The “female Paul Revere,” Sybil Ludington, was just 16 years old when she rode 40 miles through a stormy night on April 26, 1777, to alert colonial militias that British troops were advancing on Danbury, Connecticut. Her father, Colonel Henry Ludington, commanded the local militia, but couldn’t leave his post, so Sybil volunteered, riding on horseback to rally troops across Putnam County, New York.
Though the details of her midnight ride are drawn largely from family accounts and later retellings, her story had endured as a symbol of the overlooked contributions of women during the Revolutionary War. In 1975, she was honored with a U.S. postage stamp, and later, a statue was erected in her honor in Carmel, New York.
Sources:
Sybil Ludington | National Postal Museum
Did the Midnight Ride of Sibyl Ludington Ever Happen?
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/sybil-ludington
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