Robert Smalls Part 1: The Wheelman
Banned Histories of Race in America
Even at 3:30 in the morning, Captain Relyea was recognizable. Relyea’s posture and straw hat—plus the expected coded hand signals—meant his steamship passed quickly through the Confederate checkpoint. The steamer was the CSS Planter and it was filled with guns and ammunition. But the ship wasn’t on a supply run. And the wheelman in the straw hat wasn’t actually Captain Relyea—he wasn’t even white. Soon, an alarm would sound and everyone within earshot would know that the Planter had been stolen—not by Union soldiers or Northern spies, but by “runaway slaves”.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Banned Histories of Race in America to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.