Sybil Luddington Patriotic Rider
During the American Revolution Colonel Henry Ludington commanded the Dutchess County militia. On April 26,1777 he received a message. The British were advancing up the Hudson River and were attacking Danbury CT.
Colonel Ludington immediately needed to alert his militiamen.
Could he go? Would Torries (Loyalists) notice him riding and interfere? Was it best for him to stay, prepare and organize his forces as they reported? Yes, he should stay. So whom to send to alert the minutemen?
Sybil Ludington was born April 5, 1761 in Fredericksburg, New York, the first of 12 children of Abigail and Henery Ludington, a gristmill owner. As a member of her father’s household Sybil knew the militia leaders and the members who needed alerting. She knew the way to where they lived and who to not alert. Was Sybil a capable rider, strong and smart enough to complete the task? Could she be relatively inconspicuous? If so, Sybil was the obvious choice.
Off into the night went 16 yr old Sybil, reportedly at 9 pm in the rain. Is the name of the horse, what she carried, or the length of her ride important? NO. Was her ride strenuous and dangerous? Yes. Strenuous because of stormy weather and difficult landscapes. Dangerous? Yes. First because the rain made the path slippery. Second, there were robbers and thieves and third some residents were Tory colonists against the Patriot cause. Did she accomplish her task alerting the minutemen regardless of the difficulties and the answers to those questions? Yes.
Sybil’s father and his alerted militia participated in the fighting at Ridgefield Connecticut, pursuing and attacking the retreating British forces.
Sybil was a member of the Ludington household, and a loyal Patriot, but not a member of the militia. She rode and alerted militia for her father, and for the American patriotic cause.
Perie Pitts, VLS Volunteer
SOURCES:
o) Printed accounts of Ludington’s ride first appear in an1880 local history and then a 1907 posthumous publication of her father’s memoirs. posthumous publication
o) Bing search: bing.com/search?pglt=297&q=Col+Ludington+American+revolution Col Ludington American revolution – Search
o) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Ludington Sybil Ludington – Wikipedia
Additional resources Henry Ludington French and Indian War Revolutionary War