Thaddeus Kosciusko, born near Novogrodek, Lithuania, on the 12th of February, 1746, was descended from a noble Polish family. Studying at first in the military academy at Warsaw, he afterward completed his education in France. Returning to his native country, he entered the army and rose to the rank of captain. Soon after coming to America, he offered his services to Washington as a volunteer in the cause of American independence. Appreciating his lofty character and fine military attainments, Washington made him one of his aids, showing the high estimation in which he held the gallant Pole.

Taking part in several great battles in the North, Kosciusko there proved his skill and courage, and was ordered to accompany Greene to the South when that general superseded Gates in 1781. Holding the position of chief engineer, he planned and directed all the besieging operations against Ninety-Six. In recognition of these valuable services, he received from Congress the rank of brigadier-general in the Continental army on the 13th of October, 1783. Serving to the end of the war, he shared with Lafayette the honor of being admitted into the Society of the Cincinnati. Returning to Poland in 1786 he entered the Polish army upon its reorganization in 1789, and fought valiantly in behalf of his oppressed country. Resigning his commission, he once more became an exile, when the Russians triumphed, and the second partition of Poland was agreed upon. Two years later, however, when the Poles determined to resume their struggle for freedom, Kosciusko returned, and in March, 1794, was proclaimed director and generalissimo. With courage, patience and skill, that justified the high esteem in which he had been held in America, he directed his followers while they waged the unequal strife. Successful at first, he broke the yoke of tyranny from the necks of his down-trodden countrymen, and for a few short weeks beheld his beloved country free. But with vastly augmented numbers the enemy once more invaded Poland; and in a desperate conflict Kosciusko, covered with wounds, was taken prisoner, and the subjugation of the whole province soon followed. He remained a prisoner for two years until the accession of Paul I. of Russia. In token of his admiration, Paul wished to present his own sword to Kosciusko; but the latter refused it, saying, “I have no more need of a sword, as I have no longer a country,” and would accept nothing but his release from captivity. He visited France and England, and in 1797 returned to the United States, from which country he received a pension, and was everywhere warmly welcomed. The following year he returned to France, when his countrymen in the French army presented him with the sword of John Sobieski. Purchasing a small estate, he devoted himself to agriculture. In 1806, when Napoleon planned the restoration of Poland, Kosciusko refused to join in the undertaking, because he was on his parole never to fight against Russia. He gave one more evidence before his death of his love of freedom and sincere devotion to her cause, by releasing from slavery all the serfs on his own estate in his native land. In 1816, he removed to Switzerland, where he died on the 15th of October, 1817, at Solothurn. The following year his remains were removed to Cracow, and buried beside Sobieski, and the people, in loving remembrance of his patriotic devotion, raised a mound above his grave one hundred and fifty feet high, the earth being brought from every great battle-field in Poland. This country paid its tribute of gratitude by erecting a monument to his memory at West Point on the Hudson.