THADDEUS KOSCIUSZKO (1746-1817) – As my last name makes clear, I’m of Polish American descent. Last 4th of July I made a blog post about the Polish General Casimir Pulaski‘s career during the Revolutionary War. This year I’m taking a look at another Polish officer who served in the American armed forces during that conflict.
Just as Pulaski is remembered as “the father of American cavalry,” Kosciuszko is often referred to as the father of America’s Army Corps of Engineers. Thaddeus’ brilliant improvisational engineering and architectural works proved essential to winning American independence.
After receiving his education and military training in Europe, Kosciuszko sailed for America in June 1776. Unlike his fellow Pole Casimir Pulaski, he had missed out on serving in the Bar Uprising in Poland and was enthusiastic about fighting in the Revolutionary War. Poland’s long history of religious tolerance made Thaddeus feel a certain kinship with those who held similar sentiments in our emerging nation.
By August 30th of 1776 Kosciuszko was in Philadelphia presenting his request for service to the Second Continental Congress. The next day he was accepted and assigned to America’s Continental Army. Thaddeus’ first undertaking was the construction of fortifications at Fort Billingsport in Paulsboro, NJ to prevent a British advance up the Delaware River. Continue reading
ABRAHAM CLARK – Abraham’s two sons Aaron and Thomas were captured during the war and may have perished while captives of the British. Accounts vary and some sources even claim he had three sons die in the war. 
OCTOBER 24th – Near Sandy Hook, NJ American rebel Captain Adam Hyler leads an unknown number of men in a clash with an unknown number of British Loyalists. Hyler takes 6 prisoners during the action.
NOVEMBER 1st-6th – At Gowen’s Fort, SC, Roebuck’s Battalion and civilian non-combatants were attacked and besieged by a combined force of British Loyalists and Chickamauga Indian allies of the British. On November 6th, the Americans surrendered after the Loyalist Captain William Bates guaranteed their safety. 
MARCH 1st – British troops led by Major John Maitland landed and took Cockspur Island at the mouth of the Savannah River in Georgia. The Redcoats clashed with American Militiamen and drove them off. Both sides were left with wounded men following the exchange of gunfire, but no fatalities are known. 
Four British warships, along with multiple smaller vessels, launched a joint land and sea effort to seize American rice ships in the area in order to feed the British forces. Over 300 British infantrymen took part in commandeering the rice boats by surprise overnight. 
CASIMIR PULASKI (1747-1779) -Obviously from my last name I’m Polish-American and therefore grew up immersed in the role played by Casimir Pulaski and Tadeusz Kosciuszko in America’s War of Independence. I’m often surprised by how comparatively unknown they are to the public at large, so in keeping with Balladeer’s Blog’s theme here’s a look at Pulaski. I’ll cover Kosciuszko separately. 
The war never became as romanticized as the later Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Turks, but the conflict drew attention to Russian totalitarianism and to the abilities of Polish officers like Casimir Pulaski. In fact, it took an invasion by Russian-allied Austria and Prussia to help Russia put down the rebellion in 1772. 
Franklin was impressed with what he could learn about Pulaski and sent him on to America with a letter of introduction to George Washington. Franklin described the Pole as “an officer famous throughout Europe for his bravery and conduct in defence of the liberties of his country against the three great invading powers of Russia, Austria and Prussia … may be highly useful to our service.”
It may be my fondness for mythology that makes me love to watch particular movies around particular holidays. I say that because many of the well- known myths were recited on ancient holidays when their subject matter was relevant to those festivities. The stories helped accentuate the meaning of the special events and that’s the reason I love holiday-themed movies. 
The 4th of July is fast approaching, so Balladeer’s Blog will be squeezing in a few more holiday-themed posts up til then. In the past I’ve examined Revolutionary War privateers like John Haraden and Silas Talbot. This time around I’ll take a look at the controversial Luke Ryan. 
Some of Ryan’s crew didn’t like the way the spoils were divided from this extracurricular activity and informed the authorities about Luke’s smuggling offense. The Friendship was seized and hauled to Poolbeg and all crew members on board were arrested, then thrown into Black Dog Gaol. This happened on the night of April 11th into 12th. 
CAPTAIN SILAS TALBOT – Even if he had never gone on to a career in Privateering, Talbot would still have been a fascinating figure from Revolutionary War history. On June 28th, 1775 Silas was commissioned as a Captain in a Rhode Island regiment and served in the military operations which ended with the British surrender of Boston in March of 1776. 
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