Robert Smalls, Ship's Pilot

Robert Smalls (1839–1915) was born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, and was sent to work in Charleston as a young man, where he worked on the waterfront as a stevedore, rigger and sailor.

Knowing the harbour

Smalls learned Charleston harbour intimately: its channels, shoals, tides, and the signals used to pass its forts. By 1861 he was the wheelman of the Planter, a side-wheel steamer used by the Confederate army as a transport. Enslaved men could not hold the title of pilot, but Smalls did the pilot's job.

The escape

Early on May 13, 1862, while the ship's white officers were ashore, Smalls and the enslaved crew took the Planter from its wharf, picked up their families from another wharf, and steamed out through the harbour, giving the proper whistle signals as they passed Confederate fortifications. Beyond the guns, they raised a white flag and surrendered the ship to the Union blockading fleet. Smalls also carried valuable information about harbour defences.

After the war

Smalls served the Union as a pilot, later commanding the Planter. After the war he bought property in Beaufort, founded businesses, served in the South Carolina legislature, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving five terms. He advocated for public education and civil rights.

Why he is in the Hall of Makers

Smalls's escape was an act of courage and of professional skill: navigation, ship handling and local knowledge. Maritime crew and pilotage training still center on the same knowledge.

Further reading

Cate Lineberry, Be Free or Die (2017); Robert Smalls papers and sites in Beaufort, South Carolina.