Thaddeus Kosciusko, the last generalissimo of the republic of Poland,
one of the noblest characters of his age, was descended from an
ancient and noble, though not rich family, in Lithuania, aad was born
in 1756. He was educated in the military school at Warsaw. The prince
Adam Czartoriski, perceiving his talents and industry, made him second
lieutenant in the corps of cadets, and sent him, at his own expense,
to France, where he studied drawing and the military art. After his
return, he was made captain. But the consequences of an unhappy
passion for the daughter of Sosnowski, marshal of Lithuania (who was
afterwards married to the prince Jos. Lubomirski), obliged him to
leave Poland. Solitary studies, particularly in history and
mathematics, and an elevated character, prepared him for the struggle
for freedom, in which he engaged under Washington, who made him his
aid. He distinguished himself particularly at the siege of Ninety-Six,
and was very highly esteemed by the army and the commander-in-chief.
He and Lafayette were the only foreigners admitted into the
Cincinnati. Kosciusko received the rank of general, and, in 1786,
returned to Poland. When the Polish army was formed (1789), the diet
appointed him a major-general. He declared himself for the
constitution of May 3, 1791, and served under prince Joseph
Poniatowski. In the campaign of 1792, he distinguished himself against
the Russians at Zieleneck and Dubienka. At the latter place, under
cover of some works which he had thrown up in the course of 24 hours,
he repulsed, with 1000 men, three successive attacks of 18,000
Russians, who prevailed only after the loss of 4,000 men. Kosciusko
retired without having suffered severely. When king Stanislaus
submitted to Catharine, he, with sixteen other officers, left the
army, and was, therefore, obliged to retire from Poland. He went to
Leipsic; and the legislative assembly of France, at this time, gave
him the rights of a French citizen. The Poles becoming impatient under
the oppression of Russia, some of Kosciusko’s friends in Warsaw
determined to make an effort for the liberation of their country. They
chose Kosciusko as their general, and made him acquainted with their
plans. He imparted them to the counts Ignatius, Potocki and Kolontai
in Dresden, who thought the enterprise injudicious. Kosciusko,
however, went to the frontier, and sent general Zajonczeck and general
Dzialynski into the Russian provinces of Poland, to prepare everything
in silence. But when the Polish army was merged, in part, in the
Russian, and the remainder reduced to 15,000 men, the insurrection
broke out before the time fixed on. In Posen, Madalinski forcibly
opposed the dissolution of his regiment. All now flew to arms; the
Russian garrison was expelled from Cracow. Just at this moment,
Kosciusko entered the city. The citizens now formed the act of
confederation of Cracow (March 24, 1794), and Kosciusko, at their
head, called upon the Poles to restore the constitution of May 3.
Kosciusko then advanced to meet the Russian forces. Without artillery,
at the head of only 4,000 men, part of whom were armed only with
scythes and pikes, he defeated 12,000 Russians at Raclawice (April 4,
1794.) His army was now increased to 9,000 men, and he formed a
junction with general Grochowski.
In the mean time, the Russian garrisons of Warsaw and Wilna had been
put to death, or made prisoners. Kosciusko checked the outbreak of
popular fury, sent troops against Volhynia, and organized the
government at Warsaw. He marched out of the city, with 13,000 men, to
oppose 17,000 Russians and Prussians, attacked them at Szezekocini,
June 6, but was defeated after an obstinate conflict. He retreated to
his entrenched camp before Warsaw. The Prussians took Cracow.
Disturbances broke out, in conseqence, in Warsaw, June 28. The people
murdered a part of the prisoners, and hung some Poles who were
connected with the Russians. But Kosciusko punished the guilty, and
restored order. The king of Prussia now formed a junction with the
Russians, and besieged Warsaw with 60,000 men. Kosciusko, however,
kept up the courage of his countrymen. After two months of bloody
fighting, he repelled, with 10,000 men, a general assault. All Great
Poland now rose, under Dombrowski, against the Prussians. This
circumstance, together with the loss of a body of artillery, compelled
the king of Prussia to raise the siege of Warsaw. Thus this bold
general, with an army of 20,000 regular troops and 40,000 armed
peasants, maintained himself against four hostile armies, amounting
together to 150,000 men.
[Illustration: KOSKIUSKO’S MONUMENT.]
His great power consisted in the confidence which his fellow-citizens
reposed in him. The nephew of the king, once his general, served under
him. Kosciusko had unlimited power in the republic, but he displayed
the integrity of Washington, and the activity of Cæsar. He attended to
procuring supplies, superintended the raising and payment of money,
and prevented plundering and fraud, and was equally active in the
council and the field. His days and nights, all his powers, were
devoted to his country. He secured the administration of justice,
abolished bondage, and finally restored to the nation, May 29, in the
supreme national council which he established, the great power which
had been delegated to him. Catharine at length decided the contest by
an overwhelming superiority of numbers. Suwaroff defeated the Poles
under Sierakowski at Brzec, in Volhynia, September 18th and 19th.
Repnin penetrated through Lithuania, and formed a union with Suwaroff;
general Fersen was to support them with 12,000 men. To prevent this,
Kosciusko marched from Warsaw with 21,000 men. Poninski was to have
supported him with his division; but the Russians intercepted the
messenger. The united Russian armies under Fersen attacked the Poles,
who were not more than one-third as strong as the Russians, October
10, at Macziewice (about 50 miles from Warsaw); they were three times
repulsed, but, on the fourth attack, they broke through the Polish
lines. Kosciusko fell from his horse covered with wounds, exclaiming
‘_Finis Poloniæ_’ and was made prisoner by the enemy. In losing him,
his country lost all. Suwaroff stormed Praga November 4; Warsaw
capitulated on the 9th; Madalinski left Great Poland; an Austrian army
appeared before Lublin. But the noble efforts of the conquered had
awakened the regard of Europe towards the unhappy country, and the
dearest hopes of the nation――the restoration of their monarchy, with a
free constitution――found a powerful support in public opinion.
Catharine caused the hero and his noble colleagues, who were prisoners
of war, to be thrown into a state prison. Paul I gave them their
liberty, and distinguished Kosciusko by marks of his esteem. He
presented his own sword to the general, who declined it with these
words――‘I no longer need a sword, since I have no longer a country.’
To the day of his death, he never again wore a sword. Paul then
presented him with 1,500 peasants, and his friend Niemcewicz, the
poet, with 1,000. When on the Russian frontier, Kosciusko declined
this present by a letter. He and his friend now went by the way of
France and London, where Kosciusko was treated with distinction, to
America (1797).
His fortune was very small. On his return to his native country after
the war of the revolution, he had received a pension from America, and
he now found there such a reception as he deserved. In 1798, he went
to France. His countrymen in the Italian army presented to him the
sabre of John Sobieski, which had been found (1799) at Loretto.
Napoleon afterwards formed the plan of restoring Poland to its place
among the nations, and thus, at the same time, injuring Russia, and
extending his own power over the east of Europe. But Kosciusko would
take no part in this struggle, which was conducted by Dombrowski, in
1807-8, being prevented less by ill health than by having given his
word to Paul I never to serve against the Russians. To Napoleon’s
proposals he answered, that ‘he would exert himself in the cause of
Poland, when he saw the country possessed of its ancient territories,
and having a free constitution.’ Fouche tried every means to carry him
to Poland. An appeal to the Poles, which appeared under his name in
the _Moniteur_ of November 1, 1806, he declared to be spurious.
Having purchased an estate in the neighborhood of Fontainebleau, he
lived there in retirement until 1814. April 9, 1814, he wrote to the
emperor Alexander, to ask of him an amnesty for the Poles in foreign
lands, and to request him to become king of Poland, and to give to the
country a free constitution, like that of England. In 1815, he
traveled with lord Stuart to Italy, and, in 1816, he settled at
Soleure. In 1817, he abolished slavery on his estate of Siecnowicze,
in Poland. He afterwards lived in retirement, enjoying the society of
a few friends. Agriculture was his favorite occupation. A fall with
his horse from a precipice, not far from Vevay, occasioned his death,
October 16, 1817, at Soleure. He was never married. In 1818, prince
Jablonowski, at the expense of the emperor Alexander, removed his
body, which, at the request of the senate, the emperor allowed to be
deposited in the tomb of the kings at Cracow. A monument was also
erected to his memory, and the women went into mourning for his loss.