Like most people who know some history, Harriet Tubman is a person who I was already familiar with. However, everything that I knew was about her involvement with the Underground Railroad. I didn't know anything about her being in charge of a Union spy mission in the Beaufort, SC area. This mission rescued over 500 slaves in a single night.
I know how hard it was for the Union army to accept black soldiers into its ranks. In fact, many of the soldiers refused to fight side by side with the very people they were fighting to free. This resulted in the formation of separate regiments made up of those black soldiers, led by white men.
Harriet Tubman had formed a relationship with one of the leaders of the black regiments during her work on the Underground Railroad. She had won his trust and respect. He put her in charge of recruiting a few trustworthy black men to help scope out the Confederate defense of the area and to find some key people on the plantations to help orchestrate the destruction of the rice paddy gates and the freeing of as many slaves as they could fit in the ships.
I always enjoy learning something new in any historical fiction that I read, and this book was a huge bonus because it wasn't just a snippet that I learned but a whole new episode of the Civil War.
I know how hard it was for the Union army to accept black soldiers into its ranks. In fact, many of the soldiers refused to fight side by side with the very people they were fighting to free. This resulted in the formation of separate regiments made up of those black soldiers, led by white men.
Harriet Tubman had formed a relationship with one of the leaders of the black regiments during her work on the Underground Railroad. She had won his trust and respect. He put her in charge of recruiting a few trustworthy black men to help scope out the Confederate defense of the area and to find some key people on the plantations to help orchestrate the destruction of the rice paddy gates and the freeing of as many slaves as they could fit in the ships.
I always enjoy learning something new in any historical fiction that I read, and this book was a huge bonus because it wasn't just a snippet that I learned but a whole new episode of the Civil War.