SYBIL LUDINGTON
THE PRIDE OF PUTNAM COUNTY
By
V.T. Dacquino

INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR:

The idea to write a book about Sybil Ludington was inspired by a road marker I saw at the junction of Route 6N and Hill Street in Mahopac Falls, New York. The sign said: "Sybil Ludington rode horseback over this road the night of April 26, 1777 to call out Col. Ludington's regiment to repel the British at Danbury, Connecticut."

I don't believe it was the first time I had seen the historical marker, but it was the first time I had really read it carefully---and question after question started to haunt me. All the way to work I kept thinking about Sybil Ludington. Who was she? How old was she when she took this historic ride? Why hadn't I read about her before? Did she really ride horseback on the very spot I drive by every day? By the time I had reached my classroom, I couldn't wait to tell my sixth graders about my excitement and was already thinking about the potential this topic could have for me as a published author and teacher. I was unable to find information about Sybil in our school information center or on the Internet; and I was not surprised when the students said---WHO? when I told them about Sybil.
After the last bell of the day, I hurried up the Taconic Parkway and rushed to the Mahopac Public Library.
"Of course we know of her," a man named Andy said. "We have a whole file on her and there's a huge statue of her on the shore of Lake Gleneida right down the road from here in Carmel."
My story and Sybil's actually starts here, because it seemed that the real haunting was just beginning. Sybil wouldn't leave me alone. I continued my research and visited her grave site in Patterson, New York. I literally spent hours in the libraries in and around Putnam County poring through magazine and newspaper articles; I even attended a meeting of the Carmel Historical Society and got help from the County of Putnam Records Department where I spoke with the director about Sybil's past history. All the while my file on Sybil grew, but not without frustration---some information was fascinating, but scattered and hard to find and not always in agreement with prior articles. And Sybil herself was becoming more than a heroine to me---she was becoming a real human being--- a sixteen year old who had made a dangerous life-threatening ride on horseback. And some historians say that she not only rode forty miles in the middle of the night in the pouring rain---she may have done it riding bareback in her father's clothes---and all this with a red sky in the distance that told her, though her own life was in danger, she had to put her own safety second---too many people depended on her to muster her father's troops to save the families whose homes were being burned by the enemy.
I'm not haunted by Sybil anymore; I've sort of gotten to know her. I've visited her grave site more than once now, and walked through the neighborhood she grew up in; I even traced the path of her famous ride--- I think about her often and tell her story to anyone who will listen. I love to tell as many people as I can about Sybil Ludington and the night that changed her life.

SYBIL'S STORY:
(Excerpts taken from SYBIL LUDINGTON: Heroine of the Revolutionary War, Alive and Well at 220 Years Old by VT Dacquino. )

Sybil's ride doesn't begin with Sybil. Some people, in fact, don't really even believe her ride ever took place. Nonbelievers will tell you that there is no real historical documentation to prove that Sybil did any of the things that people say she did, but there are family memoirs that recount the story, and there are many recorded incidents surrounding the ride that support the events that are said to have happened that night. For every nonbeliever there seem to be scores of believers. Natives of Putnam and Dutchess County will say that on a clear night in April, when walking along a dark rainy road in Mahopac or Carmel, you'll hear Star's hooves pounding through the woods and see Sybil up there on her horse, stick in hand, prepared to beat upon her neighbor's shutters to issue warning. And they'll tell you that on those wonderful New York nights when the sky is breathtakingly crimson, that it isn't mother nature at all, but Sybil Ludington recreating the fires that reddened the skies that fateful night that Danbury burned.
Sybil's night began in England with King George and his desire to maintain control over the rebellious colonies overseas who were refusing to pay taxes and were preparing to fight for their freedom from England's rule. Her story is also tied to the fact that Danbury, less than 10 miles from her home in Fredericksburg, New York (now part of the Town of Kent in Putnam County), was being used by the Commissioners of the American Army as a place of deposit for military stores.
On the day before Sybil's ride, April 25th, 1777, a force of two thousand British soldiers from "twenty-six sail of the enemy's ships" were anchored on the shores of Connecticut at Compo near the town of Fairfield under the command of a 52 year old general named William Tryon, whose mission was to destroy the provisions gathered by the rebels, and by ten o'clock that evening, began advancing toward the unsuspecting Danbury.
One can only imagine the scene at the time with a collection of soldiers of varied reputations all gathered together on this small town like a swarm of alien bees scheduled to start assaulting victims with bayonets and bullets. What could the poor common folk have been thinking as they watched these soldiers organize into groups as if preparing for a parade? The uniforms of each regiment differed and some were elaborate enough to be worth watching, if the watcher failed to remember why they were gathered here. One detachment of the 17th Light Dragoons, twelve men in all, must have been a sight for Connecticut residents to see. In records of the time, each man of this regiment was described in this way: "Upon his head a metallic cap, sword-proof, surmounted by a cone, from which a long, chestnut-colored plume fell to his shoulders. Upon the front of the cap was a death's head, under which was inscribed the words 'Or Glory'. A red coat faced with white, with an epaulette on each shoulder, buckskin breeches of a bright yellow, black knee boots, and spurs completed the costume. A long sword swung at his side, and a carbine was carried, muzzle down, in a socket at his stirrup. These were models of discipline and military splendor, and mounted on handsome chargers, sixteen hands high---" Another group of soldiers, the 64th Foot, a grenadier regiment, wore: "---high grenadier caps and red coats faced with black."
As the "parade" of soldiers marched toward Danbury, word got out quickly of the advance and American soldiers began to muster troops. At about three miles from shore, the British loyalists met with "The Gallant Seventeen". By now there was moonlight to protect the Americans and they hid in the shadows waiting to strike. When they did, a number of the King's soldiers fell dead and only one American was slightly wounded. The dead was removed to an oxcart and the march continued.
After passing through what is presently called Aspetuck, the troops stopped in what was then called the parish of Weston where they reportedly rested. But the residents of Connecticut did anything but rest. They woke in the night in fear and gathered their children praying for their lives and safety. Families huddled in barns and wooded hiding places fearing the worst of what could happen to them and their loved ones. Stories of whom and what these soldiers were and what they would do to their "enemies" soon grew to frightening proportions. One story that reached the women of Redding was that General Tryon was out to kill young boys because they would soon grow into soldiers. Mothers ran frantically to gather all boys under thirteen and shuffled them off to Valley Forge where they were hidden and protected until the enemy was back on their ships and headed home.
Some residents who were not hiding, were running for safety. The woods and roads to either side of the enemy were filled with families escaping with the goods they could gather in carts and wagons battered by the rush to safety. Some citizens, however, chose not to run. Some stayed and faced the challenge of holding the enemy back, and fathers and mothers alike had to face the horrifying decision of: accompanying their families to safety; or securing the safety of their homes. Others became messengers who scurried across the countryside summoning the militia and famous American generals such as General David Wooster and General Benedict Arnold who mustered troops and began to close in on the British line of march.
In a place called Couch's Rock, in Weston, a small regiment of Americans under Captain Zalmon Read met with the British troops in full force and were immediately taken captive with no fatalities. From there, the troops moved across the Weston border into Redding and proceeded through the town with no real destruction or casualties there either. At Reddings Ridge, they stopped for breakfast and although no buildings were destroyed, several patriot prisoners were taken, one, a ten year old boy who was taken to New York and died in a prison ship on June 28th, 1777.
The enemy reached Danbury in sunny weather between two and three o'clock Saturday afternoon, but a storm was on its way bringing with it the heavy rains that Sybil was forced to ride through that night. As the afternoon went on, a few incidents involving several Danbury residents occurred. One man was chased through the streets on his horse and only escaped when he let a bolt of cloth unroll behind him and frightened the soldiers' horses from chasing him further. A second incident involved three men who shot at a column of soldiers. The house they fired from was burned as were the bodies of "two white men and a slave."
As the day proceeded, the British soldiers continued to control Danbury, ---"as they approached the present location of the courthouse their artillery was discharged and the heavy balls, six and twelve pounders, flew screaming up the street, carrying terror to the hearts of the women and children and dismay to the heads of household thus endangered."
One man, John Porter, who was built well and feared few, dared to defy several soldiers who blocked his way. Porter grabbed the men and sent them flying into a gulch that lay behind them. Although this act of retaliation showed great bravery on the part of Porter, it resulted in his being one of two prisoners taken from Danbury and thrown into a New York prison called, Sugar House Prison. Porter was eventually released, but the second man, a man named Barnum, was found dead there from starvation.
The troops remained in the city throughout the day tending to the business it was sent to accomplish: the destruction of the military stores. Those goods, found in an Episcopal Church (a church of England), and goods found in the home of a Tory (citizens loyal to the King) were taken into the street to burn and the buildings saved, but not true with one of the patriot homes that was plentiful with grain and meat; it was burned to the ground. "The fat from the burning meat ran ankle-deep in the streets. No less free ran the rum and wine, although not in the same direction!"
As night began, so did a new twist in the raid on Danbury. Drunken brawls and loud laughter became frequent as the night hours pressed on. "The drunken men went up and down Main Street in squads, singing army songs, shouting coarse speeches, hugging each other, swearing, yelling, and otherwise conducting themselves as becomes an invader when he is very, very drunk."
During some of the day and most of the night farmers were starting to sneak within the village limits and occasional soldiers were killed by picket fire (snipers), and off in the distance, patriot troops advanced. This news combined frightened General Tryon who clearly was no match for the rum the men were drinking.
By midnight, three buildings had been burned and many of the drunken revelers were sleeping soundly. But not for long. At about one o'clock Sunday morning, Tryon ordered the gathering of the soldiers and the work of the real destruction began. Buildings owned by Tories were marked with a cross to protect them and the burning of Danbury began. Flames burst out in all directions and house were torched one after the other.
Sir William Howe filed an official report on the raid and enclosed a list of material destroyed by the end of the raid: "---a quantity of ordnance stores with iron, etc. 4000 barrels of beef and pork; 100 large tierces of biscuits; 89 barrels of rice; 120 puncheons of rum; several large stores of wheat, oats, and Indian corn, in bulk, the quantity hereof could not be ascertained; 30 pipes of wine; 100 hogsheads of sugar; 50 ditto of molasses; 20 casks of coffee; 15 large casks filled with medicines of all kinds; 10 barrels of saltpeter; 1020 tents and marquees; a number of iron boilers; a large quantity of hospital bedding; engineers', pioneers' and carpenters' tools; a printing press complete; tar; tallow, etc.; 5000 pairs of shoes and stockings." In addition, nineteen houses were burned, as was the meeting of the Danbury Society, and twenty-two stores and barns with all their contents.
As the flames filled the rainy night sky, dispatchers were riding frantically in all directions and American troops rallied to get to Danbury. At the Ludington home, a fire undoubtedly was burning in the hearth and the family lay resting in their warm beds when their messenger beat upon their door.

SYBIL

To truly understand Sybil Ludington means to understand that it is not easy to know everything about someone who has lived over two hundred years ago. Historians and interested students of the past can only piece together the information that has been gathered through the years. Historians and residents of the Town of Kent and Dutchess and Putnam Counties and organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution have made many efforts through the years to bring to life the people who have contributed to the place today's residents call home---and as the facts are gathered, and the information takes shape---we can only hope that what emerges is an accurate picture of the people who lived, and laughed and cried---and maybe even rode horseback into the night to risk their lives for others..
Sybil was born on April 5, 1761, the oldest of twelve children born to Henry and Abigail Ludington. Four of the children: Anna, Frederick, Sophia, and Lewis, were not born at the time of Sybil's ride, but Rebecca, born in 1763; Mary, born in 1765; Archibald, born in 1767; Henry, born in 1769; Derick born in 1771; Tertullus, born in 1773; and Abigail, born in 1776, were more than likely in the house the night of April 26, 1777 when the stranger came pounding on their door. The younger of the children must have cried to hear the shouting of a near breathless man reporting frightening news to their father.
"The British are burning Danbury, sir. They landed last night and marched through Connecticut. They're burning our stores and munitions. They're being led by General Tryon, our former governor. Do you know him, sir?"
"I know him well. We served together."
"Well, he's serving against our cause tonight, sir. If you don't mind stepping out into the night rain, you'll see the red skies of the Danbury just ten miles southeast of us. Several houses have already been burned and there's sure more to come. You'll need to muster your troops to help drive him back to the sound, sir, We can't be sure of his next moves, but men are being mustered everywhere for the cause."
With the sounds of his family in the house behind him and the thoughts of the families in danger in front of him, Henry Ludington's thoughts could not have been easy for him. The messenger standing before him was wet and cold and nearly exhausted with a journey still not completed. Who was there to muster the troops? Who did this messenger think would ride through 40 miles of woods in the dark of a rainy cold April night to tell the men to gather at the Ludington mill? If the Colonel himself took the ride who would be at his home to meet the men and issue instructions? He couldn't send his wife or children. The children were too young, except for Sybil---and she was a girl! It was unconscionable to send a girl alone into the night with 'cowboys' and 'skinners' nestled in the woods searching lone riders! What would they do if they were to encounter his daughter? What danger would he be putting his own child in?
"Sir, the troops are badly needed. If General Tryon isn't stopped---"
Some say it was Sybil who made the decision to take Star and go out into the night, and others say that as hard as it was, the decision came from her father. In any case, with the messenger too exhausted and no one else to do it for her, Sybil mounted the horse and started out to face the rain, and the distance, and the night marauders, and her own fears. Her route was clear, but far from simple. She was to head southward through the communities of Carmel, Mahopac, and Lake Mahopac. Then swing northward past the Red Mills, Mahopac Mines, Kent Cliffs, and Redding Corners, then cross through Pecksville and out to Stormville for a total of about forty miles.
And as she rode her mind must have been traveling way ahead of her. How many stories had she heard of night attacks on grown men who had been robbed of their money and goods---and then killed. How many small campfires did she see through woods and wonder about as she approached each farmhouse cautiously to shout her warning: The British are burning Danbury. Gather your goods and ride out to Ludington's!"
Some of the paths and small dirt roads could not have been entirely strange to Sybil; she had been to all of these farms before with her father---but in daylight---now in the dark of night with the rain beating on her and fear burning in her heart---
As the distance grew shorter and the morning came closer, Sybil must have come into Stormville nearly drained of any of her strength, and as she pushed Star into the last mile or so before arriving finally in her yard, we can only imagine that she could not fully enjoy the shouts of the soldiers that must have filled the air at her arrival and the joy and relief her family must have experienced to see her ride home safely. How could she have known, or even imagined that her ride in the rain that night would send her galloping into the hearts of New Yorkers for years to come and make her one of the many teenagers we can all be proud.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bailey, James Montgomery, History of Danbury, Connecticut 1684-1896, NY: Burr Printing House, 1896.
Case, James R., Tryon's Raid, Danbury, CT: 1927 (self-published)

ENOCH CROSBY (1750-1835)

Enoch Crosby was a soldier in the Revolution and a secret spy for the patriots as well. Even after the Revolution was over and Enoch had gone back to farming in Putnam County, his heroic deeds were largely unknown to his friends and neighbors.

Enoch Crosby was born on January 4, 1750, in Harwich, Massachusetts. In 1753, his father bought a farm in the Philipse Patent #9 in the Town of Southeast. In 1766, Enoch's father suffered financial losses and at 16, Enoch left home to become an apprentice to a Kent shoemaker. Enoch remained there with him until his twenty-first birthday. When the news of the Battle of Lexington reached Danbury, Connecticut, where he was then living, he enlisted and marched with the patriot forces to capture Montreal. Montreal was taken without resistance on November 12, 1775. Since his enlistment had expired, Enoch decided to return home to his peaceful occupation of shoemaker in Danbury, Connecticut.
It is at this point in his life that fate stepped in to change his life forever. Now, at the age of 27, he re-enlisted in Fredericksburg, now called Carmel, and started out to join his regiment in Kingsbridge. In the neutral ground, he joined forces with a man named Bunker, who was raising a company to join the British. Mistakenly assuming that Crosby was a Tory, he gave him information of names and places that Crosby knew would be of great help to the patriots.
Stealing away by night, Crosby passed on the information to the Committee of Safety in White Plains, New York. As a result, 30 Tories were captured. Judge John Jay was so impressed by the Committee's actions, aided by Crosby, that he recruited Crosby to find out what he could about the enemy's plans and position while he traveled in the guise of a shoemaker in the neutral ground and the Highlands.
The region between the Harlem River and Pinesbridge on the Croton, was known as neutral ground and was exposed to the troops of both parties. It was here that Crosby ran his greatest risk and gained much information which he transmitted to the American officers.
So, Enoch Crosby became a secret agent with a password which he was instructed never to use except in dire necessity. Using the name of "John Brown," he was successful in upsetting many of the British forces' best plans and won several commendations from the Committee of Safety.
However, his continued and convenient escapes when captured by the Americans, finally caused suspicion among the Tories and they came to the conclusion that he was an American spy. He retreated to the home of his brother-in-law, Captain Solomon Hopkins, who lived about two miles from Carmel on the road to Kent Cliffs. He was watched by his enemies, and on the second night of his stay, a ball fired through the window, grazed his neck, and buried itself in the ceiling. Later, he was beaten by the British and thought to be dead. When his commission expired, he retired from espionage with John Jay's consent, although he enlisted for another year.
After the Revolution, Enoch Crosby purchased from the Commissioners of Forfeiture, the farm on the west side of Tilly Foster reservoir and lived there until his death in 1835, at the age of 85.
In 1825, "The Spy," was dramatized and Crosby, who was in New York, went to see it. He occupied a box and when the audience was told that the original Harvey Birch was present, the old man, then 75, received a standing ovation. When he came home, he went around to his various relatives and told them about the incident.
He cultivated his small farm since 1783, having received only $250 for all his revolutionary service. Enoch had 2 wives, the last of which was the widow of Colonel Greene. He was the father of 2 sons and 4 daughters. For 28 years, he was Justice of the Peace in the Town of Southeast, and for many years, he was Deacon in the Presbyterian Church. He was also Deputy Sheriff for Putnam County.
On Enoch Crosby's death on June 26, 1835, he was buried in the Old Gilead Cemetery. His simple tombstone became so hacked away by souvenir hunters, that, in 1914, an imposing monument was erected to his memory by Ferdinand T. Hopkins.
From: The Town of Carmel Historical Society - Enoch Crosby : A Special Exhibit

GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM (1718-1790)
Biographical Data

1718
Born Salem, Massachusetts (Salem Village, now Danvers)
Genealogy: Father is, Thomas Putnam, son of John and Priscilla Putnam of England. Thomas had three sons: Edward, Joseph and Israel.

1738
Israel Putnam marries Hannah Pope. They have 10 children, three who die. Moved to Pomfret, Connecticut in section of Mortlake (now called Brooklyn) Owned 514 acres. A story has it that Israel Putnam crawled into a wolf's cave and killed the wolf after it has slaughtered 70 of his sheep and goats.

1740
A son, Israel, Jr., is born to Israel and Hannah Putnam. Israel serves as Captain in the American Revolution and fought at Bunker Hill.

1755
Israel Putnam Jr. serves as captain of American Company during the French and Indian War. He commands 1,000 Connecticut troops and 500 reserves. Putnam is a hero at the burning of Fort Edward on Lake George.

1757
Putnam is commissioned a major General in the Connecticut Militia.

1758
Putnam is captured by Indians, tied to a stake, burned and rescued by French Officer Molang. He is held a prisoner of war until released by Peter Schuyler and later names a son after Schuyler.

1762
Commissioned a Lieutenant Colonel. Fights and is captured in Quebec. Proceeds to combat in the West Indies. Putnam is shipwrecked. Goes on to fight in the Battle of Moro Castle. He is seized in Havana, Cuba.

1764
Putnam returns to his farm. A year later his first wife, Hannah, dies. Israel becomes a member of the "Sons of Liberty"

1767
Marries Mrs. Deborah Gardiner of Gardinerts Isalnd. She dies in 1777.

1775
April 19, Battle of Lexington and Concord. Hearing the news, Putnam drops his plow and immediately leaves for Cambridge, Massachusetts, according to his son Daniel, who was with him at the time.

Commissioned a Major General by George Washington. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Putnam becomes a hero. He had constructed the fortifications at Breeds Hill, etc.

A painting by J. Wilkinson of Major General Israel Putnam was circulated, even in England, with the quote: "Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!"

Washington selects Putnam as his second in command.

1776
Putnam proceeds to Boston. British troops are evacuated. He then proceeds to New York where his job is to fortify the city. At this point the Connecticut soldiers, tiring of war, hunger and no pay, desert in large numbers. British troops land on Long Island and march into New York City. Putnam and his troops flee to Harlem Heights where Washington is quartered. At Murray Mansion (now Fifth Avenue and 37th Street in New York City), the wife and daughters of American patriots detain British General Howe with food and company so the Putnam is able to escape.

1776
Putnam participates in the New Jersey Campaign. He is then sent on to Philadelphia to fortify that city.

1779
Putnam chooses an area, now West Point, along the Hudson River to build fortifications. He then is headquartered in Redding, Connecticut.

The Horseneck Incident. Putnam goes to Horseneck (Greenwich, Ct.) with reconnoitering party. Governor Tryon, the British General, hears that Putnam is in the area and searches for him. Escaping from Knapps Tavern, and after a skirmish with rifle exchange, Putnam tells his men to seek shelter in the swamp below. Bullets pierce his military cap as he and his horse vault down the steep hill and ride to Stamford where he gathers militia and returns to defeat the British. The story continues with Governor Tryon sending Putnam a new cap.

Putnam is then sent to Buttermilk Falls (Highland Falls), below West Point. On a trip back to his home in Connecticut, Putnam is accompanied by his son Major Daniel Putnam. Israel Putnam is stricken with paralysis in the right foot and hand, ending his army career. Putnam retires to Pomfret, where with assistance in mounting his horse, he continues to ride daily and lead an active life.

1790
Israel Putnam dies of fever at the age of 72.

Putnam bequeathed his 1,000 acres of land to his three sons: Israel (who settled in Ohio), Daniel, and Peter Schuyler. Putnam's four daughters receive his financial bequest.