There are many heroes of the American Revolution whose names are spoken with respect. Washington, Hamilton, Adams, Revere, Jefferson, and so many more. But one name that few know, perhaps because it's rather daunting when first seen by English speakers, is Colonel Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kosciuszko.
A native of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - present day Belarus - Andrzej was born into nobility in 1746, but his father's sudden death left the family penniless. Andrzej enlisted in the military, and soon achieved the rank of captain.
When civil war broke out, he and a friend moved to Paris, but Andrzej was unable to further his military career because of citizenship restrictions. Taking an interest in art, the young Pole enrolled at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, where he was studying when news of the American Revolution reached his ears.
Moved by the colonists' fight for liberty, and spurred on by France's support of the cause, Andrzej sailed across the pond to enlist in Washington's army. At first a mere volunteer for Benjamin Franklin, Andrzej was soon reassigned as colonel of engineers, and in 1777, was tasked with constructing defenses and fortifications for Major General Horatio Gates at Fort Ticonderoga.
Although his counsel was at first ignored, a British capture of the fort executed exactly as Andrzej had predicted changed some minds, and he was kept busy throughout the war.
His two greatest accomplishments were bolstering the defenses at West Point, which held for two years and were personally praised by General Washington, and assembling enough watercraft for General Greene's army to cross the many rivers of North Carolina and Virginia as they were pursued by Charles Cornwallis. Andrzej also assisted Greene in the Battle of Guildford Courthouse, and the reclaiming of South Carolina.
After participating in the final conflict of the war, Andrzej was rewarded for his service, then returned home to his family in Poland. The embers of freedom remained in him, however, and he attempted a revolution in his own country, starting with a Constitution separate from the power of Russia, which sent in its army to suppress the threat.
Although meeting them on the battlefield and gaining many victories, Andrzej's attempts at independence in his home country ultimately proved unsuccessful.
After many other adventures both in America and beyond, including developing a friendship with President Jefferson, Andrzej Kosciuszko suffered a fall from his horse, and died of his injuries in Switzerland at 71.
Although not a well-known hero of the Revolutionary War, Andrzej deserves to be spoken in the same breath as Nathanial Greene and Paul Revere, for he left his home and family to cross an ocean and join the Glorious Cause.
Though he had no connections and little to gain from the colonists' victory, the desire for freedom and self-governance is a universal language, and Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kosciuszko surely would have recognized the need for a Convention of States, and added his impressive name to the petition.
Be a 21st century patriot, and sign the petition to call a Convention of States, and encourage others to do the same.
