Scientific testing on the monument remains of Revolutionary War general Casimir Pulaski has sparked a modern re-evaluation of his biological sex. On Stuff You Missed in History Class, host Tracy V. Wilson noted that if the bones are indeed his, and "if he really had female anatomy, or if he really was intersex, then he is an example of how there have always been people whose lives and whose bodies don't align with their society's understanding or expectations around sex and gender."
Beyond his physical identity, Pulaski's battlefield record is also drawing scrutiny. Tracy V. Wilson detailed his disastrous May 1779 defense of Charleston, explaining that Pulaski "apparently planned to charge a British raiding party and then fall back to lure them into an ambush. But he did so before that ambush was actually in place, which of course, again led to heavy losses."
This complicated American career stands in stark contrast to his noble origins in Poland. Tracy V. Wilson pointed out that Pulaski's family, the szlachta, was "a very old and prominent family" with a long pedigree of military service. As DNA testing and military archives face further modern analysis, Pulaski's legacy will continue to bridge the gap between eighteenth-century cavalry tactics and modern identity.