Saturday, November 07, 2009

Quote of the Day + Your History Lesson of the Day: General Casimir Pulaski

The quote:
"I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it." -- Pulaski in a letter to George Washington
The nobleman from Poland was recommended to Washington by Ben Franklin himself, and he subsequently fought and died in the American Revolution. He has now been made an honorary citizen of the nation he helped to create. (Honoring Pulaski is, I dare say, probably the only decent thing that this Congress has done recently. But I digress.)

Did you know that Pulaski's also called "the father of the American cavalry"? He died at the age of 34 in 1779 from wounds received in action in Savannah, Georgia. Before he came to the New World, he fought for Polish freedom against Russia and Prussia.