Educator Finds Proof of Sybil Ludington’s Heroic Revolutionary War Ride

It seems the myth of Sybil Ludington might actually be true.

New York has attested for years that the state has its own Revolutionary War hero like Paul Revere.

Revere is widely credited for handing America a victory in the early stages of the Revolutionary War thanks to his midnight ride that warned British troops were about to attack.

Revere was far from the only person who warned others of approaching British troops, but he is the most famous thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1861 poem.

New York has long claimed a 16-year-old Fredricksburg girl should be included among the ranks of Paul Revere. Legend also claims her ride was more perilous, as it was pouring rain and her path was double the length of Revere's.

Sybil Ludington, daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington, is long believed to have rode 40 miles under the cover of night to spread word British troops were torching Danbury, CT.

It is said she rode to rally the troops to come to Danbury's aid, which housed a critical supply depot. Brigadier General Benedict Arnold was among those who responded to her alleged call.

However, historians claim the story is just a legend and never actually happened due to a lack of evidence.

It also doesn't help Ludington's case that people took interest in her long after her death in 1839 - with the first documentation of her alleged ride being published in 1880.

Now, a former English teacher-turned historian believes to have finally found proof of Ludington's midnight ride.

Vincent T. Dacquino never gave up on finding proof Sybil Ludington is an American hero. He recently appeared on the Amazing Tales From On & Off Connecticut's Beaten Path podcast to discuss his recent findings with host Mike Allen.

Dacquino has written four books on Ludington, and believes her story was eclipsed by the Battle of Ridgefield, which took place right after her alleged ride and is the reason why there is scant evidence of it.

Major General David Wooster was killed during the Ridgefield skirmishes and Benedict Arnold was almost killed, which were major historical events.

Documenting Sybil's Midnight Ride

Dacquino painted the picture of how it happened. He said messenger came to her residence around 9 p.m. on April 26, 1777, to inform her family of the British burning Danbury.

The messenger also shared rumors British soldiers were killing young boys who could join the opposition.

Sybil volunteered to deliver the message and send for her father's 400 troops.

As the eldest of her siblings and among the few who knew the route well enough to ride it in the dark, she grabbed a stick and knocked on doors from Fredericksburg all the way to Farmers Mills before turning around and heading back home.

Dacquino said her deed was not mentioned due to the subsequent Battle of Ridgefield.

[The newspapers] didn't consider the people who told people to go to battle. They considered the people who went to battle - those were the heroes; not the people who told them to go or told them about it. It was considered insignificant.

He also believed the papers would not have wanted to give a woman such a headline amid such major news about the battlefront, such as Wooster's death or Arnold's horse from being shot out from beneath him.

Dacquino also theorizes Sybil's father told her to not tell anyone of her deed in case the British won - out of fear they'd kill her for aiding and abetting their enemy.

Because of all these factors, Dacquino believes Sybil never understood the magnitude or importance of what she did, which is why she never mentioned it outside of her immediate family.

History Mix-Up

Dacquino also found that Sybil's story from later in life was confused with her son. Records stated she married a lawyer from the Catskills and had six children; of which Dacquino says is inaccurate - and made it harder for people to find out more about her.

He went on a historic wild goose chase to piece together her real backstory, finding that Sybil's son was the lawyer with 6 kids.

This later put him in touch with the Ludington family, who invited him to family reunions to help with his research.

Dacquino also launched an investigation to find out more about a historian named Martha Lamb, who in 1880, was the first person to write about Sybil in her book History of the City of New York: Its Origin, Rise and Progress.

While researching Lamb's historical notes, Dacquino learned of "The Ludington Letters," which were donated to the New York State Historical Society's Patricia D. Klingenstein Library in 2015 by a Ludington descendant.

The woman, Jane Ludington, said the letters were found in a filing cabinet and were being eaten by mice, so she donated them to the library for safekeeping.

Read More: Did You Know Utica Played This Extremely Valuable Role in WWII?

Dacquino said among the donated documents were actual letters written by and to Sybil, as well as notes from other family members trying to cement Sybil and her father's legacy as American heroes.

One of Sybil's nieces wrote to the family that her aunt shared the story of her fateful ride and mentioned details that were shared. The niece also claimed her grandfather, Henry Ludington, and grandmother were also present.

I said, "Oh my God, this is it. This is the smoking gun!"

Despite this, historians chalked up the letters to "family hearsay."

Dacquino disagrees and asked, "What's the difference between hearsay and history?"

He also noted other accounts taken under similar "family hearsay" measures, such as births or marriages, have been treated as proof of historical events.

The author is fighting to have letters treated with the same reverence.

Dacquino said he will continue fighting to have Sybil's ride be documented and acknowledged by historians.

On that night, there was no one there but the family. We have to rely on their information. They were the witnesses, so they told their family at family reunions - and that was recorded. Why would that not be considered proof of the ride?

Dacquino is still working to have historians verify and acknowledge Sybil's ride during the Revolutionary War.

He also asks those resisting the story to ask themselves how the soldiers learned of the troubles in Danbury so quickly - someone had to have alerted them of the disaster.

And he says that person was Sybil Ludington.

You can read more of Dacquino's work by visiting his website and purchase his most recent book on Amazon.

You can also drive along Sybil's rumored route along Route 52 in Putnam County, which is lined by historic road markers.

Get our free mobile app