Few Revolutionary War heroes are as closely tied to Nottoway County’s landscape and folklore as Peter Francisco, the legendary soldier known as “Virginia’s Giant.”
Travelers passing through the county can still find reminders of his story. In Crewe, along U.S. Route 460 east of Lee Street, a Virginia historical marker proclaims him “Washington’s One-Man Army.” A second marker stands near West Creek along Route 619, commemorating one of the most famous incidents of his military career.
Francisco’s connection to Nottoway comes from the summer of 1781, when the American Revolution swept through Southside Virginia. British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton were conducting raids across the countryside, burning supplies, destroying property, and attempting to break Patriot resistance.
According to Francisco’s own account, he was traveling through the area near present-day West Creek when several British dragoons confronted him and attempted to rob him of his valuable silver shoe buckles. What followed became one of the most famous stories of the Revolution. Francisco claimed that he seized a nearby weapon and fought off the soldiers, killing or wounding several before escaping. He later described it as “the last favor I ever did the British.”
Whether every detail happened exactly as remembered has been debated by historians, but the encounter became part of Virginia legend and is still remembered in Nottoway County today.
The county is also connected to one of the darker chapters of Francisco’s story. In his 1932 work, Old Homes and Families of Nottoway, W.R. Turner recorded local traditions surrounding Tarleton’s raid on a settlement known as Morgansville, sometimes called Edmondson’s Old Ordinary. During the British sweep through Southside Virginia, Tarleton’s cavalry reportedly burned the settlement and captured Francisco.
The destruction left such a lasting impression on local residents that the area became known as Burnt Ordinary. Though the buildings disappeared long ago, the name survived for generations, preserving the memory of one of the Revolution’s most turbulent moments in Nottoway County.
Francisco himself was a remarkable figure. Born around 1760 and abandoned as a child in Virginia, he grew into a man of extraordinary size and strength. Standing over six and a half feet tall and weighing nearly 250 pounds, he earned a reputation as one of the Continental Army’s most formidable soldiers. He fought in numerous campaigns throughout the Revolutionary War and became the subject of stories that blurred the line between history and legend.
Yet in Nottoway County, Peter Francisco is remembered not simply as a national hero, but as part of the county’s own story. The roads, crossroads, and forgotten settlements connected to his adventures remain woven into the local landscape.
As America celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence, the story of Peter Francisco reminds us that the Revolution was not fought only in famous cities and battlefields. It was also fought in places like Nottoway County, where ordinary people witnessed extraordinary events and where the memory of those events continues to endure more than two centuries later.
Today, the markers in Crewe and near West Creek stand as reminders of that connection. They invite visitors to explore the county’s Revolutionary War heritage and to remember a time when the struggle for American independence passed directly through the fields and forests of Nottoway County.
