KOSCIUSZKO, Thaddeus (Tadeusz): Statue on Benjamin Franklin Pkwy in Philadelphia, PA by Robert Aitken

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Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kosciuszko(1746 – 1817) was a Polish, Belarusian and Lithuanian national hero, general and a leader of the 1794 uprising (which bears his name) against the Russian Empire. He fought in the American Revolutionary War as a colonel in the Continental Army. Kosciuszko was recruited in France by Silas Deane and Benjamin Franklin, and in August 1776 he arrived in America. Congress commissioned him a Colonel and he was named head engineer of the Continental Army. Shortly after arriving, he read the United States Declaration of Independence. Kosciuszko was so moved by the document which encompassed everything in which he believed, that he decided to meet Thomas Jefferson. The two met in Virginia and after spending the day discussing philosophy and other things they became close friends. Kosciuszko was a guest at Monticello on many occasions.

In 1792, long after Kosciuszko had returned to Europe, a Russian army of 100,000 crossed the Polish border and headed for Warsaw, thus starting the War in Defence of the Constitution. The Polish Army was well-trained and prepared for war. In May 1792, Kosciuszko assumed command of the 3rd Crown Infantry Division. The Polish Army was too weak to oppose the enemy advancing into Ukraine and withdrew to the western side of the Bug River, where it regrouped and counterattacked. Victorious in the Battle of Zielence (June 18, 1792), Kosciuszko was among the first to receive the newly-created Virtuti Militari medal, Poland's highest military decoration even today. In the Battles of Wlodzimierz (July 17, 1792) and Dubienka (July 18) Kosciuszko repulsed the numerically superior enemy and came to be regarded as one of Poland's most brilliant military commanders of the time. On August 1, 1792, King Stanislaw August promoted him to Lieutenant General. But before the nomination arrived at Kosciuszko's camp in Sieciechów, the King had joined the ranks of the Targowica Confederation and surrendered to the Russians. The capitulation of the king was a hard blow for Kosciuszko, who did not lose a single battle in the campaign. Source: Wikipedia

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0006000/06543_0010034009 (added ca. 9/23/2007)

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0006000/06543_0010034019 (added ca. 9/23/2007)

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0006000/06543_0010034029 (added ca. 9/23/2007)

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0006000/06543_0010034039 (added ca. 9/23/2007)

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0006000/06543_0010034049 (added ca. 9/23/2007)

More Info

Medium: Bronze
Artist: Robert Aitken(click name for more of that artist's work)
Related subjects: National Figures outside the US; Revolutionary War; Thaddeus (Tadeusz) Kosciuszko
Location: Benjamin Franklin Pkwy & 18 St Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Nearest Metro: N/A() (click station name for all sculptures nearby)
Smithsonian American Art Museum's Art Inventories Catalog: Control number PA000160 (dcMem ID #6543 )

Links & other sources
Wikipedia article on Kosciuszko
Polish American website on Kosciuszko
Wikipedia on Philadelphia
Philadelphia City website

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