(waves lapping) (uneasy music) - Anybody else here?

- [Alfred] So, what are we gonna do?

- We either lock him up in a stateroom or we kill him!

- I ain't ready to kill nobody, Robert!

That wasn't part of the plan!

- What about for our families?

- [Man] Robert, we ain't never killed nobody before.

- [Alfred] Right, Robert!

I don't know about this, Robert.

(tense music) (moving into soft folk music) (waves lapping) (brooding music) - [Narrator] It's April of 1861.

Abraham Lincoln is the new leader of a country on the verge of being broken in two.

(military drum music) Here in one of the South's largest ports, Charleston, South Carolina, the air is filled with talk among white slaveholders of secession.

In the last four months, seven Southern states have voted to leave the union.

War appears to be inevitable.

For Robert Smalls, an enslaved man working in the harbor, it is just another day of trying to earn enough money to feed his family.

- [Robert] Yes sir, yes sir.

- Robert Smalls was born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina.

He was born to a black mother and a white father who may have been his owner.

- [Man] Put your back into that, Robert!

- He started working at a young age, like so many other enslaved children.

- When he was 12, his master decided to send him to Charleston, which at the time was really the big city.

- If an owner had an enslaved person, but didn't have a need for their labor, they would rent them out.

- For skilled enslaved people, blacksmiths, carpentry work, they're going to have a little bit more freedom and mobility.

There's even gonna be some opportunities for them to collect parts of their wages.

But please don't get it mistaken: Every enslaved person is being denied their humanity, the freedom of their time, and even their citizenship.

- [Amy] This was still slavery, just in a different form.

- When he first got to Charleston, Robert just had odd jobs here and there.

He grew up around boats and he ended up being attracted to the docks and came to employment on this boat called The Planter.

The Planter was a 150-footer, so sidewheel steamer that before the Civil War was just a kind of a transport boat.

- All right, where's the ballast at?

We have 200 pounds inside?

- Yes sir, it's inside.

- All right, then we're good, let's go.

- All right, boys.

- All set!

- [Narrator] Smalls is allowed to keep just $1 of his $15-per-month salary, but he's a savvy entrepreneur.

He spends his dollar on produce and other goods, then resells them for a profit around Charleston Harbor.

- Eggs right here, eggs right here!

- So, whereabouts is you headed?

- Morse Island.

- [Narrator] Alfred Gourdine is an engineer on The Planter.

- Lemme see if I can help you out with that.

- [Narrator] And like Smalls, he is enslaved.

- I believe, if you go up out this way, you can- - No.

The north side of the island.

The south is closed.

- Yes, sir.

You can try going... Well, maybe... Robert!

Robert!

Do you mind helping this fine gentleman navigate his way to Morse Island.

- All right, all right.

- Robert Smalls can help you better than I can.

- My cabin's asked me to pick up a load of cotton, the north side of Morse Island.

Can I get to there from here?

- Yeah.

Now, once you pass the bite of the bend, you should be fine.

Now, have you ever made a French landing before?

- Yeah, of course.

- All right, 'cause you'll need to 'cause the currents are strong in here.

- Okay.

- Yes, sir.

- All right, boy.

- (scoffing) I mean, how long it's been?

He still don't know the harbor?

You know he just bought that yellow house on Queen Street?

- Don't worry about him, Robert.

There's gonna be a war, and wars bring opportunities.

You'll see.

(steamship whistle blowing) - At first, he was just a laborer.

He was loading and unloading the boat.

But again, he had this knack, this predilection toward achievement and toward doing things- - Get your fine eggs over here!

Fine eggs!

(steamship whistle blowing) - [Man] All right, now don't forget, we're gonna be running hot.

- And very quickly was recognized for that.

- So, as we come outta the harbor, how many fathoms are right outside the harbor?

- Four, sir.

- Look at you, all right, boy.

- Hey, you!

Where's your badge?

- In Charleston- - Come on, now.

- [Narrator] Hired out workers like Smalls are forced to display stamped tags listing their registration number and their trade- - You keep this visible now, you hear?

- Yes, sir.

- All right.

- [Narrator] A constant visual reminder of their place in society.

(waves lapping) - [Robert] I know you're talking about taking this way down the harbor- - Mm-hmm.

- But I've told that the tides are low down there.

You might have to take a different route.

- All right.

Time to reroute it; good job, Robert.

How long 'til we get full steam?

- Gourdine says about an hour, sir.

- Captain.

We need you at the docks.

- I'll be right there.

This time, why don't you take her out?

- Yes, sir.

(gentle music) (waves lapping) Gourdine, I'm going home.

- I'll take that walk with you.

(steamship whistle blowing) How'd it go today?

- I didn't do so good.

- Really?

- [Robert] Didn't sell much of anything today.

- You usually sell out.

- Hannah's gonna kill me.

- Don't be too hard on yourself now.

- It's all right, man.

- What am I gonna tell Hannah and Lydia?

- You're bright, one of the brightest men I know.

Say hello to the missus.

(rising uneasy music) - What you doing there, sweetie?

- [Narrator] Just like her husband, Hannah Smalls has been hired out by her enslaver, Samuel Kingman.

The Smalls have negotiated a price with Kingman to allow them to live together with their two young children.

- [Man] You found him!

- [Narrator] There is even an arrangement in place for Robert to eventually purchase the freedom of his family.

But until he can save the hundreds of dollars that would take, they live at the mercy of their enslavers in a two-room home above a horse stable, which Robert keeps clean in lieu of rent.

- You're home.

- [Narrator] The black family unit and their desire to keep them together was extremely important.

And in some cases, if it meant life or death, they would fight to keep those bonds together.

(gentle piano music) - How was your day?

(Robert sighing) - Steamed up to Sullivan's Island, got back a bit early.

Tried to sell my wares, but it wasn't too busy.

- He knew that in an instant, his family could be broken apart.

And he loved his wife, he loved his children, and he wanted to try to keep them together.

- I just don't get it.

All the work I do and that's all I have to show for it?

I should be the captain of my own boat.

Nobody knows that harbor better than me!

- You will be the captain of your own boat.

You will be.

But in the meantime, Captain, if you want some dinner, how about you go fetch us some firewood?

- [Narrator] As Smalls himself would later say- - [Robert] Our lives were one long eternal night, not even an occasional silver lining in the sky of our existence to bid us hope for a brighter future or a happier day.

(faint cannons booming) - [Narrator] The morning of April 12, 1861, thrust their lives into even deeper turmoil.

- It's the war.

It's started.

- [Narrator] Confederate forces launch an attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston's harbor.

(tense music) The Civil War has begun.

In the coming months, the struggle for Charleston Harbor grows more intense.

While the Confederacy holds onto the city, its waterways, and its surrounding forts, just outside the harbor the United States Navy forms a blockade, severely limiting the amount of cotton being shipped out and the amount of commercial goods and military supplies coming in.

(waves lapping) - [Man] Only a few more!

- [Man] I got it, sir, I got it.

- [Man] Not too high on those stacks.

The ship's gonna be rocking and rolling, you don't want that ammunition falling down.

- [Narrator] Amidst this unrest, Robert Smalls finally sees hope.

- Woo, that's a big one, John!

- War creates chaos, but it also creates opportunities to fundamentally change a society in ways that no one ever envisioned.

- [Narrator] One of the immediate impacts of the war is that Smalls' ship, The Planter, is leased to the Confederate Navy.

- One of the interesting sort of paradoxes of Robert's life was that for a period, he was working on a Confederate boat and in some ways working to do the business of the Confederacy.

- The Confederacy is desperate for labor for its army and its navy.

And what labor do they have?

Enslaved people.

(indistinct chatter) - [Michael] As an enslaved person, literally from moment to moment, you don't have control or agency or dominion over your own body, over your own efforts.

- They've gotta hold on to this enslaved labor because this is gonna then free up white men to shoulder guns and fight, and they already don't have enough white men to match the Union.

- Captain, Gourdine needs you, sir.

- [Narrator] Captain Charles Relyea comes to rely on Smalls to pilot the ship around the blockaded, mine-filled harbor.

(uneasy music) - Check the boiler feed pump!

- [Narrator] From his vantage point in the wheelhouse, Smalls studies the movements of the Confederate Navy.

- Far as the eye can see- - [Narrator] And the gestures of Captain Relyea.

- Yes, sir.

(water rippling) - Letting out steam!

(ship horn blowing) (indistinct chatter) - Keep a sharp eye tonight, Robert.

- Yes, sir.

- Rumor has it we got Yankee spies in our midst.

Have a good night, boys.

- [Narrator] Smalls notes the ship's white crew breaking an important naval protocol.

They leave The Planter at night while their enslaved crewmates keep watch alone.

- It was their leaving us in charge that started Robert Smalls to thinkin'.

You gonna join us, Robert?

He was a bright, smart man.

Ah, come on, Robert!

(men jeering) Come have a drink with us!

We done worked hard all week, at least you could join us for a few.

- I need to learn this harbor as well.

- Like you don't know it already.

- My brother, always working.

- I know!

Leave that up to the captain!

Unless you wanna be the captain.

(men laughing) That's right!

- Robert the captain.

- Captain Smalls!

- Captain Smalls!

(laughing) - Why don't you try putting on that hat, huh?

- Yeah, try that hat on.

(men laughing) - [Alfred] That's right!

- Yeah, put it on.

- Go ahead, put it on!

- [Man] He's really gonna do it.

(men laughing) - Come on, go ahead.

(men cheering) - Looking good, Smalls!

(men laughing) - Where we going, Captain?

- Let's go to freedom!

(men laughing) - How that sound, fellas?

To freedom!

- [Man] Sound about a hundred miles away is what it sound like.

(men laughing) - You never know with Captain Smalls, right?

(men laughing) - [Man] I'll be damned.

Okay.

- Vicious.

- Mind if I join ya?

- Nah.

- You said it yourself... Don't nobody know this harbor like we do.

We leave at night while the captains and the officers are in town- - You know how many guns the US Navy got pointed at this harbor?

If we hit one of them torpedoes, she might blow!

- We know where they are, Gourdine.

- [Narrator] Smalls reveals that he has been thinking of an escape.

- You thought this through, Robert?

- Yes.

And in God I trust.

- Gourdine, I need your help in the boiler room.

- [Narrator] Just by sharing his thoughts, he was putting himself and the crew in grave danger.

- Okay, Robert.

Okay.

I was frightened at first.

But when Robert got through talking, I was satisfied that he knew what he was talking about.

It couldn't have entered into their minds that we would attempt to run away.

- In a way, they seriously underestimated what someone like Smalls could do with the skills and the training that he got in that line of work.

- [Alfred] The next night, we let all of the others into the secret.

- [Robert] Now, we make way down the harbor.

Now, once we get by Fort Sumter, I need you to get everybody below the deck and keep the children quiet.

- I understand what I need to do, but what if they catch you?

- Then I shall be shot.

- Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

But if it does, I'll be right by your side.

(knocking on door) (tense music) - Now...

I was telling Hannah- - [Narrator] Smalls' plan is to commandeer the CSS Planter and deliver it to the nearest US ship blockading the harbor, several miles away.

Before leaving the dock, they need to heat the boilers and hope the volume of smoke coming out of the steamer's stack didn't raise suspicion.

Next, they need to pass a series of armed forts while avoiding submerged mines and pray that The Planter could survive the turbulence of the open ocean.

And what's more, they would make this incredible escape with their families onboard.

- And once we leave the deck and make way down the harbor, we'll pick up the women and children on the rowboats here.

- We need to get to the Union line ourselves then come back for our families.

- It is too dangerous.

We could be shot, shelled, or hung or sent back to New Orleans.

- No!

We need to stick together.

Now, I know it's risky, okay?

But we have to stick together and do this in one night.

- [Alfred] After talking the matter over for two hours- - I'm with you, Robert.

- [Alfred] Every man shook hands with Robert Smalls and pledged himself to be ready whenever called upon.

- This was no ordinary act of slave resistance.

They are risking being sold back into slavery or they're risking punishment, which could be death.

(seagulls squawking) - [Narrator] The question now is when.

And every day that passes is one more day that the conspirators need to keep this extraordinary plan a secret.

- Come on, ladies.

Watch your step, now.

- [Alfred] Our wives and children frequently came down to the boat in the evening so that their presence onboard would excite no suspicion.

- [Robert] Everybody good?

- [Alfred] We didn't give the secret away to them, however.

Gimme some of that!

- There's plenty for everyone.

- [Narrator] Apart from Smalls' wife, Hannah, none of the women know what is being planned, but they are being asked to spend an increasing amount of time on The Planter- - Thank you all for coming.

- [Narrator] So that once the day finally arrives, their presence won't arouse any suspicion.

For several days, the crew waits for their opportunity.

Smalls has his chances, but he's interested in more than just his freedom.

- [Alfred] Smalls wanted to carry something besides the steamer out to the Yankees.

We were daily engaged in transporting guns and munitions, and he had his eye on four big guns.

- [Narrator] Finally, on May 12th, 1862, the big guns are loaded onto The Planter.

This night was going to be the night.

- He was either going to fail and was going to die that night- - Anybody else here?

- Or he was going to get to that federal blockade and he was going to be free.

That was how much freedom meant to him.

That's how much protecting his family meant to him.

- [Narrator] But another complication.

- [Alfred] Every night for the two weeks previously, the three white officers had gone ashore as soon as the boat tied up.

But on this occasion, the man announced that he would sleep aboard.

So, what are we gonna do?

- We either lock him up in a stateroom or we kill him!

- I ain't ready to kill nobody, Robert!

That wasn't part of the plan!

- What about for our families?

- [John] Robert, we ain't never killed nobody before.

- [Alfred] Right, Robert!

It was finally decided to go ahead.

- [Woman] Oh, Mr. Hancock!

- Ah, Ms. Barnett.

- [Alfred] But we had scarcely come to the conclusion when the man went ashore and thus saved his own bacon.

- [Man] Hey, Robert, watch the boat for a minute.

- Yes, sir.

- It's all yours 'til I get back.

- [Narrator] Alone on the ship, the crew readies for departure.

- Go down to the boiler room, Gourdine!

We gotta get that steam going!

Come on, come on, come on!

(rising suspenseful music) - [Narrator] Smalls races home to tell Hannah to gather the families.

- We're leaving, Hannah, tonight.

Gather all the women and get 'em down to the boat.

Now, remember, don't tell 'em why.

- Okay.

Go, go.

Come on, Lydia, let's go.

Let's go.

(tense music) - [Narrator] Although The Planter's white crew has left the boat, the threat of the families being caught after curfew by slave patrols is very real.

(waves lapping) (uneasy music) - Is that all the women?

- All of 'em.

- That's everybody.

- They're all here, Robert.

- Okay, everyone.

Now, we know it's late, but we invited you here for a reason.

I want everybody to pay attention.

Robert got something to say.

Robert, lead the way.

- Now, I know what all you are thinking, and thank my wife, Hannah, for bringing you all.

Where we stand... We're taking this ship.

- What?!

You must've lost your mind!

- Now, ladies, calm down.

(women panicking) Calm down and listen to what he got to say!

Please!

Let Robert speak.

- Now, we gotta keep quiet before somebody hears, now.

Now, I know what I'm talking about.

The cabin and the officers are in town.

Now, we're gonna steam this boat down the harbor and we're gonna give it to the Union.

Now, after curfew, we're gonna take all the women and the children down to the rowboats and then we'll pick you all up once we leave the city.

- I know it's dangerous, but we're gonna protect y'all and we're gonna be with y'all the whole way, so y'all ain't got nothin' to worry about.

- Please.

I believe in Robert.

Believe in him too.

- To freedom.

- [Alfred] To freedom.

(church bell tolling) To freedom.

- Now, you hear that?

All right now, that's curfew.

Now, let's go, and keep quiet!

- [Alfred] They knew enough to realize that every man of us would be shot or hung if the attempt was a failure.

(tense music) If Robert Smalls had had the grit of a bulldog, he would have let go.

- [Narrator] Smalls sends the passengers a few blocks upriver, where there isn't as much surveillance.

They still have three long hours to wait before it will be light enough to launch.

(bell tolling) - Check the boiler feed pump!

- [Narrator] For a full hour, the crew waits for the boat's engines to heat up.

- Gonna let off some steam!

- [Narrator] At this point, they can't do anything to limit the sound of the boilers or the sight of the smoke beginning to pour out of the stack.

Finally, around 3 a.m, in the darkness and the fog, it is time to push off.

- Gourdine and John say full steam ahead.

- Thank you, Andrew.

Lord, please be with us on this fateful journey.

(tense music continuing) - [Narrator] First, they pick up the families at the arranged meeting place upriver.

(Alfred speaking indistinctly) - [Robert] Go ahead and get the ladies now.

- I got it, I got it.

(tense music continuing) - [Narrator] Then, together, the 16 crew and passengers continue out of the harbor.

(water rippling) - [Alfred] Once clear of the wharf and headed down the bay, we ran at slow speed.

Smalls in the pilothouse and steering by the compass held her right down the channel, flying the Confederate flag as usual.

- [Narrator] They pass by Fort Ripley and Fort Johnson slowly and without issue.

Then, with the morning beginning to light- - Full steam, boys!

- Robert said we need more!

- [Alfred] Well, we need more coal!

- [Narrator] Alfred Gourdine and the crew struggle to keep up.

- This was an incredibly audacious act.

It was an act that required ingenuity, bravery, a willingness to throw everything at this and make a run for it.

- John, what else you got up there to burn?!

- Even though Robert knew how to sail this boat and knew where the federal blockade was and knew that if he could get there he'd be free, no one ever thought that Robert would act on all of those things.

There was a general conception that people of African descent didn't have agency and control over their lives.

- What's this?!

- Wood!

- [Alfred] What am I supposed to do with this?

- [John] Well, that's all we got!

Build it!

(waves rippling) - [Narrator] With the morning fog beginning to break, Smalls needs to hide his identity.

(steamship whistle blowing) - Thank you, Lord.

Almost there, everybody!

Just one... Just one last thing.

(tense music) - [Narrator] They are approaching the heavily-armed Fort Sumter.

Beyond its cannons, the open ocean.

A huge boom made of logs meant to keep the US Navy out forces Smalls to steer close to Sumter and pass through a narrow channel.

- When we drew near the fort, every man but Robert Smalls felt his knees giving away and women began crying and praying again.

Gonna need your help, Father.

Gonna need your help on this one.

- [Narrator] From the pilothouse, impersonating Captain Relyea, Smalls steers The Planter along the right flank of Fort Sumter.

- [Robert] Everybody get down!

- [Narrator] He gives the signal... (steamship horn honking) And waits for the countersign.

- Oh, Lord, please be with us.

(horn blowing) - [Man] Blow the damn Yankees to hell!

We'll ring one of 'em in!

- Aye!

- [Alfred] Smalls kept that steamer right on her course.

And when she was opposite the fort, he saluted with a whistle and added an extra toot as a farewell to the Confederacy.

(steamship horn blowing) - We made it!

(crying) Oh, we made it!

(women crying) - Shh, shh.

- [Narrator] By now, Charleston Harbor has begun to wake up and to realize what has just happened.

- Where's the boat?

- Where's the boat?!

- I don't know.

- [Narrator] The Planter and its passengers are beyond the reach of Confederate guns, but they aren't yet in the clear.

- Almost there, boys!

- [Narrator] With Fort Sumter in its wake, The Planter heads east toward the Union blockade.

Though Smalls is an expert navigator, The Planter was built for rivers and coasts, not the open ocean.

- Where's the bed sheet?

- Check with my wife, Hannah.

She has it.

- Okay.

- Hurry now!

Now, Gourdine, give it everything you got, now!

- Robert says we need to give it more!

- I'm trying as hard as I can!

- Well, what am I supposed to tell Robert?!

- [Alfred] Figure it out!

- [Robert] All the work I do, I should be the captain of my own boat.

- You will be the captain of your own boat.

- Oh, Lord, please guard us and guide us to the land of freedom.

(steamship horn blowing) - [Narrator] Smalls knows he is approaching heavily-armed United States ships.

- On deck!

Steamship off the starboard beam!

(uneasy music) - Petty officer to the deck!

- Aye, sir!

- Sound the bells, all hands on deck!

- Aye, sir!

Man the bow gun!

(man yelling indistinctly) - You see the guns on that clipper ship?!

- I sure do.

Now, get that flag down and get that white bed sheet up, now!

- [Narrator] He wants to draw their attention without drawing their fire.

- Sir, guns are manned and ready!

- Stand by.

- Aye-aye.

- [Robert] Now, you gotta hurry, now!

Get that white bed sheet up, now!

(steamship horn blowing) (steamship horn blowing) - Sir, can we fire?

Sir?

- Hold your fire.

- Aye-aye.

(horn continuing) - [Man] Stop or I will blow you out the water!

- Shut down the engines!

Shut down the engines!

We surrender, we surrender!

(women muttering) - [Man] Stand down!

(gentle music) - We made it!

We actually made it!

You did it, Robert!

- No, we did it!

- No, you did it, Robert!

We're free!

We're actually free!

- Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

C'mon, let's go round everybody up!

- You got it, Captain!

(laughing) - So, Robert Smalls and those on that boat with him forced the United States to recognize the significance of freedom, of how much enslaved people have hated this oppressive system and will destroy it from within.

- Good morning, sir.

I present to you the CSS Planter, and I'm the pilot, along with the United States guns that were headed to Fort Sumter, sir, along with all the code books and where the torpedoes are laid down in the harbor.

- You captured a Confederate steamboat?

- Yes, sir...

Along with my crew.

Gourdine, my brother John, and Andrew, sir.

- And what's your name?

- Robert Smalls.

- I believe it's Captain Robert Smalls.

- Captain John Nickels.

That's quite a feat, young man.

Why don't you gather the women and children, get 'em some rations?

- Thank you, sir.

- You're welcome.

- Delivering The Planter to the United States in the Civil War was an enormous gain.

- [Alfred] I told you, boys!

- The military intelligence that Robert was able to deliver, where mines were throughout the Lowcountry and some of the plans that Robert had overheard, the Union used that military intelligence to plan the largest naval exercise in the Civil War up to that time.

- We're free now, boys.

We're free!

(Alfred laughing) - He didn't just do something that was daring and adventurous.

It really had an impact and made sure the war ended with the outcome of freedom for four million people.

- Let's go get everybody.

(seagulls squawking) (gentle music) - [Narrator] The extraordinary journey of Robert Smalls didn't end with the capture of The Planter.

He would go on to enlist in the war effort, piloting The Planter and other ships for the US Navy.

(military drum music) He would meet with Abraham Lincoln and help convince the president to allow hundreds of thousands of African Americans to fight for the Union.

And with the reward he received from the United States government for the capture of The Planter, he'd hire tutors to teach him to read and write.

And he would return to the home where he was born into slavery and purchase it.

(soft uplifting music) - So, we are here on the porch of 511 Prince Street.

This is Robert Smalls' home.

Robert Smalls has been a really powerful part of my consciousness, of my identity.

And because I knew who I was descended from, I knew that Robert Smalls was my great-great-grandfather and that he had done great things in his life, every time I come here, I'm just...

I'm overwhelmed by the history here.

I'm overwhelmed.

I just am so deeply moved by standing in spaces that my ancestors stood in.

It would've been so easy.

Again, Robert and Hannah and his children, they could've just very easily kind of waited out the Civil War and sort of seen what would happen.

But Robert took his future in his own hands and... And it's just deeply moving and just being here gives me chills every time.

(gentle music) (soft folk music)