Page images
PDF
EPUB

breasts of many of the Poles, notwithstanding the degraded state to which they were reduced as a nation. The crisis called out some men of high and noble minds, genuine patriots, in whom the love of country and of freedom overcame every other passion, and incited them to deeds of heroism and valor, that have seldom been surpassed. To many distinguished Poles, who signalised themselves at that time, and during the succeeding struggles, might the words of the poet be applied with scarcely less force, than to the renowned hero, whose fame they celebrate;

'But should we wish to warm us on our way

Through Poland, there is Kosciusko's name

Might scatter fire through ice, like Hecla's flame.'

Among those, who stood in the foremost ranks of patriotism and valor, at the beginning of the contest, who were the first to resist oppression and raise the standard of freedom and right, was Count Pulaski. He fought to restore the falling liberties of his country, with an ardor which nothing could repress, and with a perseverance which no obstacles could diminish, while a gleam of hope remained, that Poland could be saved from the destiny threatened by its enemies. The combined power of three empires drove him from his country, and he arrived in America in time to fight for our own cause of independence, and to die on a foreign shore in defending those principles of justice and liberty, whose growth a wicked conspiracy of despots had blasted on his native soil. As Americans, it is our duty to cherish the fame of Pulaski; he came to be in the midst of our wants and our perils, when we needed the aid of soldiers like himself, ardent in our cause for its own sake, and tried by the severest discipline of experience; he died in assisting to procure the freedom, which we now enjoy, and which every American deems the first of his earthly privileges. We care not to look farther; to these claims alone we are willing to yield up our hearts. In a case like this, we should revolt at the thought of removing the veil, and searching for personal motives; these no doubt he had, for without them he could not have been a man ; but it is not by his private personal views, whatever they may have been, that his character is to be weighed; nor by the cold cant that he was a soldier of for

tune, that his merits are to be estimated, in the United States. The plain question is, what did he do for us, and what did he sacrifice in our behalf? He served us most devotedly, he fought bravely, and he sacrificed his life. We envy not the feelings of an American citizen, who has not gratitude for deeds like these, and whose sense of justice, as well as of gratitude, does not place Pulaski high on the revered list of heroes, by whose united exertions our independence was achieved.

Under impressions like these, it was with sincere regret, that in this country we should find occasion given for any one to write a pamphlet, with the avowed object of vindicating the fame of Pulaski from the injurious charge of an American historian; and surprise is mingled with regret, when we learn, that the charge is intended to throw a slur on the military character of a man, whom the world has lauded with a unanimous voice for his skill and bravery as a soldier. To this point we shall again recur. The author of the pamphlet, we are given to understand, is a gentleman of high respectability, who was an officer in Pulaski's legion, from the time it was first organised till its dissolution, who was daily with the commander during this period, was at his side when he received the fatal wound at the attack on Savannah, and attended him during the last moments of his life. From such a source the work claims our fullest confidence, and we shall take the liberty of presenting to our readers, in the author's own words, such portions of his narrative, as throw light on the character of Pulaski, and as contain some facts but little known in the history of the revolution.

A

very brief sketch is given of Pulaski's exertions before he came to this country.

"It is well known,' says the author, 'that for several years previous to the first flagitious partition of Poland, in 1772, by Russia, Austria and Prussia, that unfortunate country was a scene of turbulence, anarchy, devastation, and bloodshed. Stanislaus Augustus, the reigning monarch had been raised to the throne, not by the free and unanimous choice of the nobles, but by a corrupt and degenerate faction, and by the intrigues and even the violence of Russia, whose troops, stationed at a small distance from the plain where the diet of election was held, had overawed his numerous oppoAmong these was Count Pulaski, a nobleman no less

nents.

distinguished by his talents and his courage, than by his birth and his rank. Firm, incorruptible, undaunted, he had uniformly resisted the insolent dictation of an ambitious and faithless neighbor, and in Stanislaus he saw a Russian viceroy, rather than the chief of an independent nation.

'In those confederacies, which were soon formed in various parts of the country, to defend and vindicate its insulted sovereignty, the ardent patriotism of the Count, his implacable hatred of foreign usurpation, his indefatigable zeal, his unshaken constancy, his heroic intrepidity-in short, his towering genius and his stoical and truly republican virtues, rendered him the scourge and terror of the Russians. "During eight succeeding years of a bloody war," says a writer who has eloquently described the situation of Poland in those calamitous times, "the operations of Pulaski were such as almost to challenge belief. Sometimes vanquished, much oftener victorious, equally great in the midst of a defeat as formidable after victory, and always superior to events, Pulaski attracted and fixed the attention of all Europe, and astonished her by his long and vigorous resistance. Obliged to abandon one province, he made incursions into another, and there performed new prodigies of valor. It was thus that, marching successively throughout all the palatinates, he signalised in each of them that eternal hatred, which he had sworn against the enemies of Poland." It was Pulaski who, in 1771, conceived and organised the bold design of forcibly carrying off Stanislaus from Warsaw, and bringing him to his camp; not, indeed, to assassinate him, as has been basely and falsely asserted by partisans of Russia, but with a view to make him a rallying point for the nobles, and all the patriots of Poland, and, by means of this union of the monarch with the nation, to crush, or at least, to drive away from the territory of the republic the satellites of that unprincipled and perfidious power, by whose haughty mandates it had too long been governed. The enterprise, confided to forty brave patriots, succeeded only so far as to seize on the monarch, in the very bosom of his capital, and to convey him away to some distance from it, in spite of every obstacle and danger. The darkness of the night, and other unforeseen casualties, prevented the final execution of a plan, which might eventually have saved Poland from that political annihilation, which has since become her lot.

'When, from nearly the same motives as induce robbers to disguise or suspend, for a time, their jealousies and animosities, and to unite their efforts and their strength, the more easily to secure a common prey, Russia, Prussia and Austria jointly invaded Poland, in 1772, and at a "fell swoop" seized upon the fairest portion of her territory, which they divided among themselves by that right which only kings and freebooters dare to claim-the

right of superior physical force-the Polish confederates were compelled either to acquiesce in the degradation of their enslaved, plundered, partitioned country, or to flee from the beloved and hallowed land which had given them birth-from the land which they had disputed, inch by inch, with the lawless potentates who have since entirely erased it from the map of independent nations. Very few submitted; many fell into the hands of the Russians or of their adherents, and died martyrs to that noble cause, which they had so strenuously supported; others escaped to foreign climes. Pulaski was the last to retire from the glorious contest. In a desperate and bloody engagement with the Russians, his army, vastly inferior in numbers, was routed, annihilated; but his courage still remained. To rush furiously on death would have been useless to his country; he chose to live in the hope of again serving it, should heaven and time favor his wishes. Through countless fatigues, difficulties and perils, and after a variety of singular disguises, wonderful adventures, and hairbreadth escapes, he reached Turkey, whose hostilities against Russia accorded with his hatred of that power, and at the same time, flattered the patriotic schemes which his ardent spirit had not ceased to cherish. On that side, however, his hopes were frustrated by the peace concluded between Russia and the Porte, in 1774.'

Wraxall tells a long and tragical story about the attempt above mentioned to seize on the person of Stanislaus; he calls it an 'atrocious enterprise,' and says it was planned by Pulaski, whose design it was to take away the life of the king. It must be remembered, however, that Wraxall is very suspicious authority on this subject; that is, his information came from a quarter, in which it was hardly possible for him to arrive at an unprejudiced account of the affair. He was in Warsaw a short time after the events took place, but his connexion was entirely with the Russian party, and from this party, then under the high excitement of the times, he derived all he knew of the circumstances. That Pulaski formed the scheme of taking the king, and that he put it partially in execution, there can be no doubt, but that he ever had an intention of assassinating him, there is not a shadow of proof. The contrary, indeed, is abundantly manifest from the fact, that the persons to whom the enterprise was entrusted had Stanislaus several hours in their possession, and might have taken his life at any moment, had such been their purpose. This was not done, and he was suffered finally to escape. Pulaski's true motive was unquestionably

the one suggested by the author in the passage just quoted. President Adams, in his Defence of the Constitution and Government of the United States, was misled by the authority of Wraxall, and has seemed to countenance the suspicion thrown by him on the designs of Pulaski. As far as we can learn, the charge rests with Wraxall alone; we have seen it. in no historian, except as repeated from him; and we believe it wholly unworthy of credit.

By the Russian faction in Poland, Count Pulaski's property had been confiscated; he was degraded from his rank, and declared to be an outlaw. Failing of success in attempting to engage Turkey in the cause of his country, he went to France. He remained there but a short time, when he resolved to hazard his fortunes with those of America, and, in the year 1777, we find him in Philadelphia, tendering his services to the American Congress.

'The inherent ardor of his warlike spirit, his habits of activity, and the desire of efficiently serving the cause, which he had so warmly embraced, did not permit him to wait for the decision of that body on his application,-but he immediately joined the army. He was at Brandywine, on the day of the battle, with the Marquis de Lafayette, and other distinguished foreign officers, in the suite of General Washington. At the time when our right wing was turned by the victorious enemy pressing upon us, and the rapid retreat of the right and centre of our army became the consequence, Count Pulaski proposed to General Washington to give him the command of his body guard, consisting of about thirty horsemen. This was readily granted, and Pulaski with his usual intrepidity and judgment, led them to the charge and succeeded in retarding the advance of the enemy—a delay which was of the highest importance to our retreating army. Moreover, the penetrating military coup d'œil of Pulaski soon perceived, that the enemy were manoeuvring to take possession of the road leading to Chester, with the view of cutting off our retreat, or, at least, the column of our baggage. He hastened to General Washington, to communicate the information, and was immediately authorised by the commander in chief to collect as many of the scattered troops as he could find at hand, and make the best of them. This was most fortunately executed by Pulaski, who, by an oblique advance upon the enemy's front and right flank, defeated their object, and effectually protected our baggage, and the retreat of our army.

This important service was justly appreciated by General Washington, who did not fail to recommend Pulaski to Congress; VOL. XX. NO 47. 49

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »