Who was Robert Smalls? From Slave to War Hero and Congressman
Robert Smalls story is remarkable. So remarkable, I cannot believe we don’t already have several movies about him.
His mother Lydia Polite is a slave at the time of his birth in 1839. She gives birth to him in a cabin behind the home of her slaver, Henry McKee, in Beaufort, South Carolina.
Growing up he finds he is able to connect with people. Leading to him being favoured over other slaves. His mother asks for him to be made to work the fields, as she wants him to see the reality of life as a slave, which includes brutal whipping punishments.
At 12, his mother requests that Robert’s master send him to Charleston to work as labourer. There he is allowed to keep one dollar a week, with his master receiving the rest of his wage. Over the years, Robert works his way up through the docks to become a ships helmsman. Though, it should be said, as a slave he is not permitted the title that comes with the responsibility. He does however, have an intimate knowledge of Charleston Harbour. This will become relevant soon!
Aged just 17, he marries Hannah Jones, a slave five years older than him. She already has two daughters and with Robert has another daughter and a son who sadly dies at the age of two. Robert wants to buy their children’s freedom, but quickly realises it would take decades to do so.
Telling no-one, not even his wife, he begins to think of escape.
Civil War & Escape from Slavery
April, 1861. The American Civil War begins with the Battle of Fort Sumter. Robert Smalls is assigned duties aboard the CSS Planter, a lightly armed confederate gun boat. He pilots the boat, lays mines and maps waterways.
While docked, it is customary for the white officers to spend the evenings ashore, while the crew stay aboard. Smalls, being a trusted member of the crew, asks the officers if their families can visit, which is approved on the condition that they leave before curfew finishes.
The families visit and are seen to leave at curfew. However, they circle back and are hidden aboard another steamer. Robert and his crew mean to steal the CSS Planter and sail her away to freedom!
During the night, Robert begins to enact his plan. He dresses up as Captain Relyea and they sail the Planter out of Harbour, stopping briefly to pick up their families.
As a result of his disguise and knowledge of checkpoint signals, Robert and his crew are able to pass by five confederate harbour forts. At around 4.30 am, they sail past Fort Sumter.
As the nearly-free slaves approached Fort Sumter, their apprehension began to grow. It was the most heavily armed of the forts and tended to be manned by the most suspicious soldiers. One of the men aboard later said, “When we drew near the fort every man but Robert Smalls felt his knees giving way and the women began crying and praying again.
As the Planter approached the fort, several men urged Smalls to give it a wide berth. Smalls refused, saying that such behaviour would almost certainly arouse suspicion. He steered the ship along its normal path, slowly, as though he were merely enjoying the early morning air and in no particular hurry. When Fort Sumter flashed the challenge signal, Smalls again gave the correct hand signs. There was a long pause. The fort didn’t immediately respond, and Smalls now expected cannon fire to shred the Planter at any moment. Finally, the fort signalled that all was well, and Smalls sailed his ship out of the harbour.
Lineberry, Cate (2017). Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls’ Escape from Slavery to Union Hero. New York: St. Martin’s Press
Freedom and the Union
The alarm was not raised until the Planter was already out of gun range. Robert headed for the Union navy fleet, flying a white bedsheet to alert them that they were not a threat. As a result of this, they managed to stop themselves being shot and sunk!
As he disembarked the Planter, Robert stepped towards Captain Nickels of the USS Onward and proudly exclaimed:
Good morning, sir! I’ve brought you some of the old United States guns, sir!
Roberts Smalls to Captain John Frederick Nickels of the USS Onward
Along with the guns and ammo, Smalls also had extensive knowledge of the confederate military positions and the Captains code book which contained signals and a map of mines and traps laid in Charleston’s harbour.
Due to the heroic escape he and his crew made, Robert Smalls story soon became very well known. U.S. Congress passed a bill awarding them prize money for the capture of the Planter. Robert joined the Union and served briefly under Admiral DuPont before being sent to Washington to help convince Lincoln to allow black men to enlist and fight for the Union. Soon, the 1st and 2nd South Carolina Regiments was formed. These were some of the first black regiments in the Union Army.
Battles and back to the Planter
Valued for its shallow draft, the Planter went in for repairs. Robert Smalls was made pilot of several boats, seeing action along the coast and river while he removed the mines and traps he himself had previously laid as a slave.
In December 1863, Robert was back piloting the Planter on Folly Island Creek when they came under fire from confederate batteries. The Captain of the boat, lost his composure and hid in the coal bunker. Robert was made of sterner stuff. He refused to surrender. Taking charge of the wheelhouse, he piloted the boat back to safety. Due to his actions, he was promoted and made acting Captain of the Planter.
Roberts legend grows ever stronger. Because of this, he is voted an unofficial delegate to the Republican Convention held in Baltimore in the spring of 1864. This would be the first step in a long political career.
Later in 1864, Robert is sent with the Planter to Philadelphia so that it can be overhauled. Two important things happen here.
- Robert learns to read and write. Born a slave, he was illiterate until this point.
- Riding in a streetcar, he is ordered to give up his seat to two white passengers. Rather than stand, he leaves the streetcar. Because of this incident of humiliating a war hero, a bill is passed to have integrated public transport in Philadelphia in 1867.
Retirement from the union and a Return to Beaufort
Robert Smalls is discharged on June the 11th, 1865. He learns later on in life that he had never been officially commisioned, meaning no officers pension. This is not rectified until 1897, some 30 odd years later when he is awarded $30 a month, equal to the pension of a Navy Captain.
Returning to Beaufort, Robert bought his former masters house! Union authorities had seized the property in 1863 for failure to pay taxes. What a blow that must have been to a slave owners ego.
For a while Robert was content to be a business owner, investor and local leader. He formed the Enterprise Railroad, a horse drawn railway line who’s Board consisted mainly of African Americans. He also help found and publish a black owned newspaper called the Beaufort Southern Standard.
Political Career
Robert was a staunch Republican. At the time the Republican party was the party of Lincoln. It stood for freedom, social justice and reform for African Americans.
In 1868 he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. There he worked to pass a civil rights bill and campaigned to make schooling free and compulsory for all children.
Due to his work, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1874. There he served two terms. During this time he was accused and convicted of taking a bribe. This was however, part of a wide ranging effort to reduce African American involvement in politics. He was duly pardoned but the scandal meant he lost his seat in the house.
Undeterred, he ran again and regained his seat in 1882. During his time in Congress, Robert supported bills for racial integration and advised South Carolina blacks to refrain from leaving the area. He really tried to make his home state the best he could.
Failing Health and Death
Despite his health failing due to diabetes, Robert was active in politics well into the 1900’s. He held the post of collector of the Port of Beaufort from 1890 until 1913. He and five other black politicians strongly opposed white Democratic party efforts to disenfranchise black citizens in 1895.
Although his political career was on the national level, he still held a little sway at the local level. In 1913, he played a large role in stopping a lynch mob from killing two black men suspected of murder. He told the mayor that unless the lynching was stopped, black citizens would burn the town down. It did the trick.
Roberts Smalls died in 1915. His health had been failing for some years and eventually a combination of malaria and diabetes would take him. He was buried in his family plot at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Beaufort. His headstone reads:
My race needs no special defence, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life.
Roberts Smalls – address to South Carolina legislature 1895 and headstone.
So who was Robert Smalls? He was a businessman, a war hero, a politician, a leader and an inspiration for millions. But most of all, he was a free man.
Sources:
Congressman Robert Smalls (history.house.gov)
Which slave sailed himself to freedom? (pbs.org)
Robert Smalls (britannica.com)
Robert Smalls (wikipedia.org)
Header Image (pixabay.com)