Born: February 4, 1746, Mereszowszczyzna in Polesie, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (now Kosova in Belarus).
Died: October 15, 1817, Solothurn, Switzerland.
Early days. Tadeusz Kościuszko was born to the minor nobility family of Ludwik Tadeusz Kościuszko and Tekla née Ratomska. His family's ancestor was certain Konstanty, a courtier of king Sigismund I who in 1509 was granted the village of Siechnowicze, given nobility and used the Roch III Coat of Arms. However, by the time Tadeusz was born his family was already somewhat impoverished and the village with its small manor was their only property. In 1755 Tadeusz and his elder brother Józef started education in a Piarist school in Lubieszów. After five years, in 1760, both were forced to return home due to family problems. Józef was chosen as the inheritor of the family's property and Tadeusz decided to start a military career. In 1764 king Stanisław August Poniatowski created the Cadet Academy (Szkoła Rycerska), a university that was to educate the cadre of well-educated officers and state officials. On December 18, 1765, Tadeusz Kościuszko joined the newly-formed school and became a member of its' Cadet Corps. Apart from the strictly military-related subjects, he studied also history of Poland, history of the World, philosophy, Latin, Polish, German and French language, as well as law, economy, arithmetic, geometry and engineering. He soon became a lieutenant and an instructor, before his evident skills won him , upon his graduation, promotion to Captain of Artillery .
Kościuszko in France. In 1769 Kościuszko and his colleague Orłowski were granted a royal scholarship and on October 5 they set off for Paris. There Kościuszko briefly studied in the Academy of Fine Arts, however soon he realized that the career of a painter was not what he dreamt of. However, as a foreigner he could not apply for any of the French military academies and he lacked funds necessary to study engineering. However, for five years Kościuszko educated himself as an extern, by attending various lectures and the libraries of the military academies of Paris. His stay in pre-revolutionary France had a tremendous influence on his later political views.
Return to Poland. After the first partition of Poland in 1772 the neighboring countries of Russia, Prussia and Austria annexed around 30% of the Polish territory and secured their influence on the internal politics of Poland. The country was forced to reduce the Polish Army to 10 000 soldiers and when Kościuszko finally returned home in 1774, there was no place for him in the armed forces and he began to tutor Ludwika Sosnowska, the daughter of a General. Some sort of affair followed, possibly involving a failed attempt to elope, and Tadeusz was forced to leave in 1775. He fled to France where, at some point in late 1775 or the first half of 1776, he heard about the American rebellion against the British.
Dresden and Paris. In late 1775 Kościuszko arrived to Dresden, where he wanted to join either the Saxonian court or the elector's army. However, he was refused and decided to travel back to Paris. There he was informed of the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, in which the former British colonies in Northern America revolted against the metropolis and started fight for independence. The first American successes were well publicized in France and the cause of the revolutionaries was openly supported by the French people, whose government also supported the Americans.
American Revolutionary War. Kościuszko was recruited in France by Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin and in August 1776 he arrived in America. Based on their recommendation the Congress commissioned him a Colonel in 1776. Due to recommendation of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and General Charles Lee Kościuszko was named head engineer of the Continental Army. His first task in America was the fortification of Philadelphia. On September 24, 1776, Kościuszko was ordered to fortify the banks of the Delaware River against a possible British crossing. 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 Spring of 1777 he was attached to the Northern Army under General Horatio Gates. As the chief engineer of the army he commanded the construction of several forts and fortified military camps along the Canadian border. His work made significant contributions to the American successful retreat from the battle of Ticonderoga and victory at Saratoga in 1777. After the battle Kościuszko, then regarded as one of the best engineers in American service, was put in charge by George Washington of military engineering works at the stronghold in West Point on the Hudson River. Then he asked to be transferred to the Southern Army, where he also made significant contributions to the American victories. After seven years of service, on October 13, 1783, Kościuszko was promoted by the Congress to the rank of Brigadier General. He was also granted 2.5 square kilometers of land in America and a large sum of money. He was also admitted to the prestigious Society of the Cincinnati, one of only three of three foreigners allowed to join, and to the American Philosophical Society. Washington also presented Kosciuszko the Cincinnati Order.
Some narratives of Kosciuszko's life argue, most plausible, that he also developed a personal political and social ideology, including a strong dislike for slavery and an evolved belief in the rights of freedom and liberty. In Kosciuszko's mind, these applied not just to the newly independent colonies, but to Poland. Finally, he made many friends and admirers, including General Greene and Thomas Jefferson, with who he had a particularly close bond. The latter famously said this of Kosciuszko: "He was as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known."
Return to Poland. In July 1784 Tadeusz Kościuszko set off for Poland, where he arrived on August 12. He settled in his home village of Siechnowicze. The property, administered by Tadeusz's brother-in-law, brought small yet stable profits and Kościuszko decided to limit the corvee of his serfs to 2 days a week and free all women from serfdom at all. This move was seen by the local gentry as a sign of dangerous liberalism of Kościuszko.
By that time the internal situation in Poland changed rapidly. A strong yet still informal group of politicians underlined the need of reforms and strengthening of the state. Notable political writers like Stanisław Staszic and Hugo Kołłątaj promoted the ideas of granting the serfs and the burghers with more rights and strengthening the central authorities. These ideas were supported by a large part of the gentry, who also wanted to overthrow the foreign dictate and meddling in internal affairs of Poland.
Finally the Sejm Wielki of 1788-1792 started the necessary reforms. One of the first acts of the new parliament assumed the creation of a 100,000 men strong army to defend the borders of Poland against her aggressive neighbors. Kościuszko saw it as a chance to return to military service and serve his country in the field he had the most experience. He applied for the army and on October 12, 1789, received the royal nomination to Major General. As such he also started receiving a high salary of 12,000 złotys a year, which ended his economical difficulties.
The internal situation in Poland and the reforms of the May Constitution of Poland, the first modern constitution in Europe and second in the world after the American, were seen by the surrounding powers as a threat to their influence over Polish politics. On May 14, 1792, the conservative Polish magnates created the Confederation of Targowica, which asked the Russian empress Catherine II for help in overthrowing the constitution. On May 18, 1792 a Russian army of 100,000 crossed the Polish border and headed for Warsaw, thus starting the War in Defense of the Constitution.
War in Defense of the Constitution. Although the plan for creation of a 100 000 men strong army in Poland was not accomplished due to economical problems, the Polish Army was well-trained and prepared for the war. Before the Russians invaded Poland, Kościuszko was made the deputy commander of the 3rd Crown Infantry Division of Prince Józef Poniatowski. When the latter was made the Commander in Chief of all the Polish army in May of 1792, Kościuszko automatically assumed command of the unit.
After the betrayal of Prussian allies, the Army of Lithuania did not oppose the advancing Russians. The Polish Army was too weak to oppose the enemy advancing in the Ukraine and withdrew to the western side of the Bug river, where it regrouped and counter-attacked. Victorious in the battle of Zieleńce (June 18) Kościuszko was among the first people awarded with the newly-created Virtuti Militari medal, nowadays the highest military decoration of Poland.
In the following battles of Włodzimierz (July 17) and Dubienka (July 18) Kościuszko repelled the numerically superior enemy and became regarded as one of the most brilliant Polish military commanders of his time. On August 1, 1792, the king promoted Kościuszko to Lieutenant General. However, before the nomination arrived to Kościuszko's camp in Sieciechów, king Stanisław August joined the ranks of the Targowica confederation and surrendered to the Russians.
Emigration. This was a hard blow for Kościuszko, who did not loose a single battle in the campaign. Together with many other notable Polish commanders and politicians he fled to Dresden and then to Leipzig, where the emigrants started preparing an uprising against Russian rule in Poland. The politicians grouped around Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj sought contacts with similar groups of opposition formed in Poland and by spring 1793 were joined by other politicians and revolutionaries, among them Ignacy Działyński and Karol Prozor.
On August 26, 1792, the French Legislative Assembly awarded Kościuszko with honorary citizenship of France in honor of his fight for freedom of his fatherland and the ideas of equality and liberty. After two weeks in Leipzig, Kościuszko set off for Paris, where he tried to gain French support of the planned uprising in Poland.
On January 13, 1793, Prussia and Russia signed the Third Partition of Poland, which was ratified by the Sejm of Grodno on June 17. Such an outcome was a giant blow for the members of Targowica confederation who saw their actions as defense of centuries-old privileges of the magnates, but now were regarded by the majority of Polish population as traitors. After the partition Poland became a small country of roughly 200,000 square kilometers and population of approximately 4 millions. The economy was ruined and the support for the cause of an uprising grew significantly, especially that there was no serious opposition to the idea after the Targowica confederation was discredited.
In June of 1793 Kościuszko prepared a plan of an all-national uprising, mobilization of all the forces and a war against Russia. The preparations in Poland were slow and he decided to postpone the outbreak. However, the situation in Poland was changing rapidly. The Russian and Prussian governments forced Poland to again disband the majority of her armed forces and the reduced units were to be drafted to the Russian army. Also, in March the tsarist agents discovered the group of the revolutionaries in Warsaw and started arresting notable Polish politicians and military commanders. Kościuszko was forced to execute his plan earlier than planned and on March 15, 1794 he set off for Kraków.
Kościuszko Uprising. During the Uprising, Kościuszko was made the Naczelnik (Commander-in-Chief) of all Polish forces fighting against Russian occupation. On March 24th 1794 he swore an oath in Krakow Market Square amidst a large gathering, in which he promised to recover the Commonwealth's borders, sovereignty and freedom, while not abusing his new powers. He quickly set about improving the scattered Polish army, which consisted of between ten to fifteen thousand trained men, fewer than the Russians had stationed in the Commonwealth. Kosciuszko introduced conscription, using peasants to bolster existing regiments and form new units. Whereas the actual troops had weapons and equipment, the peasants were both untrained and unarmed, and Poland had no military industry to supply them. Kosciuszko's solution was both practical and ingenious. The conscripted serfs were to transform their scythes into pikes and spears by converting the angled blade into a straight point. These crude, but wholly effective, weapons could be coupled with the peasant's years of reaping to create an interesting, and rather effective, unit - the Kosynierzy, 'scythe-bearers'.
After initial successes following the Battle of Racławice, he was wounded in the Battle of Maciejowice and taken prisoner by the Russians, who imprisoned him in Sankt Petersburg. Within weeks of Kosciuszko's defeat Suvorov, who led the Russian second army, arrived at the outskirts of Warsaw, where he implemented a simple, wholly effective and perfectly horrifying plan. His army bombarded, and then entered, the suburb of Praga, massacring the entire population. Figures vary, but between 10,000-15,000 adults and children were killed on November 4th 1794; Warsaw capitulated immediately, and the rebellion was over. Rebels were arrested, executed or deported to Siberia, while a third partition in 1795 removed Poland-Lithuania from the map of Europe. Austria, Prussia and Russia carved up the territories, with the former subsuming the whole Grand Duchy of Lithuania, while King Poniatowski, who had accepted the uprising, was forced to abdicate and return to Russia.
Later life
In 1796 Paul I of Russia pardoned Kościuszko and set him free. In exchange for his oath of loyalty, Peter I liberated also approximately 20,000 Polish political prisoners still held in Russian prisons and forcibly settled in Siberia. Upon his release from prison, Kosciuszko returned to America on August 18, 1797. 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.
The following year he returned to Europe and in 1798 he settled in Breville near Paris. Still devoted to the Polish cause, Tadeusz Kościuszko took part in creation of the Polish Legions. Also, on October 17 and November 6, 1799, he met Napoleon Bonaparte. However, he did not trust the French leader and decided not to support his idea of re-creation of Poland under the auspice of France. He remained an active politician in the circles of the Polish emigrants in France and in 1799 he was one of the founding members of the Society of Polish Republicans. However, he did not return to the Duchy of Warsaw and did not join the reborn Polish Army allied with Napoleon. Instead, after the fall of Napoleon's empire in 1815 he met allegedly with tsar Alexander I of Russia in Vienna, whom he congratulated the idea of creation of the Kingdom of Poland and whom he regarded a legitimate king of Poland.
From Vienna he moved to Solothurn in Switzerland, where his friend Franciszek Zeltner was a mayor. Tadeusz Kościuszko died there on October 15, 1817 killed by a fall from his horse.
In 1818 his ashes were transferred to Kraków and interred in a crypt in the Wawel Cathedral, the pantheon of Polish national heroes and kings. He is one of only five non-royals to be interred there.
Things and places named after Kościuszko. As a national hero of both Poland and the USA, Kościuszko became the namesake of numerous places in the world. The Polish explorer Count Paweł Edmund Strzelecki named the highest mountain on the Australian continent, Mount Kosciuszko, for him. Nowadays the mountain is the central point of the Kosciuszko National Park.
He is also the namesake of Kosciusko, Mississippi, Kosciusko County in Indiana, the two Kosciusko Bridges in New York State (one just north of Albany, the other on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway), and Thaddeus Kosciusko Way in downtown Los Angeles.
In Poland every major town has got a street or a square named after Kościuszko. Also, between 1820 and 1823 the citizens of Kraków erected a mound to commemorate the leader. Similar mound was erected in 1861 in Olkusz. He is also a patron of the Kraków University of Technology, the Military University in Wrocław and countless other schools and gymnasia throughout Poland. He was also the patron of 1st Regiment of the Polish 5th Rifle Division, 1st Division of the Polish 1st Army and the 303rd Polish Squadron. There are also two ships named after him: S/S Kosciuszko and ORP Naczelnik Tadeusz Kościuszko.
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CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Tadeusz Kosciuszko
Kosciuszko History
Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746 - 1817)
Poland in the classroom - General Tadeusz Kosciuszko pages
NADLEŚNICTWO PARCZEW - Informacje ogólne
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