Favorites Pole

[Baruch Menachem]

Your favorite Pole and why

 

[uscitizen]

Lech Walencia? (sp?)
or was he Chech?

Or if on a personal level. My happy pole of course.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Probably your wife's favorite more than yours

 

[Ringel05]

The one who comes up with the best Polish jokes.

 

[Madeline]

This guy:

http://www.usmessageboard.com/education-and-history/133786-the-man-who-spied-on-auschwitz.html

 

[Rat in the Hat]

Me!

Third generation Polish-American.

I'm my own favorite Pole, now that Dad is gone.

 

[uscitizen]

Telephone pole.

 

[hjmick]

Barber.

 

[Sherry]

 

[Rat in the Hat]

The one who comes up with the best Polish jokes.

OK, if I must.

Did you hear about the Polish chicken farmer?
He planted over 1000 eggs before he figured out he was doing it wrong.

Why does it take a Polack 3 days to paint his basement window?
The first 2 + 1/2 are spent digging a hole for the ladder.

How many Polacks does it take to make popcorn?
1 to hold the pot, and 8 to shake the stove.

 

[Liability]

Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko:

Because he was a genuine American Revolutionary War hero. The Congress even made him a brigadier general, although Polish, he also became a naturalized American citizen.

An excerpt from Wiki:

American Revolution

Kościuszko came to Colonial America on his own,[21] and on August 30, 1776 he presented a Memorial to Congress. He initially served as a volunteer, but on October 18, 1776, Congress commissioned him a Colonel of Engineers in the Continental Army. "He was assigned a black orderly named Agrippa Hull. At the recommendation of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and General Charles Lee, Kościuszko was named head engineer of the Continental Army.

He was sent to Pennsylvania to work with the Continental Army. Shortly after arriving, he read the United States Declaration of Independence. Kościuszko was moved by the document because it encompassed everything in which he believed; he was so moved, in fact, that he decided to meet Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration. The two met in Virginia a few months later. After spending the day discussing philosophy and other things they shared in common, they became very close friends. Kościuszko was a guest at Monticello on many occasions, and spent prolonged visits there.
[edit] War in the north

Kościuszko's first task in America was the fortification of Philadelphia. His first structure was the construction of Fort Billingsport.[22] On September 24, 1776, Kościuszko was ordered to fortify the banks of the Delaware River against a possible British crossing. In the spring of 1777 he was attached to the Northern Army under Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates where he directed the construction of several forts and fortified military camps along the Canadian border.

Subsequently posted at Fort Ticonderoga, he worked to restore the defenses of what had once been one of the most formidable fortresses in North America. His surveys of the landscape prompted him to strongly recommend the construction of a battery on Sugar Loaf Mtn. overlooking the fort. Though a prudent suggestion, and one that carried the agreement of Kościuszko's fellow engineers, garrison commander Brigadier Gen. Arthur St. Clair ultimately declined to carry it out, citing logistical difficulties. This turned out to be an egregious tactical blunder, as, when the British Army under General John Burgoyne arrived in July, he did exactly what Kościuszko would have done and had his engineers place artillery on the hill.

With the British in complete control of the high ground, the Americans realized their situation was hopeless and abandoned the fortress with hardly a shot fired in the Siege of Ticonderoga. The British advance force nipped hard on the heels of the outnumbered and exhausted Continentals as they fled southward. Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler, desperate to put distance between his men and their pursuers, ordered scorched earth tactics along the route of retreat. In his crucial rearguard role, Kościuszko carried out these orders by directing the felling of trees, damming of streams, and destruction of all bridges and causeways to deny the British use of the roadway. Encumbered by their vast supply train, the British slowly began to bog down, giving the Americans the time needed to safely withdraw across the Hudson River.

Shortly thereafter, General Gates relieved Schuyler, regrouping his forces to try and prevent the British from taking Albany. He tapped Kościuszko to survey the countryside between the opposing armies, choose the most defensible position he could, and fortify it. Finding just such a position near Saratoga, overlooking the Hudson at Bemis Heights, Kościuszko proceeded to lay out an excellent array of defenses; nearly impregnable to attack from any direction. His excellent judgment and meticulous attention to every detail in the American defense frustrated the British Army attack during the final battle on October 7, 1777. Added to the checking action at Freeman's Farm two weeks prior, the dwindling British army was dealt a sound tactical defeat, the combination turning the tide of the campaign to an American advantage.

The Americans were then free and able to pursue and bottle up the tattered remnants of the disintegrating British expedition. Having all but cut off the last means of escape, Gates accepted General Burgoyne's surrender of his entire force at Saratoga on October 16, 1777. This complete and total American victory marked the turning point of the entire war, leading directly to the alliance with France (concluded on February 6, 1778). Kościuszko's work at Saratoga received great praise from Gen. Gates, who later told his friend Dr. Benjamin Rush "...the great tacticians of the campaign were hills and forests, which a young Polish engineer was skillful enough to select for my encampment".

Thereafter, Kościuszko was regarded as one of the best engineers in American service. George Washington immediately took notice, tasking him with the command of improving defensive works at the stronghold in West Point. Here he was posted until being granted his request for transfer to the Southern Army in August of 1780. It was Kościuszko's defenses at West Point that General Benedict Arnold attempted to pass to the British when he turned traitor the following month. It was later revealed that the original blueprints had been destroyed before either Arnold or Gen. Washington could get their hands on them.
[edit] War in the south

Traveling southward through rural Virginia, where he witnessed chattel slavery for the first time up-close and personal, he eventually reported to his former commander Gen. Gates in North Carolina in October. However, following the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Camden on August 16, Congress selected Washington's choice of Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene to replace the disgraced Gates as commander of the Southern Department. When Gen. Greene formally assumed command on December 3, 1780, Kościuszko's services were retained, employed as Greene's chief engineer. In this capacity, he made substantial contributions towards the planning and execution of the general's overall strategy that culminated in the reconquest of the Carolinas and Georgia two years later.

Over the course of this campaign, he was placed in charge of constructing bateaux, siting camps, scouting river crossings, fortifying positions, and developing intelligence contacts. Many of his contributions were instrumental in preventing the destruction of the Southern Army. This was especially true during the famous "Race to the Dan", where Cornwallis and his exhausted troops chased Greene through 200 miles of rough backcountry terrain in the dead of winter. Thanks largely to a combination of Greene's tactics, and Kościuszko's bateaux and accurate scouting of the rivers ahead of the main body, the Continentals safely crossed each one in its path, including the Dan River. Cornwallis, having no boats of his own, and finding no way to cross the swollen Dan, finally gave up the chase and withdrew back into North Carolina, while the Continentals regrouped south of Halifax, VA, where Kościuszko had earlier established a fortified depot at Greene's request.

During the "Race to the Dan", Kościuszko had contributed to the selection of the site where Gen. Greene eventually returned to fight Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse. Though tactically defeated, the Americans all but destroyed Cornwallis' army as an effective fighting force and gained a permanent strategic advantage in the South. Thus, as Greene began his reconquest of South Carolina in the spring of 1781, he recalled Kościuszko to rejoin the main body of the Southern Army. It wasn't long before he was back in his engineering element at Ninety Six where, from May 22 - June 18, he conducted the longest siege of the Revolutionary War. Kościuszko suffered his only wound in seven full years of service during the unsuccessful siege, as he was bayonetted in his hindquarters during an assault by the Star Fort's defenders on the approach trench he was preparing.

As the combined forces of the Continentals and Southern militia gradually forced the British from the backcountry into the coastal ports during the latter half of 1781, Kościuszko began participating in more direct action. There exists evidence he saw limited action in the major battles at Hobkirk's Hill (2nd Camden) in April and Eutaw Springs in September. However, he was most active throughout the final year of hostilities in much smaller actions focused on harassing British foraging parties near Charleston. His only known battlefield command of the war occurred at James Island on November 14, 1782. In what is believed by many to be the Continental Army's final armed action of the war, he was very nearly killed as his small force was soundly routed. A month later, he was among the first Continental troops to reoccupy Charleston following the British evacuation of the city. Kościuszko spent the rest of the war there, allegedly conducting a fireworks display to celebrate news of the signing of the Treaty of Paris in April, 1783.
[edit] Mustering-out

After seven years of faithful, uninterrupted service to the American cause, on October 13, 1783, Kościuszko was promoted by Congress to the rank of brigadier general. He also received American citizenship, a grant of land near present-day Columbus, Ohio, and was admitted to both the prestigious Society of the Cincinnati and the American Philosophical Society. When he was leaving America, he wrote a last will, naming Thomas Jefferson the executor and leaving his property in America to be used to buy the freedom of black slaves, including Jefferson's, and to educate them for independent life and work.[23] Several years after Kościuszko's death, Jefferson pled an inability to act as executor, an action deprecated by the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and Jefferson historian Merrill Peterson. The U.S. Supreme Court awarded the estate to Kościuszko's descendants in 1852,[24] ruling that he had died intestate despite the four wills he had made.[25] During the legal proceedings between the date of his death and the Supreme Court decision, the value of his estate decreased substantially; this was attributed by a case attorney to Colonel George Bomford's use of the estate for his own purposes.[25] None of the monies that Kościuszko had earmarked for the manumission and education of African-Americans were ever used for that purpose.[25]

Tadeusz Ko?ciuszko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Article 15]

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko:

Because he was a genuine American Revolutionary War hero. The Congress even made him a brigadier general, although Polish, he also became a naturalized American citizen.

An excerpt from Wiki:

American Revolution

Kościuszko came to Colonial America on his own,[21] and on August 30, 1776 he presented a Memorial to Congress. He initially served as a volunteer, but on October 18, 1776, Congress commissioned him a Colonel of Engineers in the Continental Army. "He was assigned a black orderly named Agrippa Hull. At the recommendation of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski and General Charles Lee, Kościuszko was named head engineer of the Continental Army.

He was sent to Pennsylvania to work with the Continental Army. Shortly after arriving, he read the United States Declaration of Independence. Kościuszko was moved by the document because it encompassed everything in which he believed; he was so moved, in fact, that he decided to meet Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration. The two met in Virginia a few months later. After spending the day discussing philosophy and other things they shared in common, they became very close friends. Kościuszko was a guest at Monticello on many occasions, and spent prolonged visits there.
[edit] War in the north

Kościuszko's first task in America was the fortification of Philadelphia. His first structure was the construction of Fort Billingsport.[22] On September 24, 1776, Kościuszko was ordered to fortify the banks of the Delaware River against a possible British crossing. In the spring of 1777 he was attached to the Northern Army under Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates where he directed the construction of several forts and fortified military camps along the Canadian border.

Subsequently posted at Fort Ticonderoga, he worked to restore the defenses of what had once been one of the most formidable fortresses in North America. His surveys of the landscape prompted him to strongly recommend the construction of a battery on Sugar Loaf Mtn. overlooking the fort. Though a prudent suggestion, and one that carried the agreement of Kościuszko's fellow engineers, garrison commander Brigadier Gen. Arthur St. Clair ultimately declined to carry it out, citing logistical difficulties. This turned out to be an egregious tactical blunder, as, when the British Army under General John Burgoyne arrived in July, he did exactly what Kościuszko would have done and had his engineers place artillery on the hill.

With the British in complete control of the high ground, the Americans realized their situation was hopeless and abandoned the fortress with hardly a shot fired in the Siege of Ticonderoga. The British advance force nipped hard on the heels of the outnumbered and exhausted Continentals as they fled southward. Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler, desperate to put distance between his men and their pursuers, ordered scorched earth tactics along the route of retreat. In his crucial rearguard role, Kościuszko carried out these orders by directing the felling of trees, damming of streams, and destruction of all bridges and causeways to deny the British use of the roadway. Encumbered by their vast supply train, the British slowly began to bog down, giving the Americans the time needed to safely withdraw across the Hudson River.

Shortly thereafter, General Gates relieved Schuyler, regrouping his forces to try and prevent the British from taking Albany. He tapped Kościuszko to survey the countryside between the opposing armies, choose the most defensible position he could, and fortify it. Finding just such a position near Saratoga, overlooking the Hudson at Bemis Heights, Kościuszko proceeded to lay out an excellent array of defenses; nearly impregnable to attack from any direction. His excellent judgment and meticulous attention to every detail in the American defense frustrated the British Army attack during the final battle on October 7, 1777. Added to the checking action at Freeman's Farm two weeks prior, the dwindling British army was dealt a sound tactical defeat, the combination turning the tide of the campaign to an American advantage.

The Americans were then free and able to pursue and bottle up the tattered remnants of the disintegrating British expedition. Having all but cut off the last means of escape, Gates accepted General Burgoyne's surrender of his entire force at Saratoga on October 16, 1777. This complete and total American victory marked the turning point of the entire war, leading directly to the alliance with France (concluded on February 6, 1778). Kościuszko's work at Saratoga received great praise from Gen. Gates, who later told his friend Dr. Benjamin Rush "...the great tacticians of the campaign were hills and forests, which a young Polish engineer was skillful enough to select for my encampment".

Thereafter, Kościuszko was regarded as one of the best engineers in American service. George Washington immediately took notice, tasking him with the command of improving defensive works at the stronghold in West Point. Here he was posted until being granted his request for transfer to the Southern Army in August of 1780. It was Kościuszko's defenses at West Point that General Benedict Arnold attempted to pass to the British when he turned traitor the following month. It was later revealed that the original blueprints had been destroyed before either Arnold or Gen. Washington could get their hands on them.
[edit] War in the south

Traveling southward through rural Virginia, where he witnessed chattel slavery for the first time up-close and personal, he eventually reported to his former commander Gen. Gates in North Carolina in October. However, following the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Camden on August 16, Congress selected Washington's choice of Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene to replace the disgraced Gates as commander of the Southern Department. When Gen. Greene formally assumed command on December 3, 1780, Kościuszko's services were retained, employed as Greene's chief engineer. In this capacity, he made substantial contributions towards the planning and execution of the general's overall strategy that culminated in the reconquest of the Carolinas and Georgia two years later.

Over the course of this campaign, he was placed in charge of constructing bateaux, siting camps, scouting river crossings, fortifying positions, and developing intelligence contacts. Many of his contributions were instrumental in preventing the destruction of the Southern Army. This was especially true during the famous "Race to the Dan", where Cornwallis and his exhausted troops chased Greene through 200 miles of rough backcountry terrain in the dead of winter. Thanks largely to a combination of Greene's tactics, and Kościuszko's bateaux and accurate scouting of the rivers ahead of the main body, the Continentals safely crossed each one in its path, including the Dan River. Cornwallis, having no boats of his own, and finding no way to cross the swollen Dan, finally gave up the chase and withdrew back into North Carolina, while the Continentals regrouped south of Halifax, VA, where Kościuszko had earlier established a fortified depot at Greene's request.

During the "Race to the Dan", Kościuszko had contributed to the selection of the site where Gen. Greene eventually returned to fight Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse. Though tactically defeated, the Americans all but destroyed Cornwallis' army as an effective fighting force and gained a permanent strategic advantage in the South. Thus, as Greene began his reconquest of South Carolina in the spring of 1781, he recalled Kościuszko to rejoin the main body of the Southern Army. It wasn't long before he was back in his engineering element at Ninety Six where, from May 22 - June 18, he conducted the longest siege of the Revolutionary War. Kościuszko suffered his only wound in seven full years of service during the unsuccessful siege, as he was bayonetted in his hindquarters during an assault by the Star Fort's defenders on the approach trench he was preparing.

As the combined forces of the Continentals and Southern militia gradually forced the British from the backcountry into the coastal ports during the latter half of 1781, Kościuszko began participating in more direct action. There exists evidence he saw limited action in the major battles at Hobkirk's Hill (2nd Camden) in April and Eutaw Springs in September. However, he was most active throughout the final year of hostilities in much smaller actions focused on harassing British foraging parties near Charleston. His only known battlefield command of the war occurred at James Island on November 14, 1782. In what is believed by many to be the Continental Army's final armed action of the war, he was very nearly killed as his small force was soundly routed. A month later, he was among the first Continental troops to reoccupy Charleston following the British evacuation of the city. Kościuszko spent the rest of the war there, allegedly conducting a fireworks display to celebrate news of the signing of the Treaty of Paris in April, 1783.
[edit] Mustering-out

After seven years of faithful, uninterrupted service to the American cause, on October 13, 1783, Kościuszko was promoted by Congress to the rank of brigadier general. He also received American citizenship, a grant of land near present-day Columbus, Ohio, and was admitted to both the prestigious Society of the Cincinnati and the American Philosophical Society. When he was leaving America, he wrote a last will, naming Thomas Jefferson the executor and leaving his property in America to be used to buy the freedom of black slaves, including Jefferson's, and to educate them for independent life and work.[23] Several years after Kościuszko's death, Jefferson pled an inability to act as executor, an action deprecated by the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and Jefferson historian Merrill Peterson. The U.S. Supreme Court awarded the estate to Kościuszko's descendants in 1852,[24] ruling that he had died intestate despite the four wills he had made.[25] During the legal proceedings between the date of his death and the Supreme Court decision, the value of his estate decreased substantially; this was attributed by a case attorney to Colonel George Bomford's use of the estate for his own purposes.[25] None of the monies that Kościuszko had earmarked for the manumission and education of African-Americans were ever used for that purpose.[25]

Tadeusz Ko?ciuszko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks!


He was option five, but I had no clue how to spell his name.

I had a really nice poll going, till RGS stomped on it. I am tempted to neg rep him for wrecking my Pole poll. His new one is totally lame too.

 

[Blagger]

Ewa Sonnet.

Gentlemen, type that name into Google images and report back.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Your favorite Pole and why

Had it not been for King John III Sobieski, all of Europe would be Muslim. And may well be in the future....

The defence of Vienna was entrusted to some 16,000 troops including citizens with no military training. The Ottomans tried to open a breach on the southern part of the walls near the imperial palace. But on September 10, a Christian army led by the Polish King John III Sobieski appeared on the hill of Kahlenberg, which at the west of Vienna, offers a terrific view of the city. At dawn the papal envoy Marco d'Aviano officiated a mass for the troops. Then the army moved down from the hill towards the enemy's camp. The Ottomans were routed and their failed attempt to siege Vienna was soon heralded as a new Lepanto, the 1571 naval victory on the Ottomans which is said to have stopped their expansion in Europe (the image used as background for this page shows a detail of the fortress of Lepanto).
City of the last Roman Emperors - The 1683 Siege of Vienna

 

[JWBooth]

Leelee Sobieski

 

[Nosmo King]

Your favorite Pole and why

Magnetic North