Editing Combahee River

{{Short description|River in South Carolina, United States of America}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox river
| name               = Combahee River
| name_native        = 
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<!---------------------- IMAGE-->
| image              = combahee4opt.jpg
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| image_caption      = The Combahee River as seen from the [[Harriet Tubman]] Bridge along [[U.S. Highway 17]]
| image_alt          = 
<!---------------------- MAPS -->
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| pushpin_map        = South Carolina
| pushpin_map_size   = 
| pushpin_map_caption= Location of mouth
| pushpin_map_alt    = 
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = [[United States]]
| subdivision_type2  = State
| subdivision_name2  = [[South Carolina]]
| subdivision_type3  = Counties
| subdivision_name3  = Colleton, Beaufort, Hampton
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<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1            = 
| source1_location   = 
| source1_coordinates= {{Coord|32.7918393|-80.8798286|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation  = 
| mouth              = 
| mouth_location     = 
| mouth_coordinates  = {{coord|32|30|31|N|80|30|34|W|type:river|display=title}}
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}}

The '''Combahee River''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ə|m|ˈ|b|iː}} {{respell|kəm|BEE|'}})<ref>''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary, Third Edition'' (Merriam-Webster, 1997; {{ISBN|0877795460}}), p. 272.</ref> is a short [[blackwater river]] in the southern [[Lowcountry|Lowcountry region]] of [[South Carolina]] formed at the confluence of the [[Salkehatchie River|Salkehatchie]] and [[Little Salkehatchie River|Little Salkehatchie]] rivers near the Islandton community of [[Colleton County, South Carolina]]. Part of its lower [[drainage basin]] combines with the [[Ashepoo River]] and the [[Edisto River]] to form the [[ACE Basin]].  The Combahee empties into [[Saint Helena Sound]] near [[Beaufort, South Carolina|Beaufort]], which in turn empties into the [[Atlantic Ocean]].<ref>{{GNIS|1247353|Combahee River}}</ref>

==History==
The river is named for its first inhabitants, the Combahee tribe of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. Europeans occupied the area as early as the 1680s, and so the Combahee and others of the [[Cusabo]] group are also known as Settlement Indians. Land was set aside for the [[Yamasee|Yemassee]] people along several rivers, including the Combahee.<ref>[https://www.beaufort.usmc.mil/MCAS%20Beaufort%20Site/prehistory/tribes.html South Carolina Tribes: The Yemassee Indians]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, MCAS Beaufort</ref> The [[Yemassee War]] of 1715–1717 saw skirmishes in the area.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

On August 27, 1782, one of the last fights in the [[American Revolution|Revolutionary War]] took place [[Battle of the Combahee River|along the Combahee River]]. The British made an attempt at foraging, which the Americans, headed by General [[Mordecai Gist]] and Colonel [[John Laurens]], opposed.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}} Laurens, the son of Henry Laurens, a former president of the [[Continental Congress]], died in the action.

The Combahee River bordered and supplied the water for some of the largest, most productive rice plantations prior to the Civil War. It was the site of an important military incident during that conflict, the [[Raid at Combahee Ferry]]. This was a Union raid into the interior of South Carolina, which freed over 750 slaves. [[Harriet Tubman]], an escaped slave herself, well known for leading others hundreds of miles to safety on the [[Underground Railway]], led this endeavor on June 2, 1863. The bridge across the Combahee on [[US Highway 17]] is the location today.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

==Cultural legacy==
The [[Combahee River Collective]] was a [[Black feminism|Black feminist]] [[lesbian]] organization, formed in 1974<ref name="harris">{{Cite web |url=http://www.uga.edu/~womanist/harris3.1.htm |title=Duchess Harris. Interview with Barbara Smith. |access-date=2008-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315192601/http://www.uga.edu/~womanist/harris3.1.htm |archive-date=2008-03-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="manning">[[Manning Marable|Marable, Manning]]; [[Leith Mullings]] (eds), ''Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices of Resistance, Reform, and Renewal'', Combahee River Collective Statement, Rowman and Littlefield, 2000, {{ISBN|0-8476-8346-X}}, p. 524.</ref> and named after the [[Combahee River Raid]], where Harriet Tubman led 750 freed slaves to safety. The Collective was instrumental in highlighting that the white feminist movement was not addressing the particular needs of black women.<ref>Women's Realities, Women's Choices: An Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies. 2005.</ref> They are perhaps best known for developing the Combahee River Collective Statement,<ref name="statement2">The full text of the Combahee River Collective Statement is available [http://circuitous.org/scraps/combahee.html here].</ref> a key document in the history of contemporary Black feminism and the development of the concepts of [[Identity (social science)|identity]] as used among political organizers and social theorists.<ref name="E. Hawkesworth, Maurice Kogan 2004, p577">Hawkesworth, M. E.; Maurice Kogan. ''Encyclopedia of Government and Politics'', 2nd edn Routledge, 2004, {{ISBN|0-415-27623-3}}, p. 577.</ref><ref name="Harriet Sigerman 1941, p316">Sigerman, Harriet. ''The Columbia Documentary History of American Women Since 1941'', Columbia University Press, 2003, {{ISBN|0-231-11698-5}}, p. 316.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
* [[Combahee River Collective]]

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[[Category:Rivers of South Carolina]]
[[Category:Rivers of Colleton County, South Carolina]]
[[Category:Rivers of Beaufort County, South Carolina]]
[[Category:Rivers of Hampton County, South Carolina]]