Key Facts
- Date
- June 1–2, 1863
- People freed
- More than 750 formerly enslaved people
- Union force size
- 150 African American soldiers
- Unit involved
- 2nd South Carolina Infantry
- Lead commander
- Harriet Tubman
Strategic Narrative Overview
On the nights of June 1 and 2, 1863, Tubman guided three Union gunboats up the Combahee River using intelligence she had gathered on Confederate troop positions and torpedo placements. A force of 150 soldiers from the 2nd South Carolina Infantry, a regiment composed of Black troops, accompanied the raid. Confederate defenses were circumvented without significant armed resistance, and Union vessels penetrated deep into Beaufort and Colleton counties.
01 / The Origins
By mid-1863, the Union Army was actively recruiting African American soldiers and gathering intelligence in Confederate-held South Carolina. Harriet Tubman, a veteran conductor of the Underground Railroad who had escaped slavery in 1849, worked as a spy and scout for Union forces in the Lowcountry. The Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863, had legally freed enslaved people in Confederate states, creating impetus for Union operations to extract them from behind enemy lines.
03 / The Outcome
The raid succeeded in liberating more than 750 enslaved people, who were transported to Union-held territory. Many of the freed men subsequently enlisted in the Union Army. The operation demonstrated the military value of formerly enslaved people as intelligence sources and combatants, and Tubman's role made the Combahee Ferry Raid notable as the first U.S. armed raid planned and led by a woman.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Harriet Tubman.
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.