On this Veterans Day, the Maryland National Guard honored famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman as a one-star general.
The posthumous honor for the Underground Railroad “conductor” came during a ceremony Monday at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
“Harriet Tubman should be revered always for risking her life and her own freedom and the cause of justice for the enslaved,” said Maryland National Guard Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead.
Tubman was born into slavery in Maryland in 1822. In 1844, she would escape but returned to the state 13 more times to help other enslaved friends and family get to freedom. She would also help many others by providing them with instructions on how to escape their slaveowners.
“She learned the geography contacts along the Underground Railroad, best ways to travel in the forbidden territory where even a free slave would be taken,” Birckhead said.
Her work wouldn’t end there, as she played a pivotal role in helping the Union Army during the Civil War. She would help wounded soldiers, serve as a spy for the Army and even help lead raids on several plantations.
The raid would not only free hundreds of slaves, but also bolster the Union Army as many of those freed enlisted to fight.
“I could not think of a more appropriate day — a day to lift up one of the greatest Marylanders we have ever seen, one of the greatest patriots this country has ever seen — than to have a day where we are going to honor and lift up and commission Harriet Tubman to be a general,” said Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
Moore said Tubman was the first to live up to the phrase “leave no one behind,” a phrase often heard in lessons about bravery and compassion.
Moore, a combat veteran, said giving Tubman the title of general is a fitting tribute to an amazing woman.
“Tubman lived the virtues that the U.S. military taught each and every one of us who took that oath. She lived them, they’re embodied in who she was and what she represents, that you lead with honor and integrity, duty and courage,” he said.
Birckhead said Tubman had the skills and talents which would have put her in the top 1% of those enlisting in the Maryland National Guard.
“A scout, very good at land navigation, clearly physically fit, resilient, able to lead people — all those things that we look for,” Birckhead said.
There to receive the medal on Tubman’s behalf was her great-great-great-grandniece, Tina Wyatt.
“Aunt Harriet was one of those veterans, informally, she gave up any right that she had attained for herself to be able to fight for others,” Wyatt said.
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