On This Day in History Shit Went Down: April 26

Sybil Ludington's midnight ride

Listen to the audio for today’s post here.

Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride didn’t really involve him yelling “The British are coming!” He spread the word quietly because there were plenty of Brits and loyalists about ready to bust a musket ball in his ass. Paul also had lots of help spreading the word, but 16-year-old Sybil Ludington didn’t. She rode 40 miles to warn of a British attack, alone, making a fucking racket along the way.

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: April 26, 1777--

Paul’s warning came prior to the initial engagements of the Revolutionary War, fought at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. Sybil’s was two years later, when the British were planning to raid the town of Danbury, Connecticut, where the Continental Army had a supply depot. It was April 26, 1777, and Sybil’s dad was a militia colonel at a time when such things were well-regulated and not just a bunch of cosplaying Confederate Flag waving fuckwipes in their tacticool gear protesting face masks or the diminutive size of the gravy cup in their KFC meals or whateverthefuck. 

The British were coming, and the 400 militia volunteers under her father’s command needed to be rallied so they could grab their freedom blasters and head to Danbury to aid in its defense. Colonel Daddy was busy planning the defense, and Sybil volunteered to ride her horse, named Star, 40 miles to raise the alarm. And so, she did. 

Along the way, she banged on the shutters of the houses she passed, yelling, “Wakeup, motherfuckers! Fucking British cockwaffles are coming!” Her father was known for his potty mouth and had taught her well. I made that up. She actually said, “The British are burning Danbury!”

The British did burn the supplies, but American casualties in the battle were light due in part to Sybil’s nighttime ride raising the alarm. The militiamen arrived and drove the British off before they could do much killing. Sybil was celebrated for her heroism by friends and neighbors, and even the man General George Washington himself. 

That wasn’t the only time Sybil Ludington was a brave little badass. 

Some time prior to her nighttime ride, a group of 50 Loyalists tried to abduct her father from their home. Sybil was the oldest of 12 children, and she lit candles all over the house and turned her siblings into a makeshift militia, having them march back and forth in front of the windows in a military fashion. Shit, even these young kids were more well-regulated than the Gravy Seals of today. Anyway, the Loyalists saw this and went aw shit dude has protection and they chickened out and fucked off. 

It’s worth noting the name of the town Sybil was born in was called Fredericksburg, New York. It was later renamed Ludingtonville. 

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Image attribution: Anthony22