ESCAPE OF PLANTER

Robert Smalls was a 23-year-old slave who was contracted by his owner to Charleston, SC, tradesmen in exchange for the pay he earned.  The Spring of 1862 found Smalls in the employ of C.J. Relyea, owner of the 147-foot sidewheel steamer Planter.  Smalls served as pilot, a task at which he had become quite skilled.  Planter was one of the fastest boats in Charleston Harbor, encouraging the Confederate Navy to draft her into service as the dispatch boat for BGEN Roswell S. Ripley, the Confederate Army district commander.  On a day Capt. Relyea was ashore, Smalls donned the skipper’s hat in sport.  His co-worker’s jests to the effect that Smalls looked, “jus like de cap’un,” triggered an idea.

An opportunity presented itself on the night of 12-13 May while Planter was tied to Southern Wharf outside Ripley’s headquarters.  Relyea was ashore for the night.  One by one over several hours Smalls and six fellow Negroes walked unobtrusively aboard.  Sentries posted on the dock apparently took the activity for routine and challenged no one.  Not even at 0300, when Smalls fired the boilers, were the guards alarmed.  At 0330 Smalls cast off still raising no concern among those who had grown accustomed to seeing the steamer come and go.  Smalls’ band turned first up the Cooper River and coursed a few miles to meet the steamer Etowah, upon which their wives and children had hidden.

Risking certain execution if caught, Smalls now turned toward the mouth of Charleston Harbor.  He had timed his arrival off Fort Sumter to coincide with the twilight of dawn so as to avoid having to answer a hail.  As he passed the great guns of the fort he donned Relyea’s distinctive hat and hid his face.  The corporal of Ft. Sumter’s guard received a report of the boat’s movement, but such was not unusual, as Planter had run past the fort many early mornings on errands for the General.  But this time the steamer headed straight out to sea.  Once out of range of Sumter’s guns Smalls opened the throttle, struck the Stars and Bars and hoisted a white flag.  He made for the blockading ship USS ONWARD who accepted Planter’s surrender after some initial confusion.

Planter was discovered to be carrying six heavy guns, four of which had been removed from the Stono River defenses to be emplaced in Charleston’s forts.  Smalls had assisted in the loading of the weapons and knew of the Confederate defensive deployments.  Planter was taken into the Union Navy with whom she proved herself valuable for inshore patrols, having a draft of less than four feet.  Smalls survived the War and eventually entered politics to serve as Congressman from South Carolina from 1875-87.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  17 MAY 26

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 5 “N-Q”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1979, pp. 324-25.

Lineberry, Kate.  “The Thrilling Tale of How Robert Smalls Seized a Confederate Ship and Sailed it to Freedom.”  Smithsonian Magazine, June 2017.  AT: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thrilling-tale-how-robert-smalls-heroically-sailed-stolen-confederate-ship-freedom-180963689/, retrieved 25 April 2026.

“Official Robert Smalls’ Website and Information Center.”  Robert Smalls Legacy Foundation, Inc., Press Release No. 12, www.robertsmalls.org/feb12-press-release.htm, 22 April 2004.

“Thar She Blows.”  Commercial Appeal (Memphis), 22 April 2004, p. A-8.

Wilcox, Arthur M. and Warren Ripley.  The Civil War at Charleston.  Charleston, SC: The News and Courier, 1989, pp. 31-32.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  Smalls, his wife Hannah and two children, and Planter’s black crewmen and their wives and children all escaped slavery in this exploit—16 total.

In the 2021 Congressionally mandated purge of Confederate names from US military bases and assets, the names of several Navy warships were identified for change.  USS CHANCELLORSVILLE (CG-62), named for a Confederate victory in the Civil War, was renamed USS ROBERT SMALLS.  The cruiser continues to remember Mr. Smalls today, despite President Donald Trump’s reversal of the renaming of US Army bases.

Robert Smalls was also a member of the South Carolina militia after the war, rising to the rank of Major General.  On 21 April 2004, the US Army launched its logistics support ship MAJ GEN ROBERT SMALLS (LSV-8) from the docks at Moss Point, Mississippi.  She is the first US Army ship named for an African American and the first to be named for a Civil War hero.

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