Who is sybil ludington

By the time she returned home, hundreds of soldiers were gathering to fight the British. After the war, Ludington married in , at age 23, when she met Edward Ogden. The couple had one son, Henry, and lived in Catskill, New York. Four years later, she bought a tavern and helped her son become a lawyer. When she sold the tavern, she earned a tidy profit, three times what she paid for the land, and purchased a home for her son and his family, where she also resided.

After her son died in , Ludington applied for a Revolutionary War pension, since her husband had served in the military. Her pension was denied, claiming insufficient proof of marriage.

At age seventy-seven, Ludington died in poverty. Ludington was honored with a stamp by the Postal Service in There is a statue of her by Lake Gleneida in Carmel, New York and there are historical markers tracing the route of her ride through Putnam County.

MLA - Michals, Debra. In Danbury, however, they began a search for stores of Continental Army supplies, also leaving chalk marks on the properties of British loyalists and informers. Properties without chalk marks were set to be destroyed. By 4 PM, several Continental Army storehouses and three private homes were in flames. For security reasons, the Continental Army had recently transferred its supplies from Peekskill to Danbury, where they were thought to be safe, and were consequently poorly guarded.

The stores included foodstuffs such as flour, beef, pork, sugar, molasses, coffee, rice, wheat, corn, and several hundred cases of wine and rum. Hospital cots and tents were also stored there, along with clothing and shoes and cooking utensils. Medicines and other medical supplies were stored in New Milford, Connecticut, and were not affected by the British raid. The British soldiers found the rum and decided to consume it rather than destroy it. More fires were started by drunken soldiers, as military discipline broke down.

Messengers were dispatched in all directions to announce the British arrival and news of the fires. He later formed the 7th Dutchess County Militia. These early reports about Sybil were all included as part of a bigger story, and none of them glorified her as a hero. He turned to her and to his other children for help when he needed it. The British and Americans were no strangers to each other, having fought together during the French and Indian War. Colonel Ludington fought for the British and was well-respected.

When he turned against the Crown, Tories and Loyalists knew this was a harmful thing for them. And because the Colonel was a great militia leader for the Patriots, British officers offered a bounty of guineas to anyone who could capture the skillful military leader.

Three hundred guineas would have been more than a colonist could make in a year. Rumors spread about the bounty, so the Patriots knew of it and were protective of their colonel. If members of the militia were in Fredericksburg, some of the men were assigned to guard the Ludington house. For this reason, the family drilled for what to do if there were an attack. They suspected that any type of trouble would occur at night.

Many evenings, Sybil and Rebecca kept watch on the woods from the second floor. Overnight, Henry slept lightly, listening for any trouble.

One night, Sybil and Rebecca heard a commotion outside. The family knew what had to be done. The girls woke the next-oldest children who put on the Patriot hats their father gave them for such an occasion. Each also had a musket. Sybil took candles, lighting and placing them in the rear of the upper story rooms where the lighting would provide long shadows of the children as they went back and forth in front of the light.

In their hats and shouldering the muskets probably with some difficulty they patrolled back and forth before the candles. The Loyalists decided the militia was standing guard.

This was enough to send them back to their own homes, leaving the Ludingtons alone. The older children were also given the code words identifying spies. Because the Ludington house was on a frequently-traveled road, Ludington became a place where spies could pick up and leave messages.

In , Sybil Ludington married Edmond Ogden. Sybil likely met him on one of her trips carrying miscellaneous messages. When Colonel Ludington sold the property, Sybil and Edmond bought another inn in the Catskills where they raised their son, Henry. When Edmond died in , Sybil stepped in to run the inn. Son Henry married and became an attorney. Sybil joined them, and the couple went on to have several more children.

He had numerous military assignments but is best remembered for overseeing the planning and building of Fort Riley in Kansas. There is a monument to him there.

Some hid in barns and forests, and others escaped with all they could gather. Parents chose to flee with their families to safety or defend their homes against the enemy. As British attacked Connecticut, stories spread of young boys being hunted down and killed. All able-bodied Americans were called to the aid of their fellow Patriots. The two-thousand-man British force took control of Danbury, destroying Patriot military stores.

Homes and storehouses were burned to the ground. As Danbury fell, colonial dispatchers rode in all directions seeking help. American troops rallied to a defense of Danbury, but it was too late. Before long, a scout roused the Ludington household, and Sybil sped out into the night on her way to rally the Colonel and his regiment.