The Backstory: The female Paul Revere: A gutsy 16-year-old

We all know about the midnight ride of Paul Revere at the onset of the Revolution. But what about Sybil Ludington, the female Raul Revere? She was just 16 years old when she made her little-known 40-mile ride to warn about approaching British troops in Connecticut.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, history is filled with stories about everyday people
who suddenly find themselves doing remarkable things. Paul Revere was
just a forty year old silversmith in Boston when he
wrote across the countryside to warn local militia in Massachusetts
about the arrival of British troops in seventeen seventy five.
But there's a lesser known story about a similar ride

(00:21):
warning Connecticut militia in seventeen seventy seven. However, this individual
was a sixteen year old girl. I'm Patti Steele the
Midnight Ride of Sybil Luddington. Next on the backstory, We're
back with the backstory. This episode, by the way, inspired

(00:43):
by backstory fan James Davy of Verona, New Jersey. Thank you, James. So.
Paul Revere was a forty year old silversmith in the
lead up to the Revolutionary War. A devoted member of
the Sons of Liberty, he organized an intelligence and alarm
system up an eye on British troops. In seventeen seventy five,
the drive toward independence was getting really hot. The Sons

(01:07):
of Liberty found out that the British had plans to
crack down on anybody supporting the revolutionary cause. They kept
an eye on British troop movements, but there was no
way to warn any militia members across Massachusetts other than
in person, so they set up a plan. Late on
the night of April eighteenth, seventeen seventy five, they put

(01:28):
everything into motion. The sexton at Boston's Old North Church
had been told to put one lantern in the steeple
if the British were attacking by land, too if they
were arriving on water. In this case, the British were
trying to quietly slip in via the Charles River. While
the two lanterns were only hung for about a minute,

(01:49):
they did the trick. Paul Revere then set out with
several others on the ride that readied the Continental troops,
telling forty more riders along the way to spread the word. Ultimately,
because they were ready, the Colonists beat the British at
Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the Revolution. It
was a shock to the arrogant British military commanders. So

(02:12):
Paul Revere went on to fame and fortune as a silversmith,
a military leader, and an industrialist, and of course his
ride was forever remembered in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Paul
Revere's Ride, also known as the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere.
But there was another ride during the Revolution a couple
of years later in Connecticut. Though pretty much undocumented historically

(02:36):
except in family writings, it's the story of sixteen year
old Sybil Luttington, and it was given enough credence that
there were statues, historical plaques, and commemorative postage stamps created
in her honor. The story wasn't printed until one hundred
and forty years after the fact by the Luddington family
as they published the Memoirs of Sybil's father. It's April

(02:58):
twenty sixth, seventeen seventy seven. The British had attacked Danbury, Connecticut,
and they began to burn the city, where the Continental
Army had a supply depot. Sibyll's family lived nearby in Fredericksburg,
New York, but her father, Colonel Henry Luddington, was forty
miles away commanding four hundred militiamen. Once again, the only

(03:19):
way to warn the troops was in person. The story
goes that Sybil made an all night horseback ride. She
traveled twice as far as Paul Revere did, forty miles
on dirt roads in the pouring rain, facing attacks by
outlaws and capture by the British. Her ride through Putnam County,
New York was to rally militia forces in neighboring towns

(03:41):
after the burning of Danbury, Connecticut by the British. The
alerted troops from New York and Connecticut were ready for
the British the next day and took them on in
the Battle of Ridgefield. The British were forced to retreat.
But here's the question, did it really happen? History is
filled with undocumented story, largely because there weren't many ways

(04:02):
to document events for most of history. Right well as
far as Sibyl's ride goes, there are arguments on both sides.
Sybil herself never wrote about it, but she was known
as a modest, hard working woman who lost her husband
early in life and worked very hard as an innkeeper
in Catskill, New York to raise her son as a
single mother. Her son went on to become a prominent

(04:24):
lawyer and a New York State assemblyman. The first mention
of her heroic ride didn't come until eighteen fifty four.
It was from her nephew, Charles, who wanted his aunt
to be recognized as a hero for her Now, as
I mentioned later, in nineteen oh seven, there was a
brief ride up of her ride that was published by
descendants as part of Sibyl's father's memoirs, And there's even

(04:48):
word from other sources that she was congratulated for her
heroism by General George Washington and by Alexander Hamilton. Now,
those that dispute her story base it on a lack
of heard eva evidence. They say it never became a
story until decades after her death in eighteen thirty nine.
But here's the thing, a lot of similar stories about

(05:09):
the Revolution didn't really take off until the eighteen seventies,
when the United States was celebrating its centennial. Even Paul
Revere's ride got no traction until the release of Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, written in eighteen sixty and heavily publicized
in the mid eighteen seventies. In fact, when Paul Revere

(05:30):
died in eighteen eighteen, there was no mention of his
midnight ride in his obituaries. The other argument about whether
Sybyl's ride took place comes from historians who say, along
with no hard proof, they also think the story, the monuments,
the plaques, and postage stamps commemorating her all arrived simply
thanks to New York and Connecticut pr types anxious to

(05:52):
encourage tourism. Her story really took off around World War II,
when New York State placed those histories road markers in
spots where they believe she likely visited on her ride.
Sybil's myth grew, More statues were built in her honor,
books were written about her, and of course, there was
the United States Bicentennial postage stamp, which was released March

(06:15):
twenty fifth, nineteen seventy five. It shows Sybil galloping on
her horse, shouting to militia on a rainy night, with
fires burning in the background. It was part of Contributors
to the Cause, a set of four stamps from the
Postal Service recognizing unsung heroes. Did she do what some
say she did or was she a perfect subject for

(06:37):
a twenty century pr person working to beef up tourism? Well,
the bottom line is we all want to believe in possibilities.
The thought of a sixteen year old girl risking her
life to deliver an existential message inspires us. And when
you study the Founding fathers, you discover they weren't all
that much older than Sybil herself. James Monroe and the

(07:01):
Marquis de Lafayette were just eighteen in seventeen seventy six.
Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton were twenty and twenty one,
James Madison just twenty five, Thomas Jefferson was only thirty two.
All making folks in their early forties like John Adams,
George Washington, and Paul Revere looked positively ancient. And then

(07:22):
there was a guy who was everybody thought pretty ancient,
Ben Franklin. He was seventy years old that year. Sybil
Luddington's story tells us about courage, and what all these
people teach us is that having the guts to stand
up for what you believe in isn't about age or
even gender. It's about passion and determination. Again, I want

(07:50):
to thank our backstory listener, James Davy of Verona, New Jersey,
for suggesting this story. I hope you like the backstory
with Patty Steele. I would love it if you would say.
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(08:16):
I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks,
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(08:38):
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