The Combahee Ferry Raid was one of her greatest achievements

Soon after the war began in 1861, Tubman traveled south with a group of fellow abolitionists to help enslaved persons who had managed to flee to safety behind Union lines. Working in a number of camps in Union-held areas of South Carolina, Tubman quickly became familiar with the terrain and offered her services to the army as a spy, heading a team of scouts that mapped out a large chunk of the area. When Tubman personally accompanied Union soldiers in their nighttime raid at Combahee Ferry in June 1863, her reconnaissance work lay the groundwork for one of the war's most daring operations. This is one of the interesting facts about Harriet Tubman.

While evading gunfire and artillery rounds from slave owners and Confederate soldiers rushing to the scene, Tubman and her party successfully freed more than 700 enslaved persons working on surrounding plantations after steering Union boats through the mine-filled seas and arriving ashore.

The raid's success, which had also included the valiant efforts of African-American soldiers, heightened Tubman's notoriety, and she went on to participate in related operations with the renowned Massachusetts 54th Infantry before caring for wounded soldiers during the war's last years. A newly established Black feminist organization with the name Combahee River Collective chose it in commemoration of Tubman 100 years after her accomplishments in South Carolina. This also honors Tubman's later work as a strong supporter of women's suffrage.