123STA T . 2 9 99 PUBLIC LA W 111 – 9 4—NOV . 6, 2 0 09 PublicLaw1 11 –94 111 thCongres s J oint R esolution Proclaim i ngC a s imir P u las k i t o be an h onorar y citi z eno f the U nite dS tates p ost - humously .Wher e asC as im ir Pul as k i w asaP o lish mili t ar y o f fi c er who fou g ht o n the si d eofthe A merican colonists against the B ritish in the American R e v olutionary War
Whereas Ben j amin F ranklin recommended that G eneral George Washington acce p t Casimir Pulaski as a volunteer in the Amer - ican Cavalry and said that Pulaski was ‘ ‘renowned throughout E urope for the courage and b ravery he displayed in defense of his country ’ s freedom’’; Whereas , after arriving in America, Casimir Pulaski wrote to Gen- eral Washington, ‘‘ I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it . ’’; Whereas the first military engagement of Casimir Pulaski with the British was on S eptember 1 1,1 7 77, at the Battle of Brandy- wine, and his courageous charge in this engagement averted a disastrous defeat of the American Cavalry and saved the life of George Washington; Whereas, on September 1 5 , 1777, George Washington elevated Casimir Pulaski to the rank of Brigadier General of the American Cavalry; Whereas Casimir Pulaski formed the Pulaski Cavalry L egion, and in February 177 9 , this legion ejected the British occupiers from Charleston, South Carolina; Whereas, in O ctober 1779, Casimir Pulaski mounted an assault against British forces in Savannah, Georgia; Whereas, on the morning of October 9, 1779, Casimir Pulaski was mortally wounded and was taken aboard the American ship U SS Wasp, where he died at sea on October 11, 1779; Whereas, before the end of 1779, the Continental Congress resolved that a monument should be erected in honor of Casimir Pulaski; Whereas, in 1 82 5, General Lafayette laid the cornerstone for the Casimir Pulaski monument in Savannah, Georgia; and Whereas, in 1929, Congress passed a resolution recogni z ing October 11 of each year as Pulaski D ay in the United States
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ow, therefore, be it Nov.6,20 0 9[H . J . Res .26 ]
