Source: Library of Congress. Originally published 1862 in Harper's Weekly
Robert Smalls
(1839-1915)
“Oh Lord, we entrust ourselves into thy hands.
Like thou didst for the Israelites in Egypt,
Please stand over us to our promised land of freedom.”
—Robert Smalls
Prayer as he escaped to the Union side with a Confederate ship
More Online Resources
Robert Smalls official website
Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress entry on Robert Smalls
Wikipedia Biography
In 1873, the people of South Carolina elected a former slave named Robert Smalls (1839-1915) as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives where he served from 1875-1886. He compiled a brilliant record, served on several Congressional committees, and was known as a powerful orator.
While Robert Smalls was still in slavery, he became a hero by taking command of the Confederate ship Planter and piloting it out of Charleston harbor and into Union territory while the ship’s captain and White crew members were ashore.
Before he left the Confederate harbor with the ship, he bravely picked up his wife and three children, also slaves, and sailed away to freedom with his Black crew members and their families.
Smalls knew the right signals to pass out of the port right under the noses of Confederate sentries. Safely out of reach, he raised a white flag and surrendered himself and the ship into Union hands. Smalls provided the Union with invaluable equipment and intelligence concerning Confederate forts and encampments. In later years he was assigned as captain of the Planter.
Illustration from Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, v. 14 (1862 June 21), p. 180. Courtesy of Library of Congress
Forgiveness and compassion toward his former slave master's wife
Smalls received a reward for piloting the Planter out of Charleston harbor. With some of the reward money, he purchased the house at auction where he and his mother had been slaves and moved in.
One day, the wife of his former master, Mrs. McKee, came by the house that he now owned. She was elderly and somewhat confused, and still thought that it was her house. Instead of turning her away, Smalls brought her in and gave her back the bedroom that had been hers when she was his mistress and he was a slave, then served her.
Robert Smalls house, Beaufort, South Carolina
National Register
Distinguished military and government service
After his escape, Robert Smalls was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant, Company B, 33rd Regiment, United States Colored Troops. Later he was serving as pilot of the Planter, the ship he had commandeered, when it became engaged in a battle with Confederate forces in November 1863. The captain, who was white, was ready to surrender, but Smalls refused. By expert navigation he bravely saved the ship. The Black members of the crew, if captured, would have faced almost certain death at Confederate hands. Because of his heroism, the ship's captain was dismissed and Smalls was promoted to captain, the first Black American to achieve that honor.
Smalls was elected as a Republican to the South Carolina House and Senate and also served nine years as a U.S. Congressman. In 1889 he was appointed by President William McKinley to the post of customs collector in Beaufort, South Carolina. However, when President Woodrow Wilson took office he dismissed most Black federal officials, regardless of their qualifications, including Smalls.
Smalls died in 1915 at the age of 76, much honored. In 2001 the Army launched a Logistics Support Vessel (LSV-8) named the Major General Robert Smalls, the first ship named after a Black American.
