Casimir Pulaski - Nominee

“I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it."

-Casimir Pulaski

Polish nobleman Casimir (Kazimierz) Pulaski arrived in the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. Though lauded as a hero for his role in the fight for Poland’s independence against Russian encroachment, Pulaski was unable to help Poland prevail when Austria and Prussia invaded in 1772. He fled to Saxony, and then to France, where he lived in poor financial straits until a meeting in Paris with Benjamin Franklin, in December 1776, forever changed his life. Franklin was so impressed with him that he sent a letter of recommendation to General George Washington who agreed to take Pulaski into his ranks. Almost immediately after his 1777 arrival in Massachusetts, Pulaski proved his mettle by saving Washington’s life – and the Continental Army from horrible defeat – in the Battle of Brandywine. Immediately following that victory, the Continental Congress promoted Pulaski to Brigadier General in command of special cavalry unit in May 1778. “The Pulaski Legion” used guerrilla tactics in battles along the New Jersey coast and also guarded the northern border of Pennsylvania before heading south to successfully defend Charleston, South Carolina in May 1779. Pulaski was wounded on October 9, 1779, during the Siege of Savannah. He died from his wounds on October 11 while on board a ship en route to Charleston to escape the British. He was 34 years old. Buried originally at Greenwich Plantation, his body was exhumed to be re-interred at the foot of the Casimir Pulaski Monument in Savannah. When the monument was set to be repaired in 1996, researchers were able to see if Pulaski’s remains were actually buried there when his skeleton was exhumed. Upon close examination of his remains, a forensic anthropologist determined that the pelvic bone, delicate face and rounded jaw line were those of a woman. However, the skeleton’s short stature and young age, the pelvic scarring associated with extensive horseback riding, and a hand injury which matched one Pulaski sustained in battle. A DNA test in 2018 – using a bone fragment from a Polish relative who died in the 1800s – showed that the remains were, indeed, Pulaski’s, leading researchers to theorize he had most likely been intersex. Many honors have been bestowed on Pulaski including being posthumously granted United States citizenship - one of only eight people to be so honored – in 2009.