Robert Smalls and the Planter: The 1862 Escape Past Fort Sumter

On May 13, 1862, a 23-year-old enslaved man put on a captain's straw hat and steered a Confederate steamer past Fort Sumter. The guns were loaded. The password was a whistle signal. He had it right. This is the story of Robert Smalls, the wheelman of the CSS Planter. Before dawn he took the ship out of Charleston Harbor with 16 people aboard, including his wife and children, and handed her to the Union fleet. Then he kept going. He piloted Union ships, served five terms in Congress, and bought the Beaufort house of the man who had enslaved his mother. He later took in that man's widow, who by then had little left. It matters because the escape was only the first act. Smalls spent the rest of his life pushing for the equal chance he'd taken for himself. We follow him from Prince Street to the floor of the House. 0:00 Under the Guns of Sumter 1:20 The Boy From Prince Street 3:08 The Captain's Straw Hat 4:38 3 A.M. 6:06 A Bedsheet at Dawn 7:41 From Pilot to Congressman 9:23 The House on Prince Street 10:38 An Equal Chance Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_... https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-... https://www.nps.gov/places/the-robert... https://www.nps.gov/people/john-small... https://www.essentialcivilwarcurricul... https://history.house.gov/People/List... #History #RobertSmalls #CivilWar Archive photos: Arms, G.H. Gillmore, Quincy A. Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 United States. War Department Julius Bien & Co. Trudeau, James Cowles, Calvin D. Davis, George B. Kirkley, JAW. Perry,; Bayless, Charles N., creator, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Boucher, Jack E., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Cooley, Sam A. (Samuel A.), photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Currier & Ives, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Currier & Ives. Uploaded by Christophe cagé 12:52, 6 September 2006 (UTC), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; E. & H.T. Anthony (Firm), publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; George N. Barnard / Adam Cuerden, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; George N. Barnard, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Gunn, Thomas Butler, 1826-1903, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; JonathanLamb, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Mathew Benjamin Brady / Levin Corbin Handy / Adam Cuerden, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Mathew Brady, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Matthew Brady, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Mike Goad, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, PPOC, Library of Congress, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Morrison, George A.; W.H. & O.H. Morrison (Firm), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; NOAA Photo Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; New York Illustrated News staff, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Popular Graphic Arts, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; The Albertype Co., Brooklyn (publisher), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; TradingCardsNPS, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Belen Saldana, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; USCapitol, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Unknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Warren LeMay from Covington, KY, United States, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Williams, W. A., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons