Harriet Tubman Combahee River Raid

Описание: On this day in Southern Labor History, June 2, 1863, Harriet Tubman led a decisive raid on the Confederate Army at the Combahee River in South Carolina, freeing over 700 enslaved people.

While working in Hilton Head as a nurse and a spy for the union army, Harriet Tubman was recruited by abolitionist Colonel James Montgomery to help lead a secret military operation against the confederate army on the Combahee River.

Tubman enlisted the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers, a Black regiment consisting of many formerly enslaved people to carry out the raid. Thanks to crucial military intelligence provided by Tubman, 3 Union gunboats were able to make their way to the shores, avoiding confederate torpedoes.

In the raid, the plantations of leading secessionists such as the Heyward, Middleton, and Lowndes families were destroyed by Union soldiers, many of whom once worked on those plantations before escaping into the Union army. Ultimately, 750 enslaved men, women, and children boarded the Union boats following the raid. 100 of the men immediately joined the Union army.

With almost no losses, Tubman and the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers were able to defeat an entire confederate army company sent to take back what was lost during the raid, sealing a crucial victory for the Union army.

The Combahee River Raid was a turning point in the Civil War, and dealt a major economic, military, and psychological blow to the confederate cause.