He had a problem: when federal troops occupied regions of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, the white plantation owners fled, leaving behind ten thousand slaves who became "contraband of war." They barely had clothes on their backs, much less jobs, money, or education. Andrew, a staunch abolitionist, was well-acquainted with Harriet's clandestine efforts and her passion to help. An activist in the Freedman's Aid Society wrote of her in 1865: "She has needed disguises so often, that she seems to have command over her face, and can banish all expression from her features, and look so stupid that nobody would suspect her of knowing enough to be dangerous but her eye flashes with intelligence and power when she is roused." These experiences not only made Harriet Tubman famous, they made her a valuable asset to the military. She operated in winter, when nights were long and people stayed indoors, and made her return trips with the escaped slaves on Saturdays because the papers did not print runaway notices until Mondays. She was smart and strategic, devising clever disguises and playing to her strengths. She made the first of thirteen clandestine trips to Maryland to rescue relatives and other slaves in 1850. Tubman ran away from her own enslavement in 1849 and immediately had a price on her head.
She has permission, as a servant of the government, to purchase such provisions from the Commissary as she may need." He was referring to Harriet Tubman, best known as the former slave who became a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, risking life and liberty to help other runaway slaves escape to freedom.
#Secret neighbor scout free#
It read: "Give her free passage at all times, on all government transports. Major General David Hunter, Union commander of the Department of the South, issued the valuable military pass in 1861.
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