And he will fire you back to the Home Page
Copyright� 2001 Mark Pettke. All rights reserved.
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| Mark Pettke Presents | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Give me Liberty or Give me Death!!! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Home | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thaddeus Kosciuszko | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known Heroes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unknown Heroes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (1746 - 1817) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Marion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greene | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Morgan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hale | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kosciuszko | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Warren | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Footnotes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thaddeus Kosciuszko was born in Poland on February 4, 1746. He attended school and the Cadet Academy in Warsaw before furthering his engineering studies in Paris. When Kosciuszko arrived in America in 1776, he was a skilled engineer who came to offer his services to the American colonies in their struggle for independence. In October 1776 Kosciuszko was commissioned as a Colonel of Engineers. He then began his remarkable service of fortifying battle sites, many of which became turning points in America's fight against the British. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Not long after he arrived in Philadelphia in 1776, Kosciuszko read the Declaration of Independence and was truly moved because he discovered in this document everything in which he truly believed. When he discovered that Thomas Jefferson was responsible for drafting the Declaration, he felt compelled to meet him. Not long after while moving south with the Continental Army, Kosciuszko stopped in Virginia to meet with Jefferson. The two men spent the day together and became the best of friends. Jefferson wrote of Kosciuszko, "He is as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kosciuszko used his engineering brilliance to help fortify Philadelphia (Fort Mercer) and New York (along the Hudson). He later planned the American defense at Saratoga. The Battle of Saratoga proved to be a major turning point in the war. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In 1778, Kosciuszko was made chief engineer of West Point. This fortification became known as the American Gibraltar because it was unable to be penetrated by the British Army. Eventually West Point became the military academy we know today. In 1783, Kosciuszko was appointed Brigadier General and awarded numerous medals and gifts for his actions during the American Revolution. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| After the colonies won their independence, Kosciuszko returned to Poland in 1784 to help his own country win independence from Russia. After numerous successful battles, and the liberation of much of Poland, Kosciuszko was wounded in the failed revolt and taken prisoner by the Russians. Upon his release from prison, he returned to America in August 1797. He received a hero's welcome. He bought and lived in a home in Philadelphia. This home is now a national memorial to this hero of the American Revolution. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Click the Soldier And he will fire you back to the Home Page |
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| Last Updated January, 2002 by Mark Pettke Copyright� 2001 Mark Pettke. All rights reserved. |
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