xd9fan
September 13, 2005, 12:41 PM
Just saw this movie the other day. I like how it makes you think about the FF and the history of this nation. I think the American Revolution is the biggest untapped story never told on film. Hollywood being that it is will never get it done....right. I love reading examples of the brave men and women that built this nation. My lastest personal discovery:
"Sybil Ludington was a typical 16 year old girl in 1777. She was the eldest of 12 children and was often responsible for taking care of her younger siblings. She was putting the younger children to bed on the night of April 26, 1777, when word reached her house that the British were burning the town of Danbury, Connecticut, which was only 25 miles away. Her father was a colonel in the local militia. His men were scattered over a wide area around the Ludington house in Fredericksburg, New York (now Ludington). Sybil convinced her father to let her ride and summon the men. She rode on horseback over 40 miles on dark, unmarked roads to spread the alert. Her course took her down through Carmel, on to Mahopac, and around to Kent Cliffs and Farmers Mills and back home. She rode alone with only a stick to prod her horse Star and to knock on the doors spreading the alert in time. The men whom she helped to gather arrived just in time to help drive the British, under the command of General William Tyron (who was also colonial governor of New York), back to their ships in Long Island Sound. In this day and age a sixteen year old girl alone on a darkened street is not safe. One can only imagine what it was like being a 16 year old girl aiding the rebellion during war-time within such a short distance from the fighting and alone with no one for protection. Sybil Ludington was a true American Hero.
Sybil's contribution to the war was not forgotten. Present day visitors to Putnam County New York can trace her path on that midnight ride by following markers placed along the route, and view a statue of her erected in 1961 on Route 52 beside Gleneida Lake in Carmel on the route. There is a smaller copy of the statue located in Washington, D.C. in Constitution Memorial Hall in DAR headquarters. "
I would have loved to meet this brave girl and say thanks!! She is a National Treasure.
"Sybil Ludington was a typical 16 year old girl in 1777. She was the eldest of 12 children and was often responsible for taking care of her younger siblings. She was putting the younger children to bed on the night of April 26, 1777, when word reached her house that the British were burning the town of Danbury, Connecticut, which was only 25 miles away. Her father was a colonel in the local militia. His men were scattered over a wide area around the Ludington house in Fredericksburg, New York (now Ludington). Sybil convinced her father to let her ride and summon the men. She rode on horseback over 40 miles on dark, unmarked roads to spread the alert. Her course took her down through Carmel, on to Mahopac, and around to Kent Cliffs and Farmers Mills and back home. She rode alone with only a stick to prod her horse Star and to knock on the doors spreading the alert in time. The men whom she helped to gather arrived just in time to help drive the British, under the command of General William Tyron (who was also colonial governor of New York), back to their ships in Long Island Sound. In this day and age a sixteen year old girl alone on a darkened street is not safe. One can only imagine what it was like being a 16 year old girl aiding the rebellion during war-time within such a short distance from the fighting and alone with no one for protection. Sybil Ludington was a true American Hero.
Sybil's contribution to the war was not forgotten. Present day visitors to Putnam County New York can trace her path on that midnight ride by following markers placed along the route, and view a statue of her erected in 1961 on Route 52 beside Gleneida Lake in Carmel on the route. There is a smaller copy of the statue located in Washington, D.C. in Constitution Memorial Hall in DAR headquarters. "
I would have loved to meet this brave girl and say thanks!! She is a National Treasure.