10/13/2026
🇵🇱🇺🇸 We’d like to share a little history about General Casimir Pulaski, a Polish hero who fought for American independence and is known as the Father of the American Cavalry.
Today, the United States remembers a Polish-born commander who gave his life fighting for American independence. 🇵🇱🇺🇸
October 11 is General Pulaski Memorial Day, commemorating Kazimierz Pułaski — known in the United States as Casimir Pulaski — who died in 1779 from wounds suffered during the fighting at Savannah, Georgia. U.S. National Park Service material describes him as the “Father of the American Cavalry.”
Pułaski had already fought in Poland before travelling to America in 1777 to support the revolutionary cause.
Before America, Kazimierz Pułaski had already made his name fighting in Poland. He was one of the leading military figures of the Bar Confederation, the 1768–1772 uprising by Polish nobles against Russian influence and against King Stanisław August Poniatowski, whom the confederates saw as too dependent on St Petersburg.
Pułaski became known for his skill as a cavalry commander and for leading mobile attacks against much larger Russian forces, but after the confederation was defeated he was forced into exile.
That experience in irregular warfare and mounted combat was part of what later made him so valuable to the American cause.
At the Battle of Brandywine, he helped cover the American retreat, and soon afterwards Congress appointed him a brigadier general in command of cavalry. He later organised an independent mounted unit that became known as Pulaski’s Legion.
His final campaign came at Savannah.
On 9 October 1779, during an attempt by American and French forces to retake the city from the British, Pułaski was struck by grapeshot while leading mounted troops. He died from his wounds on 11 October.
His legacy in the United States became enormous.
Towns, counties, roads, monuments and even Fort Pulaski in Georgia bear his name. In 2009, the United States also granted him honorary American citizenship posthumously, an exceptionally rare distinction.
And every 11 October, General Pulaski Memorial Day keeps alive one of the strongest early links between Polish and American history.
A man born in Poland crossed the Atlantic, joined another country’s fight for independence, helped shape its cavalry — and died for that cause at the age of 34.
Did you already know how important Kazimierz Pułaski was to the American Revolution? 🇵🇱🇺🇸
