Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
At the age of 30, Thaddeus Kosciuszko was one of the first European volunteers to aid the Continental Army in 1776.
He served with the colonial forces during the American Revolution (1774-1783). A brilliant Polish military engineer, Kosciuszko designed and constructed fortifications to help defeat the British, most notably at Saratoga and West Point in New York. In 1783, Kosciuszko was granted United States citizenship, a pension, estates and the rank of Brigadier General.
In 1784, Kosciusko returned to Poland, attaining the rank of major general in the Polish army. Following the second partition of Poland, by Russia and Prussia, he led a 1794 rebellion for Polish independence, but was overcome by combined forces and held prisoner in Russia until 1796 when he was released and exiled. He made his home in Switzerland until he was killed by a fall from a horse. His remains were returned to Poland where a mound 150 feet high, made of earth taken from every battlefield in Poland, was piled up in his honor in the outskirts of the city.
Today, Kosciusko is seen as a symbol of alliance between countries so distant in miles yet so close in their love of freedom.
