Experience the American dream with today’s Patriots of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s April 27, 1777. I’m with sixteen-year-old Sybil Ludington.
JG: “Sybil, what did you do when you realized the British were attacking Danbury, Connecticut?”
SL: “Mr. Gillespie, at midnight, I rode my horse for forty miles, hitting doors with my riding stick and yelling, ‘The British are coming!’ I wanted to wake up the local militia.”
Like Paul Revere, teenager Sybil Ludington courageously risked her life to alert the minutemen of the pending British attack. Her actions most likely saved many American lives.
In Carmel, New York, the Sybil Ludington historical marker reads, “Sybil Ludington, Revolutionary War heroine, April 26, 1777, called out the volunteer militia by riding through the night, alone, on horseback at the age of sixteen, alerting the countryside to the burning of Danbury, Connecticut, by the British.”
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
