Laura Ratcliffe
During the Civil War, Laura met General James Ewell Brown (Jeb) Stuart when she and her sister were nursing wounded soldiers at his camp during the winter of 1861. Laura and Stuart quickly became friends. She provided him and his fellow cavalryman, the "Gray Ghost," Colonel John Singleton Mosby, with information on Union troop activity in Fairfax County. General Stuart wrote several personal letters to Laura.
In December of 1862, General Stuart led his cavalry troops on several raids against the Federal forces in Fairfax County. He visited Laura at her home many times. According to several sources, while at the Ratcliffe's, Mosby asked Stuart if he could be left behind with a small detachment of men, so he could continue operations in that area, instead of going into winter quarters. Stuart apparently agreed. When
Stuart left on December 30, 1862, Mosby stayed behind with nine soldiers from the 1st Virginia Cavalry.
Mosby sometimes used the Ratcliffe home as his headquarters, and there was a large rock at the top of Squirrel Hill where he and Laura met in secret, and where she concealed messages for him. And when Mosby captured a large quantity of Federal money, she held it for him. Frying Pan Church, near Laura's home, was the site of a skirmish, as well as a hospital and one of Mosby's secret meeting places.
On February 7, 1863, Mosby captured several Federal soldiers who had been looting local citizens. He returned the plunder to its rightful owners. On February 10, James Ames deserted from the 5th NY Cavalry stationed at Fairfax Courthouse and joined Mosby's command. On February 11, Mosby traveled to Frying Pan, where Laura told him that plans for his capture had been leaked by the Yankees. Mosby avoided the trap, and in the process, captured a Union blockade runner.
On Sunday, March 8, 1863, Union Brigadier General Edwin Stoughton and his garrison lay in bed at Fairfax County Court House. Mosby and 29 men slipped through Federal picket lines and entered General Stoughton’s bedroom.
Mosby woke the general, and asked him, “Do you know Mosby?”
The general said, “Yes, have you captured the devil?”
Mosby said, "No, the devil has caught you."
Mosby captured the general, two captains, and 58 horses, without firing a shot. They evaded numerous Federal outposts on their departure. President Lincoln allegedly said that generals were replaceable, but he deeply regretted the loss of so many good horses.
Although it was obvious that Laura's home was the center of much Confederate activity, she was never arrested or charged with any crime. She suffered losses like so many others during the Civil War. Her brother, John Ratcliffe, was a private in the 17th Virginia Infantry. He died of chronic diarrhea at Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond in October 1864, at the age of 31.
There is some disagreement concerning the home Laura lived in during the Civil War. Since the War, an old farmhouse named "Merrybrook" has been pointed out as her home. Other locals say that Merrybrook was her home after the war, built for her by an admiring Union veteran named Milton Hanna, whom she married. That seems to me the most logical answer, since the Ratcliffe's financial situation after the war was pretty grim. The exact location of the house she occupied during the war is still somewhat shrouded in mystery, which I think makes for a better story anyway.
Today, alongside a country highway in Virginia, there is a monument near the rock where Laura and Mosby met, which reads:
"This large boulder, located just south of here, served as an important landmark during the Civil War, when Col. John S. Mosby's Partisan Rangers (43rd Battalion, Virginia Calvary) assembled there to raid Union outposts, communications, and supply lines. Laura Ratcliffe, a young woman who lived nearby and spied for Mosby, concealed money and messages for him under the rock. Mosby credited her with saving him from certain capture by Federal cavalry on one occasion. She also was a friend of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart."
Laura was a very private woman. She never received recognition for her courageous support of the Confederate cause. She died August 8, 1923 at Merrybrook. She was laid out by the front window so that those who knew her could pay their respects. She was the sixth cousin of General Robert Edward Lee.
At the Ratcliffe/Coleman/Hanna cemetery in Herndon, which is surrounded by thick shrubbery, there is a simple plaque which reads: "This is the burial place of the noted Confederate spy Laura Ratcliffe Hanna and her husband Milton Hanna."
Copyright © 2006 Maggie MacLean
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