Casimir Pulaski
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we are featuring foreign-born patriots of the American cause. Today, we honor Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski, Revolutionary War hero and “The Father of American Cavalry.”
Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski (anglicized to Casimir Pulaski) was born in Warsaw to a Polish noble family on March 6, 1745.
When he was a teen, Pulaski was a member of the court of Prince Karl Christian Joseph of Saxony, who was then the ruler of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. When the Russian army besieged the duchy’s capital of Mitau, he saw his first military action.
In 1767, soon after voting for the King Stanisław August Poniatowski, he joined his family in the Bar Confederation, an uprising against the king due to the undue influence of Catherine the Great of Russia. In addition to commanding a cavalry unit, he sought to win over other Polish officers to his cause.
After a few battles, he earned an international reputation as a talented military leader. Despite this, the Bar Confederation was defeated, resulting in the First Partition of Poland in 1772.
Pulaski was tried and sentenced to death in absentia. Unable to return to his homeland, he went to France. There, Benjamin Franklin and the Marquis de Lafayette recruited him to the patriots’ cause.
In 1777, upon his first meeting with George Washington, Pulaski immediately began extolling the virtues of cavalry tactics.
He participated in the Battle of Brandywine, where, following the American defeat, he covered General Washington’s retreat and is credited with saving his life. For this, he was promoted to brigadier general. He later served at the Battle of Germantown and wintered with the army at Valley Forge.
During his tenure, Pulaski continuously advocated for more robust use of cavalry in battle. Congress conferred Brigadier General Pulaski with the title of “Commander of the Horse”, authorizing a corps of 68 lancers and 200 light infantry. They were nicknamed “Pulaski’s Legion.”
During the siege of Savannah, he commanded the whole cavalry, consisting of French and American horsemen. While rallying the troops, he was felled by enemy grapeshot.
Pulaski never regained consciousness and succumbed to his wounds on October 11, 1779, at the age of 34. In 2009, Congress made Casimir Pulaski an honorary citizen of the United States.
Here are other immigrant patriots:
- Tadeusz Kościuszko, military engineer, originally from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Pierre L’Enfant, a military engineer & architect, was largely responsible for the design of Washington, D.C., and was originally from France
- Dr. Bodo Otto, military surgeon, originally from what is now Hanover, Germany
- Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, a major general originally from Prussia