ROBERT SMALLS' LARGE LOWCOUNTRY LEGACY

Born in Beaufort to an enslaved mother and white father, Robert Smalls was only 23 years old when he created his daring plan to escape with his family from slavery to freedom. The War between the States was barely a year old, and South Carolina had been the first state to secede from the Union, as well as the first to fire shots of aggression in Charleston harbor at Fort Sumter. Union commanders had devised a plan to blockade the entire Southern seaboard, focusing on the critical shipping ports of Charleston and Savannah. Their "Anaconda Plan" involved stopping all sea-going freight, in order to strangle the lifeblood of the south's vital agricultural export trade of rice, cotton, and indigo with Europe. 

Because of the Union blockade, southern shipping was confined to the inner harbors and tidal rivers, where waterway ferry trade became critically important. Since he had grown up on the rivers of the Lowcountry, young Robert had become known as a skilled and trusted river pilot, and his services were hired for work in Charleston Harbor, ferrying troops and supplies for the Confederacy. Smalls had been assigned to work on the Planter, the most valuable vessel of military commerce in the Confederate-held harbor at the time. With a shallow-draft hull, the side-wheel steamer drew only five feet of water and her 140-length and 50-foot beam allowed the vessel to carry 1,400 bales of cotton at a time. At the time of the escape, the Planter was loaded with cannons and ammunition to be delivered to Fort Ripley, in the mouth of the harbor the very next day. 

Smalls' plan was audacious; while the Confederate crew slept onshore, he lit the boiler fires and slipped away from the dock at 3:00 am, on the early morning of May 13, 1862. On board were his wife and three children, as well as eleven other men, women and children. The steamer's paddle wheels thrashed the salty water as the Planter pushed her way against the incoming tide toward the mouth of the harbor. As he passed the five armed Confederate sentries during their three-hour journey, Smalls imitated the physical stance and gestures of the Planter's absent Captain, down to the wide-brimmed straw hat that the captain was known to wear. 

As the Planter approached the final sentry, Fort Sumter, in the early light of dawn, two long blasts and one short pull on the boat's steam whistles signaled their request to pass, which was met with an affirmative reply. Realizing too late that the Planter was heading out the harbor and toward the Union flotilla, the guns of the fort could not be trained and fired quickly enough to stop her escape. The Planter continued toward the Union blockade ship, Augusta, hoisting a huge white sheet as she approached. Smalls, his comrades, and their families were all subsequently granted their freedom and some were rewarded monetarily for their acts of bravery. The Harper's Weekly newspaper called the exploit, "one of the most daring and heroic adventures since the war commenced." 

After the war, Smalls became a state representative from South Carolina and a five-term US Congressman, eventually returning to Beaufort to buy the house where he had grown up. Truly one of our treasured heroes for his brave and clever trickery, and the subsequent freedom of his compatriots, Robert Smalls represents one of our greatest Lowcountry stories. In the face of adversity, slavery, and persecution, Smalls led those 16 people into the promised land of freedom and into the hearts and pages of local lore. 

Kelly Logan Graham is Executive Director of the Bluffton Historical Preservation Society, which owns and operates the Heyward House Museum, which is the official Welcome Center for the Town of Bluffton. Call 843-757-6293 or visit HeywardHouse.org