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During the American Revolution General Casmir Pulaski organized a cavalry group which was called "Pulaski's Legion" or the Polish Legion.

Of all the Polish officers who took part in the American War of Independence, Casimir Pulaski was the most romantic and professionally the most prominent. He was born into the middle gentry at Warka, Poland, March 4, 1747. His family was rich and had enhanced their fortune as clients of the Czartoryski family with whose nationalist policies it was identified. His education was typical of its time, he learned a smattering of languages and manners in the service of the Duke of Courland. It was here that young Pulaski first came into contact with the interference of foreign powers in Polish affairs, that lead to the first great act of his life.

Joseph Pulaski, Casimir's father impatient with the Russian interference precipitated an armed movement called the Confederation of Bar in 1768. Casimir was one of the founding members and on his father's death in 1769, carried the burden of military command. His greatest success was in the taking and holding of Jasna Gora at Czestochowa, the holist place in Poland. His brilliant defense against the Russians thrilled all of Europe. Unfortunately soon afterward he was implicated in a plot to kill the Polish King and forced into exile.

Burdened by debts Pulaski was found in Paris by Benjamin Franklin and enlisted in for American cause. Pulaski joined George Washington's army just before the battle of Brandywine. Acting under Washington's orders without commission Pulaski lead the scouting party that discovered the British flanking movement and the American escape route. He then gathered all available cavalry to cover the retreat, leading a dashing charge that surprised the British and allowed the American army to escape. Congress rewarded Pulaski with a commission as brigadier general and command of all American cavalry. He spent the winter of 1777-8 training and outfitting the cavalry units but in March, he gave way before the intrigues of his jealous officers. He requested and Washington approved the formation of an independent corp of cavalry and light infantry of foreign volunteers.

Pulaski's Legion became the training ground for American cavalry officers including "Light Horse" Harry Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee, and the model for Lee's and Armand's legions. Thirteen Polish officers served under Pulaski in the legion. The best assessment of Pulaski's legion came from a British officer who called them simply "the best damned cavalry the rebels ever had". In 1779 Pulaski and his legion were sent south to the besieged city of Charleston where he immediately raised morale and assisted in breaking the siege. A joint operation with the French was planed to recapture the city of Savannah. Against Pulaski's advice the French commander ordered an assault against the strongest point of the British defense, Seeing the allied troops falter Pulaski galloped forward to rally the men, when he was mortally wounded by British cannon shot. He died two days later and was buried at sea.

Pulaski was the romantic embodiment of the flashing saber and the trumpets calling to the charge, and that is how history has remembered him. The larger-Than-life aspect of his death has often obscured his steadier, quieter, and more lasting services. It was in the drudgery of forging a disciplined American cavalry that could shadow and report on British movements, in the long distance forage raids to feed and clothe the troops at Valley Forge, and the bitter hit and run rearguard actions that covered retreating American armies that slowed British pursuit, that gave Pulaski the title of "Father of the American cavalry".

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Casimir Pulaski - Mar. 15th, 2003

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Historians are unsure how Pulaski died. The popular account holds that Pulaski rallied the troops in a cavalry charge upon hearing that a fellow officer was hit in the leg by a musket ball. During the charge, Pulaski was struck in the thigh by grapeshot and fell from his horse. Within days, gangrene claimed the war hero's life. Historians continue to debate what happened to Pulaski's body after his death. One traditional account is that Pulaski died aboard the American ship Wasp and is buried at sea. A second claim is that he was first buried at Greenwich Plantation in Georgia and later reburied under a monument in one of the downtown Savannah squares. September 27, 1996, bones were disinterred from under the Pulaski Monument in Monterey Square. To date, the bone analysis is inconclusive

Casimir Pulaski Commemorative Stamp

On Jan. 16, 1931, the U.S. Post Office Department issued this commemorative stamp honoring Polish patriot Casimir Pulaski, who fought with American forces during the American Revolution. The stamp was first released in Savannah, where he died, as well as in eleven American cities with large Polish populations.

The 2-cent stamp was released to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Casimir Pulaski, who was mortally wounded in the siege of Savannah. However, as Pulaski died on Sept. 11, 1779, the stamp came over a year after the sesquicentennial of his death. However, on the bicentennial of Pulaski's death in 1979, the Postal Service released a postal card showing him on horseback

I see Pulaski as an exemplar of the Polish fighting aristocrat. A lot more of those guys left in Poland, way more than any "American" television talking head would ever believe. Bunch left in America, too.

I choose to believe that Pulaski made the charge that killed him to check the British line for a few moments so that the French could be rallied. The British practice in those days was to charge with bayonet when the enemy disarray was at the proper stage, driving them from the field, massacreing them. I do not see a real fighting man like Brigadier Pulaski (the rank is about right?) putting his troops at risk except for good reason.

Poland used to be very large. At the time of Tannenburg (Grunwald) (15 July 1410), under King Jagiello, Poland included most of Belorussia and Eastern Ukraine all the way to Rumania. Well, nearly! Jagiello was a Lithuanian convert to the Church, and the Confederation spread well into modern Finland. As I recall, of course!

Click on the above picture to link to the Second Annual Viking Kitties Lightning Strike / Free Republic Online Independence Day Fireworks Display. It starts July 1 and continues through July 4th!

USS Casimir Pulaski (SSBN-633)

Layfayette class nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
Displacement. 7325 tons (surf.), 8251 tons (subm.)
Lenght. 425'
Beam. 33'
Speed. 16k (surf.), 21k (subm.)
Test depth. 1300'
Armament. 16 missile tubes, 4-21" tt. fwd.
Complement. 14 officers - 126 enlisted men (each in 2 crews)

USS Casimir Pulaski (SSBN-633) was launched on 1 February 1964 and commissioned 14 August 1964, the 28th Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine, and the first ship of the line to bear the name. Named for Brigadier General Count Casimir Pulaski, a hero of the Revolutionary War, she was sponsored by Mrs. John A. Gronouski, the wife of the then Postmaster General of the United States, and commnanded by Captain R. L. J. Long, later COMSUBLANT, DCNO (submarines), and CINCPACFLT.

Pulaski sailed on her first patrol from Charleston, SC, in March 1965, and deployed to Holy Loch, Scotland. After completion of 20 Polaris A3 patrols, she entered overhaul in Groton, CT, for refueling end conversion to carry the Poseidon C3 missile, the fifth submarine to be so converted.

In October 1971, Pulaski deployed with Poseidon missiles to resume patrols from Holy Loch. After the completion of six additional patrols, she participated in the Operational Test (OT) Program by reconfiguring for test, and then test firing four Poseidon missiles in the Atlantic Test Range successfully.

In July 1974, Pulaski was awarded the Submarine Squadron Fourteen Battle Efficiency "E," the first ever awarded to an SSBN. In late 1980. after the completion of a total of 52 strategic deterrent patrols, she entered overhaul in Newport News, VA, for refueling and backfit to carry the new Trident I C4 missile. She deployed in June 1983, now assigned to Submarine Squadron Sixteen in Kings Bay, GA. In June 1985, Pulaski Gold conducted a flawless Follow-On Operational Test (FOT), reconfiguring and successfully launching four Trident I missiles on the Atlantic Test Range.

In October 1985, Pulaski Gold was awarded the Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy, Emblematic of the unit in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet making the most improvement in battle efficiency during fiscail year 1985.

In October 1986, Pulaski (both crews) was awarded the Commander Submarine Squadron Sixteen Battle Efficiency "E," and the U.S. Atlantic Fleet Outstanding Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine Performance Award for fiscal year 1986. August 1987 found Pulaski completing a very successful Extended Refit Period conducted by Charleston Naval Shipyard in Kings Bay, Georgia. The ship's systems were extensively refurbished to enable extension of her useful life and time between shipyard overhauls.

Pulaski was decommissioned on 7 March 1994. She was disposed of through the Ship Recycling Program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, on 21 October 1994.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on July 03:
1423 Louis XI king of France (1461-83)
1567 Samuel de Champlain explorer (Lake Champlain)
1731 Samuel Huntington (Gov-Ct), Continental Congress pres
1738 John Singleton Copley Mass, finest colonial American artist
1828 John Austin Wharton, Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1865
1854 Leos Jan cek Hukvaldy Moravia Czech, composer (Foster Suite)
1861 Peter Jackson heavyweight, boxing hall of famer
1874 Sir Apirana Turupa Ngata Kawaka NZ, Maori political/cultural leader
1883 Alfred Korzybski Poland, scientist (Science & Sanity)
1883 Franz Kafka Czech, author (Metamorphosis, Trial, Amerika)
1886 Raymond A Spruance, US admiral/fleet commander/ambassador
1893 Mississippi John Hurt, Played the straight natural Blues
1906 George Sanders Russia, actor (All About Eve-Academy Award 1950)
1909 Earl L Butz US Secretary of Agriculture (1971-76); a real Butz
1913 Dorothy Kilgallen Chic Ill, columnist (What's My Line?)
1925 Tony Curtis [Bernard Schwartz] Bronx NY, actor (Some Like it Hot)
1930 Pete Fountain New Orleans, jazz clarinetist (Lawrence Welk 1957-59)
1935 Harrison H "Jack" Schmitt Santa Rita NM, astronaut (Apollo 17)
1937 Tom Stoppard playwright (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern-1968 Tony)
1940 Fontella Bass St Louis Mo, vocalist (Rescue Me)
1941 Gloria Allred feminist attorney
1943 Geraldo Rivera aka Gerry Rivers, nosey newsman (Geraldo)
1943 Norman E Thagard Marianna Fl, MD/astronaut (STS 7, 51-B, 30, 42)
1945 Michael Cole Madison Wisc, actor (Pete-Mod Squad)
1948 Paul Berrere rocker (Little Feat-Truck Stop Girl)
1949 Jan Smithers N Hollywood Calif, actress (Bailey-WKRP)
1951 Jean-Claude 'baby Doc' Duvalier deposed Haitian president-for-life
1962 Tom Cruise Syracuse, actor (Risky Business, Color of Money, Rainman)
1979 Lauren Alviti, Miss Rhode Island Teen USA (1997)

Deaths which occurred on July 03:
0683 Leo II, Pope (681-83), dies
1570 Antonio Paleario, Italian humanist, executed by inquisition at 67
1642 Maria de' Medici, French queen-mother, dies at about 69
1778 Jean-Jacques Rousseau, French writer/composer (Pygmalion), dies

1862 William Barksdale, Confederate brig-general, dies in battle at 40
1863 Alonzo Hersford Cushing, US Union lt, dies in battle at about 22
1863 Lewis Addison Armistead, Conf brig-gen Gettysburg/dies in battle at 46
1863 Richard Brooke Garnett, US Confederate brig-gen, dies in battle at 45
1863 Samuel Kosciuzko Zook, US Union general-major, dies in battle at 40

1863 Little Crow, [Ta-oya-te-duta], Santee Sioux indian chief, dies
1971 Jim Morrison rocker (Doors), dies of heart failure in Paris
1972 Mississippi Fred McDowell, Blues singer, dies at 68
1981 Ross Martin actor (Mr Lucky, Wild Wild West), dies at 61
1986 Rudy Vallee singer (Vagabond Dreams), dies at 84
1989 Andrei Gromyko Soviet diplomat, dies just short of his 80th birthday
1989 Jim Backus actor (voice of Mr. Magoo, Gilligan's Island), dies at 76 of pneumonia
1992 Marc Tannenbaum, rabbi (only Jew to attend Vatican II), dies at 66
1993 "Curly" Joe DeRita, last of Three Stooges, dies of pneumonia at 83

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1966 GAGE ROBERT H.---COLUMBUS OH.
1966 PHILLIPS DAVID J. JR.---MIAMI BEACH FL.
[REFNO 0382 LIVE POW REPORT 1984]
1966 RENO RALPH J.---FAYETTEVILLE NC.
1967 SEYMOUR LEO E.---TOWANDA PA.
1972 CUTHBERT STEPHEN H.---OAKLAND CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED...I.D. 12/20/90]
1972 MARSHALL MARION A.---UPPER MARLBORO MD.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0323 Battle at Adrianopolis: Flavius Julius Crispus' beats emperor Licinius
0683 St Leo II ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0987 Hugo Capet crowned king of France
1608 City of Quebec founded by Samuel de Champlain
1187 Crusaders enter Tiberias
1661 Portugal gives Tanger and Bombay to English King Charles II
1754 George Washington surrenders to French, Ft Necessity (7 Years' War)

1775 Washington takes command of Continental Army at Cambridge, Mass

1778 British forces massacre 360 men, women & children in Wyoming, Pa
1806 Michael Keens exhibits 1st cultivated strawberry
1814 Americans capture Fort Erie, Canada
1816 French frigate "Medusa" runs aground off Cap Blanc. Gross incompetence kills 150 in calm seas
1819 1st savings bank in US (Bank of Savings in NYC) opens its doors
1839 1st state normal school in US opens, Lexington, Mass, with 3 students
1841 John Couch Adams decides to determine the position of an unknown planet by irregularities it causes in the motion of Uranus
1848 Slaves freed in Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands)
1852 Congress authorizes US's 2nd mint (San Francisco, Calif)
1853 Commodore Matthew Perry reach Japan
1861 Colonal Jackson receives his commission as brigadier general
1861 Pony Express arrives in SF with overland letters from NY
1861 Martinsburg, VA - Confederate forces pull out before US advance
1863 Battle of Donaldsonville, LA
1863 Battle of Gettysburg Pa ends, major victory for North
1864 Battle of Chattahoochie River, GA [until Jul 9]
1864 Harpers Ferry, WV - Federals evacuate in face of Early's advance
1871 Jesse James robs bank in Corydon, Iowa ($45,000)
1884 Dow Jones published it's 1st stock avg
1886 1st NY Tribune printing using 1st commercial linotype machine
1886 In Germany, Karl Benz drives 1st automobile
1890 Idaho admitted as 43rd US state
1895 Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of Black Peter" (BG)
1898 American troops land on a deserted Wake Island
1898 Joshua Slocum completes 1st solo circumnavigation of the globe
1898 US Navy defeats Spanish fleet in Santiago harbor, Cuba
1913 Common tern banded in Maine; found dead in 1919 in Africa (1st bird known to have crossed the Atlantic)
1915 US military forces occupy Haiti, remain until 1934
1916 1st of 3 fatal shark attacks occurred near NJ shore (4 die)
1929 Dunlop Latex Development Laboratories made foam rubber
1930 Veterans Administration created
1932 1st Sunday game at Fenway Park, Yanks beat Red Sox 13-2
1932 John McGraw retires from baseball
1934 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1367 Nongoma
1934 FDIC pays off 1st insured depositors, Fon du Lac Bank, East Peoria IL
1939 Ernst Heinkel demonstrates 800-kph rocket plane to Hitler
1939 Lou Gehrig day; Gehrig makes "luckiest man" speech

1940 British Royal Navy sinks French fleet in North Africa

1942 Germany troop march into Sebastopol
1947 252,288 people (record) pass through Grand Central Station, NYC
1947 Cleveland Indians purchase Larry Dolby, the 1st black in the AL
1948 Kidnapper Caryl Chessman sentenced to death
1950 1st time US & North Korean forces clash in the Korean War
1962 Algerian Revolution against French ends (Algeria gains ind on 7/5)
1966 Brave pitcher Tony Cloninger, is 1st NL to hit 2 grand slams in a game
1966 Race riots in Omaha Nebraska
1968 41øF lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in July
1968 Cleve Indian Luis Tiant strikes out 19 Minn Twins
1969 78,000 attend Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI
1970 200,000 attend Atlanta Pop Festival
1970 L Chernykh discovers asteroid #3702
1973 Brothers Jim & Gaylord Perry face each other for only time, Tigers beat Indians 5-4, as Gaylord loses

1976 Israel launches rescue of 103 Air France crew & passengers being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers

1978 Supreme Court rules 5-4, FCC had a right to reprimand NY radio station WBAI for broadcasting George Carlin's "Filthy Words"
1983 Calvin Smith of US becomes fastest man alive (9.93 s for 100 m)
1984 Supreme Court rules Jaycees may be forced to admit women as members
1985 CBS announces a 21% stock buy-back to thwart Ted Turner's takeover
1986 Pres Reagan presided over relighting of renovated Statue of Liberty
1987 2 men became 1st hot-air balloon travelers to cross Atlantic
1988 US Vincennes in Strait of Hormoez shoots Iran Airbus A300, kills 290
1989 Supreme Court rules states do not have to provide funds for abortions
1989 The movie "Batman," set record of quickest $100 million (10 days)
1999 President Bill Clinton, acting to head off potential problems with the safety of imported food, said he was ordering inspectors at American ports to brand all unsafe and rejected food products as refused by the U.S.
(Thank god! Someone finally had the nerve to force the inspectors to not let bad/unsafe foods into America)
2000 A 1970's steel observation tower that preservationists said had desecrated the battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania was demolished.

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Algeria : Independence Day (1962)
Idaho : Admission Day (1890)
Iowa : Independence Sunday (Sunday)
Caribbean Common Market : Caribbean Day (1973)(Monday)
Lesotho : Family Day (Monday)
Zambia : Heroes Day (Monday)
Carpenter Ant Awareness Week (Day 6)
US : Compliment-Your-Mirror Day
US : Disobedience Day.
US : Honor America Days (thru 7-4)
Let Freedom Ring Day!
National Purposeful Parenting Month

Religious Observances
RC : Feast of St Thomas, apostle
RC : Commemoration of St Leo II, 80th pope (681-83)

Religious History
1756 English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'One who lives anddies in error, or in dissent from our Church, may yet be saved; but one who lives and diesin sin must perish.'
1894 Birth of Don R. Falkenberg, founder in 1923 of the Mid-West Businessmen's Councilof the Pocket Testament League. In 1967 the name of this evangelical agency was changed toBible Literature International.
1907 Pope St. Pius X, in his encyclical 'Lamentabili,' formally condemned the'modernist' intellectual movement, as it exhibited itself in the Catholic Church.
1959 Pope John XXIII, in his encyclical 'Ad Petri Cathedram,' expressed the hope thatnon-Catholic Christians would see in the upcoming Vatical II Ecumenical Council 'a warminvitation to seek and find unity.'
1979 Thirty-four years after the end of World War II, the West German government votedto continue prosecution of Nazi war criminals by removing the statute of limitations onmurder.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"The best government teaches us to govern ourselves."

Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
Dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw your enemies into confusion.

The World's Shortest Books...
Dr. Kevorkian's Collection Of Motivational Speeches.

Dumb Laws...
Norfolk Virginia:
Women must wear a corsette after sundown and be in the company of male chaperone.

Top Ten Things That sound Dirty In Golf..But Aren't...
10. Nuts...my shaft is bent.

Americans have always recognized Pulaski's heroism and the price he paid for their freedom.

Or would have, if our education system taught about him.

Thanks for the history lesson Snippy. I'm glad to learn of this fine man.