Today is the anniversary of 15 year old Sybil Ludington’s ride to alert the colonists that the British were fixing to attack nearby Danbury, CT. She is claimed to have ridden 40 miles in the rain to do so. There’s a 15 year old girl who could take care of herself!
. She lived not far from MustangMike, SS396driver, and my girlfriend…
P.S. Her age was reported to be 15 in some sources and 16 in others… still!
The wife and I have done bike rides (at the Tour De Putnam) that follow Sybil's route. Unlike Paul Revere she rode alone and completed her ride, and, fittingly, there is a Statue of her in Carmel next to Lake Gleneida. (which is part of the NYC watershed)
A messenger had been sent to her father, Colonel Ludington warning of the British coming from the Long Island Sound to Danbury (the Battle of Danbury). Colonel Ludington begged the messenger to continue and rally his militia, but the messenger was too exhausted. So, in the middle of the night, Sybil volunteered to perform the task, and was successful in doing so.
The British won the Battle of Danbury, destroying our supply depot there. But they did not leave, and Hessian soldiers began burning down neighboring farms. That is when the militias responded and drove the British out so convincingly that they never returned during the entire course of the war.
The American supply chain went through Danbury, then into Cold Spring (pretty much along what is now Rte 84) then to our forts along the Hudson River (which terminates in NYC and begins above Albany).
We have also done bike rides on the roads that have the historical plaques denoting Colonial Ludington's route to Danbury, and we used to do a ride on Sundays that traced the route the British took from Danbury to the LI Sound (our ride would include a break for swimming in the Sound).
There is a lot of history in this area.