Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski (Polish: [kaˈʑimjɛʂ puˈwaskʲi] ; March 4 or 6, 1745 – October 11, 1779), anglicised as Casimir Pulaski ( KA-zi-meer pə-LAS-kee), was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called "The Father of American cavalry" or "The Soldier of Liberty". Born in Warsaw and following in his father's footsteps, he became interested in politics at an early age. He soon became involved in the military and in revolutionary affairs in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Pulaski was one of the leading military commanders for the Bar Confederation and fought against the Commonwealth's foreign domination. When this uprising failed, he was driven into exile.
Following a recommendation by Benjamin Franklin, Pulaski traveled to North America to help in the American Revolutionary War. He distinguished himself throughout the revolution, most notably when he saved the life of George Washington. Pulaski became a general in the Continental Army, and he and his friend, the Hungary-born colonel commandant Michael Kovats, raised Pulaski's Legion and reformed the American cavalry as a whole. At the siege of Savannah, while leading a cavalry charge against British forces, he was fatally wounded by grapeshot and died shortly after.
Pulaski is remembered as a hero who fought for independence and freedom in Poland and the United States. Numerous places and events are named in his honor, and he is commemorated by many works of art. Pulaski is one of only eight people to be awarded honorary United States citizenship.
Pulaski was born on March 6, 1745, in the manor house of the Pułaski family in Warsaw, Poland. Casimir was the second eldest son of Marianna Zielińska and Józef Pułaski, who was an advocatus at the Crown Tribunal, the Starost of Warka, and one of the town's most notable inhabitants. He was a brother of Francis Xavier Pulaski and Antoni Pułaski. His family bore the Ślepowron coat of arms.
The Pułaski family was Catholic. Early in his youth, Casimir Pulaski attended an elite college run by Theatines, a male religious order of the Catholic Church in Warsaw, but did not finish his education.
There is some circumstantial evidence that Pulaski was a Freemason. When Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette laid the cornerstone of the monument erected in Pulaski's honour in Monterey Square in Savannah in 1824, a full Masonic ceremony took place with Richard T. Turner, High Priest of the Georgia chapter, conducting the service. Other sources claim Pulaski was a member of the Masonic Army Lodge in Maryland. A Masonic Lodge in Chicago is named Casimir Pulaski Lodge, No.1167, and a brochure issued by the lodge claims he obtained the degree of Master Mason on June 19, 1779, and was buried with full Masonic honours. To date, no surviving documents of Pulaski's actual membership have been found.
In 1762, Pulaski started his military career as a page of Carl Christian Joseph of Saxony, Duke of Courland and the Polish king's vassal. He spent six months at the ducal court in Mitau, during which the court was interned in the palaces by the Russian forces occupying the area. He then returned to Warsaw, and his father gave him the village of Zezulińce in Podole; from that time, Pulaski used the title of Starost of Zezulińce.
He took part in the 1764 election of the new Polish monarch, Stanisław II Augustus, with his family. In December 1767, Pulaski and his father became involved with the Bar Confederation, which saw King Stanisław as a Russian puppet and sought to curtail Russian hegemony over the Commonwealth. The confederation was actively opposed by the Russian forces stationed in Poland. Pulaski recruited a unit and, on February 29, 1768, signed the act of the confederation, thus declaring himself an official supporter of the movement.
On March 6, he received a pułkownik (colonel) rank and commanded a chorągiew of cavalry. In March and April, Pulaski agitated among the Polish military, successfully convincing some forces to join the Confederates. He fought his first battle on April 20 near Pohorełe. It was a victory, as was another on April 23 near Starokostiantyniv. An engagement at Kaczanówka on April 28 resulted in a defeat. In early May, he garrisoned Chmielnik (Khmilnyk) but was forced to retreat when allied reinforcements were defeated.
He retreated to a monastery in Berdyczów, which he defended during a siege by royalist forces for over two weeks until June 16. Eventually, he was forced to surrender and was taken captive by the Russians. On June 28, he was released in exchange for a pledge that he would not again take up arms with the Confederates, and that he would lobby the Confederates to end hostilities. However, Pulaski considered the assurance to be non-binding and made a public declaration to that effect upon reaching a camp of the Confederates at the end of July. Agreeing to the pledge in the first place weakened his authority and popularity among the Confederates, and his own father considered whether or not he should be Court-martialed. Some heated debates followed, and Pulaski was reinstated to active-duty only in early September.
In 1769, Pulaski's unit was again besieged by numerically superior forces, this time in the old fortress of Okopy Świętej Trójcy, which had served as his base of operations since December the previous year. After a staunch defence, he was able to break the Russian siege. On April 7, he was made the regimentarz of the Kraków Voivodeship. In May and June he operated near Przemyśl, but failed to take the town. Criticised by some of his fellow Confederates, Pulaski departed to Lithuania with his allies and a force of about 600 men on June 3.
There, Pulaski attempted to incite a larger revolt against Russia.
Despite no decisive military successes, he was able to assemble a 4,000-strong army and deliver it back to a Confederate staging point. This excursion received international notice and gained him a reputation as the most effective military leader in the Bar Confederation. Next, he moved with his unit towards Zamość and — after nearly losing his life to the inferior forces of the future Generalissimo Alexander Suvorov in the disastrous Battle of Orekhowa — on the next day, September 15, he was again defeated at the Battle of Włodawa, with his forces almost completely dispelled. He spent the rest of the year rebuilding his unit in the region of Podkarpacie.
In February 1770, Pulaski moved near Nowy Targ, and in March, helped to subdue the mutiny of Józef Bierzyński. Based in Izby, he operated in southern Lesser Poland. On May 13 his force was defeated at the Battle of Dęborzyn. Around June 9–10 in Prešov, in a conference with other Confederate leaders, he met Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, who complimented Pulaski on his actions. On July 3–4, Pulaski's camp was captured by Johann von Drewitz, and he was forced to retreat into Austria. Early in August he met with the French emissary, Charles François Dumouriez. He disregarded an order to take Lanckorona and instead cooperated with Michał Walewski in a raid on Kraków on the night of August 31.
He then departed for Częstochowa. On September 10, along with Walewski, he used subterfuge to take control of the Jasna Góra monastery. On September 18 he met Franciszka z Krasińskich, an aristocrat from the Krasiński family and the wife of Charles of Saxony, Duke of Courland. He impressed her and she became one of his protectors. Around September 22–24 Walewski was made the commandant of Jasna Góra, which slighted Pulaski. Nonetheless, he continued as the de facto commander of Confederate troops stationed in and around Jasna Góra.
Between September 10, 1770, and January 14, 1771, Pulaski, Walewski and Józef Zaremba commanded the Polish forces during the siege of Jasna Góra monastery. They successfully defended against Drewitz in a series of engagements, the largest one on November 11, followed by a siege from December 31 to January 14. The defense of Jasna Góra further enhanced his reputation among the Confederates and abroad. A popular Confederate song taunting Drewitz included lyrics about Pulaski and Jasna Góra. Pulaski intended to pursue Drewitz, but a growing discord between him and Zaremba prevented this from becoming a real option.