Good day all. I read something that made me stop and think. It was a mention of a man who had been a slave, but who escaped and did things right out of a Hollywood movie. It made me stop and think, why hasn’t a movie been made about the life of Robert Smalls?
I will be honest and state that until last week, I had never heard of Mr. Smalls. What he did should be taught in schools. Here are some of the details of his life from many sources, starting with Biography.com:
In 1862, the second bloody year of the American Civil War, a 22-year-old slave named Robert Smalls accomplished an unthinkable feat of cunning, deception, and bravery: he stole a ship. But it wasn’t just any ship that this crafty young man decided to nab. No, he knew what he needed and had meticulously planned to get it.
His vessel of choice was fully stocked with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, Howitzer guns and other weapons, and—most importantly—17 pieces of Confederate property, all of which were warm-blooded human beings enslaved by the prevailing zeitgeist of the American South.
Constantly watched by the Planter’s three white officers, Robert bided his time, toiling away around the jetties of the Atlantic while secretly scheming routes to freedom. On the fateful night of May 12, 1862, Robert got his chance and pounced on it, moving swiftly under the cover of darkness.
The officers, who usually slept aboard the ship, had decided to stay the night ashore, leaving Robert and eight other enslaved crewmen aboard the Planter, which was moored in Charleston’s Southern Wharf.
In the absence of the officers, Robert quickly revealed his plan to the crewmen, most of whom decided to join him. One or two, depending on the historical source you choose, stayed behind to avoid the certain death that would await them if they were caught.
At around 2 o’clock in the morning, Robert donned the hat of the ship’s captain and directed the crewmen to hoist the flags of both South Carolina and the Confederate. They set out and eased through the moonlit water, stopping only to pick up other slaves, including Robert’s wife and children, at a nearby wharf.
With Robert at the helm, the fugitives sailed through the perilous night, using the flags and signals from the ship’s whistle, which Robert had memorized, as decoys to gain clearance from other Confederate ships in the harbor.
Near dawn, after passing the infamous Fort Sumter (the origin of all the bloodshed), Robert and his fellow escapees veered toward a fleet of Union ships blockading the harbor. As night began to fade over the war-torn coast, the Planter approached the trigger-happy ships from the North.
The USS Onward first spotted the Confederate steamship. The Yankees nearly fired, but an Onward sailor saw, along with the flag of his enemy, another piece of fabric rippling in the day’s first light: a white bed sheet, a symbol of surrender.
History appears to have lost the name of this eagle eyed sailor. His call that there was a white flag kept the Union ships from blowing the now former Confederate warship out of the water. According to a witness account written on Wikipedia:
“Just as No. 3 port gun was being elevated, someone cried out, ‘I see something that looks like a white flag’; and true enough there was something flying on the steamer that would have been white by application of soap and water.
As she neared us, we looked in vain for the face of a white man. When they discovered that we would not fire on them, there was a rush of contrabands out on her deck, some dancing, some singing, whistling, jumping; and others stood looking towards Fort Sumter, and muttering all sorts of maledictions against it, and ‘de heart of de Souf,’ generally.
As the steamer came near, and under the stern of the Onward, one of the Colored men stepped forward, and taking off his hat, shouted, ‘Good morning, sir! I’ve brought you some of the old United States guns, sir!’” That man was Robert Smalls.
The Onward‘s captain, John Frederick Nickels, boarded the Planter, and Smalls asked for a United States flag to display. He surrendered the Planter and her cargo to the United States Navy. Smalls’ escape plan had succeeded.
It didn’t end there either. Besides the ship, Mr. Smalls delivered a treasure trove of information.
The Planter and description of Smalls’ actions were forwarded by Lt. Nickels to his commander, Capt. E.G. Parrott. In addition to her own light guns, Planter carried the four loose artillery pieces from Coles Island and the 200 pounds of ammunition.
Most valuable, however, were the captain’s code book containing the Confederate signals, and a map of the mines and torpedoes that had been laid in Charleston’s harbor. Smalls’ own extensive knowledge of the Charleston region’s waterways and military configurations proved highly valuable. Parrott again forwarded the Planter to flag officer Du Pont at Port Royal, describing Smalls as very intelligent.
Smalls gave detailed information about Charleston’s defenses to Du Pont, commander of the blockading fleet. Federal officers were surprised to learn from Smalls that contrary to their calculations, only a few thousand troops remained to protect the area, the rest having been sent to Tennessee and Virginia.
They also learned that the Coles Island fortifications on Charleston’s southern flank were being abandoned and were without protection. This intelligence allowed Union forces to capture Coles Island and its string of batteries without a fight on May 20, a week after Smalls’ escape.
The details of Mr. Smalls career in the Union forces continuesd Thanks to his efforts and actions, he may have shaved months off the war and saved countless lives on both sides. After the war, Mr. Smalls went into business and became very successful. He then went into politics, first locally, then winning a seat in the House of Representatives as a Republican.
There were ups and downs to his political career of course. He was a black man and a former slave, and you have to take into account the world views of people back then. Still, nothing detracts from the heroism of Mr. Smalls and the other former slaves who saw their chance and sailed their way to freedom.
So, why hasn’t this been made into a movie? I can see Denzel Washington both producing this and acting in it as the older Robert Smalls. This is a part of our history and should be held up as an example a shining example to all Americans everywhere.
Thatisall
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~The Angry Webmaster~
Postscript
Be sure to share this far and wide. Perhaps someone will notice it who can get the ball rolling on making this a major film event.
