Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
January 1777
Primary Source Reference:
Du Simitière Memorandum Books, Library of Congress, fol. 17v
Notes:
Nicolas de Launay (1739–1792) engraved many prints after original works by Charles Dominique Joseph Eisen (1720–1778). Pictured here is an etched and engraved 1773 illustration to André du Ryer's "Scévole," in Jean-François Marmontel's Chefs d'oeuvre dramatiques (Paris, 1773).
The donor was Tadeusz Kosciuszko (1746-1817), a Polish-Lithuanian military engineer, statesman, and military leader who became a national hero in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and the United States. In 1776, Kosciuszko moved to North America, where he took part in the American Revolution as a colonel in the Continental Army. An accomplished military architect, he designed and oversaw the construction of state-of-the-art fortifications, including those at West Point, New York. In 1783, in recognition of his services, the Continental Congress promoted him to brigadier general.
