Ignatius Constantine Romuald Szymanski Vandernoot or Ignacy Szymański or Ignatius Szymanski (1806–1874), nicknamed ''Colonel Ski'' or ''Old Ski'', was a Polish war hero and American soldier. He served in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. Son of Simon Szymanski and Francisca Vandernoot

Early life

As a Polish General, he fought in the Ulan Division along with Prince Adam Woronecki in the November Uprising (1830–1831 uprising) against the Russians. His father had fought in the Kościuszko Uprising (1794), so he came from a long list of Polish freedom fighters. After the Polish army was defeated, some of the soldiers went to France looking for

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

´s help. Later, some of them were remembered as France´s war heroes, such as the Prince

Józef Poniatowski Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski (; 7 May 1763 – 19 October 1813) was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. A nephew of king Stanislaus Augustus of Poland (), ...

. Not convinced about Napoleon´s support to recover Poland, not for the French aid helping some of his soldiers who were still looking for evacuation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, hidden from the Russians, he went to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and later to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, seeking help. He was very active helping soldiers and other Polish immigrants in the U.S., as was described by Victor Labeski, one of his officers who arrived in New York on the ship ''Adria'' in 1835, from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1835, Szymański moved to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, where he married Charlotte Hortense Lacoste. He became a well-known man, evidenced by his being mentioned many times in the New Orleans

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

s between 1835 and 1875. His friends in the South were other Poles who had been living in the area, notably Gaspar Tochman, Valery Sulakowski, and

Hypolite Oladowski Hypolite is a surname and a given name. People with the name include: * Chekira Lockhart Hypolite, Dominican politician *George Hypolite (born 1987), American football player *Hypolite Dupuis (1804–1879), Canadian fur trader * Hypolite Taremae (b ...

Civil War

When the Civil War began, Szymański was recruited as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

for the Chalmette Regiment,Scandinavian soldiers in the Confederate Forces - "Scandinavian Guards of New Orleans"
/ref> formed mainly by

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n immigrants from the Louisiana State Militia. Later, he served as the agent for the exchange of prisoners in the

Trans-Mississippi Department The Trans-Mississippi Department was a geographical subdivision of the Confederate States Army comprising Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, western Louisiana, Arizona Territory and the Indian Territory; i.e. all of the Confederacy west of the Mississi ...

. After the war he came back to his plantation, ''Summer Hill Farm'', and his cotton and sugar cane field called ''Sebastopol''. He accumulated goods and real estate sufficient to be considered a rich man. He even owned racing horses and a yacht.

Family

He had no descendants with Charlotte Hortense Lacoste, who was already aged 50 at the time of their marriage. Previously, Col. Szymanski had a long

plaçage Plaçage was a recognized extralegal system in French and Spanish slave colonies of North America (including the Caribbean) by which ethnic European men entered into civil unions with non-Europeans of African, Native American and mixed-race descen ...

relationship with Mrs. Eliza Romain, a free woman of color. They had three children: Jean Guillaume (1846), Constance Françoise (1847) and Ignace François (1850). Constance was later known as Mrs. Constance Cavelier after her marriage to the French immigrant, Mr. Jules Bernard Cavelier. In the meantime, Jean worked for his father in the Sebastopol Plantation until his early 20s. In his late 20s, he moved to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and finally settled down at the port of

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...

(Eureka community) along with his uncle, Aristide Romain. Jean was also known as "John" in Louisiana and later as "Juan" in Tampico where, along with his uncle, he worked as a tailor for the wide foreign community which had settled in Tampico due to the oil boom. Jean married Mrs. Carmen Castelló Caimares, cousin of Carmen Romero Rubio Castelló, wife of the Mexican President Porfirio Díaz. Because of the untimely death of his youngest brother, Ignace François, aged one year old, Jean decided to extend the Ignatius line, so his first son was named Ignacio Francisco (1877–1933). After him came Juan Melquiades, Julio Fructuoso (father of Mons. Arturo Szymanski, Bishop of Tampico and Honorary Archbishop of San Luis Potosí), Jose Amado and Jose Ramon Blas. Jean and Carmen also had twins but they did not survive. Jose Amado drowned at the age of 19 during Regatta festival. Jean's grandson, the son of Ignacio Francisco, Ignacio Sabás Szymanski Rodríguez (1905–1998) lived in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, until he was 21. After graduation from the La Salle Brothers College as a book keeper, he returned to Mexico to work for the Sinclair Oil Corporation and, after World War II, he worked for

Mexicana de Aviación Compañía Mexicana de Aviación, S.A. de C.V. (usually shortened to Mexicana de Aviación or simply Mexicana) was Mexico's oldest airline and one of the List of airlines by foundation date, oldest continuously single-branded airlines (after ...

as supplies director as well as president of the Airlines Association of the Americas until his retirement. Today, the Ignatius name continues with Ignacio Francisco Szymanski Morales (1935), Ignacio Alejandro Szymanski Chávez (1961) and Ignacio Francisco Szymanski Garbuno (2000). Today, a drama about the Szymanski family is still performed at the Sebastopol Residence in

Chalmette, Louisiana Chalmette ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in, and the parish seat of, St. Bernard Parish in southeastern Louisiana, United States. The 2010 census reported that Chalmette had 16,751 people; 2011 population was listed as 17,119; however, th ...

. The main roles are played by local actors, who play the parts of Ignatius S. Szymanski and his son Jean.

References

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szymanski, Ignacy Polish emigrants to the United States People of Louisiana in the American Civil War Confederate States Army officers 1806 births Foreign Confederate military personnel 1874 deaths