Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Encyclopedia
Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (AUD; February 4, 1746 – October 15, 1817) was a Polish
–Lithuanian
and American general
and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising
. He is a national hero of Poland
, Lithuania
, the United States and Belarus
. He led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising
against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia
as Supreme Commander of the Polish National Armed Force (Najwyższy Naczelnik Siły Zbrojnej Narodowej).
Before commanding the 1794 Uprising, he fought in the American Revolutionary War
as a colonel
in the Continental Army
. In 1783, in recognition of his dedicated service, he was brevetted
by the Continental Congress
to the rank of brigadier general
and became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
There are several Anglicized spellings of Kościuszko's name. Perhaps the most frequently occurring is Thaddeus Kosciusko, though the full "Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciusko" is also seen. In Lithuanian
, Kościuszko's name is rendered as Tadas Kosciuška or Tadeušas Kosciuška. In Belarusian
it is Tadevuš Kaściuška (Тадэвуш Касцюшка).
, a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
.
Kościuszko was the son of a local Polish noble
, Ludwik Tadeusz Kościuszko, and Tekla, née Ratomska. He was the youngest child in a family whose lineage traced partly to Lithuanian and Ruthenia
n (Belarusian
) nobility and to a 15th–16th–century courtier of Polish King Sigismund I the Old
, Konstanty Fiodorowicz Kostiuszko.
At the time of Tadeusz Kościuszko's birth, the family possessed modest holdings in the Grand Duchy. He was christened in both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic religions. As a result of the dual baptisms, he bore the names Andrzej and Tadeusz.
In 1765 Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski created a Corps of Cadets , on the grounds of present-day Warsaw University, to educate military officers
and government officials. Kościuszko enrolled on 18 December 1765, becoming a member of the Corps of Cadets. Since the school emphasized both military subjects and the liberal arts
, his courses included world history
, the history of Poland
, philosophy
, Latin
, the Polish
, German
and French language
s, and law
, economics
, geography
, arithmetic
, geometry
and engineering
. Upon graduation, he was promoted to captain
.
, when the Bar Confederation
sought to depose King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Faced with a difficult choice between the rebels and his sponsors, the King and the Czartoryski family — who favored a gradualist approach to shedding Russian domination — Kosciuszko chose to emigrate. In 1769 he and his colleague Orłowski were granted royal scholarships, and on October 5 they set off for Paris. While both sought to gain further military education, they were barred as foreigners from enrolling in any French military academy, and instead enrolled in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Sculpture. For five years, however, Kościuszko educated himself as an extern, frequenting lectures and the libraries of the Paris military academies. His exposure to the Enlightenment
there, coupled with the religious tolerance practiced in the Commonwealth, would have a strong influence on his later career. The theory of Physiocracy made a particularly strong impression on his thinking.
and Austria annexed large swaths of Polish-Lithuanian territory and acquired influence over the internal politics of the reduced Poland and Lithuania. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
was forced to cut back its Army to 10,000 men, and when Kościuszko finally returned home in 1774, there was no place for him in the Army. He took a position as tutor in the family of a provincial governor and fell in love with his pupil Ludwika Sosnowska. They eloped but were overtaken by her father's retainers. Kościuszko received a thrashing at their hands — an event which may have led to his later antipathy to class distinctions. In autumn of 1775 he decided to emigrate.
, where he wanted to join either the Saxon
court or the Elector
's army. However, he was refused and decided to travel back to Paris. There he was informed of the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
, in which the British colonies in North America had revolted against the crown and begun their struggle for independence. The first American successes were well publicized in France, and the revolutionaries' cause was openly supported by the French people and government.
on his own, and on August 30, 1776 he presented a Memorial to Congress. He initially served as a volunteer, but on October 18, 1776, Congress commissioned him a Colonel of Engineers in the Continental Army. "He was assigned a black orderly named Agrippa Hull
. At the recommendation of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and General Charles Lee
, Kościuszko was named head engineer of the Continental Army
.
He was sent to Pennsylvania
to work with the Continental Army. Shortly after arriving, he read the United States Declaration of Independence
. Kościuszko was moved by the document because it encompassed everything in which he believed; he was so moved, in fact, that he decided to meet Thomas Jefferson
, the principal author of the Declaration. The two met in Virginia
a few months later. After spending the day discussing philosophy and other things they shared in common, they became very close friends. Kościuszko was a guest at Monticello
on many occasions, and spent prolonged visits there.
. On September 24, 1776, Kościuszko was ordered to fortify the banks of the Delaware River
against a possible British
crossing. In the spring of 1777 he was attached to the Northern Army
under Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates
where he directed the construction of several forts and fortified military camps along the Canadian
border.
Subsequently posted at Fort Ticonderoga, he worked to restore the defenses of what had once been one of the most formidable fortresses in North America
. His surveys of the landscape prompted him to strongly recommend the construction of a battery on Sugar Loaf Mtn.
overlooking the fort. Though a prudent suggestion, and one that carried the agreement of Kościuszko's fellow engineers, garrison
commander Brigadier Gen. Arthur St. Clair
ultimately declined to carry it out, citing logistical difficulties. This turned out to be an egregious tactical blunder, as, when the British Army
under General John Burgoyne
arrived in July, he did exactly what Kościuszko would have done and had his engineers place artillery
on the hill.
With the British
in complete control of the high ground, the Americans realized their situation was hopeless and abandoned the fortress with hardly a shot fired in the Siege of Ticonderoga. The British
advance force nipped hard on the heels of the outnumbered and exhausted Continentals
as they fled southward. Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler
, desperate to put distance between his men and their pursuers, ordered scorched earth
tactics along the route of retreat. In his crucial rearguard
role, Kościuszko carried out these orders by directing the felling of trees, damming of streams, and destruction of all bridges and causeways to deny the British
use of the roadway. Encumbered by their vast supply train, the British
slowly began to bog down, giving the Americans the time needed to safely withdraw across the Hudson River
.
Shortly thereafter, General Gates
relieved Schuyler
, regrouping his forces to try and prevent the British
from taking Albany. He tapped Kościuszko to survey the countryside between the opposing armies, choose the most defensible position he could, and fortify it. Finding just such a position near Saratoga, overlooking the Hudson
at Bemis Heights
, Kościuszko proceeded to lay out an excellent array of defenses; nearly impregnable to attack from any direction. His excellent judgment and meticulous attention to every detail in the American defense frustrated the British Army
attack during the final battle on October 7, 1777. Added to the checking action at Freeman's Farm two weeks prior, the dwindling British
army was dealt a sound tactical defeat, the combination turning the tide of the campaign to an American advantage.
The Americans were then free and able to pursue and bottle up the tattered remnants of the disintegrating British
expedition. Having all but cut off the last means of escape, Gates
accepted General Burgoyne's
surrender of his entire force
at Saratoga
on October 16, 1777. This complete and total American victory marked the turning point of the entire war, leading directly to the alliance with France
(concluded on February 6, 1778). Kościuszko's work at Saratoga
received great praise from Gen. Gates
, who later told his friend Dr. Benjamin Rush
"...the great tacticians of the campaign were hills and forests, which a young Polish engineer was skillful enough to select for my encampment".
Thereafter, Kościuszko was regarded as one of the best engineers in American service. George Washington
immediately took notice, tasking him with the command of improving defensive works at the stronghold in West Point
. Here he was posted until being granted his request for transfer to the Southern Army
in August of 1780. It was Kościuszko's defenses at West Point that General Benedict Arnold
attempted to pass to the British
when he turned traitor the following month. It was later revealed that the original blueprints had been destroyed before either Arnold
or Gen. Washington
could get their hands on them.
Traveling southward through rural Virginia
, Kościuszko eventually reported to his former commander Gen. Gates
in North Carolina
in October. However, following the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Camden
on August 16, Congress
selected Washington's
choice of Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene
to replace the disgraced Gates
as commander of the Southern Department
. When Gen. Greene
formally assumed command on December 3, 1780, Kościuszko's services were retained, employed as Greene
's chief engineer. In this capacity, he made substantial contributions towards the planning and execution of the general's overall strategy that culminated in the reconquest of the Carolinas and Georgia
two years later.
Over the course of this campaign, he was placed in charge of constructing bateaux, siting camps, scouting river crossings, fortifying positions, and developing intelligence contacts. Many of his contributions were instrumental in preventing the destruction of the Southern Army. This was especially true during the famous "Race to the Dan", where Cornwallis and his exhausted troops chased Greene
through 200 miles of rough backcountry terrain in the dead of winter. Thanks largely to a combination of Greene
's tactics, and Kościuszko's bateaux and accurate scouting of the rivers ahead of the main body, the Continentals
safely crossed each one in its path, including the Dan River
. Cornwallis, having no boats of his own, and finding no way to cross the swollen Dan
, finally gave up the chase and withdrew back into North Carolina
, while the Continentals
regrouped south of Halifax, VA, where Kościuszko had earlier established a fortified depot at Greene
's request.
During the "Race to the Dan", Kościuszko had contributed to the selection of the site where Gen. Greene
eventually returned to fight Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse. Though tactically defeated, the Americans all but destroyed Cornwallis' army as an effective fighting force and gained a permanent strategic advantage in the South. Thus, as Greene
began his reconquest of South Carolina
in the spring of 1781, he recalled Kościuszko to rejoin the main body of the Southern Army. It wasn't long before he was back in his engineering element at Ninety Six where, from May 22 - June 18, he conducted the longest siege
of the Revolutionary War. Kościuszko suffered his only wound in seven full years of service during the unsuccessful siege
, as he was bayonet
ted in his hindquarters during an assault
by the Star Fort's defenders on the approach trench he was preparing.
As the combined forces of the Continentals
and Southern militia
gradually forced the British
from the backcountry into the coastal ports during the latter half of 1781, Kościuszko began participating in more direct action. There exists evidence he saw limited action in the major battles at Hobkirk's Hill (2nd Camden)
in April and Eutaw Springs
in September. However, he was most active throughout the final year of hostilities in much smaller actions focused on harassing British
foraging parties near Charleston
. His only known battlefield command of the war occurred at James Island on November 14, 1782. In what is believed by many to be the Continental Army
's final armed action of the war, he was very nearly killed as his small force was soundly routed. A month later, he was among the first Continental
troops to reoccupy Charleston
following the British
evacuation of the city. Kościuszko spent the rest of the war there, allegedly conducting a fireworks display to celebrate news of the signing of the Treaty of Paris
in April, 1783.
. He also received American citizenship and a grant of land near present-day Columbus, Ohio, and was admitted to both the prestigious Society of the Cincinnati
and the American Philosophical Society
. When he was leaving America, he wrote a last will
, naming Thomas Jefferson
the executor and leaving his property in America to be used to buy the freedom of black slaves, including Jefferson's, and to educate them for independent life and work. Several years after Kościuszko's death, Jefferson pled an inability to act as executor, an action deprecated by the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison
and Jefferson historian Merrill Peterson. The U.S. Supreme Court awarded the estate to Kościuszko's descendants in 1852, ruling that he had died intestate despite the four wills he had made. During the legal proceedings between the date of his death and the Supreme Court decision, the value of his estate decreased substantially; this was attributed by a case attorney to Colonel George Bomford
's use of the estate for his own purposes. None of the monies that Kościuszko had earmarked for the manumission
and education of African-Americans were ever used for that purpose.
of his peasants (corvée
) to two days a week, while completely exempting female serfs. This move was seen by local szlachta
(nobility) as a sign of Kościuszko's dangerous liberalism
.
By that time the internal situation in Poland was changing rapidly. A strong, if still informal, group of politicians advocated for reforms and for strengthening the state. Notable political writers such as Stanisław Staszic and Hugo Kołłątaj argued for granting the serfs and burghers more rights and for strengthening the central authorities. These ideas were supported by a large part of the szlachta
, who also wanted to curb foreign meddling in Poland's internal affairs.
Finally the Great Sejm
of 1788–92 opened the necessary reforms. One of its first acts was to approve the creation of a 100,000-man army to defend the Commonwealth's borders against its aggressive neighbors. Kościuszko saw this as a chance to return to military service and serve his country in the field that he knew best. He applied to the army and on October 12, 1789, received a royal commission as a major general
. As such, he began receiving the high salary of 12,000 złotys a year, which ended his financial difficulties.
The Commonwealth's internal situation and the reforms initiated by the Constitution of May 3, 1791
, the first constitution written in the modern era in Europe and second in the world after the American, were seen by the surrounding powers as a threat to their influence over Polish politics. On May 14, 1792, conservative magnate
s created the Targowica Confederation
, which asked Russian Tsarina Catherine II
for help in overthrowing the constitution. On May 18, 1792, a 100,000-man Russian army crossed the Polish border and headed for Warsaw
, thus opening the Polish-Russian War of 1792
.
Before the Russians invaded Poland, Kościuszko had been appointed deputy commander of Prince Józef Poniatowski's 3rd Crown Infantry Division. When the Prince became Commander in Chief of the entire Polish (Crown) Army on May 3, 1792, Kościuszko automatically assumed the command of the Division.
After Prussia
's betrayal of her Polish ally, the Army of Lithuania under the traitorous Duke Louis of Württemberg
did not oppose the advancing Russians and only after a change of the commander tried to stand and fight the Russians while withdrawing towards Brześć. The Crown Army was judged too weak to oppose the four columns of enemy armies advancing into Polish Ukraine
and begun a fighting withdrawal to the western side of the Southern Bug River
, where it regrouped and countered the Russian advance in a pitched battle, when Prince Poniatowski was victorious in the Battle of Zieleńce
(June 18, 1792), while Kościuszko's division took part only in some artillery exchange at the end of the battle, the general was among the first to receive the newly created Virtuti Militari
medal, Poland's highest military decoration even today. The Polish withdrawal, however, was continued in face of Russian superiority and relentless tactics of pursuit and encircle, i.e., numerous attempts to encircle the regiments of Polish army around the military supply camps. Upon reaching the northern Bug River
the Polish army was divided into 3 divisions in order to hold the river defense line yet weakening their numerical superiority in one point countering the advice of one strong, concentrated army group advocated by general Kościuszko, who had opposed this division of the Polish forces on the Bug River.
In the ensuing battles of Włodzimierz (July 17, 1792, now Volodymyr-Volynskyi
) and Dubienka
(July 18) Kościuszko repulsed the numerically superior enemy, using skillfully the terrain obstacles and field fortifications, and came to be regarded as one of Poland's most brilliant military commanders of the time. On August 1, 1792, King Stanisław August promoted him to Lieutenant General
. But before the nomination arrived at Kościuszko's camp in Sieciechów
, on July 24, 1792 the King had betrayed the army by formally announcing his access to the Targowica Confederation
and ordered the Polish-Lithuanian armies to cease hostilities against the Russians. Final battle occurred at Markuszów
on July 26, 1792, and Polish cavalry under prince Poniatowski was victorious against the Russian cavalry.
and then to Leipzig
, where the émigrées began preparing an uprising against Russian rule in Poland. The politicians, grouped around Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj, sought contacts with similar opposition groups formed in Poland and by spring 1793 had been joined by other politicians and revolutionaries, including Ignacy Działyński.
On August 26, 1792, the French Legislative Assembly
awarded Kościuszko honorary citizenship of France in honor of his fight for freedom of his fatherland and the ideas of equality and liberty. After two weeks in Leipzig, Kościuszko set off for Paris, where he tried to gain French support of the planned uprising in Poland.
On January 13, 1793, Prussia
and Russia signed the Second Partition of Poland
, which was ratified by the Sejm of Grodno on June 17. Such an outcome was a giant blow for the members of Targowica Confederation
who saw their actions as a defense of centuries-old privileges of the magnate
s, but now were regarded by the majority of the Polish population as traitors
. After the partition Poland became a small country of roughly 200,000 square kilometres and a population of approximately 4 million. The economy was ruined and the support for the cause of an uprising grew significantly, especially since there was no serious opposition to the idea after the Targowica Confederation was discredited.
In June of 1793 Kościuszko prepared a plan of an all-national uprising, mobilization of all the forces and a war against Russia. The preparations in Poland were slow and he decided to postpone the outbreak. However, the situation in Poland was changing rapidly. The Russian and Prussian governments forced Poland to again disband the majority of her armed forces and the reduced units were to be drafted to the Russian army. Also, in March the tsarist agents discovered the group of revolutionaries in Warsaw and started arresting notable Polish politicians and military commanders. Kościuszko was forced to execute his plan earlier than planned and on March 15, 1794 he set off for Kraków
.
(Commander-in-Chief) of all Polish-Lithuanian forces fighting against Russian occupation, and issued his Proclamation of Połaniec. After initial successes following the Battle of Racławice, Kościuszko was wounded at Maciejowice
and captured by the Russians. He was imprisoned at Saint Petersburg
in Prince Orlov
's Marble Palace
. Soon afterward, the uprising ended with the Battle of Praga
.
and scored it for the harpsichord
. It was named after him and became popular among Polish patriots at the time of the 1830 Uprising
, with lyrics by Rajnold Suchodolski
.
pardoned Kościuszko and set him free. In exchange for his oath of loyalty, Paul I also freed some 20,000 Polish political prisoners held in Russian prisons and forcibly settled in Siberia
. The Tsar granted Kościuszko 12,000 roubles, which the Polish leader attempted in 1798 to return; the Tsar refused to accept it back as "money from a traitor".
Kościuszko emigrated to the United States, but the following year returned to Europe and in 1798 settled in Breville
, near Paris. Still devoted to the Polish cause, he took part in creating the Polish Legions
. Also, on October 17 and November 6, 1799 he met with Napoleon Bonaparte. However, he failed to reach any agreement with the French leader, who regarded Kościuszko as a "fool" who "overestimated his influence" in Poland (letter from Napoleon to Fouché, 1807).
Kościuszko remained politically active in Polish émigré circles in France and in 1799 was a founding member of the Society of Polish Republicans. However, he did not return to the Duchy of Warsaw
and did not join the reborn Polish Army allied with Napoleon. Instead, after the fall of Napoleon's empire in 1815 he met with Russia's Tsar
Alexander I
in Braunau
. In return for his prospective services, Kościuszko demanded social reforms and territorial gains for Poland, which he wished to reach as far as the Dvina and Dnieper River
s in the east.
Alexander asked him to go to Warsaw. However, soon afterwards, in Vienna
, Kościuszko learned that the Kingdom of Poland
created by the Tsar would be even smaller than the earlier Duchy of Warsaw. Kościuszko called such an entity "a joke"; and when he received no reply to his letters to the Tsar, he left Vienna and moved to Solothurn
, Switzerland
, where his friend Franciszek Zeltner was mayor. Suffering from poor health and old wounds, on October 15, 1817 Kościuszko died there of typhoid fever. Two years earlier, he had emancipated his serfs.
Kościuszko's body was embalmed
and placed in a crypt
at Solothurn's Jesuit Church. His viscera, removed in the process of embalming, were separately interred in a graveyard at Zuchwil
, near Solothurn, except for the heart
, for which an urn
was fashioned. In 1818 Kościuszko's body was transferred to Kraków
, Poland, and placed in a crypt at Wawel Cathedral
, a pantheon
of Polish kings and national heroes
. Kościuszko's heart, which had been preserved at the Polish Museum
in Rapperswil
, Switzerland, was in 1927, along with the rest of the Museum's holdings, repatriated to Warsaw
, where the heart now reposes in a chapel at the Royal Castle
. Kościuszko's other viscera remain interred at Zuchwil, where a large memorial stone was erected in 1820 and can be visited today, next to a Polish memorial chapel.
Poland: In Poland, nearly every major town has a street or square named for Kościuszko.
Between 1820 and 1823, the people of Kraków
erected the Kościuszko Mound
to commemorate the Polish leader. A similar mound was erected in 1861 at Olkusz
.
He is the patron of Kraków University of Technology
, Wrocław Military University, and countless other schools and gymnasia
(secondary schools) throughout Poland.
He was the patron of the 1st Regiment of the Polish 5th Rifle Division
, and of the 1st Division
of the Polish 1st Army
. After World War I
the Kościuszko Squadron, and during World War II
the 303rd Polish Squadron, were named for him. Two ships have been named for him: SS Kościuszko
, and ORP Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko (a former United States Navy
frigate that was transferred to Poland).
There is a Kościuszko Monument
at the entrance to Kraków
's Wawel Castle
, where he was laid to rest. Its replica was erected in Detroit, Michigan
in 1978 (pictured). A replica of the Brigadier General Thaddeus Kosciuszko
monument in Washington DC by Antoni Popiel
was erected in 2010 in Warsaw, Poland on the other hand.
France: Polish political refugees in Montigny-sur-Loing
settled in La Genevraye
at Castle Berville and participated actively in the life of the commune and that of La Genevraye
, including establishing a brickworks. In 1814 Kościuszko intervened to stop the Cossacks after the Russians had penetrated into Champagne-sur-Seine
. Subsequently a monument was built, Ancienne chapelle de Kosciusko. This symbolic tomb still stands at the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau
, where it receives an annual tribute of flowers.
United States: Kosciusko, Mississippi
and Kosciusko, Texas; Kosciusko County, Indiana
; Kosciusko Island
in Alaska; New York State's two Kosciuszko Bridges (in Latham
on I-87 just north of Albany
; and on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway); Kosciuszko Street (BMT Jamaica Line)
; the Kosciuszko Bridge that crosses the Naugatuck River in Naugatuck, Connecticut
; Kosciuszko Street in Brooklyn, New York; Kosciuszko Street in Rochester, New York
; Kosciuszko Street in Toledo, Ohio
; Kosciusko Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio
; Kosciuszko Street in Manchester, New Hampshire
; Kosciuszko Street in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania
; Kosciuszko Way in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
; Kosciuszko Park in Stamford, Connecticut
; Kosciuszko Street in South Bend, Indiana, Kosciusko Street in Woburn, Massachusetts
, General Thaddeus Kosciusko Way in downtown Los Angeles, California
, Thaddeus Kosciuszko Memorial Highway as part of Route 9 in New Britain, Connecticut
, General Thaddeus Kosciusko Memorial Highway as part of State Route 257 and Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park in Dublin, Ohio
, and Kosciuszko Street in Bay City, Michigan
.
Monmouth, Illinois
, was to be called Kosciuszko after that name was drawn from a hat around 1831. It was decided that Kosciuszko would be too hard to pronounce, so Monmouth was selected as an alternative.
There is an equestrian statue of him at Kosciuszko Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, across from the Polish Basilica of St. Josaphat
, and other statues, in Boston Public Garden
; Scranton, Pennsylvania
; Chicago's Museum Campus on Solidarity Drive; Detroit Michigan on Michigan Ave.; a bust in the U.S. Capitol as well as a statue Lafayette Park
in Washington, D.C.
; the United States Military Academy
at West Point
; Williams Park
in St. Petersburg, Florida
; and Red Bud Springs Memorial Park in Kosciusko, Mississippi
; in Kosciuszko Park in East Chicago, Indiana; and (with Kazimierz Pułaski) in Poland, Ohio
, a township and village named in honor of the two heroes of the American Revolution.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
, his Revolutionary War
home is preserved as Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
, administered as part of Independence National Historical Park
; and a monument to him stands at the corner of Benjamin Franklin Parkway
and 18th Street. Hamtramck, Michigan
, has a Kosciuszko Middle School; Winona, Minnesota
has Washington-Kosciuszko Elementary School; Chicago, a public park named for him in Logan Square
; and East Chicago, Indiana
, a public park (with statue), a school and a neighborhood, all bearing Kosciuszko's name. Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania
has a Polish Falcons
Sportsman's Club named after Kosciuszko. In Grand Rapids, Michigan
, there is a club called Kosciuszko Hall.
The home in Philadelphia, which is part of Independence National Historical Park, was actually his post-Revolutionary home. He lived there when he returned briefly to the USA.
The Kościuszko Polish Patriotic Social Society in Natrona
, Pennsylvania
, is named after Kościuszko.
There is also a Polish school named after Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Polska Szkola im. Tadeusza Kosciuszki or Tadeusza Kosciuszki Polish School of Language. In 1951 Mrs. Maria Zamora established the first classroom and now its one of the oldest and biggest polish speaking and teaching in the Polish language schools in the United States.
Switzerland: The Solothurn
house that was Kościuszko's last residence, now houses a Kościuszko Museum, open to the public at certain stated times.
There is also a road named for him in Vezia
(canton Ticino, near Lugano
), where his embalmed heart rested for some decades following his death, Kościuszko having in his will left it to Emilia Morosini, née Zeltner-Peri. His heart was later moved to the Polish Museum
in Rapperswil
through the engagement of Arrigo Boito
, composer and librettist to Giuseppe Verdi
, both of whom were friends of the Morosini-Negroni family.
Australia: Polish explorer Count Paweł Edmund Strzelecki named the highest mountain in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko
. The mountain is the central feature of Kosciuszko National Park
.
There is a Kosciusko Avenue in Geelong, and one in Canberra
, the capital of Australia.
Elsewhere: There are also streets named for Kościuszko in Saint Petersburg
, Russia
; downtown Belgrade
, Serbia
(Ulica Tadeuša Košćuška); Budapest
, Hungary
(Kosciuszkó Tádé utca); and Vilnius
, Lithuania
(Kosciuškos gatvė).
A small street is named for Kościuszko in Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil
.
A Kościuszko monument in Minsk, Belarus, was dedicated in 2005.
Return to top of page.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
–Lithuanian
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
and American general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
and military leader during the Kościuszko Uprising
Kosciuszko Uprising
The Kościuszko Uprising was an uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in Poland, Belarus and Lithuania in 1794...
. He is a national hero of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, the United States and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. He led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising
Kosciuszko Uprising
The Kościuszko Uprising was an uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia led by Tadeusz Kościuszko in Poland, Belarus and Lithuania in 1794...
against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
as Supreme Commander of the Polish National Armed Force (Najwyższy Naczelnik Siły Zbrojnej Narodowej).
Before commanding the 1794 Uprising, he fought in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
as a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
. In 1783, in recognition of his dedicated service, he was brevetted
Brevet (military)
In many of the world's military establishments, brevet referred to a warrant authorizing a commissioned officer to hold a higher rank temporarily, but usually without receiving the pay of that higher rank except when actually serving in that role. An officer so promoted may be referred to as being...
by the Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
to the rank of brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
and became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
There are several Anglicized spellings of Kościuszko's name. Perhaps the most frequently occurring is Thaddeus Kosciusko, though the full "Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciusko" is also seen. In Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
, Kościuszko's name is rendered as Tadas Kosciuška or Tadeušas Kosciuška. In Belarusian
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
it is Tadevuš Kaściuška (Тадэвуш Касцюшка).
Early life
Kościuszko was born in the village of Mereczowszczyzna , now abandoned, near the present-day town of Kosava, Belarus. The area lay within the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaGrand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
, a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
.
Kościuszko was the son of a local Polish noble
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
, Ludwik Tadeusz Kościuszko, and Tekla, née Ratomska. He was the youngest child in a family whose lineage traced partly to Lithuanian and Ruthenia
Ruthenia
Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...
n (Belarusian
Belarusian nobility
Noble people on Belarusian lands were usually of Slavic origin in the east or of Baltic origin in the west of the lands of what is now Belarus...
) nobility and to a 15th–16th–century courtier of Polish King Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...
, Konstanty Fiodorowicz Kostiuszko.
At the time of Tadeusz Kościuszko's birth, the family possessed modest holdings in the Grand Duchy. He was christened in both Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic religions. As a result of the dual baptisms, he bore the names Andrzej and Tadeusz.
In 1765 Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski created a Corps of Cadets , on the grounds of present-day Warsaw University, to educate military officers
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
and government officials. Kościuszko enrolled on 18 December 1765, becoming a member of the Corps of Cadets. Since the school emphasized both military subjects and the liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
, his courses included world history
History of the world
The history of the world or human history is the history of humanity from the earliest times to the present, in all places on Earth, beginning with the Paleolithic Era. It excludes non-human natural history and geological history, except insofar as the natural world substantially affects human lives...
, the history of Poland
History of Poland
The History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, the Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
s, and law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
, economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
, geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
. Upon graduation, he was promoted to captain
Captain (OF-2)
The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...
.
France
In 1768 a civil war arose in the Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthPolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
, when the Bar Confederation
Bar Confederation
The Bar Confederation was an association of Polish nobles formed at the fortress of Bar in Podolia in 1768 to defend the internal and external independence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian influence and against King Stanisław August Poniatowski and Polish reformers who were...
sought to depose King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Faced with a difficult choice between the rebels and his sponsors, the King and the Czartoryski family — who favored a gradualist approach to shedding Russian domination — Kosciuszko chose to emigrate. In 1769 he and his colleague Orłowski were granted royal scholarships, and on October 5 they set off for Paris. While both sought to gain further military education, they were barred as foreigners from enrolling in any French military academy, and instead enrolled in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and Sculpture. For five years, however, Kościuszko educated himself as an extern, frequenting lectures and the libraries of the Paris military academies. His exposure to the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
there, coupled with the religious tolerance practiced in the Commonwealth, would have a strong influence on his later career. The theory of Physiocracy made a particularly strong impression on his thinking.
Return home
By the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1772, the adjoining countries of Russia, PrussiaPrussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Austria annexed large swaths of Polish-Lithuanian territory and acquired influence over the internal politics of the reduced Poland and Lithuania. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
was forced to cut back its Army to 10,000 men, and when Kościuszko finally returned home in 1774, there was no place for him in the Army. He took a position as tutor in the family of a provincial governor and fell in love with his pupil Ludwika Sosnowska. They eloped but were overtaken by her father's retainers. Kościuszko received a thrashing at their hands — an event which may have led to his later antipathy to class distinctions. In autumn of 1775 he decided to emigrate.
Dresden and Paris
In late 1775 Kościuszko arrived in DresdenDresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, where he wanted to join either the Saxon
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
court or the Elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
's army. However, he was refused and decided to travel back to Paris. There he was informed of the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, in which the British colonies in North America had revolted against the crown and begun their struggle for independence. The first American successes were well publicized in France, and the revolutionaries' cause was openly supported by the French people and government.
American Revolution
Kościuszko came to Colonial AmericaColonial America
The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...
on his own, and on August 30, 1776 he presented a Memorial to Congress. He initially served as a volunteer, but on October 18, 1776, Congress commissioned him a Colonel of Engineers in the Continental Army. "He was assigned a black orderly named Agrippa Hull
Agrippa Hull
Agrippa Hull was an African American patriot who fought alongside Tadeusz Kościuszko in the American Revolutionary War. He served for six years and two months. After the war he received a veterans pension signed by George Washington. He treasured this for the rest of his life...
. At the recommendation of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and General Charles Lee
Charles Lee (general)
Charles Lee was a British soldier who later served as a General of the Continental Army during the American War of Independence. Lee served in the British army during the Seven Years War. After the war he sold his commission and served for a time in the Polish army of King Stanislaus II...
, Kościuszko was named head engineer of the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
.
He was sent to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
to work with the Continental Army. Shortly after arriving, he read the United States Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire. John Adams put forth a...
. Kościuszko was moved by the document because it encompassed everything in which he believed; he was so moved, in fact, that he decided to meet Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, the principal author of the Declaration. The two met in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
a few months later. After spending the day discussing philosophy and other things they shared in common, they became very close friends. Kościuszko was a guest at Monticello
Monticello
Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia; it is...
on many occasions, and spent prolonged visits there.
War in the north
Kościuszko's first task in America was the fortification of Philadelphia. His first structure was the construction of Fort BillingsportFort Billingsport
Fort Billingsport, in Paulsboro, New Jersey is an early U.S. fort on the Delaware River. The land for the fort was purchased by the Continental Congress on July 5, 1776, the first land purchase made by the United States....
. On September 24, 1776, Kościuszko was ordered to fortify the banks of the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
against a possible British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
crossing. In the spring of 1777 he was attached to the Northern Army
Departments of the Continental Army
In the American Revolutionary War units of the Continental Army were assigned to any one of seven regional or territorial departments to decentralize their command and administration. This was necessary because the regiment was the largest permanent unit in the Continental Army...
under Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates
Horatio Gates
Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and...
where he directed the construction of several forts and fortified military camps along the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
border.
Subsequently posted at Fort Ticonderoga, he worked to restore the defenses of what had once been one of the most formidable fortresses in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. His surveys of the landscape prompted him to strongly recommend the construction of a battery on Sugar Loaf Mtn.
Mount Defiance
Mount Defiance is an high hill on the New York side of Lake Champlain, in the northeastern United States. It is notable in that the hill militarily dominates both Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Independence, but it was deemed inaccessible so never fortified. Mount Defiance was previously known as...
overlooking the fort. Though a prudent suggestion, and one that carried the agreement of Kościuszko's fellow engineers, garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
commander Brigadier Gen. Arthur St. Clair
Arthur St. Clair
Arthur St. Clair was an American soldier and politician. Born in Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office...
ultimately declined to carry it out, citing logistical difficulties. This turned out to be an egregious tactical blunder, as, when the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
under General John Burgoyne
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....
arrived in July, he did exactly what Kościuszko would have done and had his engineers place artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
on the hill.
With the British
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in complete control of the high ground, the Americans realized their situation was hopeless and abandoned the fortress with hardly a shot fired in the Siege of Ticonderoga. The British
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
advance force nipped hard on the heels of the outnumbered and exhausted Continentals
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
as they fled southward. Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler
Philip Schuyler
Philip John Schuyler was a general in the American Revolution and a United States Senator from New York. He is usually known as Philip Schuyler, while his son is usually known as Philip J. Schuyler.-Early life:...
, desperate to put distance between his men and their pursuers, ordered scorched earth
Scorched earth
A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
tactics along the route of retreat. In his crucial rearguard
Rearguard
Rearguard may refer to:* A military detachment protecting the rear of a larger military formation, especially when retreating from a pursuing enemy force. * Rear Guard , a computer game released in 1982...
role, Kościuszko carried out these orders by directing the felling of trees, damming of streams, and destruction of all bridges and causeways to deny the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
use of the roadway. Encumbered by their vast supply train, the British
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
slowly began to bog down, giving the Americans the time needed to safely withdraw across the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
.
Horatio Gates
Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and...
relieved Schuyler
Philip Schuyler
Philip John Schuyler was a general in the American Revolution and a United States Senator from New York. He is usually known as Philip Schuyler, while his son is usually known as Philip J. Schuyler.-Early life:...
, regrouping his forces to try and prevent the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from taking Albany. He tapped Kościuszko to survey the countryside between the opposing armies, choose the most defensible position he could, and fortify it. Finding just such a position near Saratoga, overlooking the Hudson
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
at Bemis Heights
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, south of Saratoga, New York...
, Kościuszko proceeded to lay out an excellent array of defenses; nearly impregnable to attack from any direction. His excellent judgment and meticulous attention to every detail in the American defense frustrated the British Army
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
attack during the final battle on October 7, 1777. Added to the checking action at Freeman's Farm two weeks prior, the dwindling British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
army was dealt a sound tactical defeat, the combination turning the tide of the campaign to an American advantage.
The Americans were then free and able to pursue and bottle up the tattered remnants of the disintegrating British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
expedition. Having all but cut off the last means of escape, Gates
Horatio Gates
Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and...
accepted General Burgoyne's
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....
surrender of his entire force
Convention Army
The Convention Army was an army of British and allied troops captured after the Battles of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War.-Convention of Saratoga:...
at Saratoga
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, south of Saratoga, New York...
on October 16, 1777. This complete and total American victory marked the turning point of the entire war, leading directly to the alliance with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(concluded on February 6, 1778). Kościuszko's work at Saratoga
Battle of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga conclusively decided the fate of British General John Burgoyne's army in the American War of Independence and are generally regarded as a turning point in the war. The battles were fought eighteen days apart on the same ground, south of Saratoga, New York...
received great praise from Gen. Gates
Horatio Gates
Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and...
, who later told his friend Dr. Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
"...the great tacticians of the campaign were hills and forests, which a young Polish engineer was skillful enough to select for my encampment".
Thereafter, Kościuszko was regarded as one of the best engineers in American service. George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
immediately took notice, tasking him with the command of improving defensive works at the stronghold in West Point
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
. Here he was posted until being granted his request for transfer to the Southern Army
Departments of the Continental Army
In the American Revolutionary War units of the Continental Army were assigned to any one of seven regional or territorial departments to decentralize their command and administration. This was necessary because the regiment was the largest permanent unit in the Continental Army...
in August of 1780. It was Kościuszko's defenses at West Point that General Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
attempted to pass to the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
when he turned traitor the following month. It was later revealed that the original blueprints had been destroyed before either Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
or Gen. Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
could get their hands on them.
War in the south
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Kościuszko eventually reported to his former commander Gen. Gates
Horatio Gates
Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and...
in North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
in October. However, following the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Camden
Battle of Camden
The Battle of Camden was a major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War...
on August 16, Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
selected Washington's
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
choice of Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
to replace the disgraced Gates
Horatio Gates
Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and...
as commander of the Southern Department
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
. When Gen. Greene
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
formally assumed command on December 3, 1780, Kościuszko's services were retained, employed as Greene
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
's chief engineer. In this capacity, he made substantial contributions towards the planning and execution of the general's overall strategy that culminated in the reconquest of the Carolinas and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
two years later.
Over the course of this campaign, he was placed in charge of constructing bateaux, siting camps, scouting river crossings, fortifying positions, and developing intelligence contacts. Many of his contributions were instrumental in preventing the destruction of the Southern Army. This was especially true during the famous "Race to the Dan", where Cornwallis and his exhausted troops chased Greene
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
through 200 miles of rough backcountry terrain in the dead of winter. Thanks largely to a combination of Greene
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
's tactics, and Kościuszko's bateaux and accurate scouting of the rivers ahead of the main body, the Continentals
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
safely crossed each one in its path, including the Dan River
Dan River
The Dan River flows in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. It originates in Patrick County, Virginia, and crosses the state border into Stokes County, North Carolina. It then flows into Rockingham County. From there it goes back into Virginia. It reenters North Carolina near the...
. Cornwallis, having no boats of his own, and finding no way to cross the swollen Dan
Dan River
The Dan River flows in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. It originates in Patrick County, Virginia, and crosses the state border into Stokes County, North Carolina. It then flows into Rockingham County. From there it goes back into Virginia. It reenters North Carolina near the...
, finally gave up the chase and withdrew back into North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, while the Continentals
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
regrouped south of Halifax, VA, where Kościuszko had earlier established a fortified depot at Greene
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
's request.
During the "Race to the Dan", Kościuszko had contributed to the selection of the site where Gen. Greene
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
eventually returned to fight Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse. Though tactically defeated, the Americans all but destroyed Cornwallis' army as an effective fighting force and gained a permanent strategic advantage in the South. Thus, as Greene
Nathanael Greene
Nathanael Greene was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United...
began his reconquest of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
in the spring of 1781, he recalled Kościuszko to rejoin the main body of the Southern Army. It wasn't long before he was back in his engineering element at Ninety Six where, from May 22 - June 18, he conducted the longest siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
of the Revolutionary War. Kościuszko suffered his only wound in seven full years of service during the unsuccessful siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
, as he was bayonet
Bayonet
A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...
ted in his hindquarters during an assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
by the Star Fort's defenders on the approach trench he was preparing.
As the combined forces of the Continentals
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
and Southern militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
gradually forced the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from the backcountry into the coastal ports during the latter half of 1781, Kościuszko began participating in more direct action. There exists evidence he saw limited action in the major battles at Hobkirk's Hill (2nd Camden)
Battle of Hobkirk's Hill
The Battle of Hobkirk's Hill was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on April 25, 1781, near Camden, South Carolina...
in April and Eutaw Springs
Battle of Eutaw Springs
The Battle of Eutaw Springs was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, and was the last major engagement of the war in the Carolinas.-Background:...
in September. However, he was most active throughout the final year of hostilities in much smaller actions focused on harassing British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
foraging parties near Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. His only known battlefield command of the war occurred at James Island on November 14, 1782. In what is believed by many to be the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
's final armed action of the war, he was very nearly killed as his small force was soundly routed. A month later, he was among the first Continental
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
troops to reoccupy Charleston
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
following the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
evacuation of the city. Kościuszko spent the rest of the war there, allegedly conducting a fireworks display to celebrate news of the signing of the Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
in April, 1783.
Mustering-out
After seven years of faithful, uninterrupted service to the American cause, on October 13, 1783, Kościuszko was promoted by Congress to the rank of brigadier generalBrigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
. He also received American citizenship and a grant of land near present-day Columbus, Ohio, and was admitted to both the prestigious Society of the Cincinnati
Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati is a historical organization with branches in the United States and France founded in 1783 to preserve the ideals and fellowship of the American Revolutionary War officers and to pressure the government to honor pledges it had made to officers who fought for American...
and the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
. When he was leaving America, he wrote a last will
Last Will
Last Will is a 2011 mystery drama film starring Tatum O'Neal and Tom Berenger. It was shot in Kansas City, Missouri on a modest budget.-Plot:A woman named Hayden is framed for the murder of her wealthy husband Frank...
, naming Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
the executor and leaving his property in America to be used to buy the freedom of black slaves, including Jefferson's, and to educate them for independent life and work. Several years after Kościuszko's death, Jefferson pled an inability to act as executor, an action deprecated by the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison was a prominent American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer. He is best known as the editor of the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, and as one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society, he promoted "immediate emancipation" of slaves in the United...
and Jefferson historian Merrill Peterson. The U.S. Supreme Court awarded the estate to Kościuszko's descendants in 1852, ruling that he had died intestate despite the four wills he had made. During the legal proceedings between the date of his death and the Supreme Court decision, the value of his estate decreased substantially; this was attributed by a case attorney to Colonel George Bomford
George Bomford
George Bomford was an inventor, designer, and distinguished military officer in the United States Army. After graduating from West Point in 1805, as a lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, he served as assistant engineer on the defenses of New York Harbor until 1808. From 1808 to 1810 George...
's use of the estate for his own purposes. None of the monies that Kościuszko had earmarked for the manumission
Manumission
Manumission is the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. In the United States before the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished most slavery, this often happened upon the death of the owner, under conditions in his will.-Motivations:The...
and education of African-Americans were ever used for that purpose.
Return to Commonwealth
In July 1784 Kościuszko set off for Poland, where he arrived on August 12. He settled in Siechnowicze . The property, administered by his brother-in-law, brought a small but stable income, and Kościuszko decided to limit the servitudeSerfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
of his peasants (corvée
Corvée
Corvée is unfree labour, often unpaid, that is required of people of lower social standing and imposed on them by the state or a superior . The corvée was the earliest and most widespread form of taxation, which can be traced back to the beginning of civilization...
) to two days a week, while completely exempting female serfs. This move was seen by local szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
(nobility) as a sign of Kościuszko's dangerous liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
.
By that time the internal situation in Poland was changing rapidly. A strong, if still informal, group of politicians advocated for reforms and for strengthening the state. Notable political writers such as Stanisław Staszic and Hugo Kołłątaj argued for granting the serfs and burghers more rights and for strengthening the central authorities. These ideas were supported by a large part of the szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
, who also wanted to curb foreign meddling in Poland's internal affairs.
Finally the Great Sejm
Great Sejm
The Great Sejm, also known as the Four-Year Sejm was a Sejm of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that was held in Warsaw, beginning in 1788...
of 1788–92 opened the necessary reforms. One of its first acts was to approve the creation of a 100,000-man army to defend the Commonwealth's borders against its aggressive neighbors. Kościuszko saw this as a chance to return to military service and serve his country in the field that he knew best. He applied to the army and on October 12, 1789, received a royal commission as a major general
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
. As such, he began receiving the high salary of 12,000 złotys a year, which ended his financial difficulties.
The Commonwealth's internal situation and the reforms initiated by the Constitution of May 3, 1791
Constitution of May 3, 1791
The Constitution of May 3, 1791 was adopted as a "Government Act" on that date by the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Historian Norman Davies calls it "the first constitution of its type in Europe"; other scholars also refer to it as the world's second oldest constitution...
, the first constitution written in the modern era in Europe and second in the world after the American, were seen by the surrounding powers as a threat to their influence over Polish politics. On May 14, 1792, conservative magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
s created the Targowica Confederation
Targowica Confederation
The Targowica Confederation was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine II. The confederation opposed the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791, which had been adopted by the Great Sejm,...
, which asked Russian Tsarina Catherine II
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
for help in overthrowing the constitution. On May 18, 1792, a 100,000-man Russian army crossed the Polish border and headed for Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, thus opening the Polish-Russian War of 1792
Polish-Russian War of 1792
The Polish–Russian War of 1792 or War in Defence of the Constitution was fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation and the Russian Empire on the other....
.
Defense of Constitution
Although the plan to create a 100,000-man Polish Army was not accomplished due to economic problems and general unpreparedness of the system to field and equip such number of soldiers in very short time, however the Polish (Lithuanian and Crown) Army had well-trained young officers corps and artillery, but the newly trained soldiers were not prepared for the rigors of war, nor the eastern Poland's unfinished fortresses and under-supplied military depots were ready to offer supplies and refugium to the Polish troops.Before the Russians invaded Poland, Kościuszko had been appointed deputy commander of Prince Józef Poniatowski's 3rd Crown Infantry Division. When the Prince became Commander in Chief of the entire Polish (Crown) Army on May 3, 1792, Kościuszko automatically assumed the command of the Division.
After Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
's betrayal of her Polish ally, the Army of Lithuania under the traitorous Duke Louis of Württemberg
Duke Louis of Württemberg
Duke Louis of Württemberg was the second son of Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg and Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt...
did not oppose the advancing Russians and only after a change of the commander tried to stand and fight the Russians while withdrawing towards Brześć. The Crown Army was judged too weak to oppose the four columns of enemy armies advancing into Polish Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and begun a fighting withdrawal to the western side of the Southern Bug River
Southern Bug
The Southern Bug, also called Southern Buh), is a river located in Ukraine. The source of the river is in the west of Ukraine, in the Volyn-Podillia Upland, about 145 km from the Polish border, and flows southeasterly into the Bug Estuary through the southern steppes...
, where it regrouped and countered the Russian advance in a pitched battle, when Prince Poniatowski was victorious in the Battle of Zieleńce
Battle of Zielence
The Battle of Zieleńce was a battle in the Polish–Russian War of 1792, in defence of the Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791. The battle took place on 18 June 1792, between the Polish army of Józef Poniatowski and a Russian army group under the command of General Morkov, which was a part of...
(June 18, 1792), while Kościuszko's division took part only in some artillery exchange at the end of the battle, the general was among the first to receive the newly created Virtuti Militari
Virtuti Militari
The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...
medal, Poland's highest military decoration even today. The Polish withdrawal, however, was continued in face of Russian superiority and relentless tactics of pursuit and encircle, i.e., numerous attempts to encircle the regiments of Polish army around the military supply camps. Upon reaching the northern Bug River
Bug River
The Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...
the Polish army was divided into 3 divisions in order to hold the river defense line yet weakening their numerical superiority in one point countering the advice of one strong, concentrated army group advocated by general Kościuszko, who had opposed this division of the Polish forces on the Bug River.
In the ensuing battles of Włodzimierz (July 17, 1792, now Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Volodymyr-Volynsky is a city located in Volyn Oblast, in north-western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative centre of the Volodymyr-Volynsky District, the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
) and Dubienka
Battle of Dubienka
The Battle of Dubienka occurred during the Polish-Russian War of 1792 where on July 18, 1792, the Polish army under the command of General Tadeusz Kościuszko defended the Bug River crossing against a Russian army under General Kachovski. The Russian attacks were stymied by field fortifications...
(July 18) Kościuszko repulsed the numerically superior enemy, using skillfully the terrain obstacles and field fortifications, and came to be regarded as one of Poland's most brilliant military commanders of the time. On August 1, 1792, King Stanisław August promoted him to Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
. But before the nomination arrived at Kościuszko's camp in Sieciechów
Sieciechów
Sieciechów may refer to:*Sieciechów, Masovian Voivodeship *Sieciechów, Łódź Voivodeship * Sieciechów , a village in Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine;...
, on July 24, 1792 the King had betrayed the army by formally announcing his access to the Targowica Confederation
Targowica Confederation
The Targowica Confederation was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine II. The confederation opposed the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791, which had been adopted by the Great Sejm,...
and ordered the Polish-Lithuanian armies to cease hostilities against the Russians. Final battle occurred at Markuszów
Markuszów
Markuszów is a village in Puławy County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Markuszów. It lies approximately east of Puławy and north-west of the regional capital Lublin....
on July 26, 1792, and Polish cavalry under prince Poniatowski was victorious against the Russian cavalry.
Emigré
The King's capitulation was a hard blow for Kościuszko, who had not lost a single battle in the campaign. Together with many other notable Polish commanders and politicians he fled to DresdenDresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and then to Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, where the émigrées began preparing an uprising against Russian rule in Poland. The politicians, grouped around Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj, sought contacts with similar opposition groups formed in Poland and by spring 1793 had been joined by other politicians and revolutionaries, including Ignacy Działyński.
On August 26, 1792, the French Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly (France)
During the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from 1 October 1791 to September 1792. It provided the focus of political debate and revolutionary law-making between the periods of the National Constituent Assembly and of the National Convention.The Legislative...
awarded Kościuszko honorary citizenship of France in honor of his fight for freedom of his fatherland and the ideas of equality and liberty. After two weeks in Leipzig, Kościuszko set off for Paris, where he tried to gain French support of the planned uprising in Poland.
On January 13, 1793, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Russia signed the Second Partition of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
, which was ratified by the Sejm of Grodno on June 17. Such an outcome was a giant blow for the members of Targowica Confederation
Targowica Confederation
The Targowica Confederation was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine II. The confederation opposed the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791, which had been adopted by the Great Sejm,...
who saw their actions as a defense of centuries-old privileges of the magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
s, but now were regarded by the majority of the Polish population as traitors
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
. After the partition Poland became a small country of roughly 200,000 square kilometres and a population of approximately 4 million. The economy was ruined and the support for the cause of an uprising grew significantly, especially since there was no serious opposition to the idea after the Targowica Confederation was discredited.
In June of 1793 Kościuszko prepared a plan of an all-national uprising, mobilization of all the forces and a war against Russia. The preparations in Poland were slow and he decided to postpone the outbreak. However, the situation in Poland was changing rapidly. The Russian and Prussian governments forced Poland to again disband the majority of her armed forces and the reduced units were to be drafted to the Russian army. Also, in March the tsarist agents discovered the group of revolutionaries in Warsaw and started arresting notable Polish politicians and military commanders. Kościuszko was forced to execute his plan earlier than planned and on March 15, 1794 he set off for Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
.
Kościuszko Uprising
During the Uprising, Kościuszko was named NaczelnikNaczelnik
Naczelnik is the Polish word for Leader. It was first used as an official title by Tadeusz Kościuszko during the Polish revolutions of the 18th Century...
(Commander-in-Chief) of all Polish-Lithuanian forces fighting against Russian occupation, and issued his Proclamation of Połaniec. After initial successes following the Battle of Racławice, Kościuszko was wounded at Maciejowice
Battle of Maciejowice
The Battle of Maciejowice was fought on October 10, 1794, between Poland and the Russian Empire.The Poles were led by Tadeusz Kościuszko. Kościuszko with 6,200 men planned to prevent the linking of two larger Russian armies, 12,000 under Iwan Fersen and 12,500 under Alexander Suvorov...
and captured by the Russians. He was imprisoned at Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in Prince Orlov
Orlov
Orlov is the name of a Russian noble family which produced several distinguished statesmen, diplomatists and soldiers. The family first gained distinction in the person of four Orlov brothers, of whom the senior was Catherine the Great's paramour, and the two junior were notable military...
's Marble Palace
Marble Palace
Marble Palace is one of the first Neoclassical palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is situated between the Field of Mars and Palace Quay, slightly to the east from New Michael Palace....
. Soon afterward, the uprising ended with the Battle of Praga
Battle of Praga
The Battle of Praga or Battle of Warsaw of 1794 was a Russian assault of Praga, the easternmost suburb of Warsaw, during the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794. It was followed by a massacre of the civilian population of Praga.-Eve of the battle:After the Battle of Maciejowice General Tadeusz Kościuszko...
.
Music
In 1777 Kościuszko composed a polonaisePolonaise
The polonaise is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish."The polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin....
and scored it for the harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
. It was named after him and became popular among Polish patriots at the time of the 1830 Uprising
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
, with lyrics by Rajnold Suchodolski
Rajnold Suchodolski
Rajnold Suchodolski was a Polish poet.He was brother of the painter January Suchodolski. Rajnold participated and died in the November Uprising of 1830-1831.- Works :...
.
Later life
In 1796 Tsar Paul I of RussiaPaul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
pardoned Kościuszko and set him free. In exchange for his oath of loyalty, Paul I also freed some 20,000 Polish political prisoners held in Russian prisons and forcibly settled in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. The Tsar granted Kościuszko 12,000 roubles, which the Polish leader attempted in 1798 to return; the Tsar refused to accept it back as "money from a traitor".
Kościuszko emigrated to the United States, but the following year returned to Europe and in 1798 settled in Breville
Breville
Breville is a maker of small kitchen appliances, founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1932. They created the original sandwich toaster, a small household appliance that makes toasted sandwiches. The product was a huge success upon its launch in Australia in 1974, selling 400,000 units in its first year...
, near Paris. Still devoted to the Polish cause, he took part in creating the Polish Legions
Polish Legions in Italy
The Polish Legions, in the Napoleonic period, were several Polish military units that served with the French Army from the 1790s to the 1810s....
. Also, on October 17 and November 6, 1799 he met with Napoleon Bonaparte. However, he failed to reach any agreement with the French leader, who regarded Kościuszko as a "fool" who "overestimated his influence" in Poland (letter from Napoleon to Fouché, 1807).
Kościuszko remained politically active in Polish émigré circles in France and in 1799 was a founding member of the Society of Polish Republicans. However, he did not return to the Duchy of Warsaw
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
and did not join the reborn Polish Army allied with Napoleon. Instead, after the fall of Napoleon's empire in 1815 he met with Russia's Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
in Braunau
Braunau
Braunau may refer to:* Braunau am Inn, Austria* Braunau, Switzerland* Broumov, Czech Republic, also known as "Braunau" in German** the Braunau meteorite of 1847, which fell in Vychodocesky, Czech Republic...
. In return for his prospective services, Kościuszko demanded social reforms and territorial gains for Poland, which he wished to reach as far as the Dvina and Dnieper River
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
s in the east.
Alexander asked him to go to Warsaw. However, soon afterwards, in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Kościuszko learned that the Kingdom of Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
created by the Tsar would be even smaller than the earlier Duchy of Warsaw. Kościuszko called such an entity "a joke"; and when he received no reply to his letters to the Tsar, he left Vienna and moved to Solothurn
Solothurn
The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, where his friend Franciszek Zeltner was mayor. Suffering from poor health and old wounds, on October 15, 1817 Kościuszko died there of typhoid fever. Two years earlier, he had emancipated his serfs.
Kościuszko's body was embalmed
Embalming
Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for public display at a funeral. The three goals of embalming are thus sanitization, presentation and preservation of a corpse to achieve this...
and placed in a crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
at Solothurn's Jesuit Church. His viscera, removed in the process of embalming, were separately interred in a graveyard at Zuchwil
Zuchwil
Zuchwil is a municipality in the district of Wasseramt in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.-Geography:Zuchwil has an area, , of . Of this area, or 24.8% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 19.2% is forested...
, near Solothurn, except for the heart
Human heart
The human heart is a muscular organ that provides a continuous blood circulation through the cardiac cycle and is one of the most vital organs in the human body...
, for which an urn
Urn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
was fashioned. In 1818 Kościuszko's body was transferred to Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, Poland, and placed in a crypt at Wawel Cathedral
Wawel Cathedral
The Wawel Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Stanisław and Vaclav, is a church located on Wawel Hill in Kraków–Poland's national sanctuary. It has a 1,000-year history and was the traditional coronation site of Polish monarchs. It is the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Kraków...
, a pantheon
Pantheon (gods)
A pantheon is a set of all the gods of a particular polytheistic religion or mythology.Max Weber's 1922 opus, Economy and Society discusses the link between a...
of Polish kings and national heroes
Folk hero
A folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
. Kościuszko's heart, which had been preserved at the Polish Museum
Polish Museum, Rapperswil
The Polish Museum, Rapperswil, was founded in Rapperswil, Switzerland, on October 23, 1870, by Polish Count Władysław Broel-Plater, at the urging of Agaton Giller, as "a refuge for [Poland's] historic memorabilia dishonored and plundered in the [occupied Polish] homeland" and for the promotion of...
in Rapperswil
Rapperswil
Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Busskirch, Curtiberg, Kempraten-Lenggis, Wagen, and Wurmsbach.-Today:On...
, Switzerland, was in 1927, along with the rest of the Museum's holdings, repatriated to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, where the heart now reposes in a chapel at the Royal Castle
Royal Castle, Warsaw
The Royal Castle in Warsaw is a castle residency and was the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It is located in the Castle Square, at the entrance to the Warsaw Old Town. The personal offices of the king and the administrative offices of the Royal Court of Poland were located there from...
. Kościuszko's other viscera remain interred at Zuchwil, where a large memorial stone was erected in 1820 and can be visited today, next to a Polish memorial chapel.
Memorials
As a national hero of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and the United States, Kościuszko has given his name to many places and monuments around the world.Poland: In Poland, nearly every major town has a street or square named for Kościuszko.
Between 1820 and 1823, the people of Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
erected the Kościuszko Mound
Kosciuszko Mound
Kościuszko Mound in Kraków, Poland, erected by Cracovians in commemoration of the Polish national leader Tadeusz Kościuszko, is an artificial mound modeled after Kraków's prehistoric mounds of Krak and Wanda. A serpentine path leads to the top, approx. above sea level, with a panoramic view of...
to commemorate the Polish leader. A similar mound was erected in 1861 at Olkusz
Olkusz
Olkusz is a town in south Poland with 37,696 inhabitants . Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship , previously in Katowice Voivodeship , it is the capital of Olkusz County...
.
He is the patron of Kraków University of Technology
Cracow University of Technology
Tadeusz Kościuszko University of Technology is a university located in downtown Kraków, Poland, established in 1946 and, as an institution of higher learning granted full autonomy in 1954....
, Wrocław Military University, and countless other schools and gymnasia
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
(secondary schools) throughout Poland.
He was the patron of the 1st Regiment of the Polish 5th Rifle Division
Polish 5th Rifle Division
Polish 5th Siberian Rifle Division was a Polish military unit formed in 1919 in Russia during World War I. The division fought during the Polish-Bolshevik War, but as it was attached to the White Russian formations, it is considered to have fought more in the Russian Civil War...
, and of the 1st Division
Polish 1st Tadeusz Kosciuszko Infantry Division
The Polish 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division was an infantry division in the Soviet-organized Polish armed forces formed in 1943 and named for the Polish and American revolutionary Tadeusz Kościuszko...
of the Polish 1st Army
First Polish Army (1944-1945)
The Polish First Army was a Polish Army unit formed in the Soviet Union in 1944, from the previously existing Polish I Corps as part of the People's Army of Poland . The First Army fought westward, subordinated to the Soviet 1st Belorussian Front, during the offensive against Germany that led to...
. After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the Kościuszko Squadron, and during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the 303rd Polish Squadron, were named for him. Two ships have been named for him: SS Kościuszko
SS Kosciuszko
The SS Kościuszko was a Polish passenger ship, named after Tadeusz Kościuszko.She was originally a liner Tsarina and later Lituania before becoming the Kościuszko and afterwards Empire Helford....
, and ORP Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko (a former United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
frigate that was transferred to Poland).
There is a Kościuszko Monument
Tadeusz Kosciuszko Monument, Kraków
Tadeusz Kościuszko Monument in Kraków , is one of the best known bronze monuments in Poland. It is the work of artists: Leonard Marconi, professor of Lviv University born in Warsaw, and his son in law, sculptor Antoni Popiel...
at the entrance to Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
's Wawel Castle
Wawel Castle
The Gothic Wawel Castle in Kraków in Poland was built at the behest of Casimir III the Great and consists of a number of structures situated around the central courtyard. In the 14th century it was rebuilt by Jogaila and Jadwiga of Poland. Their reign saw the addition of the tower called the Hen's...
, where he was laid to rest. Its replica was erected in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 1978 (pictured). A replica of the Brigadier General Thaddeus Kosciuszko
Brigadier General Thaddeus Kosciuszko
Brigadier General Thaddeus Kosciuszko is a bronze statue by Antoni Popiel.It was dedicated by William Howard Taft, on May 11, 1910.It is located in Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C.A copy of the monument was unveiled in Warsaw, Poland in 2010....
monument in Washington DC by Antoni Popiel
Antoni Popiel
Antoni Popiel was a Polish sculptor.-External links:...
was erected in 2010 in Warsaw, Poland on the other hand.
France: Polish political refugees in Montigny-sur-Loing
Montigny-sur-Loing
Montigny-sur-Loing is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* * * *...
settled in La Genevraye
La Genevraye
La Genevraye is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* * *...
at Castle Berville and participated actively in the life of the commune and that of La Genevraye
La Genevraye
La Genevraye is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* * *...
, including establishing a brickworks. In 1814 Kościuszko intervened to stop the Cossacks after the Russians had penetrated into Champagne-sur-Seine
Champagne-sur-Seine
Champagne-sur-Seine is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* * *...
. Subsequently a monument was built, Ancienne chapelle de Kosciusko. This symbolic tomb still stands at the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau
Forest of Fontainebleau
The forest of Fontainebleau is a mixed deciduous forest lying sixty kilometres southeast of Paris, France. It is located primarily in the arrondissement of Fontainebleau in the southwestern part of the department of Seine-et-Marne...
, where it receives an annual tribute of flowers.
United States: Kosciusko, Mississippi
Kosciusko, Mississippi
Kosciusko is a city in Attala County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,372 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Attala County....
and Kosciusko, Texas; Kosciusko County, Indiana
Kosciusko County, Indiana
Kosciusko County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. Census 2010 recorded the population at 77,358. The county seat is Warsaw.The county was formed in 1836. It was named after the Polish general Tadeusz Kościuszko, who served in the American Revolutionary War, and then returned to...
; Kosciusko Island
Kosciusko Island
Kosciusko Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska, USA. It lies near the northwest corner of Prince of Wales Island, just across the El Capitan Passage from the larger island. Kosciusko Island has a land area of 171.585 sq mi , making it the 38th largest island in...
in Alaska; New York State's two Kosciuszko Bridges (in Latham
Latham, New York
Latham is a hamlet in Albany County, New York, United States. It is located along U.S. Route 9 in the town of Colonie, a dense suburb north of Albany.-History:...
on I-87 just north of Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
; and on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway); Kosciuszko Street (BMT Jamaica Line)
Kosciuszko Street (BMT Jamaica Line)
Kosciuszko Street is a skip-stop station on the BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. It is served at all times by the J train. The Z train bypasses this station when it operates...
; the Kosciuszko Bridge that crosses the Naugatuck River in Naugatuck, Connecticut
Naugatuck, Connecticut
Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury, and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, which has its own post office, Straitsville on the...
; Kosciuszko Street in Brooklyn, New York; Kosciuszko Street in Rochester, New York
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
; Kosciuszko Street in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
; Kosciusko Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
; Kosciuszko Street in Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
; Kosciuszko Street in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania
Nanticoke, Pennsylvania
Nanticoke is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,465 at the 2010 census.-History:The name Nanticoke was derived from Nantego, the Indian tidewater people who moved here when their Maryland lands were spoiled for hunting by the colonial settlement in...
; Kosciuszko Way in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
; Kosciuszko Park in Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
; Kosciuszko Street in South Bend, Indiana, Kosciusko Street in Woburn, Massachusetts
Woburn, Massachusetts
Woburn is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 38,120 at the 2010 census. Woburn is located north of Boston, Massachusetts, and just south of the intersection of I-93 and I-95.- History :...
, General Thaddeus Kosciusko Way in downtown Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, Thaddeus Kosciuszko Memorial Highway as part of Route 9 in New Britain, Connecticut
New Britain, Connecticut
New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 miles southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 71,254....
, General Thaddeus Kosciusko Memorial Highway as part of State Route 257 and Thaddeus Kosciuszko Park in Dublin, Ohio
Dublin, Ohio
Dublin is a city in Franklin, Delaware, and Union counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 41,751 at the 2010 census. Dublin is a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Approximately 57,000 people live within the Dublin school district....
, and Kosciuszko Street in Bay City, Michigan
Bay City, Michigan
Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North...
.
Monmouth, Illinois
Monmouth, Illinois
Monmouth is a city in and the county seat of Warren County in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the home of Monmouth College and contains Monmouth Park, Harmon Park, North Park, Warfield Park, West Park, South Park, Garwood Park, Buster White Park and the Citizens Lake & Campground. It is the host...
, was to be called Kosciuszko after that name was drawn from a hat around 1831. It was decided that Kosciuszko would be too hard to pronounce, so Monmouth was selected as an alternative.
There is an equestrian statue of him at Kosciuszko Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, across from the Polish Basilica of St. Josaphat
Basilica of St. Josaphat
The Basilica of St. Josaphat, located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, is one of 62 minor basilicas found in the United States. In its grandeur and opulence it is an excellent example of the so-called Polish Cathedral style of church...
, and other statues, in Boston Public Garden
Boston Public Garden
The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park located in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent to Boston Common.-History:...
; Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
; Chicago's Museum Campus on Solidarity Drive; Detroit Michigan on Michigan Ave.; a bust in the U.S. Capitol as well as a statue Lafayette Park
President's Park
President's Park, located in Washington, D.C., encompasses the White House, a visitor center, Lafayette Square, and The Ellipse. President's Park was the original name of Lafayette Square. The current President's Park is administered by the National Park Service.-White House:Washington, D.C...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
; the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
; Williams Park
Williams Park
Williams Park is in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is the city's first park and encompasses an entire city block between 4th and 3rd Streets North and between 2nd and 1st Avenues North. Founded in 1888 and originally named "City Park," it was changed to Williams Park in honor of the...
in St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
; and Red Bud Springs Memorial Park in Kosciusko, Mississippi
Kosciusko, Mississippi
Kosciusko is a city in Attala County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 7,372 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Attala County....
; in Kosciuszko Park in East Chicago, Indiana; and (with Kazimierz Pułaski) in Poland, Ohio
Poland, Ohio
Poland is a village in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. The population was 26,866 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, a township and village named in honor of the two heroes of the American Revolution.
In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, his Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
home is preserved as Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, at 301 Pine Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, preserves the home of Tadeusz Kościuszko...
, administered as part of Independence National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park
Independence National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Philadelphia that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National Park Service, the park comprises much of the downtown historic...
; and a monument to him stands at the corner of Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a scenic boulevard that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Named for favorite son Benjamin Franklin, the mile-long Parkway cuts diagonally across the grid plan pattern of Center City's Northwest quadrant...
and 18th Street. Hamtramck, Michigan
Hamtramck, Michigan
Hamtramck is a city in Wayne County of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 22,423. Hamtramck is surrounded by the city of Detroit except for a small portion of the western border that touches the similarly surrounded city of Highland Park...
, has a Kosciuszko Middle School; Winona, Minnesota
Winona, Minnesota
Winona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, in the U.S. State of Minnesota. Located in picturesque bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf....
has Washington-Kosciuszko Elementary School; Chicago, a public park named for him in Logan Square
Logan Square, Chicago
Logan Square is one of the 77 city-designated community areas located on the near northwest side of the City of Chicago. The name, used here to describe the community area defined by U.S. census tracts, also applies to one of a number of smaller, more loosely defined residential neighborhoods...
; and East Chicago, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, a public park (with statue), a school and a neighborhood, all bearing Kosciuszko's name. Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania
Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania
Mount Pleasant is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It stands 45 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Population in 1900, 4,745 people; in 1910, 5,812 people; and in 1940, 5,824 people...
has a Polish Falcons
Polish Falcons
The Polish Falcons of America is a Polish fraternal organization founded in 1887 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, as the American branch of the Polish Gymnastic Society Sokół. It quickly expanded among the Polish community in North America, its local lodges called nests...
Sportsman's Club named after Kosciuszko. In Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
, there is a club called Kosciuszko Hall.
The home in Philadelphia, which is part of Independence National Historical Park, was actually his post-Revolutionary home. He lived there when he returned briefly to the USA.
The Kościuszko Polish Patriotic Social Society in Natrona
Natrona, Pennsylvania
Natrona is an unincorporated community in Harrison Township, Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located in Western Pennsylvania within the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, approximately northeast of Downtown Pittsburgh...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, is named after Kościuszko.
Switzerland: The Solothurn
Solothurn
The city of Solothurn is the capital of the Canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. The city also comprises the only municipality of the district of the same name.-Pre-roman settlement:...
house that was Kościuszko's last residence, now houses a Kościuszko Museum, open to the public at certain stated times.
There is also a road named for him in Vezia
Vezia
Vezia is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland.-Geography:Vezia has an area, , of . Of this area, or 48.9% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 28.1% is forested...
(canton Ticino, near Lugano
Lugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
), where his embalmed heart rested for some decades following his death, Kościuszko having in his will left it to Emilia Morosini, née Zeltner-Peri. His heart was later moved to the Polish Museum
Polish Museum, Rapperswil
The Polish Museum, Rapperswil, was founded in Rapperswil, Switzerland, on October 23, 1870, by Polish Count Władysław Broel-Plater, at the urging of Agaton Giller, as "a refuge for [Poland's] historic memorabilia dishonored and plundered in the [occupied Polish] homeland" and for the promotion of...
in Rapperswil
Rapperswil
Rapperswil-Jona is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Besides Rapperswil and Jona, which were separate municipalities until 2006, the municipality includes Bollingen, Busskirch, Curtiberg, Kempraten-Lenggis, Wagen, and Wurmsbach.-Today:On...
through the engagement of Arrigo Boito
Arrigo Boito
Arrigo Boito , aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito, pseudonym Tobia Gorrio, was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist and composer, best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello and Falstaff, and his own opera Mefistofele...
, composer and librettist to Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
, both of whom were friends of the Morosini-Negroni family.
Australia: Polish explorer Count Paweł Edmund Strzelecki named the highest mountain in Australia, Mount Kosciuszko
Mount Kosciuszko
Mount Kosciuszko is a mountain located in the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park. With a height of 2,228 metres above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia...
. The mountain is the central feature of Kosciuszko National Park
Kosciuszko National Park
Kosciuszko National Park covers 690,000 hectares and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko for which it is named, and Cabramurra the highest town in Australia...
.
There is a Kosciusko Avenue in Geelong, and one in Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, the capital of Australia.
Elsewhere: There are also streets named for Kościuszko in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
; downtown Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
(Ulica Tadeuša Košćuška); Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(Kosciuszkó Tádé utca); and Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
(Kosciuškos gatvė).
A small street is named for Kościuszko in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
A Kościuszko monument in Minsk, Belarus, was dedicated in 2005.
Quotes about Kościuszko
- Napoleon Bonaparte called Kościuszko “the hero of the North.”
- Thomas JeffersonThomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
called him "as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known." - French historian Jules MicheletJules MicheletJules Michelet was a French historian. He was born in Paris to a family with Huguenot traditions.-Early life:His father was a master printer, not very prosperous, and Jules assisted him in the actual work of the press...
called him “the last knight.” - Jewish cavalry commander Berek JoselewiczBerek JoselewiczBerek Joselewicz was a Jewish-Polish merchant and a colonel of the Polish Army during the Kościuszko Uprising. Joselewicz commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history.-Life:...
called Kościuszko “a messenger from God Almighty.” - Lord Byron: “That sound that crashes in the tyrant’s ear – Kosciuszko!”
- Catherine the Great called him a "beast.”
- Mikael Dziewanowski asserts that Kościuszko was a "pioneer of emancipation and a spokesman for racial democracy and justice in eighteenth-century America."
See also
- Kazimierz Pułaski (Anglicized as "Casimir Pulaski"), another Polish commander in the American Revolutionary War
- Kosciuszko FoundationKosciuszko FoundationKosciuszko Foundation is a charitable foundation based in New York City. It was created by Stephen Mizwa to fund programs that promote Polish-American intellectual and artistic exchange.-History:...
- List of Poles
- Mount KosciuszkoMount KosciuszkoMount Kosciuszko is a mountain located in the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park. With a height of 2,228 metres above sea level, it is the highest mountain in Australia...
, the highest mountain in Australia; named in Tadeusz's honour by Paweł Edmund Strzelecki
External links
- The Peasant Prince (Unknown story of Kosciuszko’s life, liberty and pursuit of tolerance during the age of revolution) Storozynski, Alex (2009). The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and The Age of Revolution, Thomas Dunne Books, ISBN 978-0-312-38802-7, ISBN 0-312-38802-0
- Thaddeus Kosciuszko as an Artist (book about the Polish-American hero.)
- Kosciuszko by Monica Mary Gardner
- The Kosciuszko Foundation. (Polish-American cultural foundation named for General Tadeusz Kosciuszko.)
- Mount Kosciuszko Inc. Webpage of Australia's Mount Kosciuszko Association (named for Australia's highest mountain peak).
- About.com feature on Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
- Polish Embassy in the United States: a tribute page.
- US Kosciuszko National Monument web site.
- Kosciuszko Polish-American Historical Society, Inc., of the Valley Ansonia - Derby - Shelton - Seymour, Connecticut.
- Kosciuszko monuments gallery.
- Unknown Kościuszko manuscript (Nieznany rękopis Tadeusza Kościuszki).
- Photographs of Mereszowszczyzna manor in Belarus.
- A humorous biographical comic about Kościuszko.
- Will of Thaddeus Kosciuszko.
Return to top of page.