Francisco's Fight
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| Francisco's Fight | |||||||
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| Part of American Revolutionary War | |||||||
Peter Francisco Fighting Tarleton's Cavalry (1814 engraving) |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States | Loyalists | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Peter Francisco | Banastre Tarleton's cavalry | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1 | 9 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 0 | 1 dead, 8 others wounded and driven off {8 of 9 horses captured} | ||||||
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Francisco's Fight is the name commonly given to a skirmish between Tarleton's Raiders and Peter Francisco during the American Revolutionary War in July 1781.
The common version is that Francisco had been badly wounded in the leg by a bayonet during the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and had been ordered home to recuperate by his commanding officer. While passing through the settlement of Ward's Tavern in present-day Nottoway County, Virginia, Francisco encountered a band of 11 Raiders at Benjamin Ward's tavern. They promptly took him into custody. One of the 11, commonly said to be the paymaster, was told to take charge of the prisoner of war, while the others went into the tavern for a few drinks.
Much of what happened next is known only from Francisco's later account, which he wrote in an attempt to receive a congressional pension for his services. According to this account, the paymaster told Francisco to hand over his valuables; Francisco responded that he had none. The paymaster, in response, pointed to Francisco's silver shoe buckles, and ordered him to take them off. Francisco responded that he would not, but that the man could have them if he could take them. The dragoon then bent over to remove the buckles, in the process tucking his sword under one arm. Francisco promptly pulled the sword away and cleft the man's head in two with it; when the dragoon tried to pull out his pistol, Francisco cut off his hand, and the man died not too long after.
While this was happening, the other Raiders had exited the tavern upon hearing the commotion. Francisco promptly turned his attention to them, killing a second and (probably) mortally wounding a third. Of the remaining eight, he wounded six. The others fled to their regiment, which was visible in the distance. As Tarleton approached, Francisco decided to try and keep a larger battle from breaking out. He ran to a nearby grove of trees and shouted into them, calling a nonexistent Continental regiment to come and fight Tarleton. The British colonel did not want a fight, and turned his men away.
Note: this version of "Francisco Fight" as well as an 1845 account by historian Henry Howe {see here [2]} are folklore; for an online transcript of Peter Francisco's November 11, 1820 petition to the Virginia Legislature which contains a version of this fight in his own words-See[1] in which the "raiders" suffered one killed, eight wounded and the loss of eight of their nine horses. {Likewise a check of a listing of Tarleton's officers did not show any of them being a casualty in the summer of 1781}.
Francisco took the horses that the dragoons had left at the tavern, and rode them to Richmond, where he sold all but the best; this he kept for himself, naming it "Tarleton" and riding it for years to come.
There is a state historical marker commemorating the event; according to Mark Boatner's Landmarks of the American Revolution (1992 ed.), it is located on U.S. Route 360, six miles south of Burkeville and about five miles due west of the site formerly occupied by Ward's tavern.
