The LuLac Edition #5, 657, May 16th, 2026

 

THADDEUS KOSCIUSZKO

TRUE ADOPTED SON OF LIBERTY

Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure  Kosciuszko  was a Polish military engineer, statesman, and military leader who became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and Belarus.[4][5][6][7][8] He fought in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's struggles against Russia and Prussia, and on the U.S. side in the American Revolutionary War. As Supreme Commander of the Polish National Armed Forces, he led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising.

Kościuszko was born in February 1746, in a manor house   and at  age 20, he graduated from the Corps of Cadets in Warsaw, Poland. After the start of the War of the Bar Confederation in 1768, Kościuszko moved to France in 1769 to study. He returned to the Commonwealth in 1774, two years after the First Partition, and was a tutor in Józef Sylwester Sosnowski's household. In 1776, Kościuszko moved to North America, where he took part in the American Revolutionary War as a colonel in the Continental Army. An accomplished military architect, he designed and oversaw the construction of state-of-the-art fortifications, including those at West Point, New York. In 1783, in recognition of his services, the Continental Congress promoted him to brigadier general.

On learning of the American Revolution, Kościuszko, a man of revolutionary aspirations, sympathetic to the American cause and an advocate of human rights, sailed for the Americas in June 1776 along with other foreign officers, likely with the help of a French supporter of the American revolutionaries, Pierre Beaumarchais.  After finally arriving in Philadelphia (after a Caribbean shipwreck) he sought out Benjamin Franklin at his print shop; offering to take engineering subject exams (in lieu of any letters of recommendation), he received a high mark on a geometry exam and Franklin's recommendation. On 30 August 1776, Kościuszko submitted an application to the Second Continental Congress at the Pennsylvania State House, and was assigned to the Continental Army the next day.

Kościuszko's first task was building fortifications at Fort Billingsport in Paulsboro, New Jersey, to protect the banks of the Delaware River and prevent a possible British advance up the river to Philadelphia.[39] He initially served as a volunteer in the private employ of Benjamin Franklin, but on 18 October 1776, Congress commissioned him a colonel of engineers in the Continental Army.

In spring 1777, Kościuszko was attached to the Northern Army under Major General Horatio Gates, arriving at the Canada–U.S. border in May 1777. Subsequently, posted to Fort Ticonderoga, he reviewed the defenses of what had ben one of the most formidable fortresses in North America. His surveys prompted him to strongly recommend the construction of a battery on Sugar Loaf, a high point overlooking the fort. His prudent recommendation, with which his fellow engineers concurred, was turned down by the garrison commander, Brigadier General Arthur St. Clair.

This proved a tactical blunder: when a British army under Major General John Burgoyne arrived in July 1777, Burgoyne did exactly what Kościuszko had warned of, 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 at the heels of the outnumbered and exhausted Continentals as they fled south. Major General Philip Schuyler, desperate to put distance between his men and their pursuers, ordered Kościuszko to delay the enemy.  Kościuszko designed an engineer's solution: his men felled trees, dammed streams, and destroyed bridges and causeways.Encumbered by their huge supply train, the British began to bog down, giving the Americans the time needed to safely withdraw across the Hudson River.

Gates tapped Kościuszko to survey the country between the opposing armies, choose the most defensible position, and fortify it. Finding just such a spot near Saratoga, overlooking the Hudson at Bemis Heights, Kościuszko laid out a robust array of defenses, nearly impregnable. His judgment and meticulous attention to detail frustrated the British attacks during the Battle of Saratoga,  and Gates accepted the surrender of Burgoyne's force there on 16 October 1777. The dwindling British army had been dealt a sound defeat, turning the tide to American advantage.[Kościuszko's work at Saratoga received great praise from 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."

At some point in 1777, Kościuszko composed a polonaise and scored it for the harpsichord. Named for him, and with lyrics by Rajnold Suchodolski, it later became popular with Polish patriots during the November 30.th uprising. In March 1778, Kościuszko arrived at West Point, New York, and spent more than two years strengthening the fortifications and improving the stronghold's defenses. It was these defenses that the American General Benedict Arnold subsequently attempted to surrender to the British when he defected. Soon after Kościuszko finished fortifying West Point, in August 1780, General George Washington granted Kościuszko's request to transfer to combat duty with the Southern Army. Kościuszko's West Point fortifications were widely praised as innovative for the time. Kościuszko subsequently helped fortify the American bases in North Carolina, before taking part in several smaller operations in the final year of hostilities, harassing British foraging parties near Charleston, South Carolina. After the death of his friend, Colonel John Laurens, Kościuszko became engaged in these operations, taking over Laurens's intelligence network in the area. He commanded two cavalry squadrons and an infantry unit, and his last known battlefield command of the war occurred at James Island, South Carolina, on 14 November 1782. In what has been described as the Continental Army's final armed action of the war,  he was nearly killed as his small force was routed. A month later, he was among the Continental troops that reoccupied Charleston.  Having not been paid in his seven years of service, in late May 1783, Kościuszko decided to collect the salary owed to him.[62] That year, he was asked by Congress to supervise the fireworks during the 4 July celebrations at Princeton, New Jersey. On 13 October 1783, Congress promoted him to brigadier general, but he still had not received his back pay. Many other officers and soldiers were in the same situation. While waiting for his pay, unable to finance a voyage back to Europe, Kościuszko, like several others, lived on money borrowed from the Polish–Jewish banker Haym Solomon. Eventually, he received a certificate for 12,280 dollars, at 6%, to be paid on 1 January 1784 (equivalent to ~$323,000, paid as installments ~$19,400 a month in 2022), and the right to 500 acres (202.34 ha; 0.78 sq mi) of land, but only if he chose to settle in the United States.

For the winter of 1783–84, his former commanding officer, General Greene, invited Kościuszko to stay at his mansion. Returning to Poland in 1784, Kościuszko became a major general in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Army

. In 1794, he led the Kościuszko Uprising, a national revolt against Russian and Prussian control, aiming to defend Polish independence and promote social reforms

. The uprising ended in defeat at the Battle of Maciejowice, and Kościuszko was captured and imprisoned in St. Petersburg until released by Tsar Paul I

. He was forced to pledge not to return to Poland and eventually traveled to the United States.  Kosciuszko and Jefferson developed a deep mutual respect. Jefferson famously called him “as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known”, praising his dedication to liberty for all, not just the few or wealthy Monticello+1. Their correspondence spanned over two decades, covering politics, European affairs, and personal matters. Jefferson even sent Kosciuszko to France to help manage American interests, and the two shared a commitment to republican values.

Thaddeus (Tadeusz) Kosciuszko (1746–1817) was a Polish military engineer, revolutionary, and national hero whose life embodied the ideals of liberty and self-determination. Born in present-day Belarus, he studied at the Royal Military Academy in Warsaw and trained in artillery and engineering in France Monticello.

Kosciuszko arrived in Philadelphia in 1776 to join the American cause, shortly after the Declaration of Independence. The Continental Congress appointed him colonel of engineers, where he designed and built critical fortifications, including those that helped secure the American victory at Saratoga and later strengthened West Point on the Hudson River Monticello+1. His expertise in military engineering was vital to the Continental Army’s defensive capabilities

Kosciuszko and Jefferson developed a deep mutual respect. Jefferson famously called him “as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known”, praising his dedication to liberty for all, not just the few or wealthy Monticello+1. Their correspondence spanned over two decades, covering politics, European affairs, and personal matters. Jefferson even sent Kosciuszko to France to help manage American interests, and the two shared a commitment to republican values Abbeville Institute.

After the American Revolution, Kosciuszko returned to Poland, where he led resistance against Russian and Prussian forces. In 1794, he was badly wounded at the Battle of Maciejowice and imprisoned in St. Petersburg. In 1796, Czar Paul I granted him amnesty in exchange for his promise not to return to Poland. He arrived in Philadelphia in 1797, where he met Jefferson again Monticello.

Kosciuszko is remembered as a national hero in Poland, the United States, and Belarus for his military leadership, engineering genius, and unwavering defense of liberty. His story is emblematic of the transatlantic struggle for independence and the shared ideals of the American and Polish revolutions Monticello+1

. Kościuszko's first funeral was held on 19 October 1817, at a formerly Jesuit church in Solothurn. As news of his death spread, Masses and memorial services were held in partitioned Poland.[130] His embalmed body was deposited in a crypt of the Solothurn church. In 1818, Kościuszko's body was transferred to Kraków, arriving at St. Florian's Church on 11 April 1818. On 22 June 1818, or 23 June 1819 accounts vary), to the tolling of the Sigismund Bell and the firing of cannon, his body was placed in a crypt at Wawel Cathedral, a pantheon of Polish kings and national heroes.

Kościuszko's internal organs, which had been removed during embalming, were separately interred in a graveyard at Zuchwil, near Solothurn. Kościuszko's organs remain there to this day; a large memorial stone was erected in 1820, next to a Polish memorial chapel. 

However, his heart was not interred with the other organs but instead kept in an urn at the Polish Museum in Rapperswil, Switzerland. The heart, along with the rest of the Museum's holdings, were repatriated back to Warsaw in 1927, where the heart now reposes in a chapel at the Royal Castle. (Wikipedia, Jefferson Foundation)