Many people know about Paul Revere’s midnight ride to warn of approaching British soldiers. Paul Revere was a master silversmith and an early relative of Abraham Lincoln. However, few are aware a young girl also made a late-night ride to warn about a British attack. Like Revere, 16-year-old Sybil Ludington traveled by horse to warn colonists British troops were attacking a city. Her actions on the night of April 25, 1777, have led historians to refer to Sybil Ludington as the female Paul Revere. Though Paul Revere is more famous than Sybil, her journey was as dangerous as his, and she was equally helpful with aiding patriots in their fight against the British.
When a rider arrived at Sybil’s home to alert her father, a colonel who commanded a patriot militia regiment, that the British had attacked Danbury, Connecticut, Sybil volunteered to help gather her father’s troops and alert everyone in the countryside. Doing that required her to ride more than 40 miles in the dark and during a rainstorm. She and other girls of that time period usually helped their mothers with cooking, cleaning, and maintaining the house. She traveled on back roads and could only see the path when lightning flashed. Additionally, the roads were rough and full of holes, which put her horse at risk of falling. At one point two highwaymen attacked Sybil and knocked her from her horse. Fortunately, her horse kicked one of the men, and Sybil was able to escape. By the time Sybil returned home, over 400 American militiamen had gathered to fight the British.
Paul Revere rode to warn American patriots that the British were
planning to attack Concord, Massachusetts. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem about Paul Revere had many incorrect facts. Though the warning he spread did assist patriots with resisting the British, Revere did not act alone, and his late night ride was much easier than Sybil Ludington’s. His ride took place in good weather, and the total trip covered 20 miles. Two other men, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, were with him on most of his ride. The roads they traveled were smooth, and they met other patriots along the way. By the end of the night over 40 people were spreading Revere’s warning. British soldiers did capture Revere; however, they soon decided to free him and returned to tell their commanders the colonists were planning to fight back. Of the three men who set out for Concord on the night of April 18, 1775, only Samuel Prescott completed the mission of reaching Concord and warning the patriots there.