KOVATS, (MICHAEL) MIHALY
From Knob Knowledge
1724-1779. Colonel Commandant Michael (Mihály) Kováts de Fabriczy was born in Hungary in 1724, and came to the American colonies. His name is sometimes spelled Kowats. During the American Revolution he served for two years under Washington. Washington appointed him exercise master of dragoons in January 1778. In April 1778 he was appointed one of the colonel commandants in the Pulaski Legion. He was killed in the battle of Charleston, S.C. on May 11, 1779. He is believed to be buried near the intersection of King St. and Huger St. a few blocks from the campus. The Citadel's Kovats Field is named after him. The Kovats monument is a large stone with a brass plaque. General Clark had it erected. It is located on Kovats field near the tennis courts. In 2003 a statue of Kováts was dedicated at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C. The city of Karcag, Hungary, where Kováts was born, has an annual festival in his honor. (Sources: News & Courier, March 13, 1954, p. 3; May 9, 1954, p. 8A; May 27, 1955, p. 4B; November 7, 1959, p. 1B; Peter Nagy-Farkas, "Hungarians," Historical Journal of Western Massachusetts, 1976, pp. 37-38; Remarks of Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, October 11, 2003; communication from Colonel Theodore J. Crackel, U.S.A. Ret., Professor and Editor in Chief, Papers of George Washington, University of Virginia, February 24, 2005) (HN & DH)
