Our character trait of the month for October is Courage, which is when we demonstrate the bravery and resilience required when approaching uncertainty and change. The following story I believe speaks to the heart of courage.
The year was 1862. To be more exact, it was May 12, 1862 when a 22-year-old slave by the name of Robert Smalls would courageously pull off one of the greatest escapes to freedom in history.
At that time, Union Naval forces had created a blockade around Charleston, South Carolina and Confederate forces had dug in to defend its coastal waters. Robert Smalls was a mulatto slave who had been sailing those waters since his early teens. He was a “wheelman” aboard a gunboat the CSS Planter, a cotton steamer that had been heavily armed to go out into battle the next morning. The Planter was commanded by three white officers and had a crew of eight slaves including Smalls. Smalls was intelligent, resourceful, and a skillful navigator eager to free himself and his family. On May 12, 1862 he saw an opportunity to do just that. Against regulations the three white officers left the ship for the night, leaving Smalls and crew behind which shows how much they trusted Smalls and the crew.
After the officers were gone, Smalls shared his plan with the crew and went into action knowing that if they were caught they would all be shot. At 2 a.m. on May 13, Smalls put on the captain’s uniform and straw hat to look the part. He and his small crew hoisted the South Carolina and Confederate flags as decoys and began easing the Planter out of the dock right past General Roswell Ripley’s headquarters. He first stops at West Atlantic Wharf to pick up his wife and children, four other women, three men, and a child.
There were five Confederate harbor points Smalls had to guide the ship through. But Smalls was smart, over time he had studied every signal given by his captain so he was well prepared for this moment. At approximately 4:30 a.m. Smalls had sailed past the last point at Fort Sumter when the alarms sounded, but by that time, the Planter was out of gun range.
He had one more obstacle to overcome, the U.S. Naval forces. After sailing past Fort Sumter, they pulled down the two flags and hoisted a white bed sheet brought on board by his wife as a sign of surrender. However, it was still before sunrise and John Frederick Nickels, the acting captain of the USS Onward, could not see the white flag, so he ordered for the “ports to open” meaning prepare to fire. Just before the order to fire, the sun came up and one lookout spotted the white “flag” preserving the Planter and its crew. Smalls’ turned the ship over to the U.S. Navy. His escape plan had succeeded and his family was finally free.
Smalls would share with Naval intelligence the captain’s code book containing Confederate signals and a map of the mines and torpedoes laid in Charleston’s harbor. He shared his extensive knowledge of the Charleston waterways and military configurations. His valuable information allowed for Union forces to take over Coles Island and its string of batteries without a fight.
Smalls would not only gain freedom for his family, but would go to serve in the U.S. Navy until 1868 when he began a career in politics. His first stint was in the South Carolina House of Representatives, then the state senate. In 1875, he would be elected to the U.S House of Representatives for South Carolina’s 5th district and then the 7th district.
While Smalls exhibited great courage that night of the escape, he had been preparing for that night long before. He had the courage and the foresight to prepare for that moment. He knew the uncertainty and the dangers he would face yet he planned for it anyway.
The point of his story can be summed up in the following quote from an unknown source.
“Sometimes life can be challenging and you can feel as though you are not getting anywhere. However, you have to remember that every courageous step counts and if you take small steps every day, one day you will get there.”