Sybil Ludington -- America's little-known* kickass Revolutionary War hero

Some folks call her the "Female Paul Revere," but that is an insult to Ms. Ludington. Because, unlike Revere, she finished her ride, rode twice the distance, she did it alone, and she did it frigging sidesaddle! She was also only 16-years-old.

*Friends from NY tell me Sybil Ludington is taught in elementary schools there.

Here is the wiki link, please read it and show your daughters!

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Sybil Ludington (April 16, 1761 – February 26, 1839), daughter of Col. Henry Ludington, was a heroine of the American Revolutionary War who became famous for her night ride on April 26, 1777 to alert American colonial forces to the approach of enemy troops. Her action was similar to that performed by Paul Revere, though she rode more than twice the distance of Revere and was only 16 years old at the time of her action. She was an aunt of Harrison Ludington, the Governor of Wisconsin.

Ludington's ride started at 9:00 P.M. and ended around dawn.[7] She rode 40 miles, more than twice the distance of Paul Revere, into the damp hours of darkness. She rode through Carmel on to Mahopac, thence to Kent Cliffs, from there to Farmers Mills and back home. She used a stick to prod her horse and knock on doors. She managed to defend herself against a highwayman with her father's musket. When, soaked with rain and exhausted, she returned home, most of the 400 soldiers were ready to march.[8][9]

The memoir for Colonel Henry Ludington states,

“ Sybil, who, a few days before, had passed her sixteenth birthday, and bade her to take a horse, ride for the men, and tell them to be at his house by daybreak. One who even now rides from Carmel to Cold Spring will find rugged and dangerous roads, with lonely stretches. Imagination only can picture what it was a century and a quarter ago, on a dark night, with reckless bands of "Cowboys" and "Skinners" abroad in the land. But the child performed her task, clinging to a man's saddle, and guiding her steed with only a hempen halter, as she rode through the night, bearing the news of the sack of Danbury. There is no extravagance in comparing her ride with that of Paul Revere and its midnight message. Nor was her errand less efficient than his. By daybreak, thanks to her daring, nearly the whole regiment was mustered before her father's house at Fredericksburgh, and an hour or two later was on the march for vengeance on the raiders.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_Ludington