Harriet Tubman left her husband and brothers behind when she escaped from slavery, and her intelligence had enabled her to free hundreds of slaves without getting caught.
She used this same ability in the Union army, where she served as a spy and a nurse during the Civil War. Her bravery and mastery of the rifle gained her the respect of the men who fought with her. To them she became affectionately known as “General” Harriet Tubman.
Susie King Taylor (1842-1912), also an escaped slave, ran away at the age of twelve. By the time she was sixteen, she was teaching freed blacks to read and write. After meeting Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, Susie wanted to help black Civil War troops.
She traveled with the 33rd U.S. Colored Troops as a nurse and launderer until the end of the Civil War.
Related Posts
-
What was the American Civil War and How long did the American Civil War last?
The Civil War (also known as the War Between the States and the War of Southern Independence) was a military conflict between the United States of America (the Union) and eleven secessionist Southern…
-
How many African Americans fought in the American Civil War?
After President Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, blacks rushed to join up to help the North win the war. A total of 178,985 fought in the war; 37,000 were killed in action and…
-
Did Roman gladiators who fought against animals use the same weapons as those who fought against other gladiators?
Actually, it was a matter of honor that the animal fighters, called bestiarii, were considered below true gladiators in rank. However, neither is to be confused with the condemned criminals, who were thrown…
-
Why Is a Black Hole Black, Where Do Black Holes Come From, and When Were Black Holes First Discovered?
Black holes in space seem to be a recent phenomenon, yet Albert Einstein (1879-1955) predicted them in his theory of relativity in 1915. They are the incredibly dense centres of dead stars. Black…
-
What role did black women have in politics after the African American civil rights movement?
Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman in the U.S. House of Representatives, was elected in 1968, almost one hundred years after the election of the first African American man to Congress. Twenty-four…
-
What Woman Fought As a Soldier in The American Revolutionary War?
Her name was Deborah Gannett. On May 21, 1782, she disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the Continental army as a soldier under the name Robert Shurtleff. She was a very…
