I tried to imagine a time when life was much more difficult, and relaxing in the recliner, watching TV, surrounded by all the comforts of home after a long day, was not even a fantastic idea. Rather, surveillance and invasion by a foreign entity of your city or home without warning was what was on the minds of people seeking freedom in this country. Even his own home was not a safe space.
Sixteen-year-old Sybil, another young American patriot, would have been a strong voice for freedom in organizations like Turning Point or the Tea Party today, but this was not her time.
What made her such a valuable asset to the freedom and reform movement anyway? Well, Sybil’s father was a high-ranking colonel who, in a battle situation, needed to gather reinforcements to counter an enemy attack and at the same time plan his defense.
His troops were spread out over a 30-mile circuit of field and he had no mechanized transport or radio to help facilitate contact. With no one to turn to for help, Sybil, the only capable person available to make a desperate call for help, decided to answer what she considered her call to duty.
Without hesitation, Sybil volunteered, in the middle of the night and in the pouring rain, to get on her horse, ‘Star’, and ride, and she rode! In her selfless act of bravery, she rode for what seemed like an eternity to notify up to 400 soldiers that they were ready to fight to defend a way of life only dreamed of by Americans seeking true freedom.
Americans today have no experience or even a vision of what it would be like to have foreign influence come to our shores to fight us, challenging our constitutional rights and freedoms. We live free in part thanks to the bravery of men and women like Sybil. None of us will ever know the kind of person Sybil was, or what passions she possessed within her that would allow her to travel 30 miles, alone, and risk life and limb to warn others of an encroaching enemy.
In fact, it helped prevent the Americans from being massacred. This time on American soil where there was no safe place for anyone to hide. You see, Sybil Ludington’s time was during the time of another Tea Party and revolution, some 240 years ago.
In the night attack, the British burned Danbury, Connecticut, an important supply depot for the Continental Army, but thanks to Sybil many people were ready and escaped death.
Sybil’s brave journey and the message she carried are not well known, but on April 26, 1777, shouting, in the cold of the night, with the rain lashing her face, “Meeting at Ludington’s!” `it was really significant. It was not at all different from Paul Revere’s ride. Today, Sybil’s heroism is commemorated only by a poem written by American poet Berton Braley, commemorating his historic ride, and a bronze statue honoring his bravery and passion for freedom, in Carmel, New York. .