Tadeusz Kosciuszko - Holyoke, MA
Posted by: neoc1
N 42° 12.589 W 072° 36.342
18T E 697643 N 4675847
A monument honoring General Tadeusz Kosciuszko is located in General Tadeusz Kosciuszko Park in Holyoke, MA
Waymark Code: WMH8EE
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 06/06/2013
Views: 5
Tadeusz Kosciuszko was born on February 4, 1746 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in a village located in present-day Belarus. He graduated from the Corps of Cadets School in Warsaw. He travelled to the United States in 1776 to participated in the American Revolution against the British as a Colonel of Engineers in the Continental Army.
Kosciuszko was a brilliant military engineer and was most famous for his design successful fortifications during the American Revolution. His first mission was to fortify the Philadelphia waterfront at Fort Mercer. In 1777 Kosciuszko designed the defenses of Saratoga that led to the defeat of the British and the surrender of General Gates. In 1778 Kosciuszko was the chief engineer in charge of designing and supervising the construction of the defenses at West Point, NY. In 1783, he was promoted to the rank of Brevet Brigadier General.
Following the American defeat of the British he returned to Poland to join the fight for Polish independence as a Major General in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's Army. Kosciuszko spent the last years of his life in Switzerland, where he died on October 15, 1817 at the age of 72. He is buried in Wawel Castle, in Krakow, Poland, where Polish kings are buried.
A monument honoring Tadeusz Kosciuszko is inscribed on the front with a bas-relief sculpture of General Kosciuszko and the following inscription:
GENERAL
TADEUSZ
KOSCIUSZKO
1746 {CANNON}1817
FATHER OF AMERICAN ARTILLERY
REVOLUTIONARY WAR HERO
DEFEATED BRITISH AT SARATOGA
FORTIFIED WEST POINT
POLAND'S COMMANDER IN CHIEF
1794 - 1795
The back of the monument has the following inscription:
TADEUSZ KOSCIUSZKO CLUB
HOLYOK'S FIRST POLISH SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
SOCIETY - 1893 SOCIAL CLUB - 1899
INCORPORATED - 1905
HOLYOKE'S POLISH HOME BUILDING 1913 - 1971
1990 OFFICERS
PRIDENT - EDMUND S. AUGUSTYNIAK
VICE PRESIDENT - JOSEPH CYBULSKI
FINNCIAL SECRETARY - ELIZABETH BUREK
TREASURER - FRED KRAJEWSKI
RECORDING SECRETARY - STELLA KAZMIERSKI
DIRECTORS - JANE KANE, CHARLES KUPCZYNSKI
JOHN MALANOWSKI, LEON STANKIEWICZ
CASIMIR WERENSKI
---------------------------------------------
WARD ALDERMAN WILLIAM F. PLISKA
AUDITORS EVELYN KIDA AUGUSTYNIAK,
ROBERT KANE, RAYMOND PASEK
SGT. AT ARMS EDMUND PARTYKA