03/06/2025
The Blueprint.
On this day, 2 June 1863, the Combahee River raid took place during the US Civil War, with Harriet Tubman, formerly an enslaved woman, leading 150 Black Union soldiers.
Tubman developed a plan to raid the Combahee River area of the Confederacy. General David Hunter asked her “if she would go with several gunboats up the Combahee River, the object of the expedition being to take up the torpedoes placed by the rebels in the river, to destroy railroads and bridges, and to cut off supplies from the rebel troops.”
Tubman agreed, with the proviso that abolitionist Colonel James Montgomery was appointed auxiliary commander.
This was agreed, and on the night of June 2, Tubman, Montgomery, and around 150 Black soldiers in three gunboats headed up the river. Many of the soldiers had themselves been previously enslaved. They dropped off small parties at each plantation, setting them aflame. Meanwhile, enslaved people on the plantations defied the whips of their enslavers, picked up their children and ran for the gunboats.
Confederate troops attempted to fight the attackers, but failed. Their artillery missed all of the gunboats, and their soldiers were only able to kill one person: an enslaved woman who was attempting to escape.
It was the only military operation during the civil war known to be led by a woman, and it was a major success. Over the course of the raid, the estates of several wealthy secessionist landowners were looted and burned, and over 700 enslaved people were freed, 100 of whom joined the Union army.
A subsequent report by a Confederate officer testified to the effectiveness of Tubman’s intelligence capabilities and planning: “The enemy seems to have been well posted as to the character and capacity of our troops and their small chance of encountering opposition, and to have been well guided by persons thoroughly acquainted with the river and country.”
More information, sources and map: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9200/Harriet-Tubman-raid
