Willcox, Buyck & Williams, P.A James Montgomery & Harriet Tubman

James Montgomery Harriet Tubman caption Jean Yawkey Center at Emmanuel College

James Montgomery & Harriet Tubman

story by Mark W. Buyck, III The Confederates firing on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861 was the first hostile action between Confederate and Union soldiers. It is recognized as the beginning of the Civil War. The first major naval engagement of the war occurred during the battle of Port Royal during the first week of November, 1861. The battle was a major win for the Union as their forces were able to capture the Confederate forts on either side of Port Royal sound. This left Beaufort defenseless, and it was immediately occupied. Beaufort would remain under control of the Union throughout the war. It was a major supply hub located strategically between Savannah and Charleston. Beaufort also became a refuge of sorts for the former slaves who had worked the cotton plantations along the South Carolina Sea Islands. The Beaufort area also became a focal point for Northern abolitionists in their efforts to educate and ultimately assimilate former slaves into society. When Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, it declared that if the Southern states did not end the rebellion, all slaves in the Confederate states would be free as of January 1, 1863. At the time the Proclamation had little immediate effect as the Confederates still controlled the vast majority of the southern states. The effect in Beaufort however was obvious, as it was under Union control. At this point of the war, the United States government’s policy prohibiting blacks in the armed services began softening. On January 1, 1863, an “impressive ceremony” was held outside Beaufort taking into Federal service the 1st South Carolina Volunteer Infantry. By February the 2nd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry regiment was formed and recognized. Both the regiments were recruited from former slaves. Like other black units throughout the war, these unit’s officers were Northern whites. The commanding officer of the 2nd was James Montgomery, a long-time abolitionist who supported and served with John Brown during Bloody Kansas. Montgomery and his Underground Railroad

Raid on Combahee River

34th United State's Colored Infantry Regiment

regiment became reviled by plantation owners. They would raid low country plantations burning homes and outbuildings and freeing and carrying off slaves. One Northern soldier said of the regiment, “No white regiment for months and services has done as much to injure the Rebel cause as this handful of hated negroes, nor has any white regiment had the incentive that this fractional regiment had to distinguish themselves. They rescued their mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters from the galling servitude of the plantation.” The most famous of these raids occurred on June 1 and June 2, 1863, and became known as the Combahee Ferry Raid. On the night of June 1, 1863, 300 men from the 2nd South Carolina sailed from Beaufort for the Combahee River. They disembarked at several locations as they proceeded up the river exchanging fire with Confederate sentries but faced no consequential resistance. They sailed as far inland as the Combahee Ferry. The ferry was located at what is now the U.S. Highway 17 bridge over the river. During these plantation raids they carried away what supplies they could and burned what they could not. The plantations were owned by well-known Secessionists such as Oliver Middleton, Mr. Manigault, Charles Lowndes, and William Heyward. They also destroyed the pontoon bridge at the Combahee Ferry. Contemporaneous newspaper reports indicate that approximately 800 slaves were freed during the operation and returned to Beaufort with the regiment. As many as 100-150 of the freed males would join either the 1st or 2nd Regiments. In July 1863, the 2nd relocated from Beaufort to Morris Island to participate in the operations associated with the Union siege of Charleston, including the Battle for Battery Wagner. In February 1864, they were relocated to Jacksonville, Florida and ultimately reorganized as the 34th United State’s Colored Infantry Regiment. The most famous participant in the Combahee Ferry Raid was Harriet Tubman. Tubman was born a slave in 1822 in Maryland. In 1849 she escaped to freedom. She would become known as one of the most successful conductors of the Underground Railroad. Tubman joined other abolitionists in relocating to the Beaufort area following its capture. She served as a nurse to the soldiers and a helping hand for the fugitive slaves. By 1863 she was serving as a scout/ spy mapping the Sea Islands and becoming familiar with the terrain as well as the enslaved people living there. Tubman accompanied Montgomery on the raid sharing with him the knowledge she had gained during her clandestine visits. She assisted in the rescue of the 800 slaves. Like much of Harriet Tubman’s life, it is a bit difficult to distill the myth from the facts in assessing her contribution to the battle. Nevertheless, she was there, and she participated. While it may be hyperbole to declare that she led the raid, it is more than appropriate that the Highway 17 bridge at Combahee Ferry is now officially known as the Harriet Tubman Memorial Bridge.

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