Francisco ' s Fight Francisco ' s Fight is the name commonly given to an alleged skirmish between a detachment of Tarleton ' s Raiders and Peter Francisco , a Continental Army soldier with a long service record , during the American Revolutionary War in July 1781 . The skirmish , which is only known to be documented by Francisco , resulted in the death of at least one man and the wounding of several others . Later historical accounts of the skirmish embellished the story with details not present in the documentary record . Background . In early July 1781 , General Charles Cornwallis , in command of British troops in Virginia , arrived at Portsmouth and prepared to embark some of the troops on transports . While en route to Portsmouth , he dispatched Banastre Tarleton and some of his British Legion ( also known as " Tarleton ' s Raiders " ) on a raiding expedition into central Virginia . Moving rapidly , Tarleton and his men left Suffolk on July 9 , and rode deep into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains . The complete expedition ended up being a trek that succeeded in raiding some military stores , although most of the targeted supplies had already been sent off to Nathanael Greene ' s Continental Army in South Carolina ; Tarleton returned to Portsmouth on July 24 . Peter Francisco was a private who served in several units during the war . He was a striking figure , reported to be about six feet six inches ( about 198 cm ) and over , and was known for his strength . In the northern campaigns , he was in the battles at Brandywine and Monmouth Court House , and supposedly was the second man in the fortifications during the Battle of Stony Point . He then served in the southern army under General Greene , where was reported to have killed 11 men during the May 1781 Battle of Guilford Courthouse . He was also injured in that battle , and had returned to his home in Buckingham , Virginia to recuperate . Skirmish . The only documented primary sources for this action originate with Peter Francisco himself . One source is Francisco ' s 1829 application to the United States Congress for financial support . His request was rejected on the grounds that he was already receiving a military pension . The other is a similar letter addressed to the Virginia State Assembly in 1820 . The two accounts differ in some details , but much of the narrative is essentially the same . No other sources are known to corroborate the events he describes ; Tarleton , in his memoir , only generally mentions casualties that occurred during the expedition . In the 1820 account Francisco describes how , while passing through Amelia County , Virginia ( in a part that is now Nottoway County ) on his way home , he encountered a band of dragoon s from Tarleton ' s regimental cavalry at Benjamin Ward ' s tavern . One of the dragoons demanded that he give up his watch and silver shoe buckles . He refused . As the dragoon bent down to take his buckles , Francisco , who was unarmed , reached down and drew the man ' s sword from its scabbard . He then used the sword to kill the man . According to the Virginia letter , he then " wounded and drove off the others " , taking eight of the nine horses . In the 1829 letter to Congress , he claims to have killed two more men and " frightened off the rest of the party , amounting in number to six . " Embellished account . One of the most widely - published accounts of Francisco ' s fight was that of Virginia historian Henry Howe , first published by him in 1845 , and also appearing in an 1844 compendium of Revolutionary War anecdotes by John Lauris Blake . The version reprinted below ( from Howe ' s 1852 edition ) contains details not present in Francisco ' s own written accounts , including the presence nearby of Tarleton ' s main body , and an allegation of the tavernkeeper ' s assistance to the raiders . Some of its details are visible in the 1814 engraving depicted above . While the British army were spreading havoc and desolation all around them , by their plundering and burnings in Virginia , in 1781 , Francisco had been reconnoitring , and while stopping at the house of a Mr . V - - - , then in Amelia , now Nottoway county , nine of Tarleton ' s cavalry came up , with three negroes , and told him he was their prisoner . Seeing he was overpowered by numbers , he made no resistance . Believing him to be very peaceable , they all went into the house , leaving him and the paymaster together . ' Give up instantly all that you possess of value , ' said the latter , ' or prepare to die . ' ' I have nothing to give up , ' said Francisco , ' so use your pleasure . ' ' Deliver instantly , ' rejoined the soldier , ' those massy silver buckles which you wear in your shoes . ' ' They were a present from a valued friend , ' replied Francisco , ' and it would grieve me to part with them . Give them into your hands I never will . You have the power ; take them , if you think fit . ' The soldier put his sabre under his arm , and bent down to take them . Francisco , finding so favorable an opportunity to recover his liberty , stepped one pace in his rear , drew the sword with force from under his arm , and instantly gave him a blow across the scull . ' My enemy , ' observed Francisco , ' was brave , and though severely wounded , drew a pistol , and , in the same moment that he pulled the trigger , I cut his hand nearly off . The bullet grazed my side . Ben V - - - . ( the man of the house ) very ungenerously brought out a musket , and gave it to one of the British soldiers , and told him to make use of that . He mounted the only horse they could get , and presented it at my breast . It missed fire . I rushed on the muzzle of the gun . A " short struggle ensued " . I disarmed and wounded him . Tarleton ' s troop of " four hundred men " were in sight . All was hurry and confusion , which I increased by repeatedly hallooing , as loud as I could , " " Come on , my brave boys ; now ' s your time ; we will soon dispatch these few , and then attack the main body ! " " The wounded man flew to the troop ; the others were panic struck , and fled . I seized V - - - , and would have dispatched him , but the poor wretch begged for his life ; lie was not only an object of my contempt , but pity . The eight horses that were left behind , I gave him to conceal for me . Discovering Tarleton had dispatched ten more in pursuit of me , I made off . I evaded their vigilance . They stopped to refresh themselves . I , like an old fox , doubled , and fell on their rear . I went the next day to V - - - for my horses ; he demanded two , for his trouble and generous intentions . Finding my situation dangerous , and surrounded by enemies where I ought to have found friends , I went off with my six horses . I intended to have avenged myself of V - - - at a future day , but Providence ordained I should not be his executioner , for he broke his neck by a fall from one of the very horses . ' Legacy . 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 .