Koscuiszko Remembered

Thaddeus Kosciuszko is one of the most interesting men who served in the American Army under General Gates at Saratoga. It is Kosciuszko’s enduring legacy highlights the strong bond and rich history shared between the United States and the people of Poland. In March, 2018, the ambassador of the Republic of Poland, Piotr Wilczek in the Times-Dispatch of Virginia, “In 1776, Kosciuszko volunteered to fight for America and committed himself wholeheartedly to the American cause — which meant American independence and liberty for all. He served seven years in Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army. As an engineer, his plans were instrumental in the American victory at the Battles of Saratoga (1777). Because Saratoga had such far-reaching strategic implications, it is not a stretch to say that without Kosciuszko, there may have been no Saratoga, and without Saratoga there may have been no Yorktown. In recognition of his engineering skills, Kosciuszko was entrusted with the construction of the fortress at West Point. He also authored the United States Army’s first artillery manual. Kosciuszko was one of the few foreigners admitted to the elite Society of Cincinnati, formed by the most distinguished veterans of the Revolutionary War. Being opposed to slavery, Kosciuszko left his American estate to his good friend Thomas Jefferson with instructions that it be used to purchase the freedom of American slaves and provide for their proper education.” Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko was a Polish-Lithuanian military engineer and a military leader who became a national hero in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and the United States. He fought in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s struggles against Russia and Prussia, and on the American side in the American War of Independence. As Supreme Commander of the Polish National Armed Forces, he led the 1794 Kościuszko Uprising. Kościuszko was born in February 1746 in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in a village that is now in Belarus. At age 20, he graduated from the Corps of Cadets in Warsaw, Poland. In 1776, Kościuszko moved to North America, where he took part in the American Revolutionary War as a colonel in the Continental Army. An accomplished military architect, he designed and oversaw the construction of state-of-the-art fortifications, including those at West Point, New York. In 1783, in recognition of his services, the Continental Congress promoted him to brigadier general. Kościuszko is known in our community because of the Battles of Saratoga. After the loss of Fort Ticonderoga, Major General Philip Schuyler, desperate to put distance between his men and their British pursuers, ordered Kościuszko to delay the enemy. Kościuszko designed an engineer’s solution: his men felled trees, dammed streams, and destroyed bridges and causeways. Encumbered by their huge supply train, the British began to bog down, giving the Americans the time needed to safely withdraw across the Hudson River. In September, 1777 American General Gates tapped Kościuszko to survey the country between the opposing armies, choose the most defensible position, and fortify it. Finding just such a position near Saratoga, overlooking the Hudson at Bemis Heights, Kościuszko laid out a strong array of defenses, nearly impregnable from any direction. His judgment and meticulous attention to detail frustrated the British attacks during the Battles of Saratoga, and Gates accepted the surrender of British General Burgoyne’s army on October 17, 1777. Today, when people hear the name Kościuszko they think of the Thaddeus Kosciusko Bridge, commonly referred to as the Twin Bridges, which span the Mohawk River between the towns of Colonie, Albany County and Halfmoon, Saratoga County, on Interstate 87 or the Adirondack Northway. Others may think of the Kosciuszko Bridge spanning Newtown Creek between Brooklyn and Queen in New York City.