On the 4th of July in 1863, the popular newspaper Harper's Weekly reported that 756 people had just been freed. The Declaration of Independence had been signed 87 years earlier.

But for these enslaved Americans, that promise didn't arrive with those words. It arrived because of one brave woman and a regiment of Black soldiers.

That same year, the Battle of Gettysburg had just ended. The Siege of Vicksburg was finally over. Months later, President Lincoln would stand at Gettysburg and call this war our nation's "new birth of freedom."

Today marks 250 years since some Americans declared their independence from the British monarchy. As we celebrate, let's never forget: a new birth of freedom is always possible. We owe that lesson to people like The General.

Our first president, George Washington, was also a general. She earned that title too, from the men who followed her into enemy territory. She just never got to wear it officially in her lifetime.

Can you name our Civil War General?

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