Peter Francisco

Peter Francisco (Pedro Francisco Machado), (Porto Judeu, Terceira Island, July 9, 1760 – Richmond, March 15, 1831, is another personality worth mentioning in this context. He is by some considered one of the Founding Fathers. He fought on following battles of the independence war, where he suffered six wounds: Brandywine Creek, 1777, Germantown 1777 or 1778, Monmouth (near present-day Freehold, New Jersey) 1778, Stony Point, 1779, Camden 1780, Guilford Courthouse, 1781. 

“The Hercules of the American Revolution,” a “one man army,” “the Virginia Giant,” and even the “greatest soldier in American history.”  “the most remarkable fighting man of the Revolutionary War”, ” most famous private soldier of the Revolutionary War”, ” the reputation as the strongest man in America“. Since 1953, March 15th has been officially recognized in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Virginia as Peter Francisco Day. 

Kidnapped from his home in the Azores by unidentified characters he was left stranded alone as a 5-year-old boy not speaking a word of English in City Point harbour near Petersburg, Virginia. He was taken home by a local judge, Anthony Winston, and joined his slaves due to the young boy’s dark skin. 

Some years later in his 14s, and apparently due to his large completion Pedro Francisco accompanied the judge as a kind of bodyguard to a nationalist meeting at the St. John’s church in Richmond, where he had the opportunity to listen to Patrick Henry’s famous speech ending with “Give me freedom or give me death”. Pedro felt immediately taken by the revolutionary movement and a couple of years later, in December of 1776, he was allowed to join the revolutionary army.

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