On the evening of May 13, 1862, enslaved wheelman Robert Smalls disguised himself as CSS Planter’s  captain and slipped past five Confederate forts to surrender to the Union blockade ship USS Onward off Charleston, S.C. He took his family and several other crew members’ families behind Union lines to help attain their freedom. Smalls then served the Union as a pilot on Planter as well as on other ships such as the ironclad USS Keokuk. After the war he served three terms in Congress and was one of South Carolina’s leading African American citizens until his death in 1915.

Civil War lectures are free with Museum admission, but reserving a seat is suggested as seating is limited. Reserve
seats below.