The American Hercules

>> WHILE FAMOUS FIGURES LIKE JOHN ADAMS HAVE BECOME PART OF AMERICAN HISTORY. SCHOOL CURRICULUM, NOT EVERY HERO OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, HAS RECEIVED THE SAME RECOGNITION WGCUS TEDDY BYRNE SPOKE WITH ONE AUTHOR WHO CAPTURED THE LARGER THAN LIFE STORY OF THE MAN. DON'T AS THE AMERICAN HERCULES >> SO FOR MORE ON OUR CONTINUING COVERAGE OF FLORIDA TO 50, WE ARE JOINED BY JOHN T PALMER, AUTHOR OF THE NEW BOOK, GEORGE WASHINGTON'S ONE MAN ARMY, THE LIFE LEGEND AND BATTLES OF PETER FRANCISCO, MR. PALMER, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. SO THIS IS A GUY WHO'S KIND OF BEEN FORGOTTEN IN HISTORY. WHY DID YOU WANT TO FOCUS ON PETER FRANCISCO? >> I HAVE TO TELL YOU I FIRST HEARD OF PETER FRANCISCO BY LISTENING TO THE HISTORY CHANNEL ON THE BACKGROUND AS I WAS DOING WORK, THE NARRATOR RECOUNTED THE BATTLE OF CAMDEN WHERE THERE WAS A SOLDIER REPUTED TO HAVE SHOULDER AND CARRIED A HALF-TON CANNON FROM THE BATTLEFIELD THAT GOT MY ATTENTION BECAUSE THAT IS ROUGHLY THE MODERN WORLD RECORD FOR A BARBELL DEADLIFT. AND SO THAT'S JUST BRINGING THE WAIT, YOU KNOW, FROM THE GROUND TO YOUR SIZE TO PLAY SUCH A WEIGHT ON ONE SHOULDER WAS NEARLY UNBELIEVABLE. SO I CONDUCTED SOME PAST RESEARCH ON PETER FRANCISCO AND I SETTLED UP ON HIM LATER IN LIFE WHEN I WAS SEEKING SUBJECTS FOR MY SECOND BOOK IS AN AUTHOR, THE FAMOUS WRITER, DAVID MCCALL, ADVISE ASPIRING AUTHORS TO WRITE ABOUT SOMETHING THAT'S NEW, SOMETHING THAT HASN'T BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT BEFORE. SO IN MY RESEARCH, I FOUND SOME SMALL BIOGRAPHIES, ON THAT TOOK HIS PERSONAL HEROICS AND ALSO EXAMINED IN DETAIL THE WIFE OF AN INDENTURED ORPHAN, 18 TH-CENTURY BLACKSMITH, A COMMON REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIER AS WELL AS THE GENERALS IN CHARGE OF THE BATTLES, THE STRATEGIES, THE WINS, THE LOSSES, THE ROADS TO UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS. AND SO FOR ONE MAN, ARMY IS NOT ONLY A BOOK ABOUT FRANCISCO, BUT ALSO THE BATTLES, THE LEADERS AND IN SOME CASES ENLISTED COMRADES, THE VIRGINIA GIANT IN THE FIELD. >> BUT NOW HE HAS REALLY THIS FANTASTIC UPBRINGING THE WAY HE WAS KIDNAPPED BY PIRATES AS A CHILD. AS YOU MENTIONED, HE WAS PUT INTO INDENTURED SERVITUDE THAT HE JOINS UP WITH THE VIRGINIA MILITIA HAND CARRIES A BROAD MASSIVE ONE. SO HOW IS THIS FOLK LEGEND FELT AROUND HIS TIME AND HOW DID HE HELP THE MILITARY EFFORTS WHEN YOU HAVE THIS MAN, ONE INDIVIDUAL HAVING THIS INCREDIBLE BACKSTORY, THAT'S ALONG THE LINES OF LIKE A PAUL BUNYAN OR A JOHN HENRY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. >> IT IS AN AMAZING STORY EXCEPT. PETER FRANCISCO, ISRAEL. YOU KNOW, HE'S ALSO KNOWN AS THE ONE MAN ARMY AND THE VIRGINIA GIANT. HE WAS BORN INTO EUROPEAN NOBILITY AND HE WAS ABDUCTED FROM HIS HOME BY MARINERS. HIS HOME WAS A PORTUGUESE, A SOURCE AT THE AGE OF 4 17. 65. NOW THEY SAILED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC AND HE WAS A POSITIVE UNCEREMONIOUSLY ON THE DOT AND CITY POINT VIRGINIA. SPEAKING NO ENGLISH. ALL YOU CAN SAY WITH HIS NAME, PEDRO FRANCISCO. HE WAS INDENTURE TO PATRICK HENRY UNCLE AS A BLACKSMITH AND THEY CHANGED HIS NAME TO PETER. THEY GREW A WHOPPING 6 FOOT 6 260 POUNDS BY THE AGE OF 14. AFTER HEARING FIRSTHAND. PATRICK HENRY SAID, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH SPEECH. HE DECIDED THAT HE WANTED TO JOIN THE CONTINENTAL ARMY AND DID SO. AND IT BECAME THE MOST RENOWNED ENLISTED SOLDIER OF THE REVOLUTION IN HIS CAPACITY AS A SOLDIER. HE PARTICIPATE IN SOME OF THE FIERCEST FIGHTING WITNESS, THE GREATEST EVENTS AND MET AN ASTOUNDING NUMBER OF LUMINARIES FROM EARLY AMERICA HEADLINED BY GENERALS, GEORGE WASHINGTON, NATHANIEL GREENE AND THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE WITH WHOM HE FORMED A FIVE-DECADE FRIENDSHIPS. ALL TOLD PETER FRANCISCO FOUGHT IN AT LEAST 10 ENGAGEMENT AND RECEIVED 6 GRUESOME WOUNDS AS HE DISPATCHED OVER 20 ENEMY SOLDIERS, MOSTLY BY THE BAND AND A 6 FOOT BRONZE SWORD THAT WAS COMMISSION BY HIM OR FOR HIM BY NONE OTHER THAN GENERAL WASHINGTON, HIS FEATS OF COURAGE AND STRENGTH OR LEGEND. THERE. NOW AFTER THE WAR, HE BECAME A PLANT OR ENGAGED IN SELF-MEDICATION AND HE TAUGHT HIMSELF TO READ. THEY MARRIED IN THE VIRGINIA SOCIETY 3 TIMES AND WAS STARTING TO SERGEANT AT ARMS FOR THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE. READ 31. BUT THIS IS A COMPELLING ACCOUNT. ONE OF AMERICA'S FIRST AND FINEST HEROES. >> I MEAN, JUST INCREDIBLE STORY AFTER STORY ABOUT HIM THAT WHEN YOU GO INTO, YOU KNOW, SCHOOL AND YOU LEARN ABOUT THE AMERICAN REAL REVOLUTION, YOU HEAR ABOUT FIGURES LIKE PAUL REVERE'S, MIDNIGHT RUN. YOU MENTION THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE AND HIS INFLUENCE ON FLOOR AND FOREIGN POLITICS. SO HOW DOES SOMEONE LIKE PETER FRANCISCO JUST FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS WHEN HE LIVED THIS LARGER THAN LIFE LEGEND? >> I THINK IN THE END, ALTHOUGH HE WAS BORN INTO NOBILITY. HE WAS AN ILLITERATE INDENTURED ORPHAN UNTIL HE TAUGHT HIMSELF TO READ AFTER THE WAR. AND SO MOST OF THE DISCUSSION ABOUT PETER FRANCISCO WAS WORD OF MOUTH AND THESE WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, RELEGATED TO TALL TALES EXCEPT FOR ONE THING. HE WAS ABLE TO. ONCE HE LEARN TO READ AND WRITE, HE APPLIED FOR PENSIONS WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE VIRGINIA STATE GOVERNMENT. AND IN DOING SO. HE RECOUNTED HIS BATTLEFIELD EXPLOITS AND NOT ONLY THAT, HE GOT FELLOW SOLDIERS TO SIGN AFFIDAVITS SAYING WHAT THIS MAN IS SAYING IS TRUE AND I WITNESSED IT AND THAT'S HOW WE KNOW WITH FAIR CERTAINTY. EXACTLY WHAT PETER FRANCISCO DID. ALL THAT ASIDE. HE WAS STILL JUST AN ENLISTED SOLDIER. HE WAS NOT LANDED. GENTRY. HE WAS JUST A YOUNG MAN DOING HIS PART. SOME OF THE FEATS WERE GREAT AND MIGHTY, BUT THEY JUST SLIP THROUGH THE CRACKS OF HISTORY. >> NOW SEVERAL STATES HAVE OFFERED A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE FOR HIM, INCLUDING MASSACHUSETTS, RHODE ISLAND, VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND. DO YOU THINK THERE SHOULD BE MORE DONE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT HE WASN'T A GENERAL OR A HIGH RANKING BUT REALLY A SOLDIER WHO ENLISTED IN THE ARMY. DO YOU THINK MORE SHOULD BE DONE TO HONOR HIS LEGACY? >> WELL, I PERSONALLY THINK THAT THIS GOES BACK TO. I THINK WHAT MY FATHER SAID IN MY LATE FATHER WAS A FARMER, YOU KNOW, FROM EASTERN KENTUCKY HILLS WHOSE WORLD WAR 2 PARATROOPER AND EVEN LEGITIMATE TOUGH GUY. AND HE USED TO BOYS GOT TO HAVE HEROES OTHERWISE. HOW IS HE TO KNOW HOW TO ACT WHEN TIMES GET TOUGH. SO AS A RESULT, I WAS RAISED ON STORIES OF GREAT AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY WARRIOR SUCH AS ALVIN YORK AUDIE MURPHY, JOHN PAUL JONES AND GEORGE PATON. I FOUND IN FRANCISCO HERO WHO FACED THE STEEPEST ODDS AS A KIDNAP ORPHAN. HIS WARTIME GREATNESS WAS IN THE MOST DIFFICULT COMBAT SCENARIOS. TERRIFYING LINES OF ALI, OFTEN THE BALDING AND HAND TO HAND COMBAT LIFE OR DEATH BY THE BAND THAT AND THE SWORD BY ANY MEASURE, FRANCISCO SHOULD BE REMEMBERED AS POSSESSING UNLESS COURAGE IN THE ANNALS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. >> WELL, THE BOOK IS GEORGE WASHINGTON'S ONE MAN ARMY, THE LIFE LEGEND AND BATTLES OF PETER FRANCISCO, AUTHOR JOHN T PALMER. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING