Posted on 05/28/2018 9:44:42 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
Two months after Ben Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence, a surprise visitor walked into his Philadelphia shop. The young man’s curly brown hair cascaded down toward his shoulders, and his English was so broken he switched to French. Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a 30-year-old Pole just off the boat from Europe via the Caribbean, introduced himself and offered to enlist as an officer in the new American nation’s army.
Franklin, curious, quizzed Kosciuszko about his education: a military academy in Warsaw, studies in Paris in civil engineering, including fort building. Franklin asked him for letters of recommendation. Kosciuszko had none.
Instead, the petitioner asked to take a placement exam in engineering and military architecture. Franklin’s bemused answer revealed the inexperience of the Continental Army. “Who would proctor such an exam,” Franklin asked, “when there is no one here who is even familiar with those subjects?”
On August 30, 1776, armed with Franklin’s recommendation and high marks on a geometry exam, Kosciuszko walked into Independence Hall and introduced himself to the Continental Congress.
In his native Poland, Kosciuszko is known for leading the Kosciuszko Uprising of 1794, a brave insurrection against foreign rule by Russia and Prussia. But that came before the liberty-loving Pole played a key but overlooked role in the American Revolution. Though not nearly as well known as the Marquis de Lafayette, America’s most celebrated foreign ally of the era, Kosciuszko was in many ways his equal. Both volunteered with an idealistic belief in democracy, both had a major impact on a climactic battle in the Revolution, both returned home to play prominent roles in their own country’s history, both enjoyed the friendship/high esteem of American Founding Fathers. Kosciuszko did something more: he held his American friends to the highest ideals of equality on the issue of slavery.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
Derr Hilderbeast hasn’t a clue.
If she had a small hint of a clue how bad people like US despise her, she would be shocked.
Of course to her, it’s our fault.
I relish the day she is silenced from the political scene.
Before the civilized world ended, the deeds and contributions of Kosciuszko and Pulaski to the Revolution were once well known as they used to be taught in US History classes, but this was also a time when it was not racist for eastern Europeans to celebrate their culture.
I’m 70. When I was in High School, it was not taught.
In college I took courses on other periods in time. Not intentionally, just happened.
Opps, wrong thread. Of course the American Revolution was taught.
I have been going back and forth from this threat to:
A Long Way From Home – The Czech Legion’s Amazing Trek Across Siberia
FR Comments: https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3658797/posts
That is why my response did not make sense. I pulled the response trigger too quick. Sorry.
The language is a bit questionable, but if you’re into winged Hussars (and I certainly am), one would be hard-pressed to find a more colorful summary: http://www.badassoftheweek.com/hussars.html
dziekuje!
Likewise, a fellow Freeper once posted about the Battle of the Vistula. In 1920, Bolshevik forces were on the march with the goal of turning western Europe into an extension of the Soviet Union and, had it not been for a last ditch defense by the army and citizens of Poland, Europe would have been lost.
You can see the film "Battle of Warsaw 1920" here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6B79BC3ObY
It's in HD and is the best looking version I've found so far, the only problem is that it's all in Polish, but, I was able to follow it just from the visual content.
Dziękuję to the people of Poland !
bookmark
Thank you for that correction on the dates. A happy Memorial Day to all.
There is a statue dedicated to Him in Downtown Detroit.
“That said, they were conscripting American Citizens on the high seas into the British Navy long after that.“
One of the causes of the War of 1812.
L
I have no horse in this race, and prefer Poland to anything east of it, but as I understand it the newly-(re-)created Poland was taking parts of western Russia while the Reds were fighting the Whites in their civil war.
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