250th Anniversary of Polish-American Friendship
Thanks to the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C. for reminding us that this year, 2026, marks not only the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence — but also 250 years of Polish-American friendship.
This photo, provided by the Polish Embassy, is a still from a video taken on January 4, 2026 at the National Mall. The illumination of the Washington Monument helped launch the America250 celebrations highlighting, among other stories, the contributions of General Tadeusz Kościuszko to the American Revolutionary War. The Embassy said, “We could not be more proud.”
The 280th Anniversary of Kościuszko’s birthday is fast approaching, on February 4, 2026.
Trained as a military officer in Poland with a specialty in military engineering, 30-year-old Kościuszko traveled to America to aid the American colonists in their war of independence against Great Britain. He was commissioned as a colonel in the Continental Army, and gained the reputation as a sharp officer with a genius mind for fortifications and terrain.
Kościuszko is best known for designing the fortifications at West Point that prevented the British from proceeding up the Hudson River. As quoted at allthingsliberty.com, Col. David Palmer wrote in his book The River and the Rock: The History of Fortress West Point, 1775–1783: “The post’s obvious strength deterred attack, the British never dared to try for it. . . . For there American revolutionaries and a Polish engineer had built a fortress quite ahead of its time—a 19th Century fortified complex in an 18th Century war.”
There is a monument to Kościuszko at West Point, and every year the American Association of the Friends of Kościuszko at West Point (AAFKWP) hosts a conference at West Point. This year, the conference is scheduled for April 24 and 25, 2026.
Kościuszko was not the first Pole to come to America — as early as 1608, Polish artisans were brought to the Jamestown settlement by Captain John Smith — nor was he the only Pole to aid the Americans in the Revolutionary War, as General Kazimierz Pułaski also joined the Continental Army, where he became known as “the Father of American cavalry.”
For our earlier blog post about Kościuszko, his life and his role at West Point, click here.
For our blog post about the Kosciuszko National Monument in Philadelphia, click here.
