On this day, December 6, in 1849

American abolitionist Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery. Tubman was born in Dorchester County Maryland. She lived under the inhuman conditions of American slavery for 26 years, at which point she escaped to the North using the Underground Railroad. On her way, she was assisted by many brave members of the abolitionist movement. Tubman returned to Maryland and led many successful expeditions back to the North, and gave detailed instructions to many more who found their way to freedom. During the Civil War Harriet Tubman led a raid at the Combahee River Ferry in South Carolina, allowing hundreds of slaves to escape the South. This was the first military operation in U.S. history planned and executed by a woman, although she was not awarded a government pension for her military service until some 30 years later.