Michael Kovats de Fabricy

"There is historical evidence of Hungarians arriving in North America as early as the sixteenth century. These earliest immigrants came as individuals. One of them was Hungarian hussar officer, Michael Kovats de Fabricy, who distinguished himself during the American Revolution.

Kovats had written to Bejamin Franklin in 1777, to offer his services to the American War of Independence, pledging to be "Fidelissimus ad mortem" ("Most faithful unto death"). Kovats was one of 141 Hungarians who fought in the Revolutionary War. He was responsible for organizing and training the cavalry for George Washington and was appointed a "Colonel Commandant" in the Pulaski Legion, by the Continental Congress. He served the cause of American liberty and gave his life for it, when he was fatally wounded during the battle of Charleston. The name of Kovats faded into obscurity after his death and was not rediscovered until the 1920s."

Quoted from "The Hungarian Legacy in America, The History of the American Hungarian Foundation, The First Fifty Years" - Chapter XIII, page 264-5, "The Hungarian Legacy in America, 1776-2005"