Revolutionary War Hero Dubbed “Father of American Cavalry” Likely Female or Intersex

Research into the general's life will be made public in a Smithsonian Channel documentary Monday night.

Casimir Pulaski
Casimir Pulaski may have been female or intersex. (Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto, Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Casimir Pulaski, the Polish-born Revolutionary War general who was dubbed the “Father of the American Cavalry” in a presidential proclamation last October, was actually probably female or intersex.

That’s the conclusion researchers came to after they examined what is believed to be Pulaski’s remains via skeletal analysis, USA Today reported. The general, who lived as a man, is credited with once saving the life of his wartime college, Gen. George Washington.

Casimir Pulaski was a hero of the American Revolution. (Getty)

“One of the ways that male and female skeletons are different is the pelvis,” Virginia Hutton Estabrook, a contributor to the documentary and an assistant professor of anthropology at Georgia Southern University told NBC News. “In females, the pelvic cavity has a more oval shape. It’s less heart-shaped than in the male pelvis. Pulaski’s looked very female.”

Last year’s proclamation made by President Trump honored Pulaski’s legacy as a war hero and credited him with transforming a calvary legion of Americans and allies into a “lethal fighting force.” In doing so, Trump declared Oct. 11 as General Pulaski Memorial Day.

Pulaski’s full story will be told Monday, April 8, in a documentary about the research into his life called America’s Hidden Stories: The General Was Female? on the Smithsonian Channel at 8p.m.

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