Some More on Robert Smalls

This is a follow up to the December 5th and 6th entries on Robert Smalls.

On December 1, 1863, the USS Planter was caught in a Confederate crossfire and the ship's captain (Smalls was the pilot) wanted to surrender. Smalls argued that he and the other black sailors would not be treated as prisoners-of-war (probably a correct assumption). The commander decided to go ahead and surrender. Smalls took command and the Planter escaped. As a result, Smalls became the first black man to command a vessel in the US Navy.

Robert Smalls was born a slave in 1839 and died in 1916.

I was wondering why the ship would be called the Major General Robert Smalls when Smalls was involved with the sea and the navy.

From his website:

1870 commissioned Lt. Col. in SC state militia
1871- promted to Brigadier General
1873 attained rank of Major General

His mother was named Lydia and father was an unidentified white man.

The US Major General Robert Smalls is one of eight ships in the class which are actually in the Army, and not the Navy. They are designed to carry up to 2,000 tons cargo. The Smalls was launched in 2004, but had the formal dedication during the annual Army-Navy game at Annapolis, Md. The event was attended by a numbers of his descendants and supporters.

www.robertsmalls.org

This Was One Interesting Man Who Rose Far Above What Might Have Been Expected. --B-Runner