Popularly known as "The Father of the American Cavalry," Pulaski was a Polish nobleman and military commander who famously fought and died in the American Revolutionary War. His military prowess was first renowned in Europe for leading an uprising against Poland's Russian oppressors. After the revolt was put down, he was banished from his country of birth. He eventually sought refuge in Paris where he met Benjamin Franklin, who then glowingly recommended Pulaski to George Washington.
Upon Pulaski's arrival in America, General Washington immediately put the Pole's guerrilla warfare experience to good use. Within a few months, Pulaski rose to fame for saving the Continental Army from disastrous defeat at the Battle of Brandywine, thus preserving General Washington's life in the process.
Pulaski was subsequently commissioned Brigadier General and given command of the entire U.S. Cavalry. His tactics and troops earned acclaim in key battles during the following two years, but his brilliant military career was soon cut short. In October 1779, at the Battle of Savannah, he was mortally wounded by cannon shot while rallying his troops during a cavalry charge. Out of respect and admiration, the British enemy uncharacteristically allowed Pulaski's men to carry him off the battlefield. He died a few days later aboard the American naval ship, "Wasp."
General George Washington paid tribute to the fallen hero by issuing a special pair of passwords for identifying friend or foe when crossing military lines: The query: Pulaski. Response: Poland!
This bronze rendition of the patriot from Poland was a gift to the city from the Polish American Central Citizens Committee. It was dedicated in September of 1966 during a large Catholic mass at Cobo Hall.
The statue was executed by Hungarian-born artist Ferenc Varga who emigrated to Ontario, Canada in 1948 at the age of 42. Varga was, by then, already a respected sculptor in Europe. He settled in the Detroit area a few years later and worked from his studio in the city. Varga's public sculptures and religious statuary are on display in prominent venues throughout North America and Europe.
NOTES: Although disputed by some historians, Pulaski's remains are said to be buried at the foot of the Pulaski Monument in Savannah, Georgia. Physical evidence of the exhumed remains bears this out even though DNA tests were inconclusive. Others contend he was buried at sea shortly after death, noting the hot humid weather would have prevented the body from lasting long enough to get it to a proper burial.
Inscription of the historical marker on the statue.
This monument to General Casimir Pulaski, who on Oct. 11, 1779 gave his life at Savannah, Georgia, in the cause of America independence, is a gift to the city of Detroit from the Central Citizens Committee in behalf of 400,000 Americans of Polish descent living in the Detroit Metropolitan Area, with the hope that it shall stand eternally from Sunday September 4, 1966, the day of observance of the millennium of Christianity in Poland, as a symbol of the close and affectionate bonds which have existed for centuries between America and people of Polish blood, as a tribute to one thousand years of Polish history and culture, as an appreciation of Poland's vital contribution to Christianity and to western civilization, as a reaffirmation of the ideal that all people should have the right to decide for themselves their own form of government, and as a proud assertion of our love of the United States of America and the opportunity she has afforded us to live good and honorable lives in consonance with ideals advanced by Casimir Pulaski and men of kindred spirit.
Dedicated to faith and freedom on September 4, 1966
By a Pontifical Mass in Cobo Hall celebrated by
Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, Primate of Poland
