Absent Drummer
May 2025
The novel is undergoing an upgrade and hopefully will reappear in different format sometime soon.
Watch this space.
TADEUSZ KOSCIUSZKO
THE CHISWICK SURFER INTERVIEW
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October 2024
Augustyn Wieńczysław Czajka, creator of The Chiswick Surfer, arguably the most cutting edge blog in West London today, has secured an exclusive interview with Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746-1817), Polish national hero and also hero of the American Revolution. The following is an edited transcript:
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Chiswick Surfer: General, welcome to West London in 2024. I hope you had a pleasant flight from your home in the clouds –
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KoÅ›ciuszko: Hold it right there. I hope you’re going to make it quite clear to everyone that this interview is completely fictitious and occurs entirely in your head and that you are putting words in my mouth and therefore I cannot be held responsible for any views you may attribute to me.
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CS: Of course, General.
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KoÅ›ciuszko: Just so we understand each other. As for ‘my home in the clouds’, I sincerely hope your apparent flippancy will not be the prevailing tone of this interview. I was given to understand that we would be discussing the current state of politics in the USA and particularly the upcoming presidential election.
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CS: My apologies, General. You’re quite right. I was going to ask you whether you have any views about today’s candidates for the highest office in the land. As you know, the United States has many voters of Polish heritage. According to one recent estimate, there are currently nine million Polish Americans.
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KoÅ›ciuszko: I’m glad to hear it. The USA is ‘the home of the brave’. And many brave Poles were there, right at the beginning, when independence was being fought for.
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CS: Speaking of those days, General, you were acquainted with the greats of the American Revolution; Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson –
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KoÅ›ciuszko: ‘Acquainted with’ is one way of putting it. I would count them as friends. Thomas Jefferson, in particular, was a great friend, but we all shared the same ideals of liberty and fought for a republic which would be based on freedom from tyranny.
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CS: Looking at the current state of politics in the USA, do you believe those republican ideals are in danger from the prospect of autocracy, as some people claim?
KoÅ›ciuszko: You mention 'republican ideals’. The original republicans were those revolutionaries, the people in the Continental Army, who resisted autocracy and fought for a republic, which is what drew people like myself, Lafayette and others to the American cause. The autocracy which we all resisted in those days, was, of course, represented by the arbitrary rule of a distant monarchy which took no real account of conditions in the American colonies, as they were then. I have noticed a curious development recently, namely that the party which calls itself ‘republican’, has today elevated someone who appears to have the instincts of a monarch, perhaps even an emperor. What happened to the egalitarian ideals of the original republican revolutionaries?
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CS: Does this mean, General, that you would prefer - but before I ask you about your views, please correct me if I’m wrong, but you were, were you not, a US citizen?
Kościuszko: I had that honour. And I still have, depending on how you look at things. But, yes, I was rewarded with US citizenship for my service in the War of Independence. The USA was my second homeland. You may want to append a link on your blog after this interview, detailing some historical information.
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CS: I’ll certainly do that, General. May I ask you then, how would you, as a US citizen, advise today’s Polish Americans to vote in the upcoming elections?
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Kościuszko: You may remember my opinion of Napoleon. Now there was someone who started out as a liberator and was seen as such by many downtrodden people, including a great many of my own countrymen, as you know. But of course, power went to his head, and he had himself proclaimed emperor.
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CS: Crowned, in fact.
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Kościuszko: Indeed. And he crowned himself. And so he lost the support of many.
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CS: Beethoven, among others.
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KoÅ›ciuszko: I see you know the period. It’s usually safe to say that there’s no reining in an absolute ruler, whether he be king, emperor or dictator. And it’s usually a ‘he’, although, in my experience –
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CS: Forgive me for interrupting, General, but I was going to ask you about the Empress Catherine. What are your feelings about Russians?
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KoÅ›ciuszko: Since you know the period, you must also know that Catherine wasn’t originally Russian, but Prussian. And my feelings about Russians are the same as my feelings about any other nations. I don’t judge people according to their nationalities but according to their character. Ambassador Vorontsov, for instance, was very helpful to me during my brief stay in London, following my release from Catherine’s prison.
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CS: So, General, coming back to the question of the presidential election, how would you advise Polish Americans to vote today?
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Kościuszko: I can't tell anyone how to vote, but I am sure that Polish Americans will vote wisely, taking into account the founding principles upon which the nation was built. Some people may not be aware of the extent of the Polish contribution in the War of Independence. My own name is quite well known, as is that of Pulaski, but there were also others: Kotkowski, Jan Zielinski, Jerzmanowski, Karol Litomski, Maciej Rogowski and many others. You might like to post another link detailing these individuals. They were all freedom fighters, opposed to autocracy.
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CS: I hate to bring this up, General, but during the Polish Uprising of 1794, weren’t you yourself a dictator?
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Kościuszko: Naczelnik. A military leader appointed by others to lead during an emergency, but expected, as in the case of the Roman Cincinnatus, to relinquish power once the emergency was over. Had we won our fight back then and secured our independence, I would have retired to my country home, just like Cincinnatus, but events turned out otherwise, as you know. Poland was partitioned and vanished from the map of Europe. I was imprisoned in St Petersburg on the orders of the Empress. But, as to relinquishing power after a victory, look no further than George Washington, who stepped away from power and became the model for all future US presidents.
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CS: So, to sum up, General, are you saying therefore, that the choice is a no-brainer? That Polish Americans would be wise to vote for –
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KoÅ›ciuszko: The current choice, my dear Sir, seems to be between a person who believes in the principles the country was founded on and gives the distinct impression of being concerned with the welfare of every single citizen of the USA and another person who gives the impression of believing only in himself and his own welfare. My position prevents me from naming names, but I can't make it any clearer than that. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take my leave, sending best wishes not only to anyone with Polish ancestry or Polish connections, but also to anyone familiar with the Kosciuszko Bridge in Brooklyn, or Mount Kosciuszko in Australia, or residents of the birthplace of Oprah Winfrey, etc. etc. So don’t forget to post that link, Mr C. Thank you and dowidzenia.
CS: Goodbye, General and thank you. I will now post that link, and for Polish speakers, historian Longin Pastusiak is the author of Polacy w Zaraniu Stanów Zjednoczonych, which details those Polish fighters who took part in the American War of Independence.
The Speedy Malinowski Radio Show
and other stories
Flora says now’s my chance to write my book. She’s right. How about ‘I, Florence’, I said to her, written from a woman’s perspective? All about her boring husband who has no flair for gardening and spends his life under headphones, listening to rock, blues, jazz. And Motown. Plenty of Motown. Although, of course, it would be catchier if I called it ‘I, Claudia’. Would you like to be called Claudia? ‘Claudia was actually one of my grandmother’s names,’ Flora tells me; ‘she was Florencia Gabriela Claudia. Anyway,’ she said, checking on her phone, ‘it looks like someone has already beaten you to that particular title.’ ‘Only joking’, I said. ‘I could never write from a woman’s point of view anyway and I don’t know how a man could ever do that’. ‘Think of all those Victorian women novelists’, said Flora. ‘They used to write from every point of view'.
Kosciuszko in London
SCENE 4
INTERIOR – THE SABLONIERE HOTEL, LEICESTER SQUARE
LIBISZEWSKI: (WRITES)
Wednesday 31st May, 1797.
My dearest Marta, I hope you are well and still think of me as often as I think of you. We arrived in England from Sweden on Monday. Niemcewicz was sea-sick. God knows how he will cope with a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Word has spread that General Kosciuszko is here in London. It’s in the newspapers and people are flocking to see him.
You wouldn’t believe the size of this city. It is absolutely overwhelming and stretches out for miles. And the number of different people there are here! In fact, Niemcewicz says that when he was last in England , he felt much more like a foreigner than he does today. Because today, in the wake of the revolution in France, he says, we are only a few of many. It’s true, we see not only French exiles, but people of all nationalities walking along the streets. No wonder people feel safe here. And so they come from all the trouble spots of Europe, indeed the world. It’s a shame that General Kosciuszko will not be able to see much of the city in his condition. No-one dares tell him, but we think he may be paralyzed for the rest of his life.
The Chronicle of Lerna
An Unapproved Account of the Campaign at Troy
I haven’t found any descriptions of Helen yet, sir, but I’m sure there must be something somewhere. But if I don’t find anything then I can give you a description myself. I did visit Troy, if you remember.
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And you saw Helen?
Indeed.
And was she as beautiful as they say?
Well, it’s all a matter of taste, I suppose. Remember I was very young back then. I must have been about eight years old and generally overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the city. All I know for sure is that she was the absolute focus of everyone’s attention and that she definitely wasn’t ugly. Even a youngster like myself knew she was something special at the time.
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Ah, well, maybe this was a case of some kind of mass hypnosis. Or extremely successful propaganda. Were her eyes dark blue?
I couldn’t really tell from where I was standing, venerable sir.
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Did you see Cassandra as well?
I did. She had the reputation of being eccentric, but she didn’t look it, as far as I remember. In fact, I found her far more attractive than Helen, but what does a young boy know about these things?
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"The descendants of those who solve their problems by killing innocent women and children will almost certainly lead difficult lives and will most probably end up damning their own ancestors."
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Sthenelus of Argos