Contributors to the Cause

"Contributors to the Cause" was the name of an American issue of postage stamps issued in 1975 as part of the celebrations surrounding the United States Bicentennial. The stamps were meant to commemorate the unsung heroes of the American Revolution. The four individuals featured on the stamps were:

• Peter Francisco FIGHTER EXTRAORDINARY Peter Francisco's strength and bravery made him a legend around campfires. He fought with distinction at Brandywine, Yorktown and Guilford Court House. (from the back of the postage stamp, Scott Catalog Number 1562)
• Salem Poor GALLANT SOLDIER The conspiuously courageous actions of black foot soldier Salem Poor at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, earned him citations for his bravery and leadership ability. (from the back of the stamp, Scott Catalog Number 1560)
• Haym Solomon FINANCIAL HERO Businessman and broker Haym Solomon was responsible for raising most of the money needed to finance the American Revolution and later to save the new nation from collapse. (from the back of the postage stamp, Scott Catalog number 1561)
• Sybil Ludington (1761-?) YOUTHFUL HEROINE On the dark night of April 26, 1777, 16-year-old Sybil Ludington rode her horse "Star" through the Connecticut countryside rallying her father's militia to repel a raid by the British on Danbury. (from the back of the postage stamp, Scott Catalog number 1559 Issued by the USPS 25 March 1975)

"Paul Revere was not the only patriot to ride by night and warn of peril. Two years after his famous ride, a teenager named Sybil Ludington put on her father's work pants, leaped on her horse, and galloped through the night in the cause of freedom. Sybil Ludington was sixteen in 1777. Her father was Colonel Henry Ludington and they lived in Patterson, New York, near Danbury, Connecticut. There, on April 26, 1777, a breathless messenger blurted out bad news: The British had sacked Danbury, and the local militia were withdrawing. Sybil knew what she had to do. And, throughout the ZNew York and Connecticut countryside she rode -- forty miles in all --- crying out hoarsely into the night, "The British are burning Danbury! Muster at Ludington's!" Everywhere she rode, candles suddenly lit darkened windows as men leaped out of bed, threw on their clothes and grabbed their muskets. They moved at daybreak -- 400 of them. Danbury had been looted and burned, and there was nothing they could do about that. But British General Tryon lost a tenth of his forces in the battle that followed, and was finally forced into a disastrous retreat to the safety of the British ships at Fairfield. The midnight ride of Sybil Ludington took place more than two hundred years ago, but you can still trace her rooute, following the markers from Carmel to Stormville put in place by a grateful New York State." This article was quoted from USPS "Stamps and Stories" published for the USPS by Scott Publishing Co., 1978. This