Herndon in Fairfax County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Laura Ratcliffe

Photographed By J. J. Prats, July 12, 2007

1. Laura Ratcliffe Marker

Inscription. Confederate spy Laura Ratcliffe was born in Fairfax County in 1836. During the Civil War, she became an acquaintance of Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart who introduced her to then-Lt. John Mosby in 1862. Mosby credited her with preventing his capture early in 1863. noting, “My life as a partisan would have closed that day.” Ratcliffe and other informants provided Mosby and his Partisan Rangers (43 d Battalion, Virginia Cavalry) important information that helped them raid Union outposts, communications, and supply lines. She married Milton Hanna in 1890. Ratcliffe died in 1923 and is buried here/nearby in a family cemetery.

Erected 2007 by the Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number C-24.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • War, US Civil • Women. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1836.

Location. 38° 57.483′ N, 77° 24.133′ W. Marker is in Herndon, Virginia, in Fairfax County. Marker is on Elden Street / Centreville Road (Virginia Route 228) south of Worldgate

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Drive. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Herndon VA 20170, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. A different marker also named Laura Ratcliffe (approx. 0.4 miles away); The Story of Arrowhead Farm (approx. half a mile away); Ferenc Nagy (approx. 0.9 miles away); Elwardstone (approx. one mile away); Elden House (approx. one mile away); Historical Site of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church (approx. one mile away); Mosby’s Rock (approx. 1.1 miles away); Herndon's First Church (approx. 1.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Herndon.

More about this marker. Marker cannot be seen from the road. It is across from the main entrance to the Washington Dulles Marriott Hotel, next to the flag poles.

Regarding Laura Ratcliffe. Marker is next to a small graveyard where Laura Latcliffe is buried. The graveyard is hidden from the road and hotel by a copse of trees. Part the branches and step in to see the 20 by 20 foot cemetery, surrounded by an old but well-preserved wrought-iron fence. Inside a single granite monument of recent vintage reads simply “Ratcliffe — Coleman — Hanna”.

While

Photographed By J. J. Prats, July 12, 2007

2. Laura Ratcliffe Marker

The cemetery is hidden in the foilage behind the marker. Photographer is standing in the hotel circle-driveway with the hotel entrance behind him.

this location on Elden Street / Centreville Road is now in Herndon, it was out of town in Civil War days, being more than a mile southwest from the railroad station on the Herndon-Centreville Road. The Hanna Family home, “Merrybrook”, still stands at 2346 Centreville Road on the other side of the toll road not more than 1000 feet from this spot.

Also see . . .
1. Laura Ratcliffe. Essay by Maggie MacLean on the Civil War Woman website. (Submitted on July 12, 2007.)

2. Merrybrook. The house was recently added to the list of National Register of Historic Places. (Submitted on October 2, 2007, by Craig Swain of Leesburg, Virginia.)

Copse of Trees Hiding the Ratcliffe-Coleman-Hanna Cemetery image. Click for full size.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, July 12, 2007

3. Copse of Trees Hiding the Ratcliffe-Coleman-Hanna Cemetery

This view is from Elden Street. The building shown is the hotel. Marker is behind the trees, facing the hotel entrance.

Ratcliffe-Coleman-Hanna Cemetery image. Click for full size.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, July 12, 2007

4. Ratcliffe-Coleman-Hanna Cemetery

Monument is illuminated by a ray of sunlight filtering through the trees.

Ratcliffe-Coleman-Hanna Monument in Cemetery image. Click for full size.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, July 12, 2007

5. Ratcliffe-Coleman-Hanna Monument in Cemetery

Photographed By Jay Randall Richardson, September 15, 2013

6. Laura Ratcliffe Marker

Ratcliffe headstone. The hotel is directly behind it.

Merrybrook (formerly Brookside) circa 1820 image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Paul Crumlish, March 24, 2010

7. Merrybrook (formerly Brookside) circa 1820

Credits. This page was last revised on September 21, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 12, 2007, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 5,128 times since then and 189 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on July 12, 2007, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. 6. submitted on September 16, 2013, by Jay Richardson of Martinsburg, West Virginia. 7. submitted on March 24, 2010, by PaulwC3 of Northern, Virginia.