Library shines spotlight on local Revolutionary War hero
DANBURY — Young history buffs enjoyed a retelling of the tale of Sybil Ludington, a reputed Revolutionary War hero who is sometimes compared to Paul Revere, at a story hour at the Danbury Library.
On Monday, Darla Shaw, a Ridgefield resident and professor emeritus at Western Connecticut State University, played Ludington as a grandmother and told the story of her famous ride.
As the story goes, on April 26, 1777, 16-year-old Sybil Ludington, a daughter of Colonial militia Col. Henry Ludington in Putnam County, N.Y., is said to have made a 40-mile nighttime horseback ride to rally militia forces in neighboring towns as invading British forces headed for Danbury. Despite her efforts, the militia did not arrive in time to stop the British troops from burning the Colonial military’s munitions stored there.
Shaw’s story described the strength of women in the Colonies and their ability to do much more than would be expected.
The Danbury Library’s plaza is home to a 3-foot-tall bronze statue of Ludington created by Redding artist Anna Hyatt Huntington and given to the library in 1971.
The story hour at the Danbury Library was held near the anniversary of “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,” who on the evening of April 18, 1775, rode to Lexington, Mass., spreading the news that British soldiers stationed in Boston were about to march into their countryside area.
The battles of Lexington and Concord were fought the next morning. and are recognized the first major military campaign of the Revolutionary War.