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Secondary sourceBook1850–1852

The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution

Benson J. Lossing · 1850–1852

A mid-19th-century illustrated history of the American Revolution that describes the Danbury raid and Ridgefield fight but does not mention Sybil Ludington.

This book's silence on Sybil Ludington is cited as evidence her ride was absent from mid-19th-century histories of the raid.

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Full text (public-domain edition)

About this source

What it is

This two-volume illustrated history was written by Benson J. Lossing and published in the 1850s. It covers sites, biographies, and traditions of the Revolutionary War, including the 1777 British raid on Danbury and the Battle of Ridgefield. A copy is held by the Library of Congress.

Why it matters

This widely read book shows how the Danbury raid was remembered in the mid-1800s. Notably, it does not mention Sybil Ludington at all, which historians use as evidence that her ride was not part of the standard historical record of the era, raising questions about when and how her story later became famous.

  • Why might an absence in a historical source be just as important as what it includes?
  • What does it suggest if a detailed account of an event leaves out a person later said to be central to it?
  • How should historians treat stories that appear only in later, not earlier, accounts?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sybil Ludington on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Photo of an upright gray granite gravestone in a grassy cemetery with lichen spots. The inscription reads: In Memory of Sibbell Ludington, Wife of Edmond Ogden, Who Died Feb. 26, 1839, aged 77 years 19 months and 21 days. Two small American flags stand at its base. Other headstones, bare trees, and a white house appear behind it.Photograph

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Keeler Tavern

1713

A plain blue cloth book cover with a fine woven texture and no visible title, lettering, or ornament. The spine edge is visible along the left side.Book

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History of the City of New York: Its Origin, Rise, and Progress (vol. 2)

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Colonel Henry Ludington: A Memoir

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