A Polish soldier and patriot, Pulaski was a cavalry officer in the service of the Colonial army during the Revolutionary War. He gained fame as a cavalry commander in the anti-Russian Confederation of Bar, rising to commander in chief. When the Russians defeated the confederation, Pulaski fled first to Turkey and then to France. In 1777 from France he offered his services to Benjamin Franklin, and then sailed to America. Pulaski organized the first American cavalry unit, the Pulaski Legion. He died from wounds received in a cavalry charge near Savannah, GA.