#OTD #TDIH #May13, 1862 #RobertSmalls steals #CSSPlanter from #Confederacy for the #Union, becomes captain of renamed #USSPlanter.
#Slaves #SeaCaptains #AfricanAmericans #BlackAmericans #BlackPeople #Blacks #Heroes #AmericanCivilWar en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pla...

#OTD #TDIH #May13, 1862 #RobertSmalls steals #CSSPlanter from #Confederacy for the #Union, becomes captain of renamed #USSPlanter.
#Slaves #SeaCaptains #AfricanAmericans #BlackAmericans #BlackPeople #Blacks #Heroes #AmericanCivilWar
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Pla...

Robert Smalls used his knowledge, skill, and timing to strike directly against the Confederacy and change his own future.

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#RobertSmalls #CivilWar #AmericanHistory #USSPlanter #BlackHistory #OnThisDay

13 May 1862 (164 years ago): Southern slave Robert Smalls steals the steamboat Planter, spirits it through Confederate lines and hands it to the US Navy, who quickly commission it as the gunboat USSPlanter & appoint Smalls as captain, making him the first black man to command a United States ship.

Enslaved steamboat pilot #RobertSmalls slipped moorings & left its #Confederate captain ashore on #ThisDayInHistory in 1862. Smalls hoisted a white flag & joined the Union, freeing the slaves aboard. #USSPlanter became his gunboat & he is the first Black man to command a US ship.