Again, his magnificent constitution pulled him through.When he had sufficiently recovered to fight again, he enlisted in the Virginia Militia Regiment, led by Col. William Mayo. It has to be said that the regiment's untried men did not distinguish themselves. Ranged against Lord Charles Cornwallis' British regulars, they and other army units broke and ran when attacked. This was a lost battle, and commanding Gen. Horatio Gates, who fled the scene, was accused of cowardice.In the disorder that followed, Francisco narrowly escaped capture by several men of Banastre Tarleton's cavalry. Tarleton was a commander notorious for his savage treatment of any who opposed him.In a solo act of great courage, Francisco charged British soldiers who had taken Mayo prisoner and freed his commanding officer, something Mayo never forgot. Not long afterward, Francisco left the infantry and joined Capt. Thomas Watkins' cavalry. These troops were under the overall command of the redoubtable Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Greene.Francisco was present when Greene clashed with Cornwallis at Guilford Court House in North Carolina. In this bloody affair, Francisco was wounded twice and was lucky not to die from his injuries. A civilian Quaker who rescued him from where he lay, bleeding to death, took the stricken soldier into his care.For some reason, Francisco refused all promotions, including the offer of a commission made by Washington himself. Despite his remarkable achievements, he was content to remain a private. After making a recovery, he fought on and was captured by Tarleton's dragoons at Ward's Tavern, having been wounded again. He was able to escape from captivity and was in the fight at Yorktown, where he witnessed Cornwallis' surrender.When the grim struggle finally came to an end, this incredible man settled down to farm near Richmond. He married Susannah Anderson in December 1784, and they had two children. She died in 1790, and in 1821, he married Catherine Brooke. She gave him four children, but Francisco was again to become a widower. On July 3, 1823, he married Mary West, who would survive him.Francisco, soldier extraordinary, died in Richmond on Jan. 16, 1831, it is believed from appendicitis. He was laid to rest with full military honors in Shockoe Hill Cemetery in Richmond and is remembered in Virginia, Rhode Island and Massachusetts on March 15, Peter Francisco Day. No other private has been so honored. But then he was no ordinary man.
Peter Cliffe, a retired corporate administrator, lives in Hertfordshire, England. He became interested in American history while working with a multinational firm in this country
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