Ludington, as British troops were burning Danbury, where the Continental Army had a supply depot. Troops from New York and Connecticut rallied to engage the British the next day in the Battle of Ridgefield, and the British retreated. A brief mention of Ludington's ride was published by his grandchildren in 1907 as part of Ludington's father's memoirs. Modern accounts say Ludington was congratulated for her heroism by General George Washington; more recent scholarship has raised doubt that the ride even took place. Research history A 2022 Smithsonian magazine article written by Abigail Tucker states that the earliest known record of the 1777 account of Ludington's ride came in 1854 from Sybil's nephew, Charles H. Ludington, who sought to have his aunt recognized as a hero. Ludington was included in an 1880 book about the New York City area by local historian Martha Lamb. A brief later reference appeared in the 1907 memoirs written by Willis Fletcher Johnson about Sybil's father and published privately by his grandchildren. Tucker states that letters written by Ludington herself do not mention the ride. Accounts vary as to whether she rode bareback or sidesaddle, what the name of the horse was, and how her name was spelled (Sybil, Cybal, Sibyl, Sebil, Sybille, or Sibbell). In 1838, Ludington asked for a pension based on her husband, Ogden, having fought in the Revolutionary War, but she could not prove that she was married to him. According to Paula Hunt, writing in The New England Quarterly journal, "None of the sworn affidavits attesting to Henry Ogden’s military service and the legitimacy of Sybil's marriage mentioned her ride, nor did she attempt to claim it as justification for a pension." Lamb stated that her account relied on sources including letters, sermons, genealogical compilations, wills, and court records to document details. She cites no sources, nor provides documentation of the ride. Hunt suggests the account may have been told to Lamb by Ludington's descendants. Owing partly to a lack of contemporary accounts, Hunt raises questions about the events. She writes that neither of the original publications about the ride "had offered any information about Sybil's course", and the purported route was devised speculatively by the project managers who later installed historic markers, a "relatively inexpensive but increasingly popular means for states and localities to promote tourism". The installation of the historic roadside markers beginning in 1934 – although based on