Imagine, under the waves of the ocean, in the dark, somewhere at the edge of the world, the Nautilus submarine covered with shells is floating. There, in Captain Nemo’s office, are portraits above the table. Washington, Lincoln, O’Connell and Tadeusz Kosciuszko. Do you think I made this up?
No, re-read “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne. But why Kosciuszko? What is so unusual about him that Captain Nemo hangs his portrait at his workplace? Katerina Vodonosova is here with you in the series of programs “Tryzub and Pahonia”.
And today we are figuring out what kind of “Marvel” character this is, Tadeusz Bonawentura Kosciuszko, after whom the mountains and national parks are named. Tadeusz was born in 1746 in Polesie. His father was a nobleman from the Kosciuszko family. this family has been known since the 15th century,
And the mother is from the Orthodox-Uniate family of Ratomsky. The father died early, when his son was 13 years old, and he then helped his mother with the household. Next was the Warsaw Cadet Corps. Here he was called “Swede” – for his discipline and Spartan lifestyle.
The Swedes were still remembered then as the gods of war. Then there was France. Academy of Painting and Sculpture, works of Rousseau, freedom, equality, fraternity. 5 years in Paris were not spent in vain. They firmly laid a valuable foundation in the boy. Then he returned home, but there
Was no position for him in the army at that time. And he became a tutor, but not just to someone, to the daughter of the field hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Her name was Ludwika Sosnowska. She, of course, fell in love with a decent young man.
But the father was against it: “Doves are not for sparrows, and daughters of magnates are not for nobles.” Who knows, maybe this moment became the springboard, after which Kosciuszko’s life accelerated at incredible cosmic speed. In 1776, Kosciuszko went to North America, where the War of Independence had just begun.
He is a 30-year-old officer with an engineering education. As the Americans say: Welcome! It was his fortifications that served the Americans at the Battle of Saratoga. And not only there, by the way. Fortifications on the Hudson and the greatest citadel at West Point! Read it, very interesting.
George Washington appreciates Kosciuszko, Thomas Jefferson was his friend. The Americans changed the unpronounceable surname Kosciuszko to “Kos” – now a film of the same name has been shot in Poland, check it out. And also take an interest in how modern Americans pronounce the name Kosciuszko, it is very unusual for their articulation.
Colonel Kosciusko receives a diploma with the rank of brigadier general, the Military Order of the Cincinnati and a lifetime pension. It would seem, what else do you need, man? But no, he returned to his homeland – to the Sekhnovichi estate, where he is engaged in farming.
Although, as they wrote, Kosciuszko was fit for war, not for the plow. And in such a way five years passed. So far the Sejm has not adopted a resolution to increase the army. And Kosciuszko was able to join the ranks again. And it was just in time, because in 1792 a
100,000-strong Russian army entered the country. Kosciuszko takes part in the battles, but the king betrays the state, joins the Targowica Confederation, if compared with modern times, this is the same kind of the Opposition Platform For Life as it was in Ukraine a couple of years ago. Kosciuszko resigns and leaves for France.
And it seems that this is the end again. But no. He was not the only one in exile. Everyone wants to return to their homeland and punch the empire in the teeth. But Kosciuszko is not just an officer, but a revolutionary. Without change, freedom, the abolition of serfdom,
Modernization of industry and universal education, nothing will happen, he understood this very well. That old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the king and the Senate has outlived its usefulness. If you fight, then for something new. Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 2.0. On March 24, 1794, the rebellion broke out in Krakow.
Kosciuszko is the only head of the armed forces. On April 4, the first major battle and victory over the Muscovites took place – near Raclawice. In addition to ordinary soldiers, Kosciuszko’s army included 2,000 peasants with scythes and pikes. This is how scythemen appear on the historical stage.
Kosciuszko perceived peasants not as slaves, but as equals – as citizens. Therefore, for the merits of capable villagers, he promoted to the rank of officer; this was unreal in the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and in Russia as well. By the way, the prototype of a sniper in the army was also his idea.
He spotted her in North America. He hired capable hunters and foresters specifically for this work. And these were some kind of rangers. rebels fought throughout Poland and old Lithuania: from Krakow to Vilnius. But the forces were obviously unequal. After the defeat at Maciejowice,
According to one version, Kosciuszko even put a pistol in his mouth to shoot, but it misfired. He still personally participated in the battles, but having received a blow to the head with a saber and several wounds from Cossack pikes, he was captured. Secretly, under the name Shimansky,
Under careful guard, he was taken to St. Petersburg. The last dramatic act of the rebellion, storming of Warsaw, had already taken place without him. But here is the Belarusian folk interpretation of Kosciuszko’s captivity, just listen: “They say that Kosciuszko had a cloak, that bullets could not get him.
One day, he was unexpectedly attacked, by Muscovites and before he had time to fold his cloak, they flogged him cleanly and took him away…” A superhero, what can I say. After interrogations in the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Russians simply did not know what to do with Kosciuszko.
They gave him some kind of a house so that he could live there under guard. He was even allowed to work on a lathe, carve something on wood. But here a chance arose. After Catherine II, Paul I comes to power, who admires Kosciuszko, although clearly does not understand him:
He offers an estate and 1000 souls. Offers all this to a man who opposes serfdom and slavery. Finally, Kosciuszko was allowed to leave for the USA and no longer appear in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But in Europe at that moment there was a smell of gunpowder again – Napoleon’s star was rising.
In Northern Italy, Polish legions are formed to fight “for our freedom and yours.” Kosciuszko is invited to Paris to lead these legions. But things didn’t work out with Napoleon. Kosciuszko didn’t like the fact that the blood of his compatriots was being shed for nothing.
No one knows why, no one knows where, in Egypt, in Santo Domingo. And Bonaparte was not ready to give at least some guarantees regarding the future of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1812 campaign took place without Kosciuszko. By the way, if you want, we’ll make a video about the 1812th.
While living in Switzerland, the almost 70-year-old general corresponded with Alexander I, in particular, on issues of the liberation of compatriots who were captured by Russia. It is from this correspondence that Kosciuszko’s famous phrase, written 2 years before his death, comes from: “I was born a Litvin…
The veil of the future still shrouds the fate of my native land.” There were myths and legends around Kosciuszko both during his life and after his death. About his mistresses and illegitimate children. About the leader of an Indian tribe, nicknamed Little Turtle, who gave Kosciuszko a tomahawk, and he gave him
A pair of pistols with the words: “Shoot the first one who comes to conquer you.” There were also comical situations, stories about people similar to Kosciuszko who were seen here and there. For example, in Baruny in the Oshmyany district in Belarus, the Russians
Detained a peasant who looked exactly like the general. He was taken to St. Petersburg, kept under arrest for a couple of months, and finally brought back. Until the end of his life, his fellow countrymen called him “Chief Kosciuszko.” It’s interesting that people’s memory attributed Kosciuszko’s death in battle,
In war, otherwise where would he have gone? Like King Arthur. Here is a song recorded near Lepel (Belarus) in the 1960s. Take, mother, a handful of sand, sow it on a stone. When this sand rises, Kosciuszko will come from the war. A raven flies across the sea,
And as it flies, it caws. And who will mourn my Kosciuszko’s grave? Catherine II called him a beast. Byron wrote that Kosciuszko is “a sound that frightens the ear of a tyrant.” But I like this definition: the last knight with a modern understanding of brotherhood and equality.
Indeed, this person is at the turn of the century, on the edge of worlds: the old chivalric Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and a completely new world of freedom and opportunities. A bright star that illuminated the path for many. Even that one of Captain Nemo in the underwater depths.
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