This town has a rich and complex history, and its naming is no exception. Pulaski takes its name from one of only seven people to be awarded honorary U.S. citizenship: Kazimierz Pulaski, a Polish patriot credited with saving George Washington's life during the American Revolutionary War. During the Civil War, several skirmishes erupted in and around the town during the Franklin-Nashville Campaign, and Confederate Sam Davis was hanged here by the Union after being discovered as a spy. The town of Pulaski also produced Tennessee Governor John C. Brown, a key figure in the Restoration era following the Civil War. Before becoming governor, the former Confederate general served as the chairman of the state's 1870 Constitutional Convention. The nearly 150 year-old document still governs the state today, guaranteeing the right to vote and prohibiting slavery in Tennessee. Present-day Pulaski is widely known as the "Wild Turkey Capital of Tennessee," after its large turkey population. Every year, Giles County is one of five to host the Governor's One-Shot Turkey Hunt, where people come from all over the United States to try to bag a turkey in a single shot.
