AFTER GEORGE WASHINGTON, there are more statues in the United States of Thaddeus Kosciuszko than any other American historical figure. Yet few people know that Kosciuszko gave his salary from the American Revolution to Thomas Jefferson and told him to use the money to buy slaves – and free them. It was Kosciuszko’s plan for West Point that Benedict Arnold tried to sell to the British, and it was Kosciuszko’s plan to use the high ground at Bemis Heights that allowed the rebels to win the Battle of Saratoga – the turning point of the American Revolution. In Poland, Kosciuszko started a revolt to try to free the serfs and obtain more rights for peasants, burghers and Jews. His ally Berek Joselewicz started a Jewish cavalry to fight alongside Kosciuszko against Russia’s army. It was the first wholly Jewish military unit since biblical times. A black man living in Poland, Jean Lapierre joined Kosciuszko's cause in trying to free white serfs. Kosciuszko also stood up for the American Indians, and was given a peace pipe and tomahawk by Chief Little Turtle of the Miami Indian tribe. Jefferson called Kosciuszko, “as pure a son of liberty, as I have ever known, and of that liberty which is to go to all, and not to the few or rich alone.”
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