Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 7th district
In office March 18, 1884 – March 3, 1887
Preceded by
Edmund W. M. Mackey
Succeeded by
William Elliott
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 5th district
In office July 19, 1882 – March 3, 1883
Preceded by
George D. Tillman
Succeeded by
John J. Hemphill
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1879
Preceded by
District Reestablished
Succeeded by
George D. Tillman
Member of the South Carolina Senate from Beaufort County
In office November 22, 1870 – March 4, 1875
Preceded by
Jonathan Jasper Wright
Succeeded by
Samuel Greene
Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Beaufort County
In office November 24, 1868 – November 22, 1870
Personal details
Born
(1839-04-05)April 5, 1839 Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S.
Died
February 23, 1915(1915-02-23) (aged 75) Beaufort, South Carolina, U.S.
Political party
Republican
Spouses
Hannah Jones
(m. 1856; died 1883)
Annie Wigg
(m. 1890; died 1895)
Children
4
Signature
Military service
Allegiance
United States
Branch/service
United States Navy United States
Years of service
1862–1868
Rank
None (Civilian pilot and armed transport captain)
Battles/wars
Blockade of Charleston • Battle of Simmon's Bluff • Second Battle of Pocotaligo • Second Battle of Fort Sumter Sherman's March to the Sea
Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was an American politician, publisher, businessman and maritime pilot. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew and their families during the American Civil War by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, CSS Planter, in Charleston harbor, on May 13, 1862, and sailing it from the Confederate-controlled waters of the harbor to the U.S. blockade that surrounded it. He then piloted the ship to the Union-controlled enclave in Beaufort–Port Royal–Hilton Head area, where it became a Union warship. His example and persuasion helped convince President Abraham Lincoln to accept African-American soldiers into the Union Army.
After the Civil War, Smalls returned to Beaufort and became a politician, winning election as a Republican to the South Carolina Legislature and the United States House of Representatives during the Reconstruction era. He authored state legislation providing for South Carolina to have the first free and compulsory public school system in the United States. He founded the Republican Party of South Carolina. Smalls was the last Republican to represent South Carolina's 5th congressional district until the election of Mick Mulvaney in 2010.
RobertSmalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was an American politician, publisher, businessman and maritime pilot. Born into slavery in Beaufort...
USS RobertSmalls (CG-62) is a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser built during the Cold War for the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1989, the...
Camp RobertSmalls was a United States Naval training facility, created pursuant to an order signed April 21, 1942 by Frank Knox, then Secretary of the...
Billingsley, Andrew. Yearning to Breathe Free: RobertSmalls of South Carolina and His Families (2007); see RobertSmalls Bostick, Douglas W. The Union is Dissolved...
Look up smalls in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Smalls may refer to: Smalls (surname) Camp RobertSmalls, a United States Naval training facility Fort...
The RobertSmalls House is a historic house at 511 Prince Street in Beaufort, South Carolina. Built in 1843 and altered several times, the house was designated...
Smalls Lighthouse is a lighthouse that stands on the largest of a group of wave-washed basalt and dolerite rocks known as The Smalls approximately 20 miles...
The RobertSmalls School is a historic school building at 316 Front Street in Cheraw, South Carolina. This single story brick Colonial Revival structure...
Fort RobertSmalls was a Civil War redoubt built by free blacks for the defense of Pittsburgh in 1863. It was named in honor of RobertSmalls, a man who...
USAV Major General RobertSmalls (LSV-8) is a General Frank S. Besson Jr.-class roll-on/roll-off of US Army. Named in honor of Gen. Frank S. Besson Jr...
engineer and founder of Robert Napier and Sons Robert Miles Sloman, English-German shipbuilder, ship owner and sailor RobertSmalls, American businessman...
School Hilton Head Island Middle School Lady's Island Middle School RobertSmalls Leadership Academy Whale Branch Middle School Bluffton Middle School...
other key Confederate manufacturing and supply centers. In March 1862, RobertSmalls, a free black, rowed out to a Union warship that was part of a large...
through the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. RobertSmalls estimated that overall 53,000 African-American were killed in post-war...
congressional district, the first Republican to represent that district since RobertSmalls, the party's co-founder, last held the seat in 1883. The election of...
Country, which was released in 2014. Brinker was to be presented with the RobertSmalls Indie Vision Award at the 7th annual Beaufort, South Carolina International...
advantage in troops over the South. RobertSmalls was born into slavery in 1839 in Beaufort County. When he was 12, Smalls' master sent him to Charleston to...
Raven Saunders Philip Simmons RobertSmalls Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor Clarence Thomas Denmark Vesey Kemba Walker Robert Lee Watt Maurice Samuel Young (Trick...
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