Online Encyclopedia

movement sacrificed everything to it. Thus, to take but a single instance, Karol Prozor sold the whole of his ancestral estates and thus contributed 1,000,000 thalers to the cause. From the 24th of See also:

March to the 1st of See also:

APRIL

April Kosciuszko remained at See also:

CRACOW (Pol. Krakov; Ger. Krakau)

Cracow organizing his forces. On the 3rd of April at Raclawice, with 4000 regulars, and 2000 peasants armed only with scythes and pikes, and next to no See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

artillery, he defeated the Russians, who had 5000 veterans and 30 guns. This victory had an immense moral effect, and brought into the Polish See also:

CAMP (from Lat. campus, field)

camp crowds of waverers to what had at first seemed a desperate cause. For the next two months Kosciuszko remained on the defensive near See also:

SANDOMIR, or SEDOMIERZ

Sandomir. He durst not See also:

RISK

risk another engagement with the only See also:

army which See also:

Poland so far possessed, and he had neither See also:

MONEY

money, See also:

OFFICERS

officers nor artillery. The See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country, harried incessantly during the last two years, was in a pitiable See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition. There was nothing to feed the troops in the very provinces they occupied, and See also:

pro-visions had to be imported from See also:

Galicia. Money could only be obtained-by such desperate expedients as the melting of the See also:

PLATE

plate of the churches and monasteries, which was brought in to Kosciuszko's camp at Pinczow and subsequently coined at Warsaw, minus the royal effigy, with the inscription: " Freedom, Integrity and See also:

Independence of the See also:

REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

Republic, 1794." Moreover, Poland was unprepared.

Most of the See also:

REGULAR

regular troops were incorporated in the See also:

RUSSIAN

Russian army, from which it was very difficult to break away, and until these soldiers came in Kosciuszko had principally to depend on the valour of his scythemen. But in the See also:

month of April the whole situation improved. On the 17th of that month the 2000 Polish troops in Warsaw expelled the Russian See also:

garrison after days of See also:

street fighting, chiefly through the ability of See also:

General Mokronowski, and a provisional See also:

government was formed. Five days later See also:

JAKOB, LUDWIG HEINRICH VON (1759—1827)

Jakob Jasinski drove the Russians from Wilna. By this See also:

time Kosciuszko's forces had risen to 14,000, of whom 10,000 were regulars, and he was thus able to resume the offensive. He had carefully avoided doing anything to provoke See also:

Austria or See also:

Prussia. The former was described in his manifestoes as a potential friend; the latter he never alluded to as an enemy. " Remember," he wrote, " that the only See also:

war we have upon our hands is war to the See also:

DEATH

death against the See also:

MUSCOVITE

Muscovite tyranny." Nevertheless Austria remained suspicious and obstructive; and the Prussians, while professing See also:

NEUTRALITY

neutrality, very speedily effected a junction with the Russian forces. This Kosciuszko, misled by the treacherous assurances of See also:

Frederick See also:

William's ministers, never anticipated, when on the 4th of See also:

JUNE

June he marched against General Denisov. He encountered the enemy on the 5th of June at Szczekociny, and then discovered that his 14,000 men had to do not merely with a Russian See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division but with the combined forces of See also:

Russia and Prussia, numbering 25,000 men. Nevertheless, the Poles acquitted themselves See also:

man-fully, and at dusk retreated in perfect See also:

order upon Warsaw unpursued. Yet their losses had been terrible, and of the six Polish generals See also:

PRESENT

present three, whose loss proved to be irreparable, were slain, and two of the others were seriously wounded.

A See also:

WEEK (from A.S. wicu, Germanic *wikon, probably=change, turn)

week later another Polish division was defeated at See also:

KHOLM (Polish Chelm)

Kholm; Cracow was taken by the Prussians on the a2nd of June; and the See also:

mob at Warsaw See also:

broke upon the gaols and murdered the See also:

POLITICAL

political prisoners in See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold See also:

BLOOD

blood. Kosciuszko summarily punished the ringleaders of the massacres and had 10,000 of the See also:

RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank and See also:

FILE

file drafted into his camp, which See also:

MEASURES

measures had a quieting effect. But now dissensions broke out among the members of the Polish government, and it required all the tact of Kosciuszko to restore order amidst this See also:

CHAOS

chaos of suspicions and recriminations. At this very time too he had need of all his ability and resource to meet the See also:

EXTERNAL

external foes of Poland. On the 9th of See also:

JULY

July Warsaw was invested by Frederick William of Prussia with an army of 25,000 men and 179 guns, and the Russian general See also:

Fersen with 16,000 men and 74 guns, while a third force of 11,000 occupied the right See also:

BANK

bank of the See also:

VISTULA (Ger. Weichsel, Polish Wisla)

Vistula. Kosciuszko for the See also:

defence of the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city and its outlying fortifications could dispose of 35,000 men, of whom 1o,000 were regulars. But the position, defended by 200 inferior guns, was a strong one, and the valour of the Poles and the See also:

ENGINEERING

engineering skill of Kosciuszko, who was now in his See also:

ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element, frustrated all the efforts of the enemy. Two unsuccessful assaults were made upon the Polish positions on the 26th of See also:

AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August and the 1st of See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September, and on the 6th the Prussians, alarmed by the progress of the Polish arms in See also:

GREAT

Great Poland, where See also:

Jan Henryk Dabrowski captured the Prussian fortress of Bydogoszcz and compelled General See also:

Schwerin with his 20,000 men to retire upon See also:

KALISZ

Kalisz, raised the See also:

SIEGE (0. Fr. sege, siege, mod. siege, seat, ultimately from sedere, to sit, cf. Class. Lat. obsidium, a siege)

siege. Elsewhere, indeed, after a brief See also:

TRIUMPH (triumphus)

triumph the Poles were everywhere worsted, and See also:

SUVAROV

Suvarov, after See also:

DRIVING (from " to drive," i.e. generally to propel, force along or in, a word common in various forms to the Teutonic languages)

driving them before him out of Lithuania was advancing by forced See also:

MARCHES, THE (It. Le Marche)

marches upon Warsaw. Even now, however, the situation was not desperate, for the Polish forces were still numerically See also:

SUPERIOR

superior to the Russian. But the Polish generals proved unequal to carrying out the plans of the See also:

DICTATOR (from the Lat. dictare, frequentative of dicere, to speak)

dictator; they allowed themselves to be beaten in detail, and could not prevent the junction of Suvarov and Fersen. Kosciuszko himself, relying on the support of Poninski's division 4 M. away, attacked Fersen at Maciejowice on the loth of See also:

OCTOBER

October.

But Poninski never appeared, and after a bloody encounter the Polish army of 7000 was almost annihilated by the 16,000 Russians; and Kosciuszko, seriously wounded and insensible, was made a prisoner on the See also:

field of See also:

BATTLE

battle. The See also:

long credited See also:

story that he cried " Finis Poloniae ! " as he See also:

fell is a fiction. Kosciuszko was conveyed to Russia, where he remained till the See also:

ACCESSION (from Lat. accedere, to go to, to approach)

accession of See also:

Paul in 1796. On his return on the loth of See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 1796 he paid a second visit to See also:

AMERICA

America, and lived at See also:

PHILADELPHIA

Philadelphia till May 1798, when he went to See also:

Paris, where the First See also:

Consul earnestly invited his co-operation against the See also:

ALLIES, THOMAS WILLIAM (1813-1903)

Allies. But he refused to draw his sword unless See also:

NAPOLEON

Napoleon undertook to give the restoration of Poland a leading See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place in his plans; and to this, as he no doubt foresaw, See also:

BONAPARTE

Bonaparte would not consent. Again and again he received offers of high commands in the See also:

French army, but he kept aloof from public See also:

LIFE

life in his See also:

house at Berville, near Paris, where the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor See also:

Alexander visited him in 1814. At the See also:

CONGRESS (Lat. congressus, coming together, from congredi; cum, with, and gradus, step)

Congress of See also:

Vienna his importunities on behalf of Poland finally wearied Alexander, who preferred to follow the counsels of Czartoryski; and Kosciuszko retired to Solothurn, where he lived with his friend Zeltner. Shortly before his death, on the and of April 1817, he emancipated his See also:

SERFS, SERROS

serfs, insisting only on the See also:

MAINTENANCE (Fr. maintenance, from maintenir, to maintain, support, Lat. manu tenere, to hold in the hand)

maintenance of See also:

SCHOOLS

schools on the liberated estates. His remains were carried to Cracow and buried in the See also:

CATHEDRAL

cathedral; while the See also:

PEOPLE

people, reviving an See also:

ancient See also:

CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom, raised a huge See also:

MOUND

mound to his memory near the city. Kosciuszko was essentially a democrat, but a democrat of the school of See also:

Jefferson and See also:

LAFAYETTE

Lafayette. He maintained that the republic could only be regenerated on the basis of See also:

ABSOLUTE (Lat. absolvere, to loose, set free)

absolute See also:

LIBERTY (Lat. libertas, from liber, free)

liberty and equality before the See also:

law; but in this respect he was far in advance of his See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age, and the aristocratic prejudices of his country-men compelled him to resort to See also:

HALF

half measures.

He wrote Man euvres of See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

Horse Artillery (New See also:

York, 18o8) and a description of the See also:

CAMPAIGN

campaign of 1792 (in vol. xvi. of E. Raczynski's See also:

SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

Sketch of the Poles and Poland (See also:

Posen, 1843). See Jozef Zajaczek, See also:

HISTORY

History of the Revolution of 1794 (Pol.) (Lem-See also:

BERG (Ducatus Montensis)

berg, 1881) ; Leonard Jakob Borejko Chodzko, Biographie du general Kosciuszko (See also:

FONTAINEBLEAU

Fontainebleau. 1837) ; Karol Falkenstein, Thaddaus Kosciuszko (2nd ed., See also:

LEIPZIG

Leipzig, 1834; French ed., Paris, 1839); Antoni Cholonievaski, TadeuszKosciuszko (Pol.) (See also:

LEMBERG (Pol. Lwdw, Lat. Leopolis)

Lemberg, 1902); Franciszek Rychlicki, T. Kosciuszko and the See also:

PARTITION

Partition of Poland (Pol.) (Cracow, 1875). (R. N.

End of Article: KOSCIUSZKO, TADEUSZ ANDRZEJ BONAWENTURA (1746-1817)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
KOSCIUSCO

[next]
KOSEN