Thaddeus Kosciuszko

Of all the distinguished military men who came from abroad to fight for the independence of the thirteen colonies, Thaddeus Kosciuszko (Kos-choos-ko) of Poland was the first. § He came to Philadelphia and offered his services to the Continental Congress in August, 1776, and he served continuously until the end of the war seven years later. He earned praise from George Washington and the special thanks of Congress. Then he returned to Poland, became head of the government and commander-in-chief of the army in the Insurrection of 1794, winning a place in Polish history comparable to that of Washington in the United States. § Acclaimed throughout the world as a courageous fighter for freedom, Kosciuszko came back to visit America in 1797 and lived for nearly six months in Philadelphia, then the capital of the nation. The modest brick house in which he stayed at Third and Pine Streets is now preserved by the National Park Service as the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial.


	The portrait of Thaddeus Kosciuszko reproduced on the cover is one of the best but least known. It hangs in the Embassy of Poland in Washington. It was painted from life by the artist Josef Grassi in 1792 when Kosciuszko had returned to Poland after his service in the American Revolution. With his General's uniform he wears both the cross of Poland's Virtuti Militari and the eagle of America's Society of the Cincinnati.
	KOSCIUSZKO IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1776-1783 THE KOSCIUSZKO INSURRECTION 1792-1794 KOSCIUSZKO'S RETURN TO PHILADELPHIA 1797-1798 A HERO OF TWO WORLDS

Of all the distinguished military men who came from abroad to fight for the independence of the thirteen colonies, Thaddeus Kosciuszko (Kos-choos-ko) of Poland was the first. § He came to Philadelphia and offered his services to the Continental Congress in August, 1776, and he served continuously until the end of the war seven years later. He earned praise from George Washington and the special thanks of Congress. Then he returned to Poland, became head of the government and commander-in-chief of the army in the Insurrection of 1794, winning a place in Polish history comparable to that of Washington in the United States. § Acclaimed throughout the world as a courageous fighter for freedom, Kosciuszko came back to visit America in 1797 and lived for nearly six months in Philadelphia, then the capital of the nation. The modest brick house in which he stayed at Third and Pine Streets is now preserved by the National Park Service as the Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko (Kos-choos-ko) and His Home in Philadelphia

Thaddeus Kosciuszko (Kos-choos-ko)
and His Home in Philadelphia