[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 62 (Wednesday, May 15, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S4406]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 111--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
  HARRIET TUBMAN SHOULD HAVE BEEN PAID A PENSION FOR HER SERVICE AS A 
     NURSE AND SCOUT IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY DURING THE CIVIL WAR

  Mrs. CLINTON submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Armed Services:

                            S. Con. Res. 111

       Whereas during the Civil War Harriet Tubman reported to 
     General David Hunter at Hilton Head, South Carolina, with a 
     letter from Governor John Andrews of Massachusetts allowing 
     her to serve in the Union Army;
       Whereas Harriet Tubman served at Hilton Head as a nurse, 
     scout, spy, and cook;
       Whereas in the spring of 1865, Harriet Tubman worked at the 
     Freedman's hospital in Fortress Monroe, Virginia;
       Whereas Harriet Tubman's last husband, Nelson Davis, served 
     in the United States Colored Infantry under Captain James S. 
     Thompson, beginning on September 25, 1863, and was discharged 
     on November 10, 1865;
       Whereas Harriet Tubman received a pension as the spouse of 
     a deceased veteran;
       Whereas Harriet Tubman requested a pension for her own 
     service in the Union Army during the Civil War, but never 
     received one;
       Whereas a bill that passed the House of Representatives in 
     1897 during the 55th Congress (H.R. 4982) would have required 
     that Harriet Tubman be placed on the pension roll of the 
     United States for her service as a nurse in the United States 
     Army and paid a pension at the rate of $25 each month;
       Whereas some females who served in the military during the 
     Civil War received a pension for their service, including 
     Sarah Emma Edmonds Seelye and Albert Cashier, each of whom 
     posed as a male; and
       Whereas Harriet Tubman died of pneumonia on March 10, 1913, 
     and was buried at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York, 
     with military honors: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That--
       (1) Congress recognizes that Harriet Tubman served as a 
     nurse and scout in the United States Army during the Civil 
     War; and
       (2) it is the sense of Congress that Harriet Tubman should 
     have been paid a pension at the rate of $25 each month for 
     her service in the United States Army.

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