Written by Tony J. Spain, Palmetto Examiner
February 18, 2026
Robert Smalls was a warrior, but not by sword or rifle on an open battlefield, but by nerves of steel, skilled craftsmanship and an unbreakable will to shatter the chains of bondage. Born into in slavery in 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina, he worked as a slave on ships in the Charleston Harbor. By the time he was twenty he had become a skilled navigator on the waters with enough skills learned to qualify him as a helmsman, or skipper, but slaves were not allowed to have these titles. His skills of navigating treacherous channels earned the trust of his slave masters that he would use in his plans to escape to freedom.
In the spring of 1862, the Civil War raged, Smalls and a crew of slaves worked on the Confederate SS Planter, a side-wheel cotton transport turned into a military dispatch and supply ship. It was common for slaves to be crewmembers on Confederate ships during the war and white officers on the ships never suspected any disobedience from their slaves.
Robert Smalls was watching, waiting and planning for his freedom. He spent time mocking, learning the movements of the white captain of the ship, memorizing hand and whistle signals. He confined his plan to other enslaved crewmen: the engineer, the firemen, the deckhands. They planned to seize the ship when the white captain and mates went ashore for the night, as they often did. Failure of their plan would no doubt mean death by hanging; success meant liberty for themselves and families.
On the night of May 12, 1862, the officers departed, leaving the SS Planter in the hands of its enslaved crew. At around 3 a.m., Smalls gives the orders, the boilers are fired building steam slowly so no alarm would arise too soon. The ship slowly and quietly sails away.
They make their way to a wharf, where wives and children, including Small’s wife Hannah and their children. They board quickly with what small belongings they could carry. The SS Planter then turns and sails toward the main channel, heading straight into the heavily fortified and guarded Fort Sumter.
Smalls donned the captain’s broad-brimmed straw hat that the white captain always wore and stood on the bridge knowing if the guards doesn’t buy his imitation, they will be captured.
As the SS Planter approached the first battery Smalls sounded the correct signal: two long whistle blasts followed by a short. The Confederate soldiers recognize everything as normal and wave them through.
Smalls makes his way through four more checkpoints calmy using the proper signals and whistle blows.
Once out of sight of the last Confederate guns, Smalls lowers the Rebel flag and hoists up a white bedsheet of truce and surrender. The SS Planter is headed straight for a Union blockade about seven miles out.
When they reach the USS Onward, Union sailors stare in astonishment at the sight of a Confederate vessel steaming straight toward them under a white flag with a black captain, crew and women and children crowding the deck. Smalls stepped forward and announced with great pride: “I have brought you the Planter and her cargo, ourselves included.”
In a single morning, Smalls had liberated sixteen from slavery, delivered a valuable warship full of information and supplies to the Union, and struck a blow against the Confederacy. Newspapers across the North and South carried the story of the “slave who stole a steamer.” Congress awarded the crew prize money for the vessel. Smalls himself met President Abraham Lincoln and would become an advisor to the Union war effort. He eventually persuades Lincoln to allow former slaves to enlist in the Union Army.
Smalls asks, “How can I expect to keep my freedom unless I fight for it?”
Smalls becomes the first African American to command a naval vessel reclaiming the now USS Planter.
After the war, Smalls moved back to Beaufort and transitioned from his wartime heroics straight into politics in the Reconstruction era founding the South Carolina Republican Party, becoming a prominent Republican figure and one of the most influential black politicians in South Carolina advocating for civil rights, public education and equal treatment under the law.
In 1868 he served as a delegate to South Carolina’s constitutional convention, where he pushed for provisions establishing the state’s first free and compulsory public school system, the first in the United States. That same year he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, serving from 1868 to 1870.
He advanced to the South Carolina Senate in 1870, serving until 1874. He authored key legislation promoting education and rose to leadership roles, to include major general is the state militia. He also attended the Republican National Convention as a delegate in 1872 and 1876.
He won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1874 serving the 5th and then later the 7th coastal districts for five consecutive terms until 1879.
He faced defeat in 1878 election amid rising Democrat “Redemption” efforts that were violent and aimed at suppressing black republican voters.
In 1882, he successfully contested the election of George D. Tillman proving election interference and served again in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In Congress, Smalls championed integration of U.S. Army regiments, supported legislation for equal accommodations on interstate travel and spoke out against disenfranchisement. He endured intense hostility, including a politically motivated 1877 bribery conviction (for which he received a full pardon in 1879).
His final bid for reelection in 1886 failed as Jim Crow forces consolidated power, culminating in South Carolina's 1895 constitution. Smalls attended that convention addressing the convention as a delegate.
“My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be equal on any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life,” said Smalls, but he could not prevent the rollback of white supremacist Democrat “Redemption” that effectively stripped most Black voters of rights.
After leaving Congress, Smalls continued public service through a federal appointment as Collector of Customs for the Port of Beaufort from 1889 to 1913 (with a brief interruption during the Cleveland administration, restored under McKinley and later presidents).
He remained a steadfast advocate for his community until his death in 1915. Smalls, a born slave with the spirit of freedom, he embodied the promise of America and the warrior spirit needed to keep it. His legacy endures as a warrior for equality who proved that courage in battle could extend to the ballot box and the halls of Congress.
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About the Author: Tony Spain is a former candidate for
Richland County Council 2020 and an award winning former military photographer
and journalist while in the Public Affairs Office for the U.S. Army. His photos
and writing have been published in numerous publications such as The Commercial
News, Danville, Ill.; The Paraglide, Fort Bragg, N.C.; Soldier of Fortune
Magazine; The State Newspaper, Columbia, S.C., FITSNews and more.
He lives in Columbia, S.C.
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