Be Free Or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero

Author: Cate Lineberry
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 1250101867
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
It was a mild May morning in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, when a 23-year-old enslaved man named Robert Smalls boldly seized a Confederate steamer. With his wife and two young children hidden on board, Smalls and a small crew ran a gauntlet of heavily armed fortifications in Charleston Harbour and delivered the valuable vessel and the massive guns it carried to nearby Union forces. Smalls' courageous and ingenious act freed him and his family from slavery and immediately made him a Union hero. It also challenged much of the country's view of what African Americans were willing to do for their freedom. In 'Be Free or Die, ' Cate Lineberry tells the remarkable story of Smalls' escape and his many accomplishments during the war, including becoming the first black captain of an Army vessel

Yearning to Breathe Free

Author: Andrew Billingsley
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 1643362151
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
A sociological approach to appreciating the heroism and legacy of the Gullah statesman On May 13, 1862, Robert Smalls (1839-1915) commandeered a Confederate warship, the Planter, from Charleston harbor and piloted the vessel to cheering seamen of the Union blockade, thus securing his place in the annals of Civil War heroics. Slave, pilot, businessman, statesman, U.S. congressman—Smalls played many roles en route to becoming an American icon, but none of his accomplishments was a solo effort. Sociologist Andrew Billingsley offers the first biography of Smalls to assess the influence of his families—black and white, past and present—on his life and enduring legend. In so doing, Billingsley creates a compelling mosaic of evolving black-white social relations in the American South as exemplified by this famous figure and his descendants. Born a slave in Beaufort, South Carolina, Robert Smalls was raised with his master's family and grew up amid an odd balance of privilege and bondage which instilled in him an understanding of and desire for freedom, culminating in his daring bid for freedom in 1862. Smalls served with distinction in the Union forces at the helm of the Planter and, after the war, he returned to Beaufort to buy the home of his former masters—a house that remained at the center of the Smalls family for a century. A founder of the South Carolina Republican Party, Smalls was elected to the state house of representatives, the state senate, and five times to the United States Congress. Throughout the trials and triumphs of his military and public service, he was surrounded by growing family of supporters. Billingsley illustrates how this support system, coupled with Smalls's dogged resilience, empowered him for success. Writing of subsequent generations of the Smalls family, Billingsley delineates the evolving patterns of opportunity, challenge, and change that have been the hallmarks of the African American experience thanks to the selfless investments in freedom and family made by Robert Smalls of South Carolina.

Gullah Statesman

Author: Edward A. Miller, Jr.
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 1643362976
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
A political biography of the first African American hero of the Civil War A native of Beaufort, South Carolina, Robert Smalls was born into slavery but—through acts of remarkable courage and determination—became the first African American hero of the Civil War and one of the most influential African American politicians in South Carolina history. In this largely political biography of Smalls's inspirational story, Edward A. Miller, Jr., traces the triumphs and setbacks of the celebrated U.S. congressman and advocate of compulsory, desegregated public education to illustrate how the life and contributions of this singular individual were indicative of the rise and fall of political influence for all African Americans during this rough transitional period in American history.

The Escape of Robert Smalls

Author: Jehan Jones-Radgowski
Publisher:
ISBN: 1543512895
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 41

Book Description
The mist in Charleston Inner Harbor was heavy, but not heavy enough to disguise the stolen Confederate steamship, the Planter, from Confederate soldiers. In the early hours of May 13, 1862, in the midst of the deadly U.S. Civil War, an enslaved man named Robert Smalls was about to carry out a perilous plan of escape. Standing at the helm of the ship, Smalls impersonated the captain as he and his crew passed heavily armed Confederate forts to enter Union territory, where escaped slaves were given shelter. The suspenseful escape of the determined crew is celebrated with beautiful artwork and insightful prose, detailing the true account of an unsung American hero.

The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls

Author: Louise Meriwether
Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN: 1611178568
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 24

Book Description
The true story of an enslaved African American man who escaped to freedom and became a military and political leader Robert Smalls, born a slave in 1839 in Beaufort, South Carolina, gained fame as an African American hero of the American Civil War. The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls tells the inspirational story of Small's life as a slave, his boyhood dream of freedom, and his bold and daring plan as a young man to commandeer a Confederate gunboat from Charleston Harbor and escape with fifteen fellow slaves and family members. Smalls joined the Union Navy and rose to the rank of captain and became the first African American to command a U.S. service ship. After the war Smalls returned to Beaufort, bought the home of his former master, and began a long career in state and national politics. This new edition of The Freedom Ship of Robert Smalls, originally published in 1971, features Louise Meriwether's original narrative, now illustrated by the colorful paintings of renowned Southern artist Jonathan Green.

The Secret Rescue

Author: Cate Lineberry
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
ISBN: 031622023X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Book Description
The compelling untold story of a group of stranded U.S. Army nurses and medics fighting to escape Nazi-occupied Europe. When 26 Army nurses and medics-part of the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron-boarded a cargo plane for transport in November 1943, they never anticipated the crash landing in Nazi-occupied Albania that would lead to their months-long struggle for survival. A drama that captured the attention of the American public, the group and its flight crew dodged bullets and battled blinding winter storms as they climbed mountains and fought to survive, aided by courageous villagers who risked death at Nazi hands to help them. A mesmerizing tale of the courage and heroism of ordinary people, The Secret Rescue tells not only a new story of struggle and endurance, but also one of the daring rescue attempts by clandestine American and British organizations amid the tumultuous landscape of the war.

5000 Miles to Freedom

Author: Judith Bloom Fradin
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
ISBN:
Category : African Americans
Languages : en
Pages : 104

Book Description
Ellen and William Craft were two of the few slaves to ever escape from the Deep South. Their first escape took them to Philadelphia, then on to Boston pursued by slave hunters, and finally 5000 miles across the ocean to England, where they were able to settle peacefully.

Rehearsal for Reconstruction

Author: Willie Lee Rose
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
ISBN: 9780820320618
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

Book Description
Just seven months into the Civil War, a Union fleet sailed into South Carolina’s Port Royal Sound, landed a ground force, and then made its way upriver to Beaufort. Planters and farmers fled before their attackers, allowing virtually all their major possessions, including ten thousand slaves, to fall into Union hands. Rehearsal for Reconstruction, winner of the Allan Nevins Prize, the Francis Parkman Prize, and the Charles S. Sydnor Prize, is historian Willie Lee Rose’s chronicle of change in this Sea Island region from its capture in 1861 through Reconstruction. With epic sweep, Rose demonstrates how Port Royal constituted a stage upon which a dress rehearsal for the South’s postwar era was acted out.

Trouble the Water

Author: Rebecca Dwight Bruff
Publisher: Koehler Books
ISBN: 9781633938090
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Book Description
Inspired by the life of an unsung American hero and slave, Trouble the Water navigates the rich tributaries of courage, betrayal, and redemption. In his inspiring journey, Robert Smalls witnesses great privilege and suffering alongside his owner's daughter and the dangerous son of a firebrand secessionist.

Seven Miles to Freedom

Author: Janet Halfmann
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781600602320
Category : African American legislators
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Growing up a slave in South Carolina, Robert Smalls always dreamed of the moment freedom would be within his grasp. Now that moment was here.Robert stood proudly at the Planter's wheel. Only seven miles of water lay between the ship and the chance of freedom in Union territory. With precision and amazing courage, he navigated past the Confederate forts in the harbor and steered the ship toward the safety of the Union fleet. Just one miscalculation would be deadly, but for Robert, his family, and his crewmates, the risk was worth taking.Seven Miles to Freedomis the compelling account of the daring escape of Robert Smalls, a slave steamboat wheelman who became one of the Civil War's greatest heroes. His steadfast courage in the face of adversity is an inspiring model for all who attempt to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges.