The book is the first detailed account of one of the most dramatic episodes of the Civil War, and the central part Harriet Tubman played in it. The historical account is based on original documentation and is written by a descendent of the enslaved men and women who fought in the raid, and in the process liberated themselves. The work references more than 175 US Civil War pension files of the regiments of Second South Carolina Volunteers, including Tubman's, never used before.