Sybil Ludington’s Ride
We all learn about Paul Revere’s ride in school, but have you ever heard of Sybil Ludington’s Midnight Ride? She doesn’t get a portion of the recognition that Revere did, but Ludington actually rode more than twice the distance of Paul Revere when she was only sixteen.
The daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington, Sybil Ludington embarked on a midnight ride on April 26, 1777 to alert her father’s men that the British were burning Danbury, Connecticut. She rode 40 miles, through Carmel, Mahopac, Kent Cliffs and Farmer’s Mills Counties in New York, and successfully woke up 400 soldiers, who mustered before her father’s house at sunrise the next morning. Though the men arrived too late to save Danbury, but in the Battle of Ridgefield were able to drive General Tryon, Commander of a 2,000 man British force back to Long Island Sound. Word spread of Ludington’s heroic action, and she was recognized by General George Washington.
There are now markers along the route of her midnight ride, and a statue of her in Carmel, New York, but Sybil Ludington deserves her space in history books, right next to Paul Revere.
(For more stories, visit sherooftheweek.com)
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