On this day in 1862, Robert Smalls made his escape from slavery by stealing a Confederate ship. Smalls, the son of a house slave and, allegedly, the plantation owner’s son, was raised in the family home. As a teenager, he worked as a day labourer and sailor on the waterfront in Charleston. When the American Civil War began in 1861, Smalls was hired as a deckhand on Confederate supply ship the Planter. Smalls meticulously noted details of the ship and planned navigation routes, preparing to make his escape. In the early hours of May 13th, 1862, while the white crew slept in the city, Smalls and a small group of slaves - which included his wife and children - sailed the Planter out of Charleston. Smalls applied his knowledge from months of working on the ship to provide the correct signals at checkpoints, enabling the ship to sail to the Union blockade. The Planter raised a white flag of surrender, and was accepted by the Union ships. Smalls brought him not just recently-freed slaves, but the valuable Confederate plans and weaponry found aboard the ship. His daring escape earned him accolades from Congress, and his subsequent speaking tour made him a visible spokesperson for African-Americans fighting in the Union army; Smalls himself served as a naval captain. After the war, Smalls bought his former owner’s house in South Carolina and established a business. He entered politics after the enfranchisement of African-Americans, and served in the House of Representatives from 1874 to 1879. However, Smalls’s political career was marred by racially-motivated accusations of corruption. Robert Smalls, war hero, black activist, and Congressman, died in 1915 aged 75.
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