Black History Month: Harriet Tubman Receives Military Honor
The month of February is a time to honor and remember the stories and contributions of Black Americans. Harriet Tubman–an enslaved person and one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad–was recently named an honorary brigadier general in Maryland’s National Guard. This is in recognition for her service to the Union Army during the Civil War. Here, btw takes a closer look at the ceremony, as well as the long list of accomplishments that make Tubman one of the great Americans in U.S. history.
Honoring a Legacy
On November 11, 2024, Tubman was posthumously (meaning after her death) awarded the rank of brigadier (one-star) general in Maryland’s National Guard. The ceremony was held at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park and Visitor Center. Maryland Governor Wes Moore; Maryland National Guard Maj. Gen. Janeen L. Birckhead; military members; local leaders; and Tubman’s own descendants attended the ceremony. Delegate Edith J. Patterson, who was responsible for introducing the legislation that made it possible for Tubman to receive the recognition, gave remarks. The Maryland Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Squadron also performed a ceremonial flyover at the event.
Tubman’s award was accepted by Ernestine “Tina” Martin Wyatt, Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece, on behalf of her family and descendants.
Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman was born into enslavement in Maryland in 1822. Her parents named her Araminta (she went by “Minty”), and she was one of nine children. Starting at the age of thirteen, she began harvesting flax in the fields where she lived. In 1849, after marrying freeman John Tubman and changing her name to Harriet, she escaped enslavement by walking ninety miles to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tubman is probably best remembered for her courageous work as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Tubman returned to Maryland again and again, to help other enslaved people to freedom. Conductors on the Underground Railroad guided enslaved people through a network of individuals with safe houses to escape the slave-holding South and into the free states of the Northern United States. Over the next ten years, she made about thirteen trips to guide her family and friends to safety. She also provided instructions to about seventy more people to help them on their journey. Had she been caught, she would have been physically punished and sold back into slavery. But she was never caught, and none of the people Tubman helped were ever recaptured.
Civil War Military Service
Tubman was also the first African American woman to serve the U.S. in combat. The skills and knowledge she developed as a conductor on the Underground Railroad made her an effective spy behind enemy lines. On June 2, 1863, Tubman joined Colonel James Montgomery and led 150 African American Union soldiers from South Carolina. All of these Union soldiers were formerly enslaved.) Tubman guided these men in an armed raid of Confederate plantations up and down South Carolina’s Combahee River. This raid liberated more than 750 enslaved people, many of whom later joined the Union Army.
Tubman also served as a nurse. In 1865, she was appointed as a nurse matron at Fort Monroe’s Colored Hospital in Hampton, Virginia. Again, her unique knowledge and skills came in handy. She used natural herbs to cure Union soldiers of dysentery, an intestinal infection that was one of the leading causes of death during the Civil War.
Tubman also served as a cook both for the Union troops and for hospital staff and patients.
Despite her many contributions, Tubman never had official status in the military and fought for decades to receive the military pension she deserved. She died in 1913 and was buried with military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery. This recent recognition was not her first; she was inducted into the Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame in June 2021.