Escape Aboard the Planter (Article 92)
“I wanted freedom, but would leave only with my family”- Robert Smalls
“If he would die, I would die with him” – Hanna, wife of Robert Smalls
Compared to most slaves in South Carolina, Robert Smalls lived a relatively safe existence. His owner was Henry McKee who seemed to favor Robert, as well as Robert’s mother, who was a house servant. As Robert grew into his teen years, Mr. McKee gave him jobs of increasing responsibility; however, Robert was still clearly a slave and Mr. McKee was clearly his master. Some historians speculate that Robert’s father may have been Mr. McKee, a son of McKee, or a White manager named Smalls; however, in any case, Robert’s mother was certainly a victim of a male master taking advantage over a female slave. Robert grew up in a small cabin behind Mr. McKee’s main house in Charleston, South Carolina. He said later that his mother, at some point, asked Mr. McKee to send him to a plantation for a while; probably so that he could experience the more severe deprivations prevalent among slaves on those farms. She evidently did not want Robert to ever take his favored status for granted. After a short stint as a farm worker, when he was about thirteen, he was sent to work on Charleston’s docks and, over time, progressed through related trades such as longshoreman and sails rigger.
Soon his skill, and knowledge of the harbor, was recognized and he became a wheelman, which was similar to a ship’s pilot; except that slaves were not allowed to use that professional title. Robert had learned the idiosyncrasies of the large harbor and the many tributaries, which were critical to guiding vessels safely through the various water depths and submerged rocks; and by the age of twenty, he was in steady demand by various ship owners who needed to navigate the harbor and shoreline. Of course, as a slave, his wages were paid to his owner; but in keeping with the favorable relationship between this slave and his master, Robert received a portion of the earnings. In 1856, when Robert was seventeen, he was allowed to marry Hanna Jones, also a slave, who was owned by a man who ran a local hotel. Hanna was five years older than Robert and brought two daughters to the marriage, who were also slaves owned by Hanna’s’ master. The girls were probably fathered by their owner or one of his relatives; therefore, Hanna was a victim as was Robert’s mother. The couple was permitted to live in a small house near the hotel, probably an upgrade from Robert’s prior slave quarters, and the couple then had two children of their own; however, one died in infancy. Over time, Robert hoped to buy freedom for himself and his family, and he and Mr. McKee and Hanna’s owner had even agreed upon a price; however, the total price went up with each child and, by the time the Civil War started, he had not been able to save enough.
But Charleston harbor was bustling and the demand for his services as a wheelman (pilot) kept him busy and increased his already fine reputation as a reliable shipmate. In October 1861, Robert became the wheelman for the Confederate ship, CSS Planter, a small steam-driven ship which was armed with several weapons. The ship’s duties included transportation of men and equipment throughout Charleston Bay and into tributaries along the South Carolina coast. Although Northern ships had instituted a naval blockade of the harbor early in the Civil War, the area they tried to cover was so large that ships like the Planter moved with relative impunity.
For now, Robert had a steady job and a home for his family, but he was a slave and he and his family were owned by another human being.
Robert knew that he wanted to be free and, in the spring of 1862, began to plan an escape. Since he had been given wide latitude by his owner to move about independently, Robert could probably have managed to escape by himself. After all, he knew the territory, and such singular escapes were happening with some regularity now that the Civil War was entering its second year.
However, Robert would not leave his family, which now included his wife Hanna and three children; so, he needed a plan that would include all five of them. He knew, of course, that an escape with five travelers would be much more complicated, and dangerous, than if he went alone. He told his family that any opportunity to leave would be fleeting and that they would have to be ready on a moment’s notice. He did not know when or where that opportunity would come, but he was constantly assessing situations. He confided in a few other slaves, who were often part of the crew of the Planter, and who he believed he could trust with his family’s lives.
Mathew Brady Photograph
He decided that his best chance to escape South Carolina was by sea and that the Planter would be the best ship to use. This was not just a decision to remain a slave or try to reach freedom, but also a decision of life and death. If caught stealing a Confederate Naval vessel, more likely than not, Robert Smalls would have been executed, as would the other slaves who helped him. His wife and children would have, at a minimum, been punished and likely sold to separate new owners. Robert’s decisions could not have been easy.
The Planter was used by the Confederate Navy to move troops and equipment around Charleston and to lay mines throughout the harbor. Robert was trusted by the Planter’s Captain, C.J. Relyea, to guide the ship on these missions. Certainly, on occasion, Robert could look out over the bay and see the U.S. Naval vessels which formed an irregular and constantly adjusting blockade about seven miles outside the harbor.
On May 12, 1862, Robert guided the Planter to a Confederate coastal station to retrieve some cannon and ammunition for a fort in Charleston Harbor, then docked back at the ship’s station at the Charleston Warf.
At the time he did not know exactly when he might seize the Planter because the White Officers were under orders to always have at least one officer on board. But he wanted to execute his plan soon, so he had his family go to the wharf and hide on an empty ship which was nearby.
He would wait for the right opportunity.
We do not know if he, and the other slaves who agreed to his plan, would have been willing to try to overpower the officers to gain control of the ship; but they did not need to make that decision as fate intervened. Disobeying their orders, that same night, Captain Relyea and the other two officers, left the ship to go into town, perhaps to visit their families, and left Smalls and the slave crew on board.
Robert Smalls saw his chance and he took it!
Starting about 3am, on May 13th, the crew maneuvered the Planter along the wharf’s edge to the ship where he had stowed his family. There were seven other slaves in the crew who decided to cast their lot with Robert Smalls and his family, and those slaves had also managed to have their family members join Hanna and her children on the other vessel. The Planter was a noisy ship, which billowed smoke and embers, so there was no way to sneak past the several sentry posts in the harbor. Instead, Smalls hoped to disguise himself as Captain Relyea and convince the sentries that the Planter was on a routine night mission. Such trips were common because it was easier to evade the Union Naval blockade at night. Smalls wore one of Captain Relyea’s jackets and donned a large straw hat that was similar to one that the Captain often wore. In the dark, and from some distance, he had to hope that the sentries would not notice that it was a Black man, not the White Captain, who was in charge of the ship. Since Robert was familiar with the harbor’s sentry points and knew the signal codes which allowed the Confederate ships to pass, the Planter and its passengers began to pass sentry points on its voyage our of Charleston Bay. His final sentry post was at Fort Sumter and, after giving the proper signal to that fort’s sentries, he was cleared to pass into open water about 4:30 am.
But he was not safe yet!
Robert’s next problem was how to approach one of the large Union warships, in a Confederate naval vessel, without being fired upon. He fashioned a large white flag from a bed sheet his wife had brought; and hoped for the best. The first Union ship he encountered was the USS Onward and upon seeing the smaller ship approach, the sentinel crew on the Onward sounded the battle alarm and cannons were prepared to fire on the Planter. It was so dark that even the white bed sheet was not immediately visible; but then, after a few tense moments, the sunrise began and provided just enough illumination for a sailor of the Onward to spot the white flag.
How close were the escapees to being blown out of the water? A witness reported, “Just as No. 3 port gun was being elevated, someone cried out, ‘I see something that looks like a white flag’; …….. As she neared us, we looked in vain for the face of a white man. When they discovered that we would not fire on them, there was a rush of contrabands (slaves) out on her deck, some dancing, some singing, whistling, jumping; and others stood looking towards Fort Sumter, and muttering all sorts of maledictions against it. As the steamer came near, and under the stern of the Onward, one of the Colored men stepped forward, and taking off his hat, shouted, ‘Good morning, sir! I've brought you some of the old United States guns, sir!” It was Robert Smalls who shouted the greeting.
The Captain of the Onward went on board the Planter and was met by Smalls who formally introduced himself and asked if the Captain might have an extra American flag that could be raised on the former Confederate ship.
Robert and his family were free! He was only twenty-three years old!
Almost immediately, Robert was able to provide valuable information to the Union forces about the Confederate operations and shipping schedules within the Charleston area.
Meanwhile, back on the wharfs in Charleston, the loss of the Planter was discovered and the three officers who left their ship against clear orders were arrested. After an investigation and military trial, Captain Relyea was convicted of dereliction, but the charge was subsequently dropped. It appears that the Confederate government was reluctant to air the issue publicly for two reasons; (1) they did not want to encourage other similar escapes, but (2) they could not comprehend that a slave could so dupe Southern naval officers, not only Captain Relyea, but also all of the sentry positions. In fact, there was speculation that several White men must have planned and executed Small’s escape, but Robert Smalls needed no such help!
The U.S. Navy had a program to reward those who captured Confederate vessels and Robert and his crew of other former slaves were awarded the prize. Robert received $1,500.00, an amount that gave he and his family the first financial security they had ever known. And, he had a new job, for which all of the money he earned was his. He became a civilian employee of the U.S. Navy and would be a ship’s pilot, a title never permitted him as a slave in the south. His hope was to stay with the Planter, but it needed refitting before use by the U.S. Navy, so he was assigned to another ship in the interim. Later, he was reunited with the Planter until the end of the war.
But before he could sail for the U.S. Navy, Robert was used in other capacities. His story was so compelling that political and military leaders in the North wanted Robert to tour major cities to raise money for the war effort; and he was a successful fund raiser. Also, a few wanted to use Robert’s new found fame for a second purpose; to encourage Abraham Lincoln, Secretary of War Stanton, and reluctant members of Congress to allow former slaves and African American freemen to join the Union Army and Navy. However, we do not know how much influence Robert had on that decision, because it would be another year before Black units were formed.
Robert continued service with the U.S. Navy and at one point, may have been given a temporary commission, and designated as a ship’s Captain. While Robert participated in nearly twenty naval battles and/or skirmishes over the next three years, the Navy never recognized that his officer commission was legal and insisted that he was always a civilian under contract with the Navy. This rankled Robert and he applied several times for a Navy pension, not for the small amount of money he might gain, but to force the Navy to consider his service as military, not just civilian. Finally, in 1897, by an act of Congress, not by the U.S. Navy, Robert Smalls was granted a pension equal to that of a Navy Captain.
For Robert, that would have to do.
After the War ended, in 1865, Robert settled with his family back in South Carolina where he purchased the house owned by his former master at a tax sale.
Robert became a leader of the state’s reconstruction Republican Party and was first elected to the South Carolina legislature and later was elected to became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Additionally, Robert started several successful businesses, including a short-line railroad and a newspaper, and became a federal collector of port fees, a position he held for over twenty years. By 1875, he was also in the forefront of the battles in South Carolina between those who wanted to reform the old south, and former Confederates who opposed civil rights and sought to return to a White dominated society. The political rhetoric was harsh, the Ku Klux Klan terrorized the former slaves, and, over time, Black office-holders like Robert Smalls began to lose elections. While his political influence waned, he remained active in his community of Beaufort until his death at age seventy-five in 1915.
While his life after the Civil War was exceptionally productive, it was his daring seizure of the Planter, and the harrowing passage out of Charleston Harbor to freedom, which earned Robert Smalls a well-deserved place in history.