On this occasion, the Polish consul in Washington, D.C. Teresa Khrushch along with Colonel Grzegorz Janiszewski, serving at The JAG School and Legal Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, and representatives of Polonia paid tribute to him by paying tribute to a bunch of flowers on the General's grave located at the Arlington National Cemetery.
Gen. Włodzimierz Bonawentura Krzyżanowski (1824 - 1887) was born on 8 July 1824 in Rożnow close Oborniki in Wielkopolska, in the impoverished noble family. His father and 2 uncles fought in Napoleonic Wars, and his brother in the November uprising. He was the cousin of Frederick Chopin.
After the death of her father, the parent of the later hero of the civilian War was forced to sale assets in Rożnow and go to the Kingdom of Poland. Włodzimierz himself was raised in his household in Poznań, where he attended Maria Magdalena's advanced School, a campfire of the Polish patriotic movement at the time.
He participated in the uprising in Poznań in 1846, after which he was pursued by the Prussian authorities and fled by Hamburg to the United States of America. There he continued to educate and teach the language. He then began working as an engineer on the construction of a railway in Virginia and the states of the Midwest. Upon his return to Washington, he founded a commercial enterprise and became active in the political activities of the Republican Party. He besides supported Abraham Lincoln's candidacy for president of the United States.
After the outbreak of the civilian War in 1861, Krzyzanowski joined the organisation of a military unit in the Union's armed forces (the states of the alleged North). The 58th Volunteer Infantry Regiment of fresh York was created as a consequence of his procedures, in which about 150 Poles served. This unit was called the Polish Legion. It was commanded by Krzyżanowski, promoted to Colonel.
The unit took part, among others, in the Battles of Cross Keys in June 1862 and in the Second conflict of Bull Run in August 1862. At that time, Colonel Krzyżanowski had already commanded the 2nd Brigade, which included 58 PP. At the conflict of Chancellorsville in May 1863 the Teutonic Brigade shielded the retreat of the XI Corps, delaying the invasion of Confederate troops. On the second breakthrough day for the civilian War of the conflict of Gettysburg, on July 2, 1863, the 2nd Brigade defended a key position on Cemetery Hill. This prevented the breach of the Union's defence lines and contributed to North's final triumph over South troops on the following day.
Later, the unit served the protective service of the Chattanooga - Nashville railway line, securing supplies for General William Tecumseh Sherman's troops. Colonel Krzyżanowski was promoted to Brigadier General in March 1865, and after the war ended, in October 1865, with the full 58th Regiment being demobilized.
After the war, Gen. Krzyżanowski worked as an agent of the United States government, among others, negotiating the acquisition of Alaska from Tsaric Russia in 1867. Then he settled in San Francisco, California. He led a tavern there, where Henry Sienkiewicz, who was a frequent guest at the time, was in the USA. There, the author met Captain Rudolf Korwin Piotrowski, a veteran of the November uprising and the civilian War, 1 of the protoplasts of Onufrego Zagły. Sienkiewicz most likely besides listened to stories about the war cases of Polish civilian War veterans, which later became a channel of adventures of Trilogy heroes.
In San Francisco, Krzyżanowski besides organized the American debut of Helena Modrzejewski, which started a stunning career of Polish actor in the United States. He was besides active among the American Polish people. Thanks to a scholarship funded by Modrzejewska, his career in America began with Ignacy Paderewski. Under his influence president Wilson formulated in his fourteen points prepared for the Versailles conference besides point 13 – concerning Poland's independence. The only named non-existent state.
Teutonic Knights died on 31 January 1887 in fresh York City. On the 50th anniversary of his death, in October 1937, his ashes were transferred with military honors to the Arlington National Cemetery. On this occasion, the radio message was delivered by then US president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In Warsaw, the president of the Republic of Poland Ignacy Mościcki expressed his respects. Prior to planet War II, the General was exchanged on an equal basis with Kościuszko and Pulaski, after which he was sentenced to be forgotten by communists.
In Poland, the Foundation of his name, reconstruction groups from the times of the civilian War - 58th Volunteer Infantry Regiment from fresh York – “Polish Legion” and 14th Volunteer Infantry Regiment from Louisiana – “Polish Brigade” and residents of Rożnow, where Gen. Krzyżanowski was born. For respective years, there have been “Pikniki z General”, many of whom have been visited by reconstructors, past lovers and American soldiers from the V. Corps of the US Army, whose advanced command is located in close Poznań. It is 1 of the fewer places in Poland related to Polish-American military history
