05/13/2026
A few miles from Fort Sumter, where the U.S. Civil War began a year earlier, in Charleston, South Carolina, a military transport steamship called Planter was moored. Early on May 13, 1862, enslaved Black man and naval pilot Robert Smalls stole that ship and took himself and several others to freedom.
--On This Day in History S**t Went Down: May 13, 1862--
This was a fu***ng caper. For several months Smalls was the trusted pilot for the Planter because he acted all yes Iโm so very happy to be considered your property and not an actual human being; I would never dream of anything so foolish as being free. All the while he plotted, bringing the other enslaved crew into his confidence about his plans to escape.
On the evening of May 12, the white officers departed the ship for their homes. The Black crew stayed aboard to care for the ship. A few hours after midnight, the seven Black crew said letโs get the f**k out of here and steamed away from the dock. A guard watched it happen and just assumed a white dude was in charge. The ship stopped quickly at another wharf to pick up nine family members, wives and children, and everyone aboard was rightfully terrified about what faced them next.
The ship was lightly armored; it could have been blown to bits by Confederate artillery in moments. Regardless, Smalls donned a wide-brimmed hat and pretended to be the rightful white captain and confidently piloted Planter past heavily armored fortifications while the other crewmen shook with fear. The women and children hid belowdecks, crying and praying for deliverance. Passing Fort Sumter, Smalls gave the whistle signal of a โfriendlyโ and a sentry called out โBlow the damned Yankees to hell,โ to which Smalls replied, โAye, aye!โ
The final terror was heading toward the Union blockade line and not being blown to s**t for being a Confederate ship. The crew removed their Confederate flag and hoisted a white bedsheet to signal surrender. After a tense few moments the Union ship, named Onward, accepted their surrender and the sixteen were free. The Planterโs cargo hold was loaded with four large guns for transport to Sumter. Upon meeting the captain of the Onward Smalls said, โGood morning, sir! Iโve brought you some of the old United States guns, sir!โ
Smalls remained in command of the Planter, piloting it to a Union enclave where it became a Union warship. Only 23 years old, he became a public figure and a hero in the North and was instrumental in convincing President Lincoln to permit Black soldiers to serve the Union in the war. He served in the navy until 1868, and a decade after the war ended, Smalls was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for South Carolina. He died in 1915 at the age of 75.
NOTE: This piece was researched and written by a human, not some bulls**t "ai" plagiarism software.
Those who cannot remember the past need a history teacher who says โf**kโ a lot. Get both volumes of ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY S**T WENT DOWN at JamesFell.com/books.
