SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 484 Offered February 2, 2007 Celebrating posthumously the life and heroism of Edward Ratcliff. ---------- Patrons-- Norment; Delegates: Barlow, Hamilton and Rapp ----------

WHEREAS, Edward Ratcliff of James City County was one of only 16 black soldiers who fought in the Civil War to win the military service’s highest award, the Medal of Honor; and

WHEREAS, Edward Ratcliff’s compelling story gained statewide recognition in 2006, when his burial place was thought to be in a restricted area at the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station; and

WHEREAS, his proud grandson, Edward Radcliffe, as the family spells its name now, grew up hearing the stories of his heroic grandfather, who had joined the United States Army during the Civil War; and

WHEREAS, Edward Radcliffe echoed the sentiments of the entire family about his grandfather when he explained that “being a descendant of someone like that makes you feel like you are walking on air ... because you just don’t see or hear of a hero everyday”; and

WHEREAS, there were many people involved in uncovering more of Edward Ratcliff's story and his burial place in York County, including Wes Wilson, a Civil War reenactor and former Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam; Don Morfe, an amateur historian and member of the Medal of Honor Historical Society; Jack Kemp, the public affairs officer at the weapons station; and Yvette Radcliffe, the wife of great-grandson Edward Radcliffe, who has extensively researched the family genealogy; and

WHEREAS, the family drama began, as it has been told for 100 years, when a baby was born on the Hankins family farm in James City County on February 8, 1835, to an African slave named Hannah; she called her baby Edward Ratcliff, and he was born a slave as well, even though he inherited the lighter-colored skin of his white father; and

WHEREAS, Yvette Radcliffe discovered records revealing that Alexander Hankins, son of Nathaniel and Betsy Hankins, inherited the Hankins' 400-acre farm and with it a two-year-old slave named Edward Ratcliff; by age 15, Edward would have been an experienced field worker laboring more than 18 hours day; and

WHEREAS, on January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, and by 1864, blacks were encouraged to enlist in the Union Army; and

WHEREAS, one day, the 28-year-old Edward Ratcliff laid down his hoe in the field and walked all the way to Yorktown to join the Union army camp and fight for his and his family's freedom; and

WHEREAS, by January 28, 1864, Edward Ratcliff was no longer a slave, but a private in the Army of the United States and a member of the 38th Regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops; and

WHEREAS, by September 1864, Ratcliff had risen from private to first sergeant and a member of the all-black 3rd Division, 18th Corps, Army of the James, which was ordered to lead the charge on the Confederate capital of Richmond in the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm at New Market Heights; and

WHEREAS, on September 29, 1864, when his white commanding officer was killed, Edward Ratcliff found himself leading his courageous men under heavy fire into the Confederate stronghold; and

WHEREAS, Edward Ratcliff became the first enlisted man to enter the Confederate fortifications; and he was promoted to sergeant major and awarded the Medal of Honor on April 6, 1865, for his tremendous valor that day; General Robert E. Lee would surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse three days later; and

WHEREAS, after the war, Edward Ratcliff returned to the Peninsula as a farmer and settled with his wife Grace and daughter Hannah in an area of York County the locals called the "reservation," because it was inhabited by freed slaves and Indians; and

WHEREAS, the couple would eventually have seven children, and they lived happy and free, but because everyone was adjusting to an ever evolving culture in the New South it was often a difficult life; and

WHEREAS, Edward Ratcliff suffered from severe health problems as a result of his wartime service, received only a meager military compensation during his lifetime, and died on March 10, 1915; official military documents indicated that he was buried in "Chescake Cemetery in Lackey, Virginia," now called Cheesecake Cemetery, a mispronunciation of the Indian name for the area; and

WHEREAS, in 1918, the cemetery and all of the land around it was deeded to the federal government; the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, a highly secure weapons storage facility, was established; and the isolated church of St. John's Baptist and its adjacent cemetery quickly fell to ruin; and

WHEREAS, when the burial place of the Medal of Honor winner was identified, an application was filed with the Department of Veterans Affairs for an official military headstone and grandson Edward Radcliffe, who himself served in the military in France during World War II, chose the exact site of its placement in Cheesecake Cemetery; and

WHEREAS, the Radcliffe family, Jack Kemp of the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station, and everyone involved, including U.S. Colored Troops reenactors, the congregation of the present-day St. John's Baptist Church, and other well-wishers participated in a celebration in memory of Edward Ratcliff of James City County, a member of the 38th Regiment of the U.S. Colored Troops, 3rd Division, 18th Corps, Army of the James; and

WHEREAS, during the ceremony, United States Marine Corps Corporal Edward Radcliffe, the Civil War hero and Medal of Honor winner's great-grandson, presented his grandfather Edward Radcliffe with an American flag during the somber dedication of their namesakes' new military headstone; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly celebrate posthumously the life and heroism of Edward Ratcliff; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Edward Ratcliff as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory and appreciation of his inspiring story and rich family history.