Revolutionary heroine Sybil Ludington was born on April 5, 1761 in Kent, New York. The oldest of 12 children, Sybil was the daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington, the leader of the local militia in Patterson, New York. During the Revolutionary War, Sybil wanted to join the militia because she didn’t like being ruled by Great Britain. Early in the war, a group of 50 Loyalists approached the Ludington house to capture her father. But Sybil lit candles all around the house and had her siblings march military style in front of the windows to scare them off. And it worked.