But imagine what it meant in real life.
Imagine walking through darkness knowing that someone might be waiting to capture you.
Imagine hearing a noise behind you and not knowing whether it was an animal, a traveler, or someone hunting for escapees.
Imagine being responsible for frightened people who were depending on you to get them safely to freedom.
Harriet Tubman kept going.
And eventually, her fight for freedom went far beyond the Underground Railroad.
Because when the Civil War began, Tubman found another way to serve.
And this time, she wasn’t simply helping people escape.
She was helping fight the system that had enslaved them.
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During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman served the Union in several roles.
She worked as a nurse, cook, scout, and spy.
She gathered information.
She worked with people who knew the local waterways and roads.
And she used the knowledge she had developed during years of moving secretly through dangerous territory.
The skills that had once helped her guide freedom seekers now helped her gather intelligence for the Union.
Then came one of the most remarkable episodes of her life.
The Combahee River Raid.
In June 1863, Tubman worked with Colonel James Montgomery and Black Union soldiers to plan and carry out a raid along the Combahee River in South Carolina.
