Marine and Officer walk in the Footsteps of their Civil War Ancestor
2024 ж. 31 Қаң.
70 809 Рет қаралды
Damon and Edward Radcliffe trace the footsteps of their great-great-grandfather, First Sgt. Edward Ratcliff, on the New Market Heights Battlefield - where Ratcliff earned the Medal of Honor in 1864. They are joined by Vietnam Veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Melvin Morris.
Read more about the Radcliffes’ incredible journey at www.battlefields.org/learn/ar...
The American Battlefield Trust preserves America’s hallowed battlegrounds and educates the public about what happened there and why it matters. We permanently protect these battlefields for future generations as a lasting and tangible memorial to the brave soldiers who fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.
“I wish I could’ve been here, on this hallowed ground, and been part of this fight, because I am a soldier.” Powerful words right there. Brought tears to my eyes. Only a true hero, a true patriot and a true soldier would ever want to be a part of this war. An amazing and awe inspiring man, Mr. Melvin Morris is. Excellent video!
So I looked up Melvin Morris and read about him on the Department of Defenses’ website, and I urge anyone who reads this to do the same. This is no ordinary man. The words we normally use such as brave, heroic, or courageous certainly don’t do justice in describing him, and what he went through. Thank you is not enough to say. This nation and its citizens owe him a debt of gratitude that cannot be expressed or repaid. It would be nice to see a video on this man alone. Amazing.
I just looked Mr. Morris up and found his interview on KZhead. Amazing man. God bless him.
You Gentlemen, are True Living Legacies of your Great-Great Grandfather. He IS PROUD of you All, and the Dignity and Honor you brought to his Name. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SERVICE, to the United States and her Citizens! 🇺🇸 ❤
This is an incredible video ABT. Thank you to Damon & Edward Radcliffe for sharing your families story with us. Thank you both for your service to this country. And thank you to Melvin Morris for your outstanding and meritorious service to this country! I salute you all!
So powerful... thank you to Melvin Morris and the Radcliff family for their sacrifice and continued service.
My great-great-great-Grandfathers brother died while attacking the confederate works at cold harbor. He was in the 164th New York infantry and is still buried on the battlefield in a mass grave which is on private land. I wish for the trust to do their best in preserving it, so poor old William Tracy doesn't have to wait any longer.
My great great grandfather Daniel Boon Helms was in the battle of cold harbor 42nd North Carolina
Wait, that's the regiment the 164th was attacking. Did your ancestor possibly kill him? @@ericsimpson1176
Wait, that's the regiment that the 164th was attacking. Did your ancestor kill mine? It is possible.@@ericsimpson1176
@@user-zy1qf5mj4c well I doubt it ,but it is possible.....when I was a kid I asked my grandmother what her grandfather told her about the war ,she said all he would ever say about the war was that they were always hungry....he was in company k 42 north carolina,,,from what I read his company was stationed on what became the crater during battle of Petersburg but they were removed from that part of the works 2 days before it blew up.
Staggeringly powerful and inspiring! The ABT has upped its game 200% with this one. If you haven't already, please give to the American Battlefield Trust to keep this quality of educational material coming.
A few years ago at Ft. Sumter I got to stand on the very spot where my many greats grandfather was mustered out in 1866. Chills
I salute you and your families sacrifice for our country. My ancestor fought withVA. 6th Reg. Wounded twice and surrendered at Appomattox .
6th VA infantry or 6th VA Cavalry?
This is not his story, it this family's story.
@@bigjimslade6250 6th Virginia Infantry Regiment. 1st Sergeant Co A.
Thank you for sharing. Hearing these stories brings the civil war to life and how it impacted on so many Americans and continues to do so.
Love this. Keep telling these stories. Great stuff.
True Americans
This is an outstanding video
So well done. Thank you Battlefield Trust, this brought tears to my eyes. I love to hear stories about the USCT, and their fight at Deep Bottom.
Thank you men for your service, that's awesome you get to walk the battle field of your great-great-grandpa. I hope to someday walk the battlefields of the Civil War myself especially the Battle of Chickamauga where my great-great-great grandpa fought and was a POW. He was a Union Soldier.
Definitely make the trip you won't regret it!
This is a wonderful video! Thank you American Battlefield Trust for sharing First Sergeant Ratcliff's story along with his descendants' own service to their communities and country. That is an inspirational family! And thank you for including Staff Sergeant Melvin Morris, connecting a living Medal of Honor recipient to one of generations ago.
I love the fact that his great great grandfather was there and that they were able to actually see the area where his relative fought for his country and for his men and their freedom. Well done
Brilliant Content!! Keep on Keeping on Semper Fi
Service. Honor. Sacrifice. A powerful message for our country. Thank you and your families for your service and leadership.
Outstanding account. Gunny Radcliffe, I'm also a Marine. You must he so proud of your GG Grandfather. You should be. Your dad, I'm sure, has been a guiding force for you and your family. I salute you all. You're Americans, to the core. Hand salute - ready, two.
A powerful story! Thank you Radcliffes for sharing it with us. Thank you ABT.
What a great history of your family. You shurely can be proud of. Greetings from germany.
Great job on this video. Dan did a great job.
Awesome story! Thanks to the family for sharing and to ABT for bringing it to us.
God bless them all.
Powerful stuff.
My gratitude for these gentlemen and their ancestors cannot be adequately expressed. I know the feeling of standing where my ancestor stood on a Civil War battlefield, so, in that, I can understand how they felt about doing the same thing.
Thank all of you for your service from 1864 to date. The combination of heightened emotions that we experience when walk on the ground where our ancestors fought is unlike anything I have ever experienced, from wonder, amazement, fear, sadness, & pride. It can make the hair stand up on the back of the neck & everywhere else. Well done by all involved here.
Bravo, ABT. This is beautifully done. Very moving.
A legacy of honor, nothing less.
Outstanding
Wow, what a really amazing story, and so beautifully told in this production. Well done to all involved in telling this story. Please share more stories from this battle
Absolutely stunning piece of history.
I'm a black man and retired veteran. My sons and I are huge Civil War buffs. We've walked the hallowed grounds of virtually every major Civil War battlefield in the eastern theater. Thank you, ABT, for this well produced video that told one of the lost stories of black contributions during the Civil War. Thanks also, go out to the Radcliff family and SFC Morris for their service to the nation and community.
Thanks for the kind words and for your service. Glad you enjoyed.
Thank you for your service gentlemen
Incredible. Thank you, Gentleman🙏
This gives me chills. Thank you gentlemen!
😂
Awesome story,my great great granddaughters were 52nd NC infantry and 1st Texas infantry so I can relate to that family retracing their Grandfathers steps and a MOH winner at that!
ABT knocks it out of the park AGAIN!!!!!!!
Beautiful story. May God bless and protect the Radcliffe's and all who have fought for freedom, home and abroad.
I've had the honor of walking the battlefields where my ancestors fought sometimes against each other in close proximity. It is a very humbling experience. On a side note it would have been nice to see the devil dog in uniform as his father was in his. Great story none the less especially with a Green Beret CMOH winner as a guest.
This was beautifully done. Thank you so much ABT.
Thank you Radcliff family for your service to our country. I had four ancestors that were Union Infantry. One spent 6 months at Andersonville Prison, and came home. Another died in combat at the battle of Poplar Grove Church.
What a moving video. Excellent. Thank you
This is powerful
Mr. Ratcliff was a bad ass, and it would appear that his grandkids all are too. Great video, thanks to the Ratcliff family for their generations of service as well!
Outstanding! Hooah!
Inspirational. Thanks for sharing.
Good video. Loved at 5:36, the animated unit symbols over aerial photo, cutting to and from present day ground level view.
Powerful episode from the ABT and family of this soldier. Thanks for all each of you do.
My Great Great Great Grandfather Charles Gustavus Chipman was a Captain that commanded troops in the 54th Mass. I believe Company D, he was wounded at the Battle of Honey Hill S.C. survived the war returned to Massachusetts and started a family.
This is so cool this channel is always delivering great content!
It's a special man, attaining freedom for the first time and opts to fight and makes the ultimate sacrifice so that all are free... They were extra special kind of Patriots. And the three men in the video, the Legacy continues... thanks for your service...
Awesome video guys!!
Wonderful Video 🔥🔥
Wow, great story and just one of the many reasons why I am proud and honored to be a Blac man.
Very cool story. Well done.
That was awesome!
We stand on the shoulders of giants!
Bravo!
Honor 🇺🇸
The troops in service to Union forces especially the colored soldiers was extremely tough. Unless you have been in battle understanding the experience is impossible. First Sergeant Radcliffe was the one who would lead without hesitation. I take my hat off to him.
Amazing
Wow, blown away
Your ancestor's would proud of you! also pass's on the history of the people,& family that came before us!
My great great grandfather was the general elwell Stephen otis
So cool
I know how you feel. I felt the same way about D day.
Very cool
valorous
MOH recipients have pretty much said to themselves, "screw it" and went forward.
👍👍
Bravo Zulu Mr Ratcliff.
Excellent content as always… Keep it up American Battlefield Trust.
I've never even heard of this fight. Now I feel bad, as an amateur historian that I missed this location a year and a half ago when I was near it.
what it must have been like
Everybody's blood is the same color....well presented lesson. Thank you.
I thought my civil war history was cool. Yours is better.
I always wondered if I have ancestors who were former slaves that fought in the civil war.
Look into the 1st South Carolina Troops. Union Army. Commander, Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Read the book " Army life in a black regiment" they operated along the james river. My ancestors were on both sides.
Can imagine the shock the enemy felt to see black soldiers attacking them.
My favorite anecdote is the union colored trooper who saw his former master walking by as a prisoner and called out saying hey boss is the fence mended yet? Warms my heart
@@lewdachris7721yea freeing them has worked out out well for the US. hence the the crime wave
@@jimkelly7305 way to keep up the heritage of hate. Now get back to bed, I’m sure your sister’s wondering where you went.
Idk we could ask but they took off running couldn’t catch them lol
Not to much, Cause most got Smoked others ran. Look at Fort pillow.
Garryowen!
As a Neo-Confederate, I salute the heroism of your grandfather in the War Between the States, and encourage you to hold onto and frequently express your pride in him. Several of my Grandfathers and their brothers served in Companies F and I of the 28th North Carolina. One grandfather served in Company A of the 18th North Carolina. Not all of them came home.
Such a touching story … American battlefield trust would never do. Video showing a proud southerner (white or black) walking the grounds where their ancestors fought valiantly in defense of their homes and hearths. You wouldn’t show the descendants of The 14yr old boy , or the 70 year old baptist minister who quickly responded to the federal threat against Asheville NC and stood on the heights of woodfin ridge outnumbered 2 to 1. You wouldn’t call that courage . That a man though conflicted about the war due to his faith would still at a moments notice rush to defend his city from a raid that would have seen Asheville burned to the ground . You wouldn’t call it courageous that a 14 year old would put himself between a well armed 1100 man union brigade hell bent on burning r_ping and pillaging and his mother who was caring for wounded veterans and elderly with what sustenance and supplies she had . You might not call that courage but I do . My great great grandfather was there with the 62nd NC home guard and if you stood in the works stop woodfin ridge (now called lookout mountain) you may be able to see what I could . But that wouldn’t fit your political narrative would it ? Because by your measure of things every action in that unconstitutional war of aggression was about freeing slaves and nothing else . I’m sure you believe Stonemans raiders were coming to “free the slaves” and not to burn homes , r_pe women , and in the closing hours of the war - Lee having already surrendered destroy what was left of a state who’s men were all away , killed or already combat wounded . You have a tilt on every program I have seen on your channel and it is that tilt that sees the memory , memorials , and graves of honest southern soldiers reviled and desecrated- and for that you should be ashamed . You think this will stop at the confederates and you justify this derision with a righteous cause mythology, but I can promise you this : the Marxist radicals will not stop at confederates , they will continue on until they have purged and destroyed the memory and monuments of every great American that ever lived . Even the generals of the union army that I do not champion yet I understand the recognition they received , but back further to our founding fathers , our heros who defeated the British at kings mountain , and the men that ate shoe leather lest they starve at valley forge . All the way to American boys of all color and creed that participated in the Spanish American war and the oil f_ck that war iraq 1 & 2 . I hope when you all look back on it that it will pain you - to see your heros and ours castigated as racists, slavers , wasp’s , colonialist and tyrants by the radical left who will never be happy no matter how much you concede or how much you apologize for your own whiteness or that of your ancestors. Good riddance
With all due respect to the brave Colored troops at New Market Heights but most of those 16 Medals of Honor awarded that day were largely a political gesture. The Colored Troops fought well and bravely but to be accurate they were facing a very depleted and outnumbered Confederate force that day. The line of Texas troops they fought were stretched so thin that there was only one soldier in line every 20-30 feet when there should have been 10 to 15. The Federal attacking force outnumbered the Confederates by over 5 to 1. The book Richmond Redeemed has an excellent chapter on this very engagement.
The Union handed out MOH like they were participation ribbons. At Gettysburg they picked up regimental battle flags off the ground after Picketts Charge and were awarded the highest medal for bravery. Not like today.
every MoH ever given has been a "political gesture" since you can only be awarded one if politicians allow it
@@dsmonington Actually politicians don’t “allow” it. Recommendations are made at the field level for medals of honor and reviewed by various entities. Finally the Department of Defense authorizes the list of recipients. Congress awards the medals and usually the President presents them. In the earlier days, an officer usually made the recommendation and the medal was awarded. This resulted in much abuse of the process with many medals being awarded for acts that probably did not merit such a high honor. The 27th Maine regiment was issued over 300 Medals of Honor for simply staying on duty for a couple week after their enlistments had expired. These medals were rescinded in 1917. At New Market General Birney recommended numerous medals to promote the concept that Colored troops were good soldiers (they were) but it can and has been argued that most of these medals were not truly respective of the standards usually associated with the award. If you read the citations, several of the medals were awarded for actions such as killing a rebel officer, gallantry during the assault or carrying the colors. Things that had been done by hundreds or thousands of other soldiers during the war who had not been awarded the Medal of Honor.
@@historyhoarder634semantics. it's a political award. even the revocations only happened after congress authorized reviews.
@@dsmonington how is it a political award when recommendations for the award come from officers at field level ??? That makes no sense. If Congresspersons chose the recipients themselves you would have a point but that is not how it works generally with a few exceptions.
We used to be a real country
Still is pal
Not with Austin,Milley in command. Clean out the woke and return us to the days when Men were men and American honor was worth dying for. SEMPER FIDELIS
I have always questioned as to why Gettysburg is not hallowed ground for African Americans to honor the thousands of white men that gave their lives so the slaves could live free,
❤🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🙏🙏🙏🙏🖤🤎💙💚💛🧡❤
Sherman was an instrument of death for many escaped slaves. Not such a nice guy.