Tadeusz Kosciuszko – Kraków, Poland - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

Tadeusz Kosciuszko was born in February 1746 (the exact date is unknown) in the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania to parents of Polish nobility. Following in his father’s footsteps, he pursued a military education and career first in Warsaw then in Paris.

Having returned to Paris in 1775 due to civil unrest in his homeland, he caught wind of the American Revolution and sailed to Philadelphia to offer his services to the Continental Army. He was immediately put to work designing fortifications for Philadelphia. Kosciuszko served in the Continental Army for the duration of the conflict both in the north (Saratoga and West Point) and in the south alongside Nathaniel Greene designing fortifications, managing logistics and commanding cavalry divisions.

The American victory at Saratoga was a significant turning point in the war and American commander Horatio Gates attributed the victory in large part to that “young Polish engineer.” In fact, Tadeusz Kosciuszko’s only downside appeared to be his name, which Americans couldn’t remember, spell or pronounce. George Washington supposedly spelled it eleven different ways in various correspondences. Growing up in the New York City area, I always heard the name Kosciuszko because of a bridge that was often mentioned in traffic reports. I’m sure it was never pronounced correctly though.

After the American Revolution, Kosciuszko returned to his native Poland where he became a brilliant commander in Poland’s “War in Defense of the Constitution” and the 1794 Polish Uprising albeit both in a losing cause. He died in 1817 and although his remains were separated and moved around a bit, his body was eventually placed in a sarcophagus in Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, the traditional resting place of Polish Kings and national heroes.

Over the years, Tadeusz Kosciuszko has been memorialized with countless monuments and statues, counties, parks, mountains and other place names as well as postage stamps of several different countries.
(Source: ushistory.org.)

Description: See Long Description above. Date of birth: 02/04/1746 Date of death: 10/15/1817 Area of notoriety: Military Marker Type: Crypt (below ground) Setting: Indoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: 9:00 am - 3:30 pm daily except Sunday 12:30 am - 3:30 pm Fee required?: Yes Web site: [Web Link]

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