Posted on 04/03/2007 2:46:42 PM PDT by alli133
America's Eternal Indebtedness to Poland!
And don’t forget Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
You left out Thaddeus Kosciuszko, who has a Mississippi city http://www.cityofkosciusko.com/history.html and an Indiana County http://www.kcgov.com/ named for him.
Pulaski has a county and a town in Virginia http://www.pulaskicounty.org/ http://www.pulaskitown.org/ , a town in Tennessee http://www.pulaski-tn.com/ , and a county in Arkansas http://www.co.pulaski.ar.us/
Outlawed by Russia for his actions on behalf of Polish liberty, he traveled to Paris where he met Benjamin Franklin. Franklin convinced him to support the colonies against England in the American Revolution.
Pulaski impressed with the ideals of a new nation struggling to be free, volunteered his services. Franklin wrote to George Washington describing the young Pole as an officer, renowned throughout Europe for the courage and bravery he displayed in defense of his country¹s freedom.
In 1777, Pulaski arrived in Philadelphia where he met General Washington, Commander-in -Chief of the Continental Army. Later at Brandywine, he came to the aid of Washington's forces and distinguished himself as a brilliant military tactician. For his efforts, Congress appointed him Brigadier-General in charge of Four Horse Brigades. Then again, at the battles of Germantown and Valley Forge, Pulaski's knowledge of warfare assisted Washington and his men.
Later in 1778, through Washington's intervention, Congress approved the establishment of the Cavalry and put Pulaski at its head. The Father of the American Cavalry demanded much of his men and trained them in tested cavalry tactics. He used his own personal finances, when money from Congress was scarce, in order to assure his forces of the finest equipment and personal safety.
Pulaski and his legion were then ordered to defend Little Egg Harbor in New Jersey and Minisink on the Delaware and then south to Charleston, South Carolina. However, it was at the battle of Savannah in 1779 that General Pulaski, riding forth into battle on his horse, fell to the ground mortally wounded by the blast of cannon. It is said, the General's enemies were so impressed with his courage, that they spared his life and permitted him to be carried from the battlefield. However, two days later, on October 11 Pulaski died.
As for "eternal indebtedness," the United States is much more indebted to France, a country with which the United States has often had strained ties, easily the most powerful foreign country to help the Americans (motives aside). Yet even there, helping France in World War 1, and liberating it in World War 2 probably repaid that debt.
Man is only eternally indebted to God.
I almost left out Fort Pulaski, Georgia. http://www.nps.gov/fopu/
ping
A proud Pole here living just off of Pulaski Highway (Rt 40) North Of Baltimore Maryland.
If the title is included, one sentence and a phrase, and a statement and an opinion.
Wow, were the democrats cutting and running back then too?
Hero of America and Poland
Thaddeus Kosciuszko was born in Poland on February 4, 1746, son of Ludwik and Tekla Kosciuszko. He attended school in Lubieszow and then the Cadet Academy in Warsaw before continuing his engineering studies in Paris, France. By the time Kosciuszko arrived in America from Poland in 1776, he was a skilled engineer who came to offer his services to the American colonies in their struggle for independence. On October 18, 1776 Kosciuszko was commissioned as Colonel of Engineers by the Continental Congress and began his outstanding service of fortifying battle sites, many of which became turning points in America's fight for independence against the British.
Shortly after arriving in Philadelphia in 1776, Kosciuszko read the Declaration of Independence and was moved to tears because he discovered in this single, concise document everything in which he truly believed. When he discovered that Thomas Jefferson was responsible for drafting the Declaration, he felt compelled to meet him. A few months later, while moving south with the Continental Army, Kosciuszko stopped in Virginia to meet with Jefferson. After a very warm reception, the two men spent the day comparing philosophies and eventually became the best of friends.
In the early days of the war, Kosciuszko helped to fortify the Philadelphia waterfront at Fort Mercer. Shortly after, he was transferred to New York, where he helped with fortifications along the Hudson and planned the defense for Saratoga. The Battle of Saratoga became known as one of military history's most famous struggles for independence and proved to be a turning point in the war.
In 1778, Kosciuszko was made chief engineer of West Point, New York. This fortification became known as the American Gibraltar because it was unable to be penetrated by the British Army. Eventually West Point became a military academy.
In 1783, Kosciuszko was appointed Brigadier General and was awarded the Cincinnati Order Medal by General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. Washington also presented Kosciuszko with two pistols and a sword as gifts for his outstanding service to America.
After the colonies won their independence, Kosciuszko returned to Poland in 1784 to help his own country win independence from the surrounding European powers. Kosciuszko was the national hero of the 1794 insurrection. After the successful battle of Raclawice on April 4, 1794, first Warsaw and then Wilno were liberated from enemy occupation. Kosciuszko was wounded in the failed revolt and taken prisoner by the Russians. Upon his release from prison, he returned to America on August 18, 1797, which he considered his "second home." He received a hero's welcome when he reached the Philadelphia waterfront along the Delaware River. Afterward, he secured a residence at 3rd and Pine Streets, which is now the Kosciuszko House, a national memorial to this hero of the American Revolution.
Kosciuszko was admired by general and foot soldier alike, both for his technical knowledge and for his sympathetic understanding and generosity. Jefferson wrote of Kosciuszko, "He is as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known." Tragically, Kosciuszko, a devoted champion of the poor and oppressed, never witnessed the arrival of freedom in his homeland, Poland.
Kosciuszko was a firm believer of equality and requested, before leaving the United States for the second time, that the money from his estate be used to buy freedom for slaves, help to educate them and provide them with enough land to support themselves.
Kosciuszko spent the last years of his life in Switzerland, where on October 15, 1817 he died at the age of 72. He is buried in Wawel Castle, in Krakow, Poland, among the tombs of the Polish Kings.
In 1828 a Corps of Cadets erected a monument to Kosciuszko at West Point, where his work was of vital importance to America in the Revolution.
You can learn more about General Thaddeus Kosciuszko when you visit the Kosciuszko House, Third and Pine Streets, or the Polish American Cultural Center Museum, 308 Walnut Street, both in historic Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
There is a Pulsaki county in Georgia, also!
Here’s a thread on Kosciuszko
The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Thaddeus Kosciuszko - Jul. 26th, 2004
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/1178523/posts
And one on Pulaski:
The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Casimir Pulaski - Mar. 15th, 2003
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-vetscor/865263/posts
Got me on that one. I should have known that
http://pulaskicounty.georgia.gov/03/home/0,2230,8969409,00.html
Since both Pulaski and Kosciusko “volunteered their services,” why would anyone refer to “Polish mercenaries?”
Everyone in the Western world also owes a debt to Jan Sobieski for his crucial role in throwing the Islamic Turks back from Vienna. The Poles are also backing us in Iraq and standing up to the Russian fascist Putin.
Fort Leonard Wood is located in Pulaski County, Missouri.
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