Thaddeus Kosciuszko
Thaddeus Kosciuszko

Author: Meg Greene

Publisher: Infobase Learning

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 81

ISBN-13: 1438144113

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A biography of the Polish Patriot and champion of freedom who fought in the American Revolution and then spent the rest of his life fighting for Polish independence.

The Odyssey of a Polish Patriot
The Odyssey of a Polish Patriot

Author: Jack La Plante

Publisher: Bookbaby

Published: 2022-08-19

Total Pages: 610

ISBN-13: 9781667844817

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In the years just after WWI, Poland found itself a free and democratic country. Unfortunately, it didn't remain so for long. On September 1, 1939, the might of Nazi Germany was hurled against the young nation. Quickly outnumbered on the ground and in the air, the Poles fought valiantly to save their country. Facing annihilation, many in the Polish military were ordered to retreat south and establish a bridgehead at the Romanian border to hold off the invaders until help arrived from England and France. That help never came. When the Soviet Union attacked on Poland's eastern border, thousands of Polish airmen and soldiers were ordered to cross into Romania and temporary safety. The plan was to get them out of harm's way and live to fight another day. Escaping from Romanian internment camps, many traveled across Romania to ports on the Black Sea. From there, they boarded ships that took them across the Mediterranean Sea to France where they joined the French Army and Air Force. Others chose to escape overland. That journey took them through Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and northern Italy before reaching France. They traveled by train, riverboat, car, truck, taxi, bus. Any means they could find. Some even walked part of the way. They used false documents, bribes, charm, lies, disguise, muscle and violence to make their way through forests, over mountains, across rivers and into one foreign village and city after another. Most made it to France and many, predominately airmen, eventually made it to England. There they joined the Royal Air Force and began to fight the evil that had taken their country and was threatening the world order. This is the story of one of those airmen. A story of an individual. driven by his faith in God and love of country, who managed to survive and thrive under the pressure of war and even find the love of his life during its darkest hour. With the aid of strangers, a loyal friend and a special Lady, he became a hero in exile to his family and friends in Poland and to his new family and friends in England, he became known as one of the brave Polish Patriots.

The Peasant Prince
The Peasant Prince

Author: Alex Storozynski

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2009-04-28

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1429966076

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Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish-Lithuanian born in 1746, was one of the most important figures of the modern world. Fleeing his homeland after a death sentence was placed on his head (when he dared court a woman above his station), he came to America one month after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, literally showing up on Benjamin Franklin's doorstep in Philadelphia with little more than a revolutionary spirit and a genius for engineering. Entering the fray as a volunteer in the war effort, he quickly proved his capabilities and became the most talented engineer of the Continental Army. Kosciuszko went on to construct the fortifications for Philadelphia, devise battle plans that were integral to the American victory at the pivotal Battle of Saratoga, and designed the plans for Fortress West Point—the same plans that were stolen by Benedict Arnold. Then, seeking new challenges, Kosciuszko asked for a transfer to the Southern Army, where he oversaw a ring of African-American spies. A lifelong champion of the common man and woman, he was ahead of his time in advocating tolerance and standing up for the rights of slaves, Native Americans, women, serfs, and Jews. Following the end of the war, Kosciuszko returned to Poland and was a leading figure in that nation's Constitutional movement. He became Commander in Chief of the Polish Army and valiantly led a defense against a Russian invasion, and in 1794 he led what was dubbed the Kosciuszko Uprising—a revolt of Polish-Lithuanian forces against the Russian occupiers. Captured during the revolt, he was ultimately pardoned by Russia's Paul I and lived the remainder of his life as an international celebrity and a vocal proponent for human rights. Thomas Jefferson, with whom Kosciuszko had an ongoing correspondence on the immorality of slaveholding, called him "as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known." A lifelong bachelor with a knack for getting involved in doomed relationships, Kosciuszko navigated the tricky worlds of royal intrigue and romance while staying true to his ultimate passion—the pursuit of freedom for all. This definitive and exhaustively researched biography fills a long-standing gap in historical literature with its account of a dashing and inspiring revolutionary figure.