As America celebrates its 250th, it’s time for Peter Francisco to get his due
Of all the giants we celebrate from the American Revolution, it’s a 16-year-old kid from Buckingham County, Virginia who stood taller than all the rest.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton are household names, but our country may owe its very existence to Peter Francisco, the six-and-a-half-foot tall “Virginia Giant.”
“Without him, we would have lost two crucial battles, perhaps the War, and with it our freedom,” Washington was credited as saying. “He was truly a one-man army.”
In 1760, Peter Francisco was born Pablo Francisco in Portugal on the Island of Jesus Christ in The Azores. In a bizarre story, at the age of 5, he was abducted by pirates who sailed across the Atlantic, up the James River, and dropped the boy at the docks in Hopewell, Virginia. He came to be an indentured servant to Judge Winston, of Buckingham County.
Winston, as it so happens, was the uncle of Patrick Henry. So in the spring of 1775, Francisco reportedly found himself with Winston outside of St. John’s Church in Richmond during Henry’s galvanizing “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech. Francisco was so moved that he wanted to join the army. Winston made him wait until he was 16.
He went on to build a battlefield resume so impressive that Military History Magazine once asked if he was not the greatest soldier in American History. He was wounded six times and left for dead twice. At the Battle of Stony Point, he was part of Washington’s daring 20-man advance party to breach the fort. He suffered a 9-inch bayonet wound to the abdomen and continued to fight, killing three British soldiers, and taking down the enemy flag with his own hands.
But it was at the Battle of Camden, in South Carolina, that Francisco’s legacy reached epic proportions. When a horse-drawn artillery piece became immobilized, Buckingham County’s favorite son did the unimaginable– he lifted the cannon under his own strength and lugged it to safety. He is often depicted shoulder-carrying the cannon, including on the logo of the Peter Francisco Society and on the United States Postal Service stamp he graced in 1976.
Francisco’s tale reads like divine appointment from God, or perhaps the script of a blockbuster movie– a project his 7th generation grandson is currently at work on.
“You can’t look at this extraordinary story without seeing that God had a plan for this little kid,” said Travis Bowman, Francisco descendant and North Carolina resident. “What men meant for evil, God meant for good.”
Bowman wrote LUSO, a novelized history of Francisco. The name refers to the Lusitanians, the Roman Empire-era inhabitants of Portugal, who were notoriously tenacious warriors. Now he has begun work on a 9-episode mini-series of the same name, which would tell Francisco’s story throughout the Revolutionary War. There are plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign around this year’s America250 celebration.
The role of Francisco is played by Brian Patrick Wade, who has been cast in recognizable features such as Marvel’s Agents of Shield, The Big Bang, and other Hollywood studio productions. To watch the short film and learn more, visit https://luso.tv/
“Because he was so big, there was always a story,” Bowman said of his ancestor. “He was larger than life.”
To add to the intimidation factor of Francisco’s massive frame, Washington had a 6-foot broadsword made especially for Francisco, which he wielded fiercely in battle after battle. Bowman has to laugh thinking of the scene.
“He’s this huge man, towering over everyone on the battlefield, swinging a massive sword as he advances through the British lines,” he said. “He’s like a one-man wrecking ball.”
Historic Buckingham Inc. has a wealth of information about Francisco at its research library in the Adams Museum in Buckingham, which is open on Saturday afternoons.
library in the Adams Museum in Buckingham, which is open on Saturday afternoons.
“One of the most well researched sources of information about Peter Franscisco can be found in the book At a Place Called Buckingham: Historic Sketches of Buckingham County, Virginia by Joanne Yeck,” said Margaret Thomas, secretary of HBI, adding that Yeck calls his life, “a quintessential American story.”
So does America owe its very existence to Francisco?
“I don’t know that you could say one man determined fate of the nation,” Bowman said. “But he was there for the entire war, from 1776 to Yorktown, and eye witness accounts throughout the war describe him as a massive force for the British to contend with.”
After the war, he returned to Buckingham County, and his life featured more unexpected twists and turns, more feats of strength, more joy and sadness. When he died in 1830, he was buried with full military honors in Richmond’s Shockoe Hill Cemetery.
While his name has, in large part, been lost to popular history, his descendants, scholars, Portuguese-Americans, and the Buckingham Community continue work to remember Peter Francisco, and the unlikely role a child kidnapped from an ocean away played in the defining critical moments of the American Revolution.
“God had a plan for this one little Luso warrior,” Bowman said.
How big was Peter Francisco compared to today’s professional athletes?
- At 6’6”, he was as tall as today’s average NBA Forward
- At 260 pounds, he weighed as much as today’s average NFL Defensive End.
- With the ability to carry a cannon, he was as a strong as the most elite Strongman competitors in history
Compared to the average man of his time, he was a full 12” taller.
Celebrating Peter Francisco Today
Although Peter Francisco Day has passed for 2026, there are ways to learn more about the Virginia Giant in Buckingham County and beyond.
- On April 26, Historic Buckingham Inc.’s semi-annual meeting will have a focus on Peter Francisco, with Travis Bowman expected to be in attendance
- Adams Museum, located in Buckingham, has materials about Francisco and is open on Saturdays
- Although not open to the public, Francisco’s Buckingham County home, Locust Grove, is located near Dillwyn
- The Buckingham County Board of Supervisors Meeting Room is named in honor of Francisco. Francisco’s portrait hangs at the top of the gallery, a replica of the one that can be found in the Virginia State Capital in Richmond.
- Guilford Courthouse has a small museum and visitor center about Francisco
- Statue outside City Hall in Hopewell, where the abducted boy was dropped off by pirates
