The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a short story by American author, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat Washington Irving, (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859). Written while Irving was in England the story was first published in 1820, and is among the earliest examples of American fiction. In the story set in 1790 in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town there exists a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow, renowned for its ghosts and haunting atmosphere. The most infamous specter in the Hollow is the Headless Horseman, said to be the ghost of a Hessian soldier who was killed when a canon ball took off his head during the American Revolutionary War. The horseman is said to nightly ride to the scene of the battle searching for his head.

The story does have a fragment of historical truth. In 1798 Massachusettes native Major General William Heath published his experiences of the Revolutioary war, recounting one incident which occured during the battle of White Plains in New York, where on November 1st, 1776, he witnessed a canon ball take of the head of a Hessian soldier.