Harriet Tubman the foremost Female Soldier in the War

On the 1st of June 1863, Harriet was the lead scout on the raid to destroy and liberate the Africans imprisoned in the largest concentration camps of South Carolina along the Combahee River. Carrying out the raid were 300 men of the 34th USCT regiment (referred to as 2nd South Carolina at the time) formed of the former prisoners who had escaped by the thousands from the camps as the Union lines drew close in November 1861. Their advance scouting of all the Confederate positions and all of the mines, permitted the gun boats of the Union army to accompany the army up the river and ultimately be used to transport over 800 to freedom on Beaufort South Carolina where many live to this day. The Coomonwealth newspaper reported of Harriet's participation in the raid: "Colonel Montgomery and his gallant bank of 300 black soldiers under the guidance of a black woman, dashed into the enemy's country, struck a bold and effective blow, destroying millions of dollars worth of commissary stores, cotton and lordly dwellings, and striking terror into the heart of rebeldom, brought off nearly 800 slaves and thousands of dollars worth of property, without losing a man or receiving a scratch. It was a glorious consummation.... The colonel was followed by a speech from the black woman who led the raid and under whose inspiration it was originated and conducted. For sound sense and real native eloquence her address would do honor to any man, and it created a great sensation."

Frederick Douglas Sons Fought and Douglass Lobbied and Recruited

“A war undertaken and brazenly carried for the perpetual enslavement of the colored men, calls logically and loudly for the colored men to help suppress it.” When the Civil War began in 1861 Douglass began advocating for African Descent soldiers to be included in the Union Army. For two years Douglass wrote endlessly in his publication, Douglass Monthly, in letters to influential friends and communicated his views in public speaking gatherings, about the importance of enlisting African Descent American troops. He was successful in 1863 when African Descent American men were allowed to enlist. As soon as he got orders to start recruiting for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment his sons, Charles and Lewis, were among the first ones to enroll. His oldest son, Frederick, worked recruiting soldiers. Frederick Douglass traveled thousands of miles attending recruiting conferences and talking about the responsibility of black freedmen in the American Civil War. His recruitment efforts were highly successful as regiments quickly filled up. He established a new war objective - abolition.

Lewis Henry Douglass enlisted in the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry on March 25, 1863. The regiment's commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, immediately appointed Douglass as a sergeant major, the highest rank an African American could hold at that time.

Charles Remond Douglass enlisted in the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry, in which he rose to the rank of first sergeant.

The African American Civil War Memorial

As a tribute to the sacrifices of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and all USCT veterans, the African American Civil War Memorial was dedicated in July of 1998 under the leadership of Dr. Frank Smith Jr., and Colin Powell. In honor of these American soldiers who fought for freedom during the American Civil War, the Spirit of Freedom: African American Civil War Memorial sculpture and its Wall of Honor serves as a reminder of the courageous story of the USCT. The sculpture portrays uniformed soldiers and a sailor at a height of ten feet with a liberated family depicted on the back of the sculpture, and is situated in the center of a granite-paved plaza, encircled on three sides by the Wall of Honor. The wall lists the names of 209,145 USCT drawn from the official records of the Bureau of United States Colored Troops at the National Archives, on 166 burnished stainless steel plaques arranged by regiment.

As you tour the monument locate the Unionville 18, the Eastern Shore Regiment, the sons of Frederick Douglass and the regiment which followed Harriet Tubman into battle.