Since it's been a bit quiet in here lately.......

[Dave951]

Some educational entertainment is probably in order. One of the pivotal men that fought in the Revolution doesn't get much press and in the quick gloss over by current education, is ignored. He was Rambo before Rambo was cool. Friend of Lafayette and of whom George Washington said that without him, we would have lost two important battles. That man is Peter Francisco, aka the Virginia Giant. Want to go hand to hand with somebody over 6'6" and 260? Even today, he would be a formidable opponent.

 

[WillE]

Thanks! I’m listening to David McCullough’s 1776 now on my commute back and forth to work. I’ve also enjoyed listening to the “American Revolution Podcast” by Michael Troy. Lots of forgotten details covered.

 

[MacEntyre]

 

[WillE]

[snip]

I know adrenaline will give you unknown strength, but having a legend built on you gives you even more.

“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

 

[Dave951]

At 2:240 in the first video the narrator states that a man was in sword combat and then lifted 1,100 lbs onto his shoulders and carried it.


This is what it looks like when a human tries to lift 1,100 lbs, and has trained for doing it, and has not been in a sword-fight.

(note, dude in video is one of two men ever recorded deadlifting 1,100 pounds)


I know adrenaline will give you unknown strength, but having a legend built on you gives you even more.

Let's be realistic. He did remove the barrel from a cannon and carry it off. That is not in dispute. Even if the gun was a 6lb or less, that's still +750lbs. He was well known at the time to be insanely strong, so even if the cannon barrel was "only +750lbs" it's still quite the feat . He also carried off a hogshead of molasses on his back during a raid on a British supply depot. A hogshead can vary between 47 to 63 US gallons. Even if it was the smaller, at about 10lbs/gallon plus the weight of the barrel itself and you're easily at 500+lbs that he carried off on his back. Again, even if we take the 1100lbs to be embellishment, 750lbs ain't nothing too sneeze at. Keep in mind, he grew up apprenticed to a blacksmith so he did heavy lifting from an early age.

Another thing to consider, the average person today is a wimp compared to people back then. If you made it through childhood, you would walk nearly everywhere unless you owned a horse. You grew your own food or starved. There were no elevators or escalators. There was no air conditioning or antibiotics. To be overweight was a sign of wealth. Want to stay warm in winter, better split some wood or dig some coal. Life today is easy street by comparison.