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Renowned Continental Army soldier native of Terceira Island
Posted 3/15/2012 Updated 3/15/2012
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Commentary by Eduardo Lima
65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
3/15/2012 - LAJES FIELD, Portugal -- Most residents of the town of Porto Judeu, on Terceira Island, probably haven't heard the name Peter Francisco or know he was a native of their town.
According to the U.S. Military History magazine, Peter Francisco was one of the most remarkable American Revolution War heroes who fought in General Washington's Continental Army.
Also, according to researcher John E. Manahan, Peter Francisco, who was so named by the British colonists who found him on the docks of City Point in Virginia in 1765, was supposedly abducted by pirates from his home village of Porto Judeu on Terceira Island and taken to America.
He was estimated to be 5 years old at the time he was found and spoke a foreign language, what might have been Portuguese, and kept repeating "Pedro Francisco." He was later taken by Judge Anthony Winston as a servant and remained with his family until the beginning of the American Revolution. Francisco joined George Washington's Continental Army in 1777 and fought for the first time in the Battle of Brandywine near Philadelphia, where he and his regiment helped General Washington save his army from the hands of the British.
Francisco wounded his leg during the fighting, the first of many wounds he would suffer throughout his military career. He participated in many battles under different commands, and due to his huge size, strength, and uncommon bravery, was known as the "Virginian Giant" or the "Virginian Hercules."
George Washington was later cited saying that without Peter Francisco he "would have lost two crucial battles, perhaps the war, and with it, freedom." After the British acknowledged the American's independence and with the end of the war, Francisco acquired an education and re-entered civilian life. He married three times, purchased property, and raised children.
Francisco was appointed Sergeant-At-Arms of Virginia in 1825, and died in 1831 at the age of 70. He was buried in Richmond's Shockoe Cemetery with military honors, where his tombstone describes him as, "A soldier of revolutionary fame."
The state of Virginia has named March 15 as Peter Francisco Day in his honor.
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