Sybil Ludington had just turned sixteen in April of 1777, when a messenger dismounted his exhausted horse, stumbled into her house and announced that the British were burning Danbury, Connecticut--less than a 15 hours march from the Ludington farmstead in Fredericksburg, New York. After delivering the unexpected, shocking news, the exhausted messenger promptly collapsed in front of the cozy Ludington fireplace. It was obvious that he and his horse...