Polish team travels to West Point to digitally preserve Tadeusz Kościuszko’s Revolutionary War legacy
Nearly 250 years after Tadeusz Kościuszko helped shape the defenses of West Point, a team from his native Poland is using 3D scanning, aerial photography and other digital technology to preserve the physical traces of his legacy for future generations.
Three members of Poland’s Foundation for the Virtualization of National Cultural Heritage traveled approximately 4,200 miles to the U.S. Military Academy from Sept. 14-29 to digitally document Revolutionary War-era sites and artifacts associated with the Polish-American hero. The visit marked the completion of the first of two phases of an on-site project titled “Tadeusz Kościuszko at West Point: The Digital Heritage of the Polish-American Hero of Freedom,” with the second phase planned for next year.
The work comes as West Point’s historic earthwork fortifications and landscape face continued erosion and weathering. By creating precise 3D digital records of the sites as they exist today, the project will provide a benchmark for future conservation while eventually allowing people around the world to virtually explore historic resources at West Point.
Prior to becoming the home of the United States Corps of Cadets in 1802, West Point was considered one of the most strategically important military posts in America during the Revolutionary War. Located on a plateau along the western bank of the Hudson River, about 60 miles north of New York City, it occupied a critical defensive position in an area British forces sought to control.
Among those who contributed to the fight for American independence was Kościuszko, a Polish military engineer who served as a colonel in the Continental Army. His strategic expertise helped shape key fortifications on the high ground at West Point designed to deter British forces.
Piotr Bialobrzycki, Damian Kuc and Jerzy Pajor each brought specialized expertise to the mission, working together to document and share the story of the Polish-American hero at West Point.
With an academic background in Mediterranean archaeology and art history and expertise in 3D digitization, Bialobrzycki has spent 20 years documenting cultural heritage sites around the world. As founder and president of the Foundation’s board, he coordinated the West Point mission.
As project director, Bialobrzycki leads terrestrial laser scanning of eight heritage sites at West Point, integrating the work with aerial photogrammetry and other documentation methods.
Kuc, the project’s lead specialist in 3D scanning and modeling, used structured-light scanning to document cannons, commemorative plaques, elements of the Kościuszko Monument, the Great Chain and selected artifacts, including Kościuszko’s sword at the West Point Museum.
Pajor brings extensive professional photography experience to the project after years managing some of Poland’s largest photographic laboratories. He is responsible for multimedia documentation and gigapixel photography, including HDR documentation and gigapanoramas exceeding one billion pixels that will support future virtual reality walkthroughs. He also oversees color management and prepares photographic material for virtual tours.
During the visit, the group received authorization to conduct drone flights in designated areas of West Point, allowing them to capture aerial views of historic sites such as Fort Putnam.
The mission’s goal, Bialobrzycki said, is to create a precise and lasting digital record of Kościuszko’s material heritage at West Point before erosion and weathering cause further deterioration.
“We are documenting the fortifications and landscape features associated with his work, as well as monuments and museum artifacts that help present the boarder context of the American Revolutionary War,” Bialobrzycki explained. “The mission is intended to produce measurable 3D digital twins, not merely visually compelling images.”
The project encompasses digital documentation of eight principal sites, including Fort Putnam, Fort Clinton, several redoubts, the Kościuszko Monument, the Great Chain and the cannons at Trophy Point. The team also plans to create more than 70 detailed 3D models of historic objects, including artifacts housed at the West Point Museum and the U.S. Military Academy Library’s Special Collections.
The completed project will feature images of historic artifacts, virtual tours of eight locations and 77 metadata records available in three languages.
“These materials will provide a benchmark for future conservation work and allow people who cannot enter an active military installation to explore this heritage,” Bialobrzycki said.
Beyond preservation, the project seeks to deepen public understanding of Kościuszko’s contributions as a military engineer and the significance of his work during the American Revolution.
“In both Poland and the United States, Kosciuszko is often remembered as a hero, but far fewer people understand the technical significance of his work as a military engineer or the role his fortifications played in protecting the Hudson River corridor, including West Point and Bemis Heights during the Battles of Saratoga,” Bialobrzycki said.
The timing also coincides with several significant anniversaries: the 250th anniversary of American independence, the 250th anniversary of Kościuszko’s arrival in America and the 280th anniversary of his birth.
“We wanted to use this moment to demonstrate that the Polish contribution to the American Revolution was concrete and consequential,” Bialobrzycki said. “Its traces can still be read in the terrain, fortifications, monuments, documents and historical objects at West Point.”
Bialobrzycki views the effort as a multiyear project to comprehensively document accessible resources associated with Kościuszko in the United States and Europe and integrate them into a publicly accessible virtual environment.
The group’s fieldwork was financed primarily by the Chancellery of the Senate of the Republic of Poland through the Senate-Polonia 2026 program, with additional support from the Foundation’s own resources. The U.S. Department of State also financed a separate phase through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation Freedom 250 program. The support will help transform the team’s fieldwork into digital resources, including 3D models, virtual tours and an open-access platform.
The team’s documentation extends beyond resources directly associated with Kościuszko to encompass the broader history of the American Revolution, including uniforms, tools, maps, plans and other period artifacts.
“Kosciuszko and the shared Polish-American historical heritage are the principal criteria for selecting the resources we document,” Bialobrzycki detailed. “We do not, however, separate his work from the broader story of the American Revolution. To understand his achievements properly, one must also understand the strategic significance of the Hudson River, West Point’s entire defensive system, the threat posed by British forces, 18th century military engineering methods, and the lives of the people who built, used, defended and preserved these fortifications for future generations.”
He added that the broader American context does not diminish the visibility of the Polish contribution, but on the contrary, it allows its significance to be understood more fully.
“This is why we are particularly interested in the stories of people who, regardless of birthplace, ethnic origin or language, were guided by similar ideals,” Bialobrzycki said. “They shared the conviction that every person should have the right to freedom, self-determination and a life free from foreign domination. This common struggle brought together the experiences of people from many nations, and Tadeusz Kosciuszko became one of the most important symbols of their solidarity and shared pursuit of freedom.” For Bialobrzycki, Kuc and Pajor, the project also carries particular significance because of their Polish heritage and Kościuszko’s enduring legacy in both nations.
“For Poles, Kościuszko is a national hero, but his significance extends far beyond military achievement,” Bialobrzycki explained. “He combined exceptional professional competence with a distinct civic and moral vision. In America, he played an important role as a military engineer at Saratoga and West Point. In Poland, he defended the constitutional reforms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and led the national uprising of 1794.”
As for the opportunity to document Kościuszko’s legacy at West Point, Bialobrzycki said it is “difficult to overstate the significance of this visit.”
“We have documented major churches, museums, monuments and historic complexes throughout Europe, but West Point is exceptional because Kościuszko’s achievement remains inscribed in the landscape itself,” Bialobrzycki said. “The terrain, the Hudson River, the forts and redoubts, and the surviving links of the Great Chain explain his decisions more clearly than any textbook could.”
For the three men, the project has been both a professional privilege and a “profoundly moving experience,” accompanied by a strong sense of responsibility while documenting historic resources at West Point.
Bialobrzycki said he was impressed by the “seriousness” with which West Point treats Kościuszko’s legacy and the openness of those who helped the team better understand that history and accomplish its mission. Support from members of the West Point community, including the USMA Command Historian Jennifer Voigtschild, reinforced for the team that Kościuszko’s legacy is not solely a Polish story, but an integral part of West Point and American history.
“This effort recognized that this was an integral part of the Academy’s own history,” Bialobrzycki said. “For me personally, West Point is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and the Academy’s setting is truly extraordinary, and you have to be here to understand it fully.”
The Foundation has worked to preserve and share cultural heritage since its establishment in 2017, and its efforts to document Polish-American history will continue beyond West Point. In 2027, the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Saratoga and the 210th anniversary of Kościuszko’s death will provide another opportunity to explore that shared history.
The team intends to return to the United States to complete the second phase of its work at West Point while expanding its documentation efforts to other sites connected to Kościuszko. Plans include digitizing the Saratoga battlefield and documenting sites associated with Kościuszko in Philadelphia, as well as Fort Ticonderoga.
“These efforts have created one of the largest repositories of digital cultural heritage in Central Europe … and the West Point project is another important stage in this mission, extending it to encompass the shared Polish-American heritage of Tadeusz Kościuszko,” Bialobrzycki said. “Ultimately, this allows visitors to understand the same ideas of freedom, military engineering and civic responsibility developed under different historical circumstances.”
The results of this venture will be published on the project’s existing website, https://kosciuszko.world/, which is available in Polish, English and French. The website will present the historical narrative, educational resources, an interactive atlas and the project’s digital repository. The Foundation’s principal digital heritage platform, https://wirtualnedziedzictwo.pl/, will serve as the long-term repository and technical home for the digital assets.
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