Robert Smalls was a Black American politician, businessman, soldier and sailor. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil War by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, called the CSS Planter, in Charleston harbor, on May 13, 1862. Smalls sailed the ship from Confederate-controlled waters to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it. He then delivered the ship to the Union-occupied area in the Beaufort–Port Royal–Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. Smalls would serve as an active combatant in more than 15 military engagements in both the U.S. Navy and the Army. After the Civil War he returned to Beaufort and ran successfully for public office as a Republican. Smalls was elected to the South Carolina Legislature and the United States House of Representatives during the era of Reconstruction . He was among the first Black Americans to serve in the U.S. Congress.
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Robert Smalls