Despite his latest wound, Francisco did not leave the battle, and in one final assault against the British he killed two more of the enemy before receiving a bayonet thrust "in his right thigh the whole length of the bayonet, entering above the knee and coming out at the socket of his hip." As his comrades retreated, the fallen cavalryman was left for dead on the field. A Quaker named Robinson is said to have taken Francisco to his home and cared for him until he rallied.
After this fray, Francisco again limped home to Virginia. Having suffered five wounds for his country's cause, Peter could easily have been excused from further service at this late date in the war, but his military career was not quite over. He volunteered as a scout to monitor the Virginia operations of Banastre Tarleton and his horsemen. While out on a mission, Peter stopped off at the inn of one Ben Ward. Nine of Tarleton's troopers surrounded the tavern and announced Peter's arrest. One of the soldiers further demanded that Francisco surrender his silver shoe buckles; in a scene worthy of a Hollywood script-writer, Francisco told him, in effect, to "take them yourself." As the cavalryman bent to do just that, Peter snatched his captor's saber and struck him a blow on the head. The wounded trooper fired a pistol, grazing Peter in the side for his sixth wound of the war; Francisco at the same moment cut the soldier's hand nearly off. Another cavalryman aimed a musket at the American, but when it misfired Peter wrenched it from the soldier's grasp, knocked him from the saddle, and escaped on his horse.
With this feat of derring-do, Francisco's career of terrorizing British troops ended. He was granted, however, the supreme satisfaction of being present when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.
Peter then returned to Richmond in the company of Lafayette. There is an unverifiable story that as the two were strolling in front of St. John's Church, a young lady who was leaving the building tripped and was caught by the strapping young veteran. And that was how Francisco first encountered Susannah Anderson, the woman he would marry.
Before giving any thought to marriage, however, Peter sought the education he had earlier been denied. The story of his determination to rise above his humble status is as inspiring as the tales of his battlefield achievements. He went to school, sat his hulking form down next to the children, and within three years was reading the classics.
At the same time that Peter was pursuing learning, he worked as a blacksmith. During this time a diarist named Samuel Shepard observed him at work and recorded that he "never before saw muscles as great and developed in so young a man, or boy, he is still a boy . . . his great hands, long broad the fingers square, the thumbs heavy and larger in the nail than the usual great toe. His feet are as exceptional for length and thickness as is his whole body. His shoulders like some old statue, like a figure of Michelangelo's imagination like his Moses but not like David. His jaw is long, heavy, the nose powerful, the slant [of his] forehead partly concealed by uncombed black hair of a shaggy aspect. His voice was light, surprising me as if a bull should bellow in a whimper." Other contemporary accounts emphasize Francisco's gentle nature and note that his "prominent traits of character for temperance, good temper, and charity were no less striking."
Francisco Monument, looking toward the American Third Line.
From this hill, Lt. Col. William Washington's cavalry charged the British Guards in the vale below while simultaneously the 1st Marylanders counterattacked from the edge of the woods. Thus was enacted one of the most dramatic scenes of the Revolutionary War.
With Washington's cavalry was Peter Francisco, a giant of 6 feet 8 inches, who wielded a 5-foot sword given him by Gen. George Washington after Francisco's complaint that ordinary swords were too light. With his huge sword and mighty courage, legend credits Francisco with slaying 11 men in the battle.
The monument was erected by Peter Francisco Pescud, a grandson of the Revolutionary hero. Unveiled in 1904, the monument is also a tribute to the Marquis de Bretigny and, through him, to all French participants in the American War for Independence.
With his marriage to Susannah in December 1784, Peter became a member of the landed gentry, a part he played well. He displayed a taste for bright-colored waistcoats, high hats, and silk stockings. He acquired a reputation for his hunting and fishing outings and his house parties, at which he would display his fine voice, described by one visitor as having "a power, depth, and sweetness of tone, with wonderful potency. His pathetic earnestness is irresistible."
Peter and Susannah had a son and a daughter before she died in 1790. Catherine Brooke became Peter's second wife in 1794, and two years after her death in 1821 (they had three sons and one daughter) he married Mary Grymes West, the widow of Major West, a Virginia planter.
Many of the stories told about Peter Francisco in this period of his life are awestruck recountings of his strength. He seems to have acquired a Paul Bunyan-like status, and it is impossible to tell which of the tales about him are true. It may well be that they all are. He may really have amused guests by holding two 160-pound men at arm's length above his head, and actually have rescued a cow and her calf from a bog by picking one up under each arm and simultaneously carrying them out of the mud.
Not surprisingly, Francisco folklore includes stories of arrogant tough guys foolish enough to test his strength. One husky chap reportedly traveled all the way from Kentucky for this purpose. Finally goaded into action, the gentle giant threw the challenger over a four-foot fence onto the public road. The badly shaken visitor said that he would leave satisfied if Peter could dispose of his horse in the same fashion; whereupon Francisco handily lifted the steed over the rails. The embarrassed Kentuckian headed for home, enjoined by his good-natured host to "call again when you are passing."
As Francisco grew older and rich in renown, honors and rewards came his way. In 1819, Congress granted him a monthly pension. Five years later, when the Marquis de Lafayette made a triumphal return to the United States, the celebrated visitor made a point of visiting his old hospital mate. And, in 1825 Francisco was named sergeant-at-arms of the Virginia legislature.
Peter Francisco passed away, apparently from appendicitis, on January 16, 1831. The House of Delegates adjourned and paid him the honor of a public funeral at which the Right Reverend R. C. Moore took note of Peter's "degree of bodily strength superior to that of any man of modern times . . . exerted in defense of the country which gave him [a home]."
The passage of this American Hercules from mysterious waif to war hero to country squire, and from the Azores to the Virginia countryside, is surely one the most intriguing and unusual stories to be found in the early annals of the United States. Hollywood, take note.
Additional Sources:
www.cr.nps.gov
www.vahistorical.org
www.alaskacoinexchange.com
johnsmilitaryhistory.tripod.com
www.army.mil
www.dean.usma.edu
www.gallon.com