When we arrived at our hotel in Philadelphia, we saw this
beautiful statue and wondered – who is this man? Then when we were in Washington,
DC, another statue of him existed in Lafayette Park. Why does this man have a
statue in Philadelphia and in Washington, DC?
His name is Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
Tadeusz Kosciuszko was born in Poland on February 4,
1746. He was a colonel in the
Continental Army. Because of his dedication, he was promoted to Brigadier
General. He also became a United States citizen before he returned to Poland to
fight in the Uprising of 1794. He came
to America and volunteered to fight on October 18, 1776. He was made a Colonel of Engineers. Soon he
was the head engineer. After reading the
Declaration of Independence he met Thomas Jefferson. They became great friends
and he visited Jefferson many times during his life.
His first task was to fortify Philadelphia. He helped build
Fort Billingsport and then fortified the banks of the Delaware River. His
ingenious work kept the British from capturing Philadelphia by water.
Unfortunately, Philadelphia was lost in a land battle. (they should have
enlisted his help fortifying the land around Philadelphia, too.) Later he was
sent to General Gates and worked on building camps along the Canadian
border. He helped restore Fort
Ticonderoga. He made several suggestions to place artillery on Sugar Loaf Hill that
General St. Clair ignored. When Burgoyne
captured the fort, he did exactly what Kosiuszko suggested and had complete
control of the area. The Battle of
Saratoga proved to be a turning point in the war. France later joined forces
with the Patriots because now they believed the Patriots had a chance of
winning.
When Gates took over, he enlisted Kosciuszko to fortify
Albany. He made the area nearly impregnable in every direction. This helped
turn the tide in the Patriot’s favor. He
next worked on West Point. It became known as the American Gibraltor. It was
his plans that Benedict Arnold tried to sneak to the British when he turned
traitor. But like any good tactical genius, he destroyed the original plans so
Arnold actually had a fake. He was the one who suggested to General Washington
that West Point become a military academy.
When Green took over for Gates, Kosciuszko was called to
assist in the Southern campaigns. He fortified positions, scouted river
crossings, siting camps, constructing bateaux, and developed contacts. His work
helped the Patriots beat the British. If not for him, the Patriots would not
have crossed the River Dan and rescued them from Cornwallis who could not
follow. General Greene said he “was the most helpful and congenial companions.”
He was injured during the Ninety Six campaign. His only wound during his years
of service. After helping to recapture Charleston, South Carolina, he remained
there for the remainder of the war.
On October 13, 1783 he was raised to the rank of Brigadier
General. He also received citizenship, $15,000 and a grant of 500 acres near
Columbus, Ohio. He was admitted into the
Society of the Cincinnati and the American Philosophical Society. When he returned to Poland, he wrote a will
and left it with Thomas Jefferson. When
he died, his land was to be sold and the money was to be used to buy the
freedom of black slaves and then educate them. Unfortunately, none of this occurred,
his estate was squandered by a man using it for his own purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment