Thaddeus Kosciuszko – A Hero of the American Revolution, an Inspiration to Liberty

The bad thing about going to Washington-Kosciuszko elementary school was that you had to spell Kosciuszko at a very young age. The good thing was learning about this lesser known hero of the American Revolution. (Of course that was when the American history in public schools actually focused on something other than colonialism, slavery and the civil rights movement). For Independence Day, I'm paying tribute to this great man.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko graduated the Royal Military Academy in Warsaw with a captain’s commission and then went on to France to study engineering and artillery. When he returned to Poland, much of the country was under the authority of Russia, Prussia and Austria. Shortly thereafter, in late 1975 or early 1976, Kosciuszko heard of events at Lexington and Concord and the beginning of the American Revolution. He was intrigued, and with little for him in Poland, he made off for America.

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. He felt obliged to meet the author of this impressive document. A few months later, while moving south with the Continental Army, Kosciuszko stopped in Virginia to meet with Jefferson. After the war, the two continued their friendship. Thomas Jefferson said of Kosciuszko, “He is as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known, and of that liberty which is to go to all, and not to the few or the rich alone…” and counted him among his greatest friends.

Kosciuszko’s role in the American Revolution was vital. He first assisted in the fortification of the Philadelphia waterfront at Fort Mercer. He was then sent to New York to fortify defenses along the Hudson. After the American defeat at fort Ticonderoga, Koscuiszko’s was given command of 1,000 men who took down trees, bridges and flooded the land to create bogs. These tactics delayed the British forces enough for the Americans to retreat and re-group.

Kosciuszko then was asked to create a new defensive line in the Hudson Valley and surrounding bluffs. For this, Kosciusko selected the Bemis Heights area. These strategic defenses were the key factor in American victory at Saratoga, the turning point in the war for independence. Kosciuszko’s greatest achievement was his 28 month construction of permanent fortifications at West Point. The first monument at the US Military Academy, built by the cadets themselves, honors Thaddeus Kosciuszko.

In 1784, Kosciuszko, returned to Poland to help his own country win independence from the surrounding European powers. After victories in Raclawice and brief liberations of Warsaw and Wilno, the rebellion was squashed. Kosciuszko was imprisoned by the Russians. He was later released by Czar Paul I, with the condition that he not return to Poland. Kosciuszko returned to Philadelphia where his friendship with Jefferson grew. In 1798 he moved to Switzerland where he died in 1817. In his American will, written by Thomas Jefferson, Kosciuszko asked that his money be used to free and instruct slaves.


The Poles and Americans have often been intertwined in the fight for liberty around the world. After World War I, a group of Americans assisted the Poles in their long struggle against Russia by volunteering their service in the fledgling Polish Air Force. This unit was named the "Kosciuszko Squadron". In the 1980, Lech Walesa’s Solidarity Movement stood up to the Soviet Union and their puppet, defense minister Wojciech Jaruzelski, and lit the spark of freedom in Eastern Europe. Three years later, the words of Polish Pope, John Paul II, fanned those flames with this speech to a million freedom hungry Polish citizens. The words and actions of Ronald Reagan helped them to achieve that freedom. Today, the Poles are one of America’s greatest allies in the war against terror in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Thaddeus Kosciuszko would be proud indeed.


For more information on Thaddeus Kosciuszko, check out the Polish American Center, or this link or this link, or this one or this one.