Tadeusz Kosciuszko T. Kosciuszko in a peasant's russet coat Paris 1929, steel engraving by Antoni Olszczynski based on a portrait made in 1794 by J. Grassy, now lost. In the collection of Krakow's National Museum. In the engraving, Kosciuszko is shown wearing two decorations: the Order of the Society of the Cincinnati (a bald eagle, carrying the emblems on its breast) and the Virtuti Militari Cross, Poland's highest military decoration. The Society of the Cincinnati, was formed on May 10, 1783 by the officers of the victorious American Army. Kosciuszko was a charter member an one of only three foreign officers to be so honored. Having elected General Washington, as its first President, the Society extended its membership to European officers who had assisted the American Forces during the American War of Independence. Membership in the Order was so eagerly sought that it soon became one of the most coveted in Europe. The Virtuti Militari order (Military Virtue medal) was created by Poland's King Stanislaw August Poniatowski in 1972. Kosciuszko and Prince Jozef Poniatowski were the two initial recipients of the decoration which continues to be Poland's highest military decoration. Kosciuszko was awarded the medal in recognition of his generalship at the Battle of Dubienka, the fiercest encounter of the Polish-Russian war of 1792.