George Washington's One-Man Army: The Life, Legend, and Battles of Peter Francisco

From Brandywine to Yorktown, follow the astonishing real-life journey of the Revolutionary War’s most mythic warrior.

“One-Man Army” was George Washington’s nom de guerre for Peter Francisco. Abducted from the Azores and deposited in the colony of Virginia at the age of four, little Pedro Francisco was an orphan from a strange land in the New World. Renamed Peter Francisco, the youngster found a home under indenture to Patrick Henry’s uncle as a blacksmith. Peter was present for Henry’s famous speech, hearing firsthand the words “Give me Liberty or Give me Death.” By the age of fourteen, he would grow to 6 feet-6 inches and 260 pounds. He would fashion himself an apex warrior serving both in the patriot infantry and cavalry.

In his capacity as a soldier, Peter Francisco participated in some of the fiercest fighting, witnessed the greatest events, and met an astounding number of luminaries from early America headlined by generals George Washington, Nathanael Greene, and the Marquis de Lafayette. All told, Peter fought in at least ten battles and received six gruesome wounds as he dispatched over 20 enemy soldiers . . . mostly by the bayonet and a 6-foot broadsword commissioned for him by Washington. His feats of courage and strength were legendary as he is reputed to have carried a half-ton cannon from the battlefield at Camden.

Postwar, he became a planter and businessman. Endeavoring to educate himself, he overcame illiteracy and developed into a voracious reader. As a veteran, the ”Virginia Giant” was sought out for meetings by the Secretary of State and was received in the home of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. He was thrice married into Virginia society, a father of six, and a fixture in the Commonwealth serving as Sergeant at Arms for the legislature late in life. Known to all throughout the newly independent thirteen states, Peter Francisco’s exploits were all but lost to history . . . until now.

Rear Admiral (retired) John Palmer is a native of Lexington, Kentucky and a graduate of The Citadel, the Naval Postgraduate School, and Columbia University’s Senior Executive Program. As owner of JT Palmer Enterprises, he serves as a consultant, advisory board member, and college lecturer, and he helps manage two family farms in Kentucky. His first book was From Bluegrass to Blue Water: Lessons in Farm Philosophy and Navy Leadership (Fidelis, 2022).