In 2015, Lin Manuel Miranda reintroduced the world to America’s ten dollar Founding Father with the critically acclaimed musical, Hamilton. The play brought new light to the first Secretary of the Treasury, but also a host of other hidden figures of Revolutionary America. Among those mentioned was one of the many foreigners that made American victory over the British possible: The Marquis de Lafayette A.K.A. Everyone’s Favorite Fighting Frenchman. It is no secret that the United States was aided greatly by the efforts of Britain’s rivals in Europe. Conspicuously missing from Lin Manuel Miranda’s story, much to the chagrin of Polish-Americans everywhere, is the story of Polish General Tadeusz Kościuszko (TA-DAY-OOSH KOS-CHO-SHKO).

Mieračoŭščyna manor, the birthplace of Kościuszko, as it is seen today

Tadeusz Kościuszko was born on February 12, 1746 in Mieračoŭščyna, in the Brest region of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. His father, Ludwig Kościuszko and his mother, Tekla Kościuszko were the proprietors of a modest Polish estate where thirty-one families tended the land. The Kościuszkos were a well off family but not particularly wealthy in comparison to much more powerful gentry like Lord Sosnowski. The Kościuszkos were among the top ten percent of society known as the szlachta. Despite his privileged upbringing, young Tadeusz and his father believed that all people were entitled to hope and happiness. As a child, he often played alongside the peasant children. His upbringing undoubtedly formed his egalitarian views, many of which the patriots of the American Revolution shared.

At the age of nine, Kościuszko was sent to Catholic Piarist Fathers College at Lubieszow. Under Konarski, Kościuszko learned about the principles of John Locke’s social contract, in which the government drew its power from the consent of the governed. Kościuszko spent his early adulthood in a watershed moment in Polish history that further developed his political ideology. In 1764, following a rule of monarchs elected under foreign influence, Polish nobles gathered in the woods outside Warsaw to elect a new King. There, under the watch of Russian troops, the nobles elected Count Stanislaw Augustus Poniatowski as King Stanislaw Augustus Poniatowski. Upon his father’s death, Kościuszko joined the inaugural class of the Royal Knight School, aided by a generous scholarship from priests and local nobles.

At the Royal Knight School, Kościuszko quickly rose to become a prominent member of his class. So eager was he to jump into his studies that before going to bed he tied a string to his hand, leaving the other end in the hallway; He asked the nightwatchman to tug on it to wake him up at 3:00 a.m. as he made the night rounds. During his time at the school Kościuszko learned fort construction, topography, mapmaking, trigonometry, drawing, and engineering. He aggressively practiced swordsmanship, often drawing blood from his classmates. Though he dominated his classmates physically, he remained unpretentious and likable, always willing to lend a hand to others. Kościuszko studied with equal enthusiasm. As his name spread among military circles, Kościuszko became a frequent guest of King Stanislaw. King Stanislaw soon came under threat from the military incursions of the Bar Confederation, who had revolted against him in February of 1789. Kościuszko, working for the academy as captain of the artillery, accepted a scholarship for advanced studies in Paris to avoid the fighting.

When he returned to Warsaw, Kościuszko attended a party where he met Louise Sosnowski, the daughter of the richest man in Kościuszko’s region, Hetman Joseph Sosnowski. Kościuszko fell deeply in love with Louise, attempting an elopement that contravened Poland’s rigid class system. The elopement failed and Sosnowski, who believed that Kościuszko had dishonored his family and broken his trust, sought revenge against the young captain. To escape the influential and vengeful Sosnowski, Kościuszko was forced to leave his beloved homeland. He borrowed 8,820 zloty from his brother-in-law and sailed for Paris. Virginia diplomat, Arthur Lee wrote French officials pleading “We need arms, powder, and above all engineers.” Beaumarchais knew of one Pole that was perfect for the colonists needs. By the end of June, with a matching commitment of weapons from Spain, Kościuszko sailed to America with several other French officers.

Kościuszko arrived in Philadelphia in late August of 1776. Kościuszko spoke little English, and was lucky to encounter noted Francophile and polyglot, Dr. Benjamin Franklin who conversed with him in French. Franklin, puzzled why Kościuszko risked traveling without reference, arranged for him to take the military geometry exam with David Rittenhouse. Kościuszko easily passed the test and was presented with military credentials by the Continental Congress on August 30, 1776. Kościuszko was immediately sent to work for Franklin, preparing for a British attack on Philadelphia.

An approximation of what Philadelphia would have looked like in 1776

Kościuszko arrived at a particularly difficult time for the American colonists. The British army had just routed Washington at the Battle of Long Island and captured New York, and Major General Howe moved across Northern New Jersey and forced Washington’s troops across the Delaware into Pennsylvania. Kościuszko was ultimately successful in Philadelphia, building a 180-square foot redoubt. John Hancock, the grateful President of the Continental Congress, gave Kościuszko a commission as a colonel and a salary of sixty dollars a month: Kościuszko never accepted the salary for the entire course of the war.

Colonel Kościuszko was sent to the Northern Army under the command of newly appointed General Horatio Gates, who had just undercut his rival Phillip Schuyler (another Hamilton cast member) to take command of the Northern Army. Under the auspices of the Northern Army, Kościuszko took part in the pivotal Saratoga Campaign. At this point, the Continentals were preparing to defend a pending counterattack from British General John Burgoyne on the recently captured Fort Ticonderoga. Upon capturing the fort, Colonel John Trumbull (now famous for his paintings of the Revolutionary War) suggested mounting cannons on nearby Sugar Loaf Hill. The incompetent engineer at Ticonderoga, Colonel Jeduthan Baldwin, had instead built pointless wooden towers. In the summer of 1777, Kościuszko arrived on the scene and immediately saw the wisdom in Trumbull’s ideas. Despite support from other officers, Kościuszko was ignored by the officers at Ticonderoga who were vying for their own power. When Phillip Schuyler was reappointed over Gates, Kościuszko’s plan to fortify Sugar Loaf Hill (now called Mount Defiance) was abandoned completely.

In July of 1777, General Burgoyne arrived in lower Lake Champlain with a coalition of eight thousand British regulars, Hessians, Canadians, and Native Americas. The morning of July 5, the rebel troops found themselves under bombardment by British cannons atop Mount Defiance, the very hill that Kościuszko had tried to use to colonial advantage. Although they were able to escape, thanks to the log bridges built by Kościuszko’s men, the fleeing Americans were harshly attacked by the Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.

“Kościuszko and a party of others rode out to an elevated pasture above the road to Albany that hugged the Hudson. There Kościuszko galloped in circles and proclaimed that, “This is the spot.””

General Gates was eventually reinstalled, arriving in mid-August of 1777. By September, Gates led his troops along the Hudson River and ultimately ordered his troops to set camp in the floodplains near Saratoga, NY. Up against professional troops, Gates recognized that it was better to lay a defense than to fight the British in an open field. Kościuszko was quick to notice that the Continentals were in a large meadow that was beset on both sides by large hills; this was an indefensible position. Using his newly acquired English skills, Kościuszko warned his superiors, “From Yonder Hill, on the left, your encampment may be cannoned by the enemy, or from that on our right they may take aim at your shoe-buckles.” Gates and the other commanders, remembering Kościuszko’s wisdom at Ticonderoga and their own mistakes, agreed to let the Polish engineer pick the fortifications. Kościuszko and a party of others rode out to an elevated pasture above the road to Albany that hugged the Hudson. There Kościuszko galloped in circles and proclaimed that, “This is the spot.” The spot that Kościuszko spoke of became known as Bemis Heights; with a narrow riverside passage to the east and forest to the west, the British would be funneled into a natural causeway on the open fields.

Upon Bemis Heights, Kościuszko laid out a three-sided or U-Shaped breastworks, about three quarters of a mile wide. In the center and at each corner, Kościuszko placed a cannon. The parapets, trenches, and redoubts that Kościuszko masterminded made the defensive position unassailable. Kościuszko even pointed a cannon at the narrow river passage, forcing any British attack to go through the deeply wooded forest. The Hudson river protected Gate’s right, Bemis Heights secured the center, and the wooded hills made the rebel left hard to traverse. Though Kościuszko was never in much of a position to engage the enemy, his passive contributions in the building of the fortifications determined how the coming battles were fought. Though it was quickly erected, Kościuszko’s fortification was impressive. British Historian George Otto Trevelyan judged them as “a stronghold which resembled a citadel rather than a temporary field work.”

On the cold and damp morning of September 19, General Gates setup his troops near the 350 yard opening of the forest west of Bemis Heights, known as Freeman’s Farm. Unable to overcome Kościuszko’s engineering genius, the British embarked through the woods to meet the rebel positions. Within the wooded area, the British troops became the easy targets for Daniel Morgan and his sharpshooters. Armed with the more accurate Pennsylvania rifle, the sharpshooters took out many British officers, targeting troops with the telltale silver gorgets. The British encountered such bad casualties that Burgoyne had to call in reinforcements. Hidden among the trees and aided by the deep woods, Morgan’s sharpshooters were able to sit out of range of the British bayonets and their inaccurate Brown Bess muskets. Though the American’s eventually ceded the field, they inflicted such heavy casualties that - like Bunker Hill - the British won a pyrrhic victory.

The Surrender of General Burgoyne by Revolutionary War veteran, John Trumbull. The painting shows General Burgoyne surrendering to General Gates on October 17, 1777. The iconic work of art can be seen today in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. — *The Surrender of General Burgoyne* by Revolutionary War veteran, John Trumbull. The painting shows General Burgoyne surrendering to General Gates on October 17, 1777. The iconic work of art can be seen today in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

Throughout the Battle of Saratoga, Kościuszko’s fortifications forced British troops to the much better defended and harder to traverse Continental left flank. This put Burgoyne in a horrible position, leading to the attrition of his forces, the encirclement of his coalition of troops, and eventual surrender on October 17.

After Saratoga, Kościuszko remained in New York, traveling to West Point. There, he spent over two years strengthening and improving the stronghold’s defenses; these defenses were the ones that Benedict Arnold tried to surrender to the British in his infamous defection. In 1780, George Washington offered Kościuszko a transfer to the Southern Army, which he graciously accepted. During the so-called "Race to the Dan", when British General Charles Cornwallis chased Nathaniel Greene across 200 miles in 1781, Kościuszko made effective use of flat-bottomed boats and accurate scouting of the rivers. His efforts allowed the Continental Army to cross successfully where Cornwallis’ regulars could not.

During the Race to the Dan, Kościuszko helped fortify the ground where Greene eventually turned to fight Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse. When Greene began his reconquest of South Carolina in the spring of 1781, he summoned Kościuszko to rejoin the main body of the Southern Army. In this capacity, Kościuszko worked to repair and fortify Continental positions, while harassing the British regulars and supply routes. After the death of John Laurens (another Hamilton name), Kościuszko, took over his intelligence network in the area. He commanded two cavalry squadrons and an infantry unit, and his last known battlefield command of the war occurred at James Island, South Carolina, on 14 November 1782. Kościuszko spent the rest of the war in South Carolina, conducting a fireworks display on 23 April 1783, to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Paris and the end of the conflict.

Kościuszko was always well dressed and highly decorated. Among the only awards that he accepted were the medals of the Society of the Cincinnati and the Polish Virtuti Militari, Poland’s highest honor for courage and heroism. He rejected other award… — Kościuszko was always well dressed and highly decorated. Among the only awards that he accepted were the medals of the Society of the Cincinnati and the Polish Virtuti Militari, Poland’s highest honor for courage and heroism. He rejected other awards that he considered too grand for his republican values. The old Spanish sword that he carried during the American Revolution (pictured here) was inscribed with the words: “*Do not draw me without reason; do not sheathe me without honor".”*

Afterwards, Kościuszko was inducted into the Society of the Cincinnati and into the American Philosophical Society in 1785. A national hero, he returned to Poland to resume his life. Soon after his arrival he was plunged into the Russo-Polish War of 1792. Though Kościuszko bravely defended the left flank of the Polish defenses, the King of Poland called a ceasefire in July of 1792. Kościuszko, though defeated, remained a spirited republican. In 1794, he led an uprising that started in the city of Krakow. Though he fought bravely, Kosciuszko was badly wounded and imprisoned in St. Petersburg, Russia. Catherine the Great, ruling Empress of Russia, died in 1796. Czar Paul I, her successor, granted amnesty to Kosciuszko. In accordance with European tradition, the czar gave the Polish hero his own fur cloak as a parting gift. In exchange for his freedom, Kosciuszko promised not to return to Poland, traveling to Philadelphia in August 1797. It was there that he and Thomas Jefferson formed a strong and lasting friendship. When Jefferson was elected president in 1800, Kosciuszko wrote: “do not forget yourself in your post, always be virtuous, republican with justice and probity, without display and ambition. In a word, be Jefferson and my friend.”

“He is as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known.” Thomas Jefferson once said of Kosciusko. Today, Polish-Americans hold their head up high upon hearing the name. In one of the most quoted songs of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, appropriately states that “Immigrants, we get the job done.” This idea is perfectly embodied by Kościuszko. He came to the shores of a new world as a refugee who did not speak the language, only to leave as one of its most treasured heroes. He carried the virtues of liberty and republicanism with him no matter where he went. Fueled by his love of freedom, he fought his entire life to spread the liberty he cherished so dearly. When awards and noble titles were offered to him (such as the Order of the White Eagle), he refused on the grounds that they did not align with his republican values. In this way, this Pole was a true American.

Tadeusz Kościuszko: A Hero of Two Nations

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