Harriet Tubman posthumously named a general in Veterans Day ceremony
CHURCH CREEK, Md. — Revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was the first woman to oversee an American military action during a time of war, was posthumously awarded the rank of general on Monday.
CHURCH CREEK, Md. — Revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was the first woman to oversee an American military action during a time of war, was posthumously awarded the rank of general on Monday.
Dozens gathered on Veterans Day at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park in Maryland’s Dorchester County for a formal ceremony making Tubman a one-star brigadier general in the state’s National Guard.
Gov. Wes Moore called the occasion not just a great day for Tubman’s home state but for all of the U.S.
“Today, we celebrate a soldier and a person who earned the title of veteran,” Moore said. “Today we celebrate one of the greatest authors of the American story.”
Tubman escaped slavery herself in 1849 and settled in Philadelphia. Intent on helping others achieve freedom, she established the Underground Railroad network and led other enslaved Black women and men to freedom. She then channeled those experiences as a scout, spy and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War, helping guide 150 Black soldiers on a gunboat raid in South Carolina.
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