Smalls, Robert (1839-1915)

US Civil War hero, sailor, and Republican representative. Forced by the Confederates to pilot the Planter, a ship with a crew of black Americans and a cargo worth several million dollars, he persuaded the crew to turn it over to the Union navy. He was hired by the Union army as a pilot participating in several engagements. Serving South Carolina in the US House of Representatives 1875-79 and 1882-87, he worked for equality for black Americans.

He was born in Beaufort, South Carolina. His mother was an black American slave, but as he grew up learning the trade of sailmaker and rigger, he became a familiar figure on the Charleston waterfront. In October 1862 he went to New York City to try to get support for a colony of freed slaves at Port Royal, South Carolina; he spent nine months in Philadelphia to get a basic education; in June 1864 he attended the Republican Party Convention as part of a delegation of free blacks. After the US civil war he served in the South Carolina legislature. He was also an officer in the South Carolina militia, rising to the rank of major general. He ended his career as the Federal collector of the port in his native town of Beaufort, South Carolina, 1889-1913.