Robert Smalls
American politician and former slave (1839-1915) · United States · On the map · Politicians · Died at 75
Robert Smalls was an American politician who was born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina.
Robert Smalls is read about 265 times a day, in 18 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 104 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?Media & music
Photos 9
The gunboat CSS Planter, run out of Charleston by Robert Smalls in May 1862
Map of early African-American involvement in the Civil War, including Robert Smalls's liberation of the Planter
Fort Sumter National Monument marker of the Map of Charleston Harbor defenses
An article on Smalls published in Harper's Weekly, June 14, 1862
Gillmore's approaches on Fort Wagner, Morris Island, July 1863 before the Second Battle of Fort Wagner. Lighthouse where Smalls served is marked on southern end of Morris Island.
Richard Gleaves, Smalls's business partner after the war
George D. Tillman, one of Smalls's chief rivals in Congressional racesAbout this person
During the American Civil War, the still enslaved Smalls commandeered a Confederate transport ship in Charleston Harbor and sailed it from the Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it. He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in Beaufort-Port Royal-Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. In the process, he freed himself, his crew, and their families. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army.
