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Kazimierz Pulaski
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- For things named to honor Kazimierz Pulaski, see: Pulaski.
Kazimierz Pulaski of Clan Slepowron (often written Casimir Pulaski in English in the USA (March 4, 1745 – October 11, 1779), was a Polish soldier, member of the Polish-Lithuanian szlachta and politician who has been called "the father of American cavalry".
A member of the Polish landed nobility, he was a military commander for the Bar Confederation and fought against Russian domination of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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- For things named to honor Kazimierz Pulaski, see: Pulaski.
Kazimierz Pulaski of Clan Slepowron (often written Casimir Pulaski in English in the USA (March 4, 1745 – October 11, 1779), was a Polish soldier, member of the Polish-Lithuanian szlachta and politician who has been called "the father of American cavalry".
A member of the Polish landed nobility, he was a military commander for the Bar Confederation and fought against Russian domination of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. When this uprising failed, he emigrated to North America, where he became a General in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He died of wounds suffered in the Battle of Savannah.
Biography
JMP Kazimierz Michal Waclaw Wiktor Pulaski herbu Slepowron was born March 4, 1745 (some sources cite March 6) in Winiary, near Warka. His father, Józef Pulaski, was the Starost of the area and one of its most notable inhabitants of the time. Early in his youth, Kazimierz Pulaski was sent to Warsaw, where he studied at the local college of Theatines.
In 1762, he started his career as a page of Carl Christian Joseph of Saxony, Duke of Courland, and a vassal of the Polish king. However, soon after his arrival at Mitau, the ducal court was expelled from the palaces by the Russian forces occupying the area. Pulaski returned to Warsaw, where in 1764 he took part in the election of the new Polish monarch, Stanislaw II August.
A skilled military commander and a son of one of the notable families, Pulaski became one of the co-founders of the Bar Confederation, together with his father, on February 29, 1768. The confederation, aiming to curtail Russian hegemony over the Commonwealth, was actively opposed by the Russian forces stationed in Poland. As the Marshal of Nobility of the Land of Lomza, Pulaski became one of the best commanders of the confederate forces. That year he was besieged in a monastery in Berdyczów, which he defended for two weeks against overwhelming odds. Taken captive by the Russians, he was set free after being forced to pledge that he would not return to the confederates.
However, he did not consider such a forced pledge binding and fought against the Russian forces for four more years. In 1769, he was again besieged by numerically superior forces, this time in the old fortress of Okopy Swietej Trójcy. However, after a brave defense, he was able to break through the Russian siege and defect with his men to the Ottoman Empire, from where they returned to Lithuania. There Pulaski incited yet another revolt against Russia, with many local nobles joining the Confederation.
Between September 10, 1770, and January 9, 1771, Pulaski also commanded the Polish forces in the siege of Jasna Góra monastery, which he successfully defended. In November 1771, he was also the main organizer of an attempt to take the king hostage. However, the attempt failed, and the Confederation was disbanded soon afterwards. Pulaski was made a public enemy and sentenced to death in absentia for attempted regicide. He fled the country, but no European state accepted him. After a brief stay in Turkey, he moved illegally to France, where he was recruited by Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette for service in America.
He was a Polish soldier and military commander who fought in the American Revolution under the command of George Washington. Pulaski was a noted cavalryman and played a large role in training Revolutionary troops, with Congress naming him "Commander of the Horse". He was, however, infamous for his arrogance, and demanded that his only superior be the commanding general. Undoubtedly brave, his imperious personality and lack of English caused him to resign his general command, but he was allowed to subsequently organize an independent corps. He took part in the sieges of Charleston and of Savannah. From 1777 until his death, Pulaski fought in the American Revolutionary War for the independence of the United States. He was a noted cavalryman and created Pulaski's Legion, one of the few cavalry regiments in the American Continental Army. He took part in the Battle of Brandywine, the Siege of Charleston (South Carolina), and the Battle of Savannah (Georgia).
Later in 1778, through Washington's intervention, Congress approved the establishment of the Cavalry and put Pulaski at its head. The Father of the American Cavalry demanded much of his men and trained them in tested cavalry tactics. He used his own personal finances, when money from Congress was scarce, in order to assure his forces of the finest equipment and personal safety.
On October 9, 1779, Pulaski — during a cavalry charge, while probing for a weak point in the British lines at the Battle of Savannah — was wounded in the groin by grapeshot. He was carried from the field by several comrades, including Col. John C. Cooper, and taken aboard the privateer merchant brigantine Wasp. Two days later, without having regained consciousness, he died of his wounds.
According to several contemporary witnesses, including Pulaski's aide-de-camp, he was buried at sea. A long-standing rumor, however, has it that the wounded Pulaski was actually taken to Greenwich plantation near Savannah, where he died and was buried. In 2004, an eight-year examination of remains buried at the plantation ended inconclusively.
Tributes
One of the first tributes to Pulaski was paid when George Washington on November 17, 1779, issued a challenge-and-password set for identifying friend and foe when crossing military lines: "Query: Pulaski, Response: Poland".
The United States has long commemorated Pulaski's contributions to the American War of Independence, but Polish immigration in the 20th century accelerated the interest. By presidential proclamation, every October 11 is "General Pulaski Memorial Day," dedicated to Pulaski's memory and to the heritage of Polish-Americans. Each October Grand Rapids, Michigan, celebrates () "Pulaski Days". There is also a statue of Pulaski in Detroit, Michigan, in the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Michigan Avenue.
The State of Kentucky has by law, since before 1942, recognized General Pulaski's Day. The State of Illinois has since 1977 celebrated Casimir Pulaski Day on the first Monday of March, doubtlessly due to the large Polish population of Chicago. Pulaski Day is treated as a full holiday and all government buildings are closed. School districts have the option of taking Pulaski Day as a holiday. Wisconsin and Indiana extend similar recognition, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, also holds an annual parade and school holiday. Pulaski County, Indiana is also named in his honor. On his day there is a Pulaski Day parade on Fifth Avenue in New York City (). The parade is known for its nontraditional approach. Participants in the parade walk backwards to commemorate Pulaski's brave march backwards into the city of Savannah. He marched backwards into the city to confuse the British who thought that he was retreating.
America paid a special millennial tribute to Pulaski in the year 2000 involving a large party in Chicago's Grant Park. The party included live DJ Food and a varied dance setlist --including artists such as Two Hours Traffic alongside Snoop Dogg and Moby-- followed by a multimedia presentation on Pulaski's life and accomplishments set to orchestral music performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and especially composed for the occasion by Yanni.
"Pulaski Park" sits on Main Street between City Hall and the historic Academy of Music Theater, in the town of Northampton, Massachusetts. Northampton and the surrounding area is home to many Polish American immigrants and their descendants.
The Pulaski Bridge connects the neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, one of the largest Polonias in America, to Long Island City, Queens.
The American Civil War Fort Pulaski National Monument is named in honor of Kazimierz Pulaski.
A US Navy submarine, USS Casimir Pulaski, has been named for him, as was a 19th-century Revenue Marine (Coast Guard) cutter.
Several cities and counties in US states are named after Pulaski, including the city of Pulaski, Tennessee, counties in Arkansas (of which Arkansas' state capital is the county seat), Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and Virginia, as well as villages in Wisconsin and New York. There are also Casimir Pulaski elementary schools in Detroit, Michigan, New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Meriden, Connecticut, Pulaski High School in Milwaukee, and an industrial park is named for him in nearby Wallingford, Connecticut. Within the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia, Pulaski House is the name for a student residential building. Additionally, there is Pulaski Square in downtown Savannah and Fort Pulaski National Monument outside Savannah. In McGlachlin Park, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, stands a statue of Count Casimir Pulaski. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, there is a Pulaski Days Festival the first weekend of October, including a parade and celebration at local Polish Halls honoring his contribution to the Revolutionary War. There is a Small park named in his honor in Northampton, Massachusetts and in South Bend, Indiana. Streets named for Pulaski, in various cities including Riverhead, NY Long Island, Hamtramck, Michigan, South Bend, Indiana, Columbia, South Carolina and through a stretch of the Chicagoland area. Interstate 65 through Lake County, Indiana is designated as Casimir Pulaski Memorial Highway. The Pulaski Skyway in New Jersey is also named for him. Interstate 93 in Boston has a Pulaski Skyway as well. U.S. Route 40 from Midvale, Delaware, to Baltimore, Maryland, is named Pulaski Highway, and the latter city's Patterson Park contains a monument in honor of him.
In the movie Year of the Dragon, a drug-smuggling ship crucial to the finale is called the Kazimierz Pulaski.
There is a technical university in Poland known as Casimir Pulaski Technical University of Radom.
On March 19 2007, the United States Senate agreed unanimously to posthumously recognize Pulaski as an Honorary Citizen of the United States. If the United States House of Representatives follows suit and the President of the United States signs the resultant bill into law, Pulaski will become only the seventh person so honored.
American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens titled a song "Casimir Pulaski Day" on his album Illinois, in which the singer's adolescent love succumbs to cancer on Casimir Pulaski Day. Similarly, but using a different spelling, heavy rock band Big Black include a song, "Kasimir S. Pulaski Day" on one of their albums.
In episode 16: , of Gilmore Girls' fourth season, you can see a statue of a man riding a horse, with the title "Casimir Pulaski" underneath it.
See also
External links
- describes Pulaski's Legion
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