User:Ebanony/Robert Small

Robert Small (April 5, 1839 - February 23, 1915) was an African American slave who piloted the Confederate ship Planter to the union during the Amrican Civil War; afterwards he served in the SOuth Carolina Legislatue and US Congress.

Early Life

The son of Robert and Lydia small, he was born in Beaufort, South Carolina in 1839. He and his mother were owned by John K. McKee, whose son Henry McKee inherited Robert in 1848. His duties consisted of doing his master's chores like caring for his horses as well as being rented out to others for labour as a tradsman. Robert learnt to read and write.

Robert began to work in Charleston Harbour; he acquired much knowledge about sailing & setting up boats. Later on he was employed as the pilot of the steamer the Planter in March of 1861. The steamer was a converted gunship that was used to supply forts near Charleston.

The Planter

Robert Small planned to escape to union lines with the ship. He confided his plan (a risky thing to do) to the other slaves that worked on the ship on May 11th. The white officers of the boat (captain, enginer and chief mate) had the custom of leaving the boat in the evenings in the care of Robert so that they could spend time with their families. After much preparation - including memorising exact signals and water charts - they planned their escape on May 13, 1862 at 04:00 in the morning. They also planned to take their own families with them, and after the men fired up the ship and got past the first check point by using the signals corrctly, their families boarded the ship.

As they left Fort Sumpter they were in constant danger. Any errors in the signals and they would have been fired on. Instead, Robert blew the ship's whistle as per the signal and the Confederate guard said "Pass The Planter". "Blow the damned Yankees to hell, or bring one of them in!" Posing as the the captain, he played along, saying in response "Aye, aye!"

When they were out of sight - and more importantly reach of the of Fort Sumpter - they flew a makeshift white flag and steered towards the closst union ship, the U.S.S. Onward, which was commanded by Lieutenant J. Frederick Nickels.

The Confederate officers were punished for the derliction of duty, and for the loss of the ship and slaves. The New York Times of August 15, 1862 reported this.

National Fame

For thir role in escaping and for providing the union with the Confederate gunboat as well as detailed intelligence on Charleston Harbour, Robert Small and the other men met with President Lincoln and were commended for their bravery. The June 14, 1862 issue of Harper's Weekly also dedicated an issue to their story.

Participation in the war

Robert Small's intellignce information proved invaluable to the taking of the Confederate forces guarding the River Stono; this took place because Small's had informed them of their lack of weapons that they had sent to another location. That bloodless battle took place on May 20, 1862, allowing the union to control the river for the duration of the Civil War.

However, Smalls worked for the union, even on the Planter. He served as a commissioned officer with the rank of second lieutenant in 33rd Regiment, Company B, of the U.S. Colored Troops. This was during a time when descriminatioin was policy in the military, and yet he particapted in numerous battles. For bravery in battle he was promoted to full captain on December 1, 1863.

Political Career

Robert Smalls served in the South Carolina House of Representatives as a Republican from 1868-1870. Afterwards, he served in the South Carolina Senate. He went on to be a Congressman from 1875-1880 and again from 1881-1887. President McKinley appointed him as Customs Collector of Beaufort, which he did from 1889 to 1913.

Family Life

On December 24, 1858 Robert Smalls married Hannah Jones, who was at the time a slave. He had a daughter Elizabeth Lydia Smalls, who was born that same year. Because Robert was let out to others, he was able to earn money in his spare time after paying his owner a set fee; it was with these earnings that he purchased the freedom of his wife and child. His wife, who also bore him another daughter, Sarah Voorhes, died in 1883. Smalls remarried; this time to Annie Elizabeth Wagging; he had a son, William Robert, before his second wife died.

Final Years

At the end of his life, Robert Smalls was sick and died on February 23, 1915. He was burried in Tabernacle Baptist Church cemetery Though contributing much the United States, Robert Smalls is not well known today for his role in the Civil War or in public service; some historians consider his contributions as important as those of other notable men and women of the time like Frederick Douglass.