THADDEUS KOSCIUSKO.
Thaddeus Kosciusko, a Polish officer in the American revolutionary war, was born in Lithuania, in 1756, of an ancient and noble family, and educated at the military school at Warsaw. He afterwards studied in France. He came to America, recommended, by Franklin, to General Washington, by whom he was appointed his aid. He was also appointed his engineer, with the rank of colonel, in October 1776. At the unsuccessful siege of Ninety-Six, in 1781, he very judiciously directed the operations. It was, in 1774, that he left this country, and, in 1786, he returned to Poland. In 1789, the diet gave him the appointment of major-general. In the campaign of 1792, he distinguished himself against the Russians. In 1794, the Poles again took arms, and were headed by Kosciusko; but, after several splendid battles, he was taken and thrown into prison by Catharine, but was released by Paul I. When the emperor presented him with his own sword, he declined it, saying: "I no longer need a sword, since I have no longer a country." Never afterwards did he wear a sword. In August, 1797, he visited America, and was received with honor. For his revolutionary services, he received a pension. In 1798, he went to France. Having purchased an estate near Fontainebleau, he lived there till 1814. In 1816, he settled at Soleure, in Switzerland. In 1817, he abolished slavery on his estate in Poland. He died at Soleure, in consequence of a fall with his horse from a precipice near Vevay, October 16, 1817, aged sixty-one. He was never married.