Portal:Poland/Selected biography/27
Thaddeus Kosciuszko (Tadeusz Kościuszko; 1746–1817) was a military engineer who became a national hero of Poland and the United States. Having completed his studies in Warsaw and Paris, he worked as a private tutor, but had to flee Poland after a failed elopement with one of his students. Upon learning of the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Kosciuszko travelled to America in 1776 and joined the rebel cause as a colonel in the Continental Army. Serving under General Horatio Gates, he worked on the defences at Ticonderoga and Saratoga. In 1778, he helped design and supervised the construction of the garrisons at West Point. Back in Poland, Kosciuszko commanded a division of the Polish army in the Polish–Russian War of 1792, which resulted in the Second Partition of Poland. Two years later, he led an unsuccessful uprising against Russia until he was wounded and captured by Russian forces in the Battle of Maciejowice. The defeat resulted in the Third Partition, which ended the existence of Poland as an independent state. Kosciuszko was a firm believer in human rights, standing up for the freedom of all people, from Polish serfs to black slaves in America. He bequeathed the pay received for his service in the American Revolution to his friend, Thomas Jefferson, asking him to spend the money on freeing and educating slaves, including Jefferson's own; the will was never executed. (Full article...)