[5][6][a] Casimir was the second eldest son of Marianna Zielińska and Józef Pułaski, who was an advocatus at the Crown Tribunal, the Starost of Warka, and one of the town's most notable inhabitants.

[9] Early in his youth, Casimir Pulaski attended an elite college run by Theatines, a male religious order of the Catholic Church in Warsaw, but did not finish his education.

When Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette laid the cornerstone of the monument erected in Pulaski's honour in Monterey Square in Savannah in 1824, a full Masonic ceremony took place with Richard T. Turner, High Priest of the Georgia chapter, conducting the service.

[10] In 1762, Pulaski started his military career as a page of Carl Christian Joseph of Saxony, Duke of Courland and the Polish king's vassal.

However, Pulaski considered the assurance to be non-binding and made a public declaration to that effect upon reaching a camp of the Confederates at the end of July.

[11] In 1769, Pulaski's unit was again besieged by numerically superior forces, this time in the old fortress of Okopy Świętej Trójcy, which had served as his base of operations since December the previous year.

Around June 9–10 in Prešov, in a conference with other Confederate leaders, he met Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, who complimented Pulaski on his actions.

[13] Between September 10, 1770, and January 14, 1771, Pulaski, Walewski and Józef Zaremba commanded the Polish forces during the siege of Jasna Góra monastery.

Dumouriez, who became a military adviser to the Confederates, at the time described him as "spontaneous, more proud than ambitious, friend of the prince of Courland, enemy of the Potocki family, brave and honest" as well as popular among other commanders.

[12][13] At the same time, he often acted independently, disobeying orders from Confederate command, and among his detractors, which included Dumouriez, had a reputation of a "loose cannon".

[15] The court verdict, declared in absentia in July, stripped Pulaski of "all dignity and honors", demanded that his possessions be confiscated, and sentenced him to death.

He attempted to recreate a Confederate force in the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War, but before he could make any progress, the Turks were defeated, and he barely escaped by sea to Marseille, France.

[22] When the Continental Army troops began to yield, he reconnoitered with Washington's bodyguard of about 30 men, and reported that the enemy were endeavoring to cut off the line of retreat.

[23] His subsequent charge averted a disastrous defeat of the Continental Army cavalry,[20][22][24] earning him fame in America[25] and saving the life of George Washington.

After this minor encounter the British commander, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Stirling, was apparently convinced that he was facing a much larger force than expected, and prepared to withdraw his troops across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania at Cooper's Ferry (present-day Gloucester City).

[29] In the resulting skirmish, which only involved a few hundred men out of the larger forces on either side, Pulaski's horse was shot out from under him and a few of his cavalry were wounded.

[30] American officers serving under Pulaski had difficulty taking orders from a foreigner who could scarcely speak English and whose ideas of discipline and tactics differed enormously from those to which they were accustomed.

At Gates' recommendation, Congress confirmed his previous appointment to the rank of a brigadier general, with a special title of "Commander of the Horse", and authorized the formation of a corps of 68 lancers and 200 light infantry.

[40] Ordered to take part in the punitive Sullivan Expedition against the Iroquois, he was dissatisfied with this command, and intended to leave the service and return to Europe, but instead asked to be reassigned to the Southern front.

[52] Pulaski was carried from the field of battle and taken aboard the South Carolina merchant brig privateer Wasp, under the command of Captain Samuel Bulfinch,[53][54] where he died two days later, having never regained consciousness.

[57] In March 1825, during his grand tour of the United States, Lafayette personally laid the cornerstone for the Casimir Pulaski Monument in Savannah, Georgia.

A healed wound on the skull's forehead was consistent with historical records of an injury Pulaski sustained in battle, as was a bone defect on the left cheekbone, believed to have been caused by a benign tumor.

[61] A later study funded by the Smithsonian Institution, the results of which were released in 2019, concluded from the mitochondrial DNA of his grandniece, known injuries, and physical characteristics, that the skeleton was likely Pulaski's.

[63][64][65] A documentary based on the Smithsonian study suggests that Pulaski's hypothesized intersex condition could have been caused by congenital adrenal hyperplasia, where a fetus with female chromosomes is exposed to a high level of testosterone in utero and develops partially male genitals.

This analysis was based on the skeleton's female pelvis, facial structure and jaw angle, in combination with the fact that Pulaski identified as and lived as male.

[40] In 1929, Congress passed another resolution, this one recognizing October 11 of each year as "General Pulaski Memorial Day", with a large parade held annually on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

[71] After a previous attempt failed,[72] Congress passed a joint resolution conferring honorary US citizenship on Pulaski in 2009, sending it to President Barack Obama for approval.

He has been mentioned in the literary works of numerous Polish authors, including Adam Mickiewicz, Juliusz Słowacki and Józef Ignacy Kraszewski.

[74] Throughout Poland and the United States, people have celebrated anniversaries of Pulaski's birth and death, and there exist numerous objects of art such as paintings and statues of him.

A statue by Granville W. Carter depicting Pulaski on a rearing horse signaling a forward charge with a sword in his right hand is erected in Hartford, Connecticut.