The longest battle of the American Revolution happened in South Carolina. That was the Siege of Ninety Six. One Patriot played a large role in that episode: Tadeusz Kosciuszko.
Who? You can learn all about him by attending a free lecture at noon on Aug. 16 at the Richland Library main location in Columbia. Joe Long, curator of education at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, will tell all about “The Unpronounceable Patriot: Thaddeus Kosciuszko.”
Thaddeus Kosciuszko
The lecture is part of the museum’s regular Noon Debrief program. Those lectures are usually presented at the Relic Room itself, but since the museum is undergoing renovation, the nearby library has generously offered a venue for the program off-site. Joe will speak in the library’s Theater. This will be his second program this summer at the library – he spoke on June 28 about American POWs during the Vietnam War.
Kosciuszko is a particularly interesting figure. Born in 1746, he was a Polish engineer, statesman, and military leader who ultimately became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania and Belarus. For his contributions to the American cause, he is a particular hero to Polish Americans, rather as Christopher Columbus is to Americans of Italian heritage.
He was a siege engineer, and that was his role at Ninety Six. From May 22 to June 18, 1781, Continental Army Major General Nathanael Greene led 1,000 troops in a siege against 550 Loyalists in the fortified village of Ninety Six, S.C. The 28-day siege centered on an earthen fortification known as Star Fort – which it was Kosciuszko’s job to supervise the digging that would enable the Patriots to take the Loyalist stronghold.
He failed, due to a number of factors, but Major General Greene, commended Kosciuszko’s efforts in carrying out his orders, noting that given more time, his chief engineer’s plan might well have succeeded.
That was just the start of a spectacular career for Kosciuszko. Among other things, he:
- Designed fortifications at West Point, New York. Remember Benedict Arnold, who betrayed the new nation by giving plans to the British to help them take West Point? Those plans were Kosciuszko’s.
- Was a personal friend of Thomas Jefferson, who called him “the purest Son of Liberty I have ever known.”
- Lived after the Revolution in a house in Philadelphia, which today is our smallest national park.
- Was later Poland’s own George Washington – almost. He led what historians call the Kosciuszko Uprising in 1794. It was an attempt to liberate his country from Russian and Prussian influence. But it was unsuccessful.
“This story has everything, from star-crossed lovers and poetry, to smart remarks by Ben Franklin,” says Joe Long. Come hear him say much more on Aug. 16.
The Star Fort at Ninety Six.
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