Born a slave in Maryland around 1821, Harriet Tubman survived a brutal childhood. At the age of thirteen, she was accidentally struck in the head by a counterweight thrown by an overseer, an injury that caused problems for the rest of her life. By day, she worked as a field hand; by night, she plotted her escape from slavery. She was successful in 1846, but found she could not abandon those she left behind. Tubman returned to the South to help slaves escape with her. They used the Underground Railroad. Often traveling alone, Tubman cleverly outsmarted slave catchers and their tracking dogs. During the Civil War, Tubman served the Union as a nurse and then a spy. When she died in 1913, she received full military honors.