Monday, August 15, 2016

General Casimir Pulaski

Casimir Pulaski was a Polish nobleman who led an unsuccessful revolt of Polish patriots against Russia.  Benjamin Franklin encouraged him to emigrate to America 
to help General Washington develop a cavalry.  


General Pulaski was mortally wounded in the siege of Savannah and died there in October 1789.
A statue on Hartford's Main Street honors him.  I don't know of any Hartford connection.

12 comments:

Andy said...

Interesting bit of history. The creator of the statue certainly caught the action of the moment.

Mo said...

Pity Trump doesn't have the same attitude to migrants as Franklin.

SRQ said...

Nice capture of the statue. I always find lighting to be a challenge with outdoor sculptures. Curious that the Hartford Powers That Be opted to place this statue on Main Street. I will wager either a) someone knew the artist who already had created the statue and it was priced to sell; b) One of the Powers That Be has ancestral ties to the General.

Bill said...

Interesting piece of history. Maybe someone had connections to him long ago and had an opportunity to bring the statue to Hartford.

RedPat said...

Possibly a group of Polish descendants live nearby?

Tanya Breese said...

we have pulaski county here too...never gave it much thought till seeing your post so i googled it and yep, sure enough, named after your pulaski, although don't see a connection here either haha...guess people just like him! nice statue! i wonder if pulaski county has one?!

William Kendall said...

Quite a vivid statue. There were a number of European officers aside from Pulaski, like von Steuben and Lafayette, who really did a lot of good work seconded to the Americans in the revolution.

Kate said...

History provides so many opportunities for great pieces of art. It is a strong statue.

Michelle said...

He has quite the mustache and eyebrows!

Kay said...

Ok. Here's a way to answer the question. Open a local phone book (they still have them there, don't they?). Page through to the "Pulaskis" and start calling. I'm sure at least one of them can tell you why he's in Hartford. And if not you might have some very interesting conversations.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

The statue makes him look the kind of man one would gladly follow into battle, though it seems odd to want an unsuccessful leader of troops on your side. Our national soccer teams uses the very same strategy to appoint managers and coaches.

Karl said...

A gorgeous statue !
You have chosen a good angle, Jack !