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Charleston County South Carolina Genealogy Trails | ||
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Robert Smalls and "The Planter"
Smalls
went to work as a civilian pilot for the Union Navy on the Keokuk, which
was sunk during an attack on Charleston. Rescued, he went on as pilot on
the Planter, which was a civilian run ship under contract to the Army.
During a Confederate ambush of the Planter, her white captain wanted to
surrender, but Smalls locked him in the coal bunker and escaped in spite
of heavy fire. He was named the ship's captain for his
bravery. After
the war, Smalls rose rapidly in politics, despite his limited education.
From 1868 to 1870 he served in the South Carolina House of Representatives
and from 1871 to 1874 in the state senate. He was elected to the U.S.
Congress (1875-79, 1881-87), where he sponsored a bill requiring equal
accommodations for both races in interstate transportation. Smalls spent
his last years in Beaufort, S.C. where he served as port
collector. The
following is directly quoted from: The Negro in the American Rebellion, by
William Wells Brown, Lee and Shepard, Boston: 1867. [This book uses the
language of the times and refers to Robert Smalls as Robert
Small.] "To the
Secretary of War -- U.S. Steamship Augusta, off Charleston, May 13,
1862 " Sir,
- I have the honor to inform you that the rebel armed gunboat Planter was
brought out to us this morning from Charleston by eight contrabands, and
delivered up to the squadron. Five colored women and three children are
also on board. She was the armed despatch and transportation steamer
attached to the engineer department at Charleston, under Brig. Gen.
Ripley. At four in the morning, in the absence of the captain who was on
shore, she left her wharf close to the government office and
head-quarters, with the Palmetto and confederate flags flying, and passed
the successive forts, saluting as usual, by blowing the steam-whistle.
After getting beyond the range of the last gun, they hauled down the rebel
flags, and hoisted a white one. The Onward was the inside ship of the
blockading squadron in the main channel, and was preparing to fire when
her commander made out the white flag. "The
Planter is a high-pressure, side-wheel steamer, one hundred and forty feet
in length, and about fifty feet beam, and draws about five feet of water.
She was built in Charleston, was formerly used as a cotton boat, and is
capable of carrying about 1,400 bales. On the organization of the
Confederate Navy, she was transformed into a gunboat, and was the most
valuable war-vessel the Confederates had at Charleston. She was
commanded by Capt. Relay, of the Confederate Navy, all the other employees
of the vessel, excepting the first and second mates, being persons of
color. "Robert
Small, with whom I had a brief interview at Gen. Benham's headquarters
this morning, is an intelligent negro, born in Charleston, and employed
for many years as a pilot in and about that harbor. He entered upon his
duties on board The Planter some six weeks since, and. . . the whole
arrangement of the escape was left to the discretion and sagacity of
Robert, his companions promising to obey him, and be ready at a moment's
notice to accompany him. For three days he kept the provisions of the
party secreted in the hold, awaiting an opportunity to slip away. At
length, on Monday evening, the white officers of the vessel went on shore
to spend the night. . . the families of the contrabands were notified, and
came stealthily on board. At about three o'clock, the fires were lit under
the boilers, and the vessel steamed quietly away down the harbor. The tide
was against her, and Fort Sumter was not reached till broad daylight.
However, the boat passed directly under its walls, giving the usual signal
-- two long pulls and a jerk at the whistlecord -- as she passed the
sentinel. "The armament of the steamer is a thirty-two pounder, on pivot, and a fine twenty-four pound howitzer. She has, besides, on her deck, four other guns. . . Robert Small, the intelligent slave, and pilot of the boat, who performed this bold feat so skillfully, is a superior man to any who have come into our lines, intelligent as many of them have been. His information has been most interesting, and portions of it of the utmost importance. The steamer is quite a valuable acquisition to the squadron . . . |
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