Slave men, women and children came streaming from the countryside, reminding Tubman of “the children of Israel, coming out of Egypt.” More than 720 slaves were shuttled to freedom during the mission. The troops swept through nearby plantations, burning homes and barns as Union gunboats sounded their whistles.
On June 1, 1863, Tubman and Union Colonel James Montgomery steamed into the interior with 300 black Union soldiers. But soon she was gathering intelligence about the countryside from the freed slaves and taking river reconnaissance trips. She began teaching freed slave women skills that could earn them wages with the Union Army.
Harriet Tubman, the escaped slave who led others to freedom on the Underground Railroad before the war, arrived at the Union camp at Port Royal, South Carolina, in the spring of 1862 to support the Union cause. Harriet Tubman led a raid to free slaves during the Civil War.