AMERICAN HISTORY from a Spectacular Ride
AMERICAN HISTORY FROM A Spectacular Ride by Drollene P. Brown illustrated by David Harrington he evening sky that appeared on April 26, 1777, was not natural. The red glow was in the east, not in the west where the sun was setting. Sixteen-year-old T Sybil, the eldest of eight children in the Ludington family, could see the worry in her mother’s eyes. Would her husband, Henry Ludington, have to go away again? Henry was the colonel and commander of the only Colonial militia regiment between Danbury, Connecticut, and Peekskill, New York. Thudding hooves in the yard abruptly ended the family’s evening meal. Henry went to the door as Sybil and her sister Rebecca got up and began to clear the table. The girls were washing dishes when their father came back into the room with the courier at his side. “Here,” said the colonel, “sit you down and have some supper.” Sybil glanced over her shoulder and saw that the weary messenger was no older than she. 2 Across the room, her parents were talking together in low tones. Her father’s voice rose. “Sybil, leave the dishes and come here,” he said. Obeying quickly, she overheard her father as he again spoke to her mother. “Abigail, she is a skilled rider. It is Sybil who has trained Star, and the horse will obey her like no other.” Turning to his daughter, Colonel Ludington said, “That red glow in the sky is from Danbury. British soldiers are burning it. There are about 2,000 soldiers, and they’re heading for Ridgefield.
[Show full text]