Robert Smalls

Robert Smalls
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. R. 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 sea captain/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 who was born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina. During the American Civil War, the still enslaved Smalls commandeered a Confederate transport ship in Charleston Harbor and sailed 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. In the process, he freed himself, his crew, and their families. 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 was a founder of the Republican Party of South Carolina and the last member of that party to represent South Carolina's 5th congressional district until the election of Mick Mulvaney in 2010.