A production of South Carolina E.T.V.

♪ Bravery was the thing that Grandpa exemplified most, and I think he believed and he knew what was right and what was wrong.

He knew that slavery was very wrong.

He made every effort to be freed from that, and he did that by a daring feat, by taking a boat with his family and some other families, going out in the night in Charleston, South Carolina.

So I think he was a brave man.

He also had a very difficult life.

Hard time.

He grew up not knowing how to read and write, but as a man who was sent to Philadelphia to take a boat through the intracoastal waterways-- I couldn't do that, and I know how to read and write.

He did that, and while in Philadelphia, he was tutored.

Of course, that was very helpful to him, because later he served the public in many ways.

Many times he's referred to as the Gullah Statesman, and I like to be the great-granddaughter of the Gullah Statesman, Robert Smalls.

♪ (Wade Witherspoon III) ♪ Sail away to freedom, sail away.

♪ ♪ Sail away to freedom, ♪ ♪ sail away.

♪ ♪ Even the lowly gull on his snow white wings ♪ ♪ at the end of a weary day ♪ ♪ can sail away to freedom, sail away.

♪♪ [surf roaring] As the first pale light appears on the eastern horizon, Robert Smalls can see the Union fleet within his field of vision.

Robert's heart beats tremendously with excitement.

He is less than one league away from the Union forces.

In fact, he is so close that he can see the port guns of the leading Union ship turn to train their aim on the "Planter."

Thinking quickly, Robert grabs the white sheet, which his wife, Hannah, has so wisely provided.

The Confederate ensign is lowered, and the white flag of truce is raised in its stead.

A full, detailed account of what happened next is best described in the formal report dated May 13, 1862.

It's written by the commander of the USS "Onward."

"Sir, I have to report that this morning "I saw a steamer coming "from the direction of Fort Sumter directly for this ship.

"I beat to quarters and sprung the ship around "to bring her broadsides to bare, "and had so far succeeded as to bring the port guns to bare "when I noticed a white flag at the fore.

"The steamer ran alongside, "and I immediately boarded her, "hauled down the flag of truce, hoisted the American ensign, "and found that it was the steamer 'Planter' of Charleston "and had successfully run past the forts and escaped.

"She was wholly manned by Negroes "representing themselves to be slaves.

"I herewith place the steamer in your hands for disposition.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. F.

Nickels."

♪ Robert requested protection for himself, his family, and the other slaves on the "Planter."

Still acting as pilot and in command of his vessel, the "Planter" was escorted out to safer waters.

For the rest of the day, Robert told his story to first one and then another Union commander.

Many found it difficult to believe that a slave would possess the skill and the intelligence to perform such a feat, but with the indisputable truth before them, many had to turn their denial to admiration and respect for this brave young man.

Because the Union interrogation lasted the rest of the afternoon, it would be another day before Robert would be reunited with his mother.

♪ The anticipated moment became reality.

The next day here in Beaufort, Robert and Lydia had a joyful, yet tearful reunion.

The city of Charleston was abuzz with the deplorable act committed by Robert Smalls, but the Northern newspapers hailed him as a hero.

Some called him the "first hero of the Civil War."

Such attention was both overwhelming and frustrating.

He knew the South was angry with him, but he didn't feel he was the hero that he was called by the Northern papers.

Robert had simply filled an innate desire to reclaim what his ancestors had lost in earlier years.

Isn't it ironic that the means by which his ancestors had lost their freedom, the ship, had enabled Robert to regain his?

♪ The Confederate Army's first reaction was embarrassment.

How could well-trained soldiers have allowed such a thing to happen?

At the command of General Robert E. Lee, the Confederate Army was told, "to bring to punishment any party or parties "that may be proved guilty of complicity in the affair or negligent in not preventing it."

Robert Smalls had risked his life to bring freedom to himself and 15 others.

An attempt was made to bring him back to Charleston to stand trial for what he had done, but no success came of that plan.

♪ Robert Smalls now served as pilot of the "Planter" on his trips up and down the Stono River.

His skills were recognized and highly respected.

It's felt that Union commanders left Robert in the position of pilot of the "Planter" so he might serve as an example to other Blacks in their pursuit for independence.

Also, he had worked for the Confederate Army when they laid torpedoes in the Edisto and Stono Rivers, and the Union soon used his knowledge to their advantage.

Robert Smalls' act of bravery came at a perfect time.

There had been much debate over whether or not contraband could be allowed to fight for their country.

There was even the question of, "Will the Negro fight?"

Major General David Hunter, organizer of a Black regiment called the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, found in Smalls the answer to that question.

♪ During the following weeks, General Hunter had many conversations with Robert Smalls He tried to persuade the young man to go to Washington, meet President Lincoln, and plead the cause of the Black soldiers in South Carolina.

Robert was very reluctant to do this, but he overcame his insecurity and made the trip.

His traveling companion was the Reverend Mansfield French, an ardent supporter of the contraband cause.

♪ President Lincoln extended a very warm welcome to Smalls and the Reverend French.

He acknowledged the recent act of courage Smalls had performed in order to find a better way of life for himself and his family.

After a brief, general discussion, Smalls got down to the matter in hand.

He said there were many Blacks in South Carolina like himself who were willing to risk life and limb in the pursuit of liberty.

"The contrabands who had volunteered their services," he said, "were such an example."

He then requested assistance for the newly-formed Black regiment.

He asked for proper equipment, uniforms, and adequate pay.

His request was granted.

Although Robert was very instrumental in outfitting the 1st South Carolina Volunteers, he never enlisted as a soldier.

The year 1863 was a year of triumph and disappointment for Robert Smalls.

On January 1st came the welcome news, it was the day of emancipation for all slaves.

In March of that year, he was made an official pilot for the United States Navy.

He piloted the ironclad vessel "Keokuk" in the battle against Fort Sumter.

His was the only ship to get close to Fort Sumter before it was destroyed by enemy guns.

He and the others aboard the "Keokuk" jumped overboard and swam to safety.

Perhaps his proudest moment came when Colonel J. J. Elwell issued the order that said, "You will please place Robert Smalls in charge "of the United States transport 'Planter' as captain.

"He is an excellent pilot of undoubted bravery and in every respect worthy of the position."

This did much to raise his spirits because earlier that year he had learned of the death of his infant son, Robert Jr. Now he had word from Hannah of the birth of a second daughter, Sarah, born on December 1, 1863.

The year was ending quite well for Robert Smalls.

At the age of 24, Robert Smalls had risen from the slave boy of Beaufort to the respected captain of the steamship "Planter," but this new status didn't save him from acts of racial discrimination.

While in Philadelphia having repairs made on the "Planter," he and his companion, returning home after a day in town, were caught in a dreadful downpour.

They hailed a passing streetcar, and the driver strongly suggested that they move to the section reserved for nonwhites.

That part of the streetcar had a roof that was badly leaking.

Robert politely refused, rose from his seat, and asked to be let off the streetcar.

He exclaimed to his companion, "Blacks can ride a streetcar "in New York City or even Washington, D.C., but in the City of Brotherly Love, they have to walk!"

With this incident, Robert Smalls was on his way to becoming a staunch fighter for civil rights.

♪ Smalls' work with the Union forces kept him very busy, although he did manage to spend Christmas with his family.

This was the first furlough Captain Smalls had since he began his duties with the Union Navy.

He and Hannah talked for hours, catching each other up on events of their lives.

Their daughter Elizabeth was now school-age, and baby Sarah, whom he met for the first time, slept quietly in her crib.

Hannah told him of the great pride of local residents in their native son.

She had overheard a conversation between two elderly people and felt she had to share it.

"'I tell you, Smalls is the greatest man in the world!'

"'Yes,' said the other, 'he is great, but not the greatest.'

"'Then who is greater than Smalls?'

"'Why, Jesus Christ,' the friend replied.

'Oh, yes, but Smalls is young yet.'"

It seems that throughout the area, this was the dominant attitude of the local residents.

♪ In 1865, the War ended, and Robert's services at sea were over.

He was discharged from the Navy.

A year later his ship, the "Planter," was taken from service and was given an appraisal value of $15,000.

As a thanks to Robert for acquiring the ship, the Navy awarded him the sum of $1500.

Robert was furious at the low appraisal given his vessel, because it was valued at $60,000 at the time of surrender.

Why, the cannons alone were worth more than $1500!

Some citizens felt that Robert was not due a reward at all because he had been both civilian and slave at the time of surrender.

There was a great deal of unpleasantness and talk of unfairness, but Hannah, in her infinite wisdom, reminded Robert that he had not taken the "Planter" for reward money, but as a means of securing his own escape to freedom.

♪ Back in his hometown as a civilian, Smalls acquired much property due to his reward money from the sale of the Planter.

At a government auction, he was able to buy the home of his former master, Henry McKee, which had been put up for sale due to unpaid back taxes.

Between the years 1866 and 1868, Smalls acquired a great deal of property in the downtown area along Carteret Street.

♪ The Reconstruction Acts of 1866 gave Blacks the freedom to exercise their right to vote at the local election polls.

This was a privilege that Robert Smalls had spoken in favor of two years before, when he attended the Republican National Convention in Baltimore as a delegate.

In Beaufort, Smalls became the registrar, who compiled a list of qualified voters.

The first election in which the Blacks of Beaufort were concerned was that of November 1867.

This election was to determine whether or not there would be a constitutional convention and, if there were such an occasion, who would be the delegate.

The results of the election was an overwhelming victory in favor of the convention, and Robert Smalls was elected the delegate.

On January 14, 1868, Smalls met with other delegates throughout the state in Charleston, "for the purpose of framing "a constitution and civil government according to the Reconstruction Acts of Congress."

♪ His many years of political involvement in local affairs proved to be a great asset to Robert Smalls.

In 1870, he was elected to the 49th General Assembly, the first assembly under the new federal government.

He was present when the governor was installed and when South Carolina was formally returned to the Union.

For the next seven years, he spent a great deal of time in Columbia, first as a state representative and later a state senator when J. J. Wright of Beaufort County resigned.

He worked hard to find funding for free public schools and was highly instrumental in having a navy yard placed at Parris Island.

♪ Smalls was very active in the senate and became highly respected for the firm stands he took on political, economic, and social matters relating to his race.

On March 26, 1875, he resigned his seat in the senate.

It wasn't that he was leaving politics.

It was because he had just been elected a member of the United States Congress.

Smalls was met in Washington by his daughter Elizabeth, who came from school in Massachusetts to act as her father's private secretary.

Elizabeth glowed with pride as her father took the official oath of office.

The many demanding duties of a congressman left Smalls very little time for his own family.

Hannah decided to stay in Beaufort in order to care for Smalls' mother, Lydia, although she traveled to Washington to accompany her husband to the parties attended by other congressmen and their wives.

♪ The latter part of 1875 brought news to Robert Smalls which disturbed him greatly.

While going to the aid of a stricken vessel, the "Planter" was lost off Cape Romain.

Robert Smalls took this as hard as if it had been a member of his own family.

In addition, he received other disturbing information.

In the town of Hamburg on the edge of Edgefield, South Carolina, riots had broken out, and Black people were being denied their right to vote.

Robert Smalls petitioned his fellow congressmen to pass a bill permitting the military to enter the South Carolina site and maintain order.

The bill narrowly passed, 86 to 83, but the military did very little.

Blacks who finally able to get to the polls found their very lives threatened if they did not vote as they were told.

1877 was a year of great personal trials for Robert Smalls.

He was accused of bribery by the former clerk of the senate, Josephus Woodruff.

The case went to court, and not only was Smalls under consideration, but also two of his fellow congressmen.

The prosecution offered only the testimony of the accuser.

The check which Woodruff said that he had received was never brought to court.

Although Woodruff freely admitted that he had stolen from the state, his words meant very little, because, after all, he himself was not on trial.

Finally, the verdict was given, and Robert Smalls was found guilty.

Unlike his fellow congressmen who were allowed to serve their time in the county jail, Robert Smalls was sentenced to three years in the state penitentiary.

♪ Smalls spent a week in solitary confinement until he was released on bail.

He resumed his seat in Congress and made an appeal for his case to be heard by the United States Supreme Court.

While he was waiting for his case to come to court, he received a letter from Governor Wade Hampton which granted him a full and complete pardon of all charges laid against him.

This angered Smalls because he felt such a pardon denied him a court case.

He knew the public would believe the stories printed about him in the press and all of the tales of the trial.

He wanted a new trial in which the truth could be heard.

However, by the time he could get his organization going toward the Supreme Court case, the federal Attorney General had written a letter to the Supreme Court in which he stated that the case had been settled in South Carolina.

Before Smalls could stop the order, his case had been stricken from the records.

♪ In an ironic twist of fate, Smalls found the governor had appointed him a brigadier general in the state militia.

Smalls considered this a ploy to keep him quiet about the court case and the quiet pardon.

But whatever...throughout the rest of his life, his friends called him General.

The General found he had more work to do than ever, because where there had once been eight Black congressmen, now there were only two, and Smalls represented not only his Beaufort district, but people of his race everywhere.

♪ Smalls faced his most severe opposition in 1895 in Congress in a heated debate with Benjamin Tillman.

Tillman proposed a bill that would take away the Negroes' right to vote in any election.

He said that if the Negro was given too many privileges too soon, he would begin to feel equal.

Smalls answered in an impassioned speech for which he is remembered today.

He took the floor quietly and answered Tillman's last rebuttal.

He said what Tillman feared was not the Negroes' equality, but the Negroes' supremacy, and at the end of his speech, he concluded with a sincere and moving appeal.

"My race needs no special defense, "for the past history of them in this country "proves to be the equal of any people anywhere.

All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life."

There was silence, but Smalls lost, and afterwards, the Blacks were controlled at the polls.

♪ Smalls returned to Beaufort after serving five terms in Congress.

His mother and his wife had both passed away.

He was lonely without Hannah and felt life had no meaning.

In 1889, he was made collector of customs for the port of Beaufort and for a while could throw himself into his work.

His daughter Sarah was his companion at home now.

His older daughter, Elizabeth, had married a fine, young man from Charleston, Samuel Jones Bampfield.

They had presented the General with his very first grandchildren, but still Smalls could find no personal happiness.

He needed something or someone to give meaning to his life, and in 1890 he found it.

He married a lovely lady from Charleston, Anna Wiggs.

Two years later, they were blessed with the birth of a son, William Robert.

Robert Smalls continued as collector of customs until 1894 and again from 1898 until his health began to decline in 1913.

After a very long illness, Robert Smalls crossed the bar to eternal rest February 22, 1915.

[no dialogue] [surf roaring and gulls cawing] Robert Smalls, a man who began a journey in 1862, a journey forever linked to the rise and fall of the ocean's waves, a journey from slavery to freedom.

"Home is the sailor, home from the sea."

[surf roaring and gulls cawing] ♪ Program captioned by: CompuScripts Captioning, Inc. 803.988.8438 (Wade Witherspoon III) ♪ Black bodies glisten in the August sun, broken spirits ♪ ♪ The creak of rigging on windswept seas where white sails disappear, ♪ ♪ Shacked to the soil by the sting of the whip, Forever bound by the master's sins ♪ So they gathered courage and all their will to bring harsh southern wind.