Who was Casimir Pulaski?

He was a Polish nobleman (1745 to 1779) who led cavalry in the Bar Confederation against Russia, then served in the American Revolution and reorganised the Continental cavalry.

Why is Pulaski called the father of the American cavalry?

Because he took the Continental army's weak, ill-organised cavalry, drilled and reformed it, and raised his own cavalry unit, Pulaski's Legion, giving the Americans a real mounted arm.

How did Casimir Pulaski die?

He was mortally wounded by grapeshot while leading a charge at the Siege of Savannah on 9 October 1779, and died of his wounds two days later.

Is Casimir Pulaski an American citizen?

He was made an honorary citizen of the United States in 2009, one of only a handful of people ever granted that honour.

How is Pulaski honoured in the United States?

General Pulaski Memorial Day is marked each October, and many counties, towns, roads and bridges are named for him; Illinois keeps Casimir Pulaski Day.

Casimir Pulaski: father of the American cavalry

Q: What was the Bar Confederation?

It was an armed league of Polish nobles formed in 1768 to resist Russian influence over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth; it was defeated by 1772 and followed by the First Partition of Poland.

Casimir Pulaski lost his own country's war and helped win another's. He rose as one of the boldest commanders of the Bar Confederation, the Polish nobles' rising against Russian control, and when that cause was crushed he sailed for America, where he rebuilt Washington's cavalry and fell leading a charge at Savannah. Poland remembers him as a patriot; the United States remembers him as the father of its cavalry.

The Bar Confederation

Born in 1745 into a noble family¹, Pulaski followed his father into the Bar Confederation of 1768, an armed league of Polish nobles formed to resist Russian influence over the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its king. For four years he was among the confederation's most active soldiers², best known for a stubborn defence of the fortified monastery of¹ Jasna Góra at Częstochowa. The rising failed: Russia and its allies broke the confederates, and in 1772 came the First Partition, which tore away a third of the Commonwealth. Pulaski, condemned in absentia after being linked to a plot to seize the king³, a charge he denied, went into exile.

Painting of Polish noble cavalry with lances and a red banner charging across snowy ground — Pulaski leads his horsemen at Częstochowa during the Bar Confederation, painted by Józef Chełmoński in 1875, a century after the events. Casimir Pulaski Museum, Warka. Public domain

Exile and a letter from Franklin

Poor and unwelcome across much of Europe, Pulaski reached Paris, where he met Benjamin Franklin. Franklin, then seeking soldiers for the American cause, gave him a recommendation to George Washington. Pulaski crossed the Atlantic in 1777³ with little more than his skill and his reputation as a horseman.

Father of the American cavalry

He proved himself within weeks. At the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777 his handling of horsemen helped cover the American retreat³ and caught Washington's eye. Congress made him a brigadier general and commander of the Continental cavalry⁴, an arm the Americans had barely developed. Pulaski drilled it, reorganised it and raised his own mixed unit of horse and foot, Pulaski's Legion. For his work building that arm from almost nothing he is remembered as the father of the American cavalry.

Painted portrait of Casimir Pulaski, a young man with a moustache in a dark fur-trimmed coat — Casimir Pulaski as painted by Jan Styka, reproduced on a postcard published in Lviv in the early 20th century. Public domain

Savannah and after

In 1779 Pulaski took his legion south. At the allied Siege of Savannah, on 9 October, he rode forward to rally a faltering assault⁵ and was struck down by grapeshot. He died of his wounds two days later⁴, most likely aboard the ship carrying him from the field. He was thirty-four. Long honoured in both nations, he was made an honorary citizen of the United States in 2009, one of only a handful ever so recognised³, and General Pulaski Memorial Day is still marked each October.

Engraved 18th-century plan of Savannah on its river with the town grid, British works and the allied siege lines — Plan of the siege of Savannah and the failed French and American assault of 9 October 1779, in which Pulaski was mortally wounded. From a survey by a British officer, published in London by William Faden in 1784. Public domain

Read on with his countryman Tadeusz Kościuszko, or meet both in the Polish heroes of the American Revolution.

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Kazimierz Pułaski” ↩ a b
Władysław Konopczyński, Kazimierz Pułaski. Życiorys (Polska Akademia Umiejętności, 1931). ↩
American Battlefield Trust, “Casimir Pulaski” ↩ a b c d
U.S. Government Publishing Office (govinfo), “Public Law 111-94: Joint Resolution proclaiming Casimir Pulaski to be an honorary citizen of the United States posthumously” ↩ a b
Leszek Szymański, Casimir Pulaski: A Hero of the American Revolution (Hippocrene Books, 1994). ↩
Wikipedia, “Casimir Pulaski, Wikipedia”