E473 - Robert Smalls

Grab a beer and join us tonight as we cover Robert Smalls, the enslaved man who stole a Confederate warship and sailed his family to freedom. On May 13th, 1862, while the three white officers of the CSS Planter were ashore for the night, Smalls put on the captain's hat, fired up the engines, picked up his wife and children, and navigated past five Confederate checkpoints in the dark giving the correct signals at every one. We'll walk through how he pulled it off, what he did after, and why a man born into slavery ended up serving five terms...