American teen sensation or American patriot?
Try 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 their 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 Liberty in organizations like Turning Point or the Tea Party today, but it wasn’t her time.
Anyway, what made it so valuable to the freedom and reform movement? Well, Sybil’s father was a high-ranking colonel who, in a battle situation, needed to gather reinforcements to counter an enemy attack while simultaneously planning his defense.
His troops were scattered over a 30-mile loop 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 respond to 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 did ride! In his selfless act of courage, he rode for what seemed like forever to notify 400 soldiers who were ready to fight to defend a lifestyle 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 coming to our shores to fight us, challenging our constitutional rights and freedoms. We live free in part because of the bravery of men and women like Sybil. None of us will ever know what kind of person Sybil was, or what passions she possessed inside that would allow her to travel 30 miles, alone, and risk her life and limbs to warn others of an invading enemy.
In fact, it helped prevent Americans from being massacred. This time on American soil where there was no safe space for anyone to hide. You see, Sybil Ludington’s time was during the time of another Tea Party and revolution, about 240 years ago.
In the night attack, the British burned down Danbury, Connecticut, a major supply depot for the Continental Army, but because of Sybil, many people were ready and escaped death.
Sybil’s valiant journey, and the message she carried is not very well known, but on April 26, 1777, shouting, in the cold of the night, with the rain on her face, Assemble at Ludington! `was indeed significant. It was not at all different from the Paul Revere ride. Today, Sybil’s heroism is commemorated with just a poem written by American poet Berton Braley, commemorating her historic ride, and a bronze statue, standing in honor of her bravery and passion for freedom, in Carmel, New York. York.