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2021 SPECIAL SESSION II

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21300084D
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 786 Offered August 4, 2021 Commemorating the life and legacy of Agrippa Hull. ---------- Patron-- Freitas ----------

WHEREAS, Agrippa Hull, a free Black man, voluntarily enlisted in the Continental Army as a private on May 1, 1777, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to fight for the independence of the Thirteen Colonies in the American Revolution; and

WHEREAS, Agrippa Hull became an orderly for Major General John Paterson and was present at the surrender of British forces under General John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga; and

WHEREAS, Agrippa Hull fought bravely in many major battles of the Revolutionary War, including the Battle of Saratoga, the campaign of Valley Forge, the Battle of Monmouth Court House, and the siege of Charleston; and

WHEREAS, Agrippa Hull volunteered to serve outside of his Massachusetts regiment to assist General Thaddeus Kosciuszko of Poland, the mastermind behind the American victory at Saratoga and a skilled engineer who designed and constructed fortifications at West Point to halt the movement of British ships down the Hudson River; and

WHEREAS, Agrippa Hull’s wit and intelligence inspired everyone with whom he interacted; he became close friends with General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, influencing his views on the abolition of slavery, and in his will, General Thaddeus Kosciuszko asked that all of his war earnings be used for the purpose of freeing and educating slaves owned by Thomas Jefferson; and

WHEREAS, Agrippa Hull would often work with medical staff caring for sick and wounded soldiers, and he learned to remove bullets, perform amputations, and mend broken bones, among other common battlefield injuries; and

WHEREAS, Agrippa Hull served in the military for six years and two months and was discharged by George Washington at West Point; he treasured the discharge papers that had been personally signed by George Washington for his entire life and suggested he would rather forego his military pension than lose such a piece of history; and

WHEREAS, in July 1783, Agrippa Hull returned to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and became an aide to the Honorable Theodore Sedgwick, an attorney, United States senator, and member of the Massachusetts State Supreme Court; and

WHEREAS, a man of great dignity, pride, and character, Agrippa Hull became a land owner and respected citizen of Stockbridge; he was well known as a patriot, philosopher, civic-minded farmer, and pillar of his community; and

WHEREAS, Agrippa Hull died on May 21, 1848, in Stockbridge; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That the life and legacy of Agrippa Hull hereby be commemorated on the occasion of the 173rd anniversary of his death; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to surviving descendants of Agrippa Hull as an expression of the House of Delegates’ admiration for his contributions to early American history.