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Smalls Assumes Command of The Planter
On December 1, 1863, Planter, commanded by Captain Nickerson with Smalls as pilot, came under fire came under fire from Confederate artillery while on a mission in Lighthouse Inlet area near Secessionville. The ship was moving rations from Folly Island to several thousand troops on Morris Island. Planter was caught in a crossfire among a Confederate Secessionville battery, a Union battery on Block Island, and a Union ship, the Commodore Macdonough. The fire on Planter, primarily from short rounds, was so intense that Nickerson ordered the ship beached, then went below and hid. Smalls refused the order and took over the vessel, bringing it safely out of danger. When Planter docked at Morris, it was met by the department commander, Major General Gilmore, who ordered that Nickerson be immediately dismissed for cowardess and Smalls appointed captain in his place. Smalls later wrote, "Genl. Gillmore...made an order to Capt. Dutton of the Qtr-Mstr Department [to which Smalls and Planter were assigned] and on the first of Dec 1863 I was placed in charge of the boat by an order of [Lt.] Col. JJ Ellsworth, Chief Qtr Mstr of the Department." The action in Lighthouse Inlet is not described in Army records, and the account of it appears in Smalls' pension request affidavit. Consequently, he may have elaborated on the danger and the events to enhance his claim. Nonetheless, he was recognized for his accomplishments and was, no doubt without precedent for a black man, master of a ship in the service of the United States. Excerpted from Gullah Statesman, Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839-1915 by Edward A. Miller, Jr. |
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