Memorial plaque inaugurated for the Hungarian “father of the U.S. cavalry” in Washington – PHOTO GALLERY

A memorial plaque has been inaugurated in tribute to Colonel Commandant Michael Kováts de Fabriczy, a Hungarian-born 18th-century Hussar officer, at the Kossuth House in central Washington, DC.

The inauguration on Friday was held as a highlight event of a programme series marking the 300th birth anniversary of the Hussar colonel, who was born in Karcag, in eastern Hungary, and died in the American Revolutionary War in the Siege of Charleston, SC, in May, 1779.

Kováts de Fabriczy is regarded as a famous Hungarian figure in American history, the “father of the US cavalry”, who established the first US light cavalry.

Addressing the inauguration, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said that it had to be thanked to the Karcag-born officer that it became widely known to the American public that one of the main characteristics of Hungarians is striving for freedom.

The efforts aimed at reviving “the memory of the Hungarian freedom-fighter officer” will strengthen the bond between Americans and Hungarians, said Varga, who was also born in Karcag.

Szabolcs Takács, Hungary’s ambassador to Washington, said that Kováts de Fabriczy was a pillar of the Hungarian-American diaspora’s identity and self-determination, and his person “a testimony” to American-Hungarian relations with regard to the fact that a common characteristic of the two nations is their love for freedom.

HERE is a reels video of the memorial plaque.

The re-enactment of the death charge of Colonel Kováts in the Battle of Charleston in 1779. Photo: FB/Michael Kováts Friendship Society

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