The Virginia Giant

My sister and I are history buffs. I blame my parents. As kids, they took us to Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, Gettysburg and every other city that had a battlefield or museum. For me, history is a hobby. My sister has made a career of it. She’s currently working for South Carolina 250.

Today, as we celebrate the 249th Birthday of America, I want to tell you about an unsung hero; Peter Fransisco, the Virginia Giant. At a time when most men were 5’6”, Francisco was 6’ 6” and a hulking figure. (At 16 years old, he was 6 feet tall and weighed 260 pounds.)

“Without him we would have lost two crucial battles, perhaps the War, and with it our freedom. He was truly a One-Man Army.” – Gen. George Washington

Born in Portugal, Peter Fransisco was sold into indentured servitude as a young boy and abandoned in City Point, Virginia (now Hopewell) at age five. Raised by Judge Anthony Winston, Patrick Henry’s cousin, he became a blacksmith apprentice at 15 and enlisted with the Continental Army in 1776.

Battle of Stony Point (1779): During a daring night time attack, Francisco entered the British fort first and received a large abdominal wound, but kept fighting. He walked out of the fort with the British flag.

Battle of Camden (1780): Francisco picked up a 350-pound cannon barrel about to be captured by the British, and carried it off the battlefield.

Battle of Guilford Court House (1781): He killed eleven British soldiers with a broadsword, after being stabbed by a bayonet during the battle.

On his way home to recover from his wounds suffered at Guilford, Francisco stopped at a Ward’s Tavern in Nottoway County, where he was confronted by a group of British Cavalry soldiers. It took 11 men to hold him down. When they tried to steal the silver buckles off his shoes, he killed three of the soldiers and wounded the other eight. Although he suffered a bullet wound, he stole one of the officer’s horses and escaped.

A year later, Washington summoned Francisco to Yorktown, where he witnessed the surrender of General Cornwallis and the remaining British forces. Francisco, who was fighting under Gen. Lafayette at the time, did not participate in the final battle. The Generals probably thought the enemy had already suffered enough at the hands of the Virginia Giant.

As we celebrate our Independence and Freedom this weekend, remember that America is a land of immigrants, like Peter Francisco. Their accomplishments over the last 249 years are essential to that freedom.