[citation needed] On August 27, 1782, one of the last fights in the Revolutionary War took place along the Combahee River.

The British made an attempt at foraging, which the Americans, headed by General Mordecai Gist and Colonel John Laurens, opposed.

The Combahee River bordered and supplied the water for some of the largest, most productive rice plantations prior to the Civil War.

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 Collective was instrumental in highlighting that the white feminist movement was not addressing the particular needs of black women.