Local Civil War Anniversary: Abducting The Planter

The Planter, on open water.

150 years ago today, May 13, 1862, around 3:00 am, Beaufort's native son, Robert Smalls, a slave owned by John McKee, planned, executed, and piloted The Planter, a converted cotton steamer, through Confederate lines surrounding Charleston Harbor to the U.S.S. Onward, a federal ship and surrendered the vessel.

Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont was very favorably impressed and wrote the following to U.S. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles:

"This man, Robert Smalls, is superior to any who has yet come into our lines, intelligent as many of them have been.  His information has been most interesting, and portions of it of utmost importance.... I shall continue to employ Robert as a pilot on board The Planter for inland waters."  

Read more about Robert Smalls and his exceptional feat in our local history pages.  

Explore the list of resources that we have compiled about Robert Smalls in order to share his amazing life story with you.  

Source: The Planter, on open water image is from a plate in Official Records of the Union and Confederate Natives in the War of the Rebellion, series 1, vol. 12, between p. 820 and p. 821.