Washington: A hero of the US Revolutionary War, who rescued George Washington and was known as the "Father of the American Cavalry," was actually a woman or intersex.

New evidence has found that Casimir Pulaski, a Polish-born general who fought in the 1775-83 war against Britain, has the "identical" DNA with his grand-niece, and was therefore female.

Pulaski went to the US voluntarily to fight, and was known for his extraordinary bravery in battle as well as for being a very private person, difficult to deal with and having no interest in women or drinking.

Researchers first made the discovery about Pulaski's sex 20 years ago, when a monument to the general in Savannah, Georgia, was dismantled and Pulaski's bones were exhumed.