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Brigadier-General Thaddeus Andrzej Bonaventura Kosciuszko


Original Member, admitted 1783

Brigadier-General Thaddeus Kosciuszko

He was a member of the French Society and represented in the New Jersey Society. Began his service in the Revolutionary War as Colonel-Engineer on 18 Oct 1776. Last served as Colonel and was Brevet Brigadier General on 13 Oct 1783 by Congress. Planned the defenses at Bemis Heights for the Battle of Saratoga. Planned the Forts along the Delaware River in 1776. Planned the defense of Fort Ticonderoga. The principal engineer for the Fort at West Point, NY 1778-1780. He is sometimes called the “Father of West Point”. Adjutant to General George Washington in 1779. Organized the successful blockade of Charleston under General Nathaniel Greene, and was in charge of transportation in Greene’s Campaign of 1781. Fought at the Siege of Ninety Six. Served to the close of war. He was made a citizen of the United States. Born in Siechnowica, Poland on 12 Feb 1746 and died in Solothurn, Switzerland on 15 Oct 1817. Graduated from the Royal School, Military Academy at Warsaw, Poland in 1769 and studied military engineering in France in 1770. Captain in the Polish Army as an engineer. After the Revolutionary War he returned to Poland and helped to reorganize the Polish Army in 1789. Major General and fought in defense of the Constitution of 1791 against the Russians. Fought in the Battles of Zielence 18 Jun 1792 and Dubienka on 17 Jul 1792. Resigned from the army and became a citizen of France. Made a second effort for Poland in 1794 and was elected Dictator of Poland and General in Chief of the Polish Army. Finally defeated at Szczekeiny on 6 Jun1794 and resigned the Dictatorship. Routed at Maciejowice on 10 Oct 1794. In this battle he was wounded 17 times. Captured by the Russians and imprisoned for two years. Pardoned in 1796 he revisited the United States in 1798. Died in exile in Switzerland. Buried in the Cathedral in Cracow, Poland. There is a monument to him at the US Military Academy at West Point, erected in 1828. There is a National Park at his former home in Philadelphia, PA. [Sources: M; H; Find A Grave Memorial; www.famousamericans.net; www.polskiinternet.com; www.ushistory.org. Pics: www.thebestlinks.com/images; www.polskiinternet.com/english/info/thadeuskosciuszko.html.]


Thaddeus Kosciuszko is currently unrepresented in the Society of the Cincinnati. Eligible descendants are encouraged to make inquiry regarding membership.

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Successors

Count Thaddeus Kosciuszko de Chutkowski
Grandnephew
(1848 — 1914)
Admitted 1901