Administered by:
The Father of the American Cavalry was an #intersex Polish count.
Casimir Pulaski, born in Warsaw in 1745, died in October 1779 due to injuries sustained in the Siege of #Savannah, one of the bloodiest battles of the #RevolutionaryWar.
He was only 34, but he’d already had an incredible life. Forced to leave Poland after rebelling against King Stanislaw II, he met Benjamin Franklin in Paris, who recruited him to fight with Washington’s forces. (Cont)
#histodon #18thcentury @histodons
To Washington, he wrote: “I come here where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it.”
Not only did he serve, but he saved Washington’s life at the Battle of Brandywine. He became one of only eight Americans granted honorary citizenship.
Pulaski was a rebel to his bones—literally. His body was reinterred in a vault under Savannah’s Pulaski Monument at the beginning of its construction in 1852. It was finally examined more recently. (Cont)
To researchers’ surprise, Pulaski’s skeleton appeared to be female. It wasn’t a case of mistaken identity—the bones matched his age, height, and had the injuries he was known to have suffered. His DNA was compared to that of his grand-niece in 2019, confirming the bones belonged to Pulaski.
Was the Father of the American Cavalry a #trans man? We may never know, but it’s more likely he was born intersex, possibly with a condition like congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
There was no treatment for this at the time, so Pulaski’s parents would have been able to decide if he should be raised male or female. As a woman, he would have a hard time marrying and having children, but as a man, he could have an outstanding military career, and no one would ever know.
At least until 2019.
More about Pulaski in my post here:
https://dirtysexyhistory.com/2022/10/11/casimir-pulaski-intersex-hero-of-the-revolutionary-war/
@savannahbiz thank you! 
@dirtysexyhistory Wow. I've lived in Savannah GA all of my life and never heard this story. Fascinating to say the least. Thank you for sharing. He/She is a hero here.
@savannahbiz absolutely! I love Savannah. I’m working on a book about it at the moment 