS The reason Hollywierd hasn't come up with a movie about Francisco is because they haven't figured out how to screw up a great story about a great American. IHMO [Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong] ;^)
?
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Sometimes my prose goes from florid to strange!
That attack on the IJN was pressed home with great bravery. A very dangerous job of work. Most affirmatively. (Swab for "that's for sure").
A have a special affection for Naval Aviators, both Marine and Navy.
I was wondering as I did not see any mention of the USAAF in the rundown :-)
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Coming soon to a bathtub near us. She does love to splash already!
"FRiends of Slick Willie"
(To be sung to the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil")
We abhor Butch Reno...and we'll take Slick Willie down.
Honor 'tis to FReep fer Right till Big Guv'ment's not around.
Ya think I'm funnin' as I make my rhymes...
But friends of Slick Willie ain't no FRiends of mine!!
Leftist HO's defend Slick's Blight...
TREASON's why we FReep tonigh-ight!!
Clinton is Pure Evil, knaves...Slick snowed Dem-Medyuh shills!!
Cowed the Right from action...let's be Brave and DETHRONE Bill!!
Future's Sunny, but we'll first smite Slime...
No friend of Bill Clinton is a FRiend of mine!!
Leftists know Clinton's not Right...
Justice's why we FReep...tonigh-ight!!
I drove on up to DeeCee...brain-dead Lib'rals fought me there.
Took my hard-earned dollar bill but I vanquished their PUNK, Terry.
Think I'm funnin' but I know what's Right...
DemFriends of Bill Clinton shall be Doin' Time!!
I set goals...ain't 'fraid ta Fight...
Justice's why I FReep tonigh-ight!!!
Got two reasons why I stay awake each lonely night.
The first one's named Sweet Liberty and she's my heart's delight.
Second one is Justice, Willie, Ol' Mudboy's on yer tail!!
And when MUD catches up with you, you'll spend yer life in jail!!
Gotta wife and children, Slick, but yer thugs shan't cow me!!!
Broaddrick says Slick raped her, Tom, but Brokaw said, "BITE ME!!!"
Lib'rals' Love Him, but I think Slick's SLIME!!
No friend of Slick Willie shall be FRiends o' mine.
I set goals, ain't 'fraid ta fight...Justice's why MUD FReeps tonight!!!
(BigMan on guitar, Fireman John on mandolin...justa cookin'!!)
Got two reasons why I FReep away each doggone night.
The first one's named Sweet Liberty, my God, I know I'm Right!!
Second one is Justice, Terry, MUD knows yer Sordid Tale...
And when Truth catches up with you, you'll spend yer life in jail!!
Gotta wife and children, Bill, and you got Hillary...
Chelsea knows she's not yer child, Webb Hubbell's genes flow free.
Think I'm funnin' but Slick's arse is mine!!
No friend of Bill Clinton, boy, Justice Be Thine!!
Bill can roam...but Slick can't hide!!
Justice makes MUD FReep fer Righ-ight!!
So Sayeth the Word of...MUD (02/10/2002)
She's like her old man in this.
I realize the mischief I was and could have been capable of in my early years. I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on her. ;-)
Excellent Revolutionary War thread. One of many a great man one hears little about.
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