USS Planter (1862)

USS "Planter" (1860) was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War when Robert Smalls, a Southern slave, managed to stealthfully steer her past Confederate defenses and surrender her to Union Navy forces.

For a short period, "Planter" served the Union Navy during her struggle against the Confederate States of America as a gunboat. However, as she burned wood, which was scarce where the Navy was operating, the Navy turned the ship over to the Union Army for use at Fort Pulaski.

Service under the Confederacy

"Planter", a side-wheel steamer built at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1860, served the Confederacy as an armed dispatch boat and transport attached to the engineer department at Charleston, under Brig. Gen. Ripley, CSA.

Robert Smalls, a slave, commandeers Planter and escapes

On 13 May 1862 at 0400, while her captain, C. J. Relyea, was absent on shore, Robert Smalls, a slave who was "Planter’s" pilot, quietly took the ship from the wharf, and with a Confederate flag flying, steamed past the successive Confederate forts, saluting as usual by blowing her steam whistle.

As soon as the steamer was out of range of the last Confederate gun, Smalls hauled down the Confederate flag and hoisted a white one. Then he turned "Planter" over to "Onward" of the Union blockading force.

Besides Smalls, "Planter" carried seven other black men, five women, and three children to freedom. Moreover, in addition to the cargo of artillery and explosives, Smalls brought Admiral Du Pont valuable intelligence including word that the Confederates had abandoned defensive positions on the Stono River.

Smalls pilots "Planter" to Samuel DuPont in South Carolina

The next day "Planter" was sent to Flag Officer Samuel F. Du Pont at Port Royal Harbor, South Carolina, who later assigned Robert Smalls as "Planter’s" pilot. At the time she was taken over by the Federals, "Planter" had on board, as a valuable cargo, four guns besides her usual armament.

Smalls and his crew are awarded half the value of Planter

The U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives of the United States passed a private bill on 30 May 1862, granting Robert Smalls and his African-American crew one half of the value of "Planter" and her cargo as prize money.

Service in the Union Navy

Du Pont promptly took "Planter" into the Union Navy and placed her under command of Acting Master Philemon Dickenson. On 30 May he ordered the side-wheeler to North Edisto where Acting Master Lloyd Phoenix relieved Dickenson.

"Planter" served the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron through the summer of 1862. On a joint expedition under Lt. Rhind, "Crusader" and "Planter" ascended to Simmons Bluff, Wadmelaw River, South Carolina, landed with troops, and destroyed a Confederate encampment.

"Planter" transferred to the Union Army

The Southern steamer had been designed to use only wood as fuel, a scarce commodity for the Union blockaders off Charleston, South Carolina. Therefore, in the fall of 1862 Du Pont ordered her transferred to the Union Army for service near Fort Pulaski. [http://www.historynet.com/magazines/civil_war_times/3027291.html?page=3&c=y Robert Smalls: Commander of the "Planter" During the American Civil War] , article by Howard Westwood. ] .

"Planter" under fire

After his escape, Robert Smalls served as a pilot for Union ships in the area. He was eventually assigned to serve aboard the "Planter" once again. On December 1, 1863, "Planter" was caught in a crossfire between Union and Confederate forces. The ship's commander, a Captain Nickerson, ordered her surrendered. Smalls refused, saying he feared her black crewmen would not be treated as prisoners of war and might even be killed by the Confederates. Smalls took command and piloted the ship out of range of the Confederate guns. As a reward for his bravery, he was made her new captain, becoming the first black man to command a United States ship. "The Unstoppable Mr.Smalls", by Gerald Henig, [http://www.historynet.com/magazines/american_civil_war?list=y&browse=all "America's Civil War"] , [http://cgi.ebay.com/Americas-Civil-War-2007-March_W0QQitemZ320103169352QQcmdZViewItem March 2007 issue] . ] Smalls remained in that position until the "Planter" was sold by the Army in 1866.

References

See also

* American Civil War
* Union Navy
* Confederate States Navy

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p8/planter-i.htm USS Planter]
* [http://www.historynet.com/magazines/civil_war_times/3027291.html Robert Smalls: Commander of the "Planter" During the American Civil War] , article by Howard Westwood.