Robert Smalls was born enslaved on April 5, 1839 in a cabin behind his owners in Beaufort, South Carolina. His master family was the McKees who rented him out as young teen to work in Charleston in the boating business. Robert Smalls used these skills to seize a Confederate ship and literally sail it into freedom in the wee hours of May 13, 1862. The Confederate steamer named the Planter was moored a few miles from Fort Sumter where the Civil War had begun a year earlier. Smalls was a 23 year old enslaved man who stood on the deck with his family and was risking their lives for a chance at freedom. Motivated by the fear of his wife, four-year-old daughter, and infant son being sold off individually, Smalls plotted his path to possible freedom. Traveling alone was risky enough, taking a family with young children was either gutsy or crazy or both. One cry from the baby and their lives could be over.
Smalls needed to enlist the other enslaved crew members, an added risk to the escape. His plan was to commandeer the Planter into the flotilla of Union ships anchored just outside of Charleston Harbor. After the fall of Fort Sumter in April of 1861, President Lincoln ordered a blockade of all major Southern ports including the critical Charleston port. The South was dependent on the import of essential war supplies and human necessities which led to bootlegging supplies into Charleston by other means or by outsmarting the Union blockade. To reach the Union soldiers, Smalls would have to travel past well secured and armed Confederate fortifications and gun batteries posted along the shoreline.
Because the large steamship produced so much noise and smoke, it would have to appear to be on a routine mission to avoid sounding the alarms. This would include appearing to be navigated by three white officers who would be in position on journeys. Therefore, Smalls determined they would leave under the cover of darkness and he would impersonate the captain. This was the least of the logistic problems for Smalls. There was the issue of the three white officers normally onboard the ship and how to deal with them. There were guards on the wharf to circumvent and there was the need to pick up the family members and others on another steamer further up the river requiring some backtracking maneuvering that would be noticeable. This is all prior to the families consisting of sixteen men, women, and children boarding and uniting on the Planter and then proceeding into the Union blockade as a Confederate ship. At any moment in time, the ship could be blown out of the water by either army. It seemed like a mission impossible operation.
Smalls was an accomplished and trusted member of the crew but because he was enslaved, the Confederate soldiers would not call him a pilot. There were 10 members of the crew, the three white soldiers and seven enslaved workers who served as hands and engineers. The new captain of the Planter would often leave the enslaved crew on the ship while the white crew would spend the nights with their families. It is unlikely this was a trust issue but reflective of the belief that the enslaved were not smart or brave enough to pull off an escape, especially with so many obstacles before them. This was against military orders but that did not seem to concern the captain.
Despite the incredible odds, Smalls and his wife believed this was a battle cause worth dying for, the right to live as a free family. Recruiting the other crew members was also a risk because it was certain death if they betrayed him or if they agreed to go and then be caught. However, the fear of the Confederacy winning the war and prolonging slavery was more than the crew was willing to risk and so they joined in the planning with Smalls. Prior to this amazing escape, a Confederate vessel of this magnitude with its armory had never been surrendered by any civilian to the Union. Only a few weeks earlier, a group of 15 slaves in Charleston has delivered a barge they had seized to the Union fleet. The barge belonged to the same commander at the Planter but no added precautions were taken as a result of the barge seizing.
As the fog began to dissipate, Smalls raised the Confederate and South Carolina flags and ordered the crew to launch the ship. The first points of danger passed were a Confederate guard station near the port and a police detective, but both assumed the ship was on a routine trip. The next test was picking up the family at the wharf further down the river, but it all went according to plan. The steamer continued its’ path. The next risk was the greatest risk so far was steaming past Fort Sumter at 4:15 a.m. where the high views overlooking the water could provide firsthand inspection of the ship’s crew. Smalls was wearing the captain’s hat and blew the ship’s whistle code required to pass the Confederate stronghold. After receiving an encouraging cry from the sentry about blowing the Yankees to hell, Smalls responded with a simple “Aye, Aye.” As soon as they were past Fort Sumter, the crew quickly lowered the flags and raised a white bedsheet indicating surrender of the ship. Unfortunately, as they were approaching the Union ships, a heavy fog moved in and obscured the white flag putting them back in danger of being viewed as a hostile ship. Fortunately, the flag had been detected by the Union soldiers and they were encouraged to approach their ship, The Onward.
The captain of The Onward told them to pull alongside but Small and his crew did not hear the message and began approaching the rear of the ship. A call from the captain informing them they would be blown out of the water if they didn’t stop, caught their attention and they pulled up to the side. As the crew of the Planter rejoiced in their successful trip to freedom, Smalls rewarded the Union with a ship filled with a cascade of armory.
Smalls was viewed as a Union hero and toured around the North as a symbol of the Union cause. He used this fame to promote the recruitment of African Americans into the Union Armed Forces. He didn’t just recruit for the Union military but he served as the pilot of the ship he surrendered, The Planter which was now serving as a troop transport vehicle. He later commanded the Union’s ironclad Keokuk warship. His extensive knowledge of the Lowcountry waters helped him to advance the Union in nearly 17 military campaigns.
After the Civil War, Smalls literally returned to his birthplace, Beaufort in South Carolina. After purchasing the house where he was enslaved from the now destitute McKees, he provided them with economic support and care until the day Mrs. McKee died in their home. Smalls was elected to serve five terms as a U.S. Congressman in the House of Representatives. Smalls died himself in the same house at 511 Prince Street on February 22, 1915. His funeral was said to have been the largest in Beaufort’s history.
References:
https://explorebeaufortsc.com/the-amazing-story-of-beauforts-robert-smalls/
The Thrilling Tale of How Robert Smalls Seized a Confederate Ship and Sailed it to Freedom https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thrilling-tale-how-robert-smalls-heroically-sailed-stolen-confederate-ship-freedom-180963689/