The Coming Second Revolution: Remembering 16-year old Sybil Ludington
In April 1777, sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington was at her home in eastern New York when British soldiers raided Danbury, across the border in Connecticut. Sybil’s father was Colonel Henry Ludington, commander of the local militia. A messenger arrived at the Ludington home about 9 p.m. to alert the colonel to the raid.
Sybil became known as the female Paul Revere and one of the most important women of the revolutionary war.
She was honored by a postage stamp and a large bronze statue in Carmel, New York, near her childhood. Beside capturing or destroying a large amount of military supplies, the British were ranging the countryside, burning the homes of patriots. Col. Ludington began to organize the militia, but he needed to send word to scattered homesteads. The messenger who had arrived was unfamiliar with the territory, so Sybil volunteered.
She rode more than forty miles through the dark and rain, dodging British patrols, avoiding known Loyalists, and spreading the alarm to her father’s men. The militiamen were able to mount an attack on the retreating enemy.
Sixteen year old Sybil Luddington was a hero of the Revolutionary War. As revolution number two shapes up, we could learn some lessons from our ancestors.
To learn more read the “Five Amazing Women of the Revolutionary War” by Jack Kelly.
This is a great story! But why is there a photograph of a young woman in 19th-century dress? Sybil Ludington was surely dead (or very aged) by the time photography came into use.
This appears to be a photograph of Henrietta Swan Leavitt from 1902: http://www.archive.chicagoacs.net/WCC/leavitt.html
Thank you for researching. I was so baffled, wondering the same thing myself!