Thaddeus Kosciuszko was an American military hero, but he’s the least-remembered of the key members in the American Revolution. We remember the Bens (Benjamin and Benedict), Johns (Adams and Hancock), Toms (Jefferson and Paine) and Georges (Washington and Mason), but not him. This is made more curious by the fact that, according to Alex Storozynski’s compelling biography, The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution, there are more statues of Kosciuszko in this country than anyone other than George Washington. He even has a New York City bridge named after him, even if it is the minor-league, G-train of the City’s bridges, connecting Brooklyn and Queens. Are news telecasters right, that difficult names are such a disability in the U.S.A.?
Kosciuszko—pronounced Kosh-Koosh-Koh”—isn’t impossible to say, but from now on, let’s call him T.K. so we skirt that problem, just in case.
Storozynski’s book is the first biography of T.K. to be released by any major publisher in the West and is a well-researched and highly detailed account of this forgotten hero’s life. T.K. was the son of a noble (but not wealthy) family that owned serfs in Poland. Leaving that behind, he then spent his life lobbying for emancipation and the rights of peasants, women and Jews. After fleeing a death-sentence in Poland for trying to elope with the daughter of the Chief of the Ukrainian Cossack’s, he turned up on Benjamin Franklin’s doorstep requesting to be an engineer for the American revolutionary forces. Called the “Hero of Two Hemispheres,” he was awarded high titles for his fight against oppression, becoming both a brigadier general in the United States and Commander in Chief in Poland. Here are the top four things we no longer know about him:
1. Benedict Arnold, the traitor who was caught trying to sell West Point’s military defense plans to the British, was selling T.K.’s plans.
2. The famous Battle of Saratoga was a decisive American Victory that led to the capture of an army of 6,000 British soldiers attacking New York from Quebec. T.K. had masterminded the Americans’ defensive positions. The result was well-described by General Horatio Gates; “If Old England is not by this lesson taught humility, then she is an obstinate old slut, bent upon her ruin.”
3. On a particularly cold night, he shared a sleeping bag with General Patterson. This isn’t quite a military victory (there’s no written evidence of indiscretion between the two), but I assume this realizes the fantasies of a few of New York’s more intellectual gays. If nothing else, this incident is cocktail trivia gold.
4. T.K. left his assets to Jefferson to “free as many slaves as possible.” The conflicted former president, who famously said, “all men are created equal,” was unable to bear the thought of losing his own slaves, and resigned as executor of T.K.’s estate.
On an international level, T.K. was even more prestigious. Napoleon requested his service after returning from Egypt, after which T.K. warned the French government to be wary of this conqueror. Three weeks later, Napoleon staged a military coup.
T.K. also led an uprising against the Russians who had invaded Poland, commissioning the first all-Jewish unit since biblical times.
Storozynski is a Pulitzer Prize winner and the founding editor of amNewYork and a former editor of the New York Sun. According to him, he has already had interest from two producers, and it’s easy to see why. War, democracy, emancipation, civil rights, suffrage and illicit relationships—Thaddeus Kosciuszko was a real American Hero.
The Peasant Prince
By Alex Storozynski
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 384 pages
Kosciuszko—pronounced Kosh-Koosh-Koh”—isn’t impossible to say, but from now on, let’s call him T.K. so we skirt that problem, just in case.
Storozynski’s book is the first biography of T.K. to be released by any major publisher in the West and is a well-researched and highly detailed account of this forgotten hero’s life. T.K. was the son of a noble (but not wealthy) family that owned serfs in Poland. Leaving that behind, he then spent his life lobbying for emancipation and the rights of peasants, women and Jews. After fleeing a death-sentence in Poland for trying to elope with the daughter of the Chief of the Ukrainian Cossack’s, he turned up on Benjamin Franklin’s doorstep requesting to be an engineer for the American revolutionary forces. Called the “Hero of Two Hemispheres,” he was awarded high titles for his fight against oppression, becoming both a brigadier general in the United States and Commander in Chief in Poland. Here are the top four things we no longer know about him:
1. Benedict Arnold, the traitor who was caught trying to sell West Point’s military defense plans to the British, was selling T.K.’s plans.
2. The famous Battle of Saratoga was a decisive American Victory that led to the capture of an army of 6,000 British soldiers attacking New York from Quebec. T.K. had masterminded the Americans’ defensive positions. The result was well-described by General Horatio Gates; “If Old England is not by this lesson taught humility, then she is an obstinate old slut, bent upon her ruin.”
3. On a particularly cold night, he shared a sleeping bag with General Patterson. This isn’t quite a military victory (there’s no written evidence of indiscretion between the two), but I assume this realizes the fantasies of a few of New York’s more intellectual gays. If nothing else, this incident is cocktail trivia gold.
4. T.K. left his assets to Jefferson to “free as many slaves as possible.” The conflicted former president, who famously said, “all men are created equal,” was unable to bear the thought of losing his own slaves, and resigned as executor of T.K.’s estate.
On an international level, T.K. was even more prestigious. Napoleon requested his service after returning from Egypt, after which T.K. warned the French government to be wary of this conqueror. Three weeks later, Napoleon staged a military coup.
T.K. also led an uprising against the Russians who had invaded Poland, commissioning the first all-Jewish unit since biblical times.
Storozynski is a Pulitzer Prize winner and the founding editor of amNewYork and a former editor of the New York Sun. According to him, he has already had interest from two producers, and it’s easy to see why. War, democracy, emancipation, civil rights, suffrage and illicit relationships—Thaddeus Kosciuszko was a real American Hero.
The Peasant Prince
By Alex Storozynski
Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 384 pages
