Harriet Tubman at age 91. Tubman was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the U.S. Civil War. After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue over seventy slaves using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. The first woman to lead an armed expedition in the war, she guided the raid on the Combahee River, which liberated more than seven hundred slaves. Tubman, widely known and well-respected while she was alive, became an American icon in the years after her death. She inspired generations of African Americans struggling for equality and civil rights; she was praised by leaders across the political spectrum.