The village of Sleepy Hollow is a real place in Westchester County in New York, less than ten miles from White Plains, New York. While this is a fictional story, it has some basis in fact. The story is set in the early years of the republic in a small town on the Hudson River. The Headless Horseman is a legendary ghost who first made his appearance in Washington Irving’s classic “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which was originally published in 1820. It was around this time that some believe the story of the Headless Horseman had its origins. This painting, by John Quidor (1858), portrays the Headless Horseman, a decapitated Hessian trooper, chasing Ichabod Crane, a scene from Washington Irving’s short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Morale was plummeting among the Continental Army and it seemed the Americans would lose the entire war before the end of the year. By October many of Washington’s men had fallen back towards White Plains, New York where they prepared to defend themselves. George Washington’s army had suffered major defeats in August and lost the city of New York to the British Army. October of 1776 was a scary time during the Revolutionary War.
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