Commemorative issue Contributors to the Cause - American Bicentennial
Sybil Ludington
Sybil Ludington was the oldest of 12 children and the daughter of a commander of a minuteman regiment. On April 26, 1777, about 2,000 British troops marched on Danbury, CT, and set it on fire. A weary messenger raced to the Ludington farm to alert the commander. The regiment needed to be mustered, but the messenger and his horse were too tired to go on. Sybil's father called upon his 16-year-old daughter to wake up the minute men. Taking a horse named Star, she galloped off to Shaw's Pond by way of Horse Pond. One her way, she came upon a company of British soldiers. She hid in the trees until they passed, and then continued her ride. Four hundred minutemen met at Ludington's Mill ready to march. They overtook the British at Ridgefield, forcing them back to Fairfield.