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<p><strong> By Mike McCombs</strong></p>
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<p>Usually, you don’t hear about 159th anniversaries. Wedding anniversaries are only named through the 80th. And 159 is not a remarkable year. </p>
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<p>Also, aside from a few birthdays, May 13 isn’t a widely remembered date throughout American history.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>But May 13 should be a big day in Beaufort.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>It was 159 years ago (give or take a few hours), in the early morning hours of May 13, 1862, that Robert Smalls, born into slavery in 1839 in Beaufort, sailed the Planter, a Confederate transport ship out of Charleston harbor, past Confederate checkpoints and into the waiting arms of the Union blockade.&nbsp;</p>
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<p>And into the waiting arms of freedom. </p>
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<p>And not just for himself. He delivered his family, as well as all the families of all his enslaved crewmates.</p>
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<p>It was a remarkable act by an even more remarkable man.</p>
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<p>After serving in the U.S. Navy for the remainder of the Civil War, Smalls returned to Beaufort, purchased the home of the man who enslaved him, became a local businessman, advocated for public education, and then was a delegate to the state convention that wrote a new S.C. Constitution. He would later be elected to the S.C. House of Representatives, then the S.C. Senate.</p>
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<p>And he was elected to and served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.</p>
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<p>But it’s fair to say, as remarkable as Smalls was, he may have achieved none of his accomplishments if not for that night in May, 159 years ago.</p>
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<p>Smalls’ actions that night are the stuff great movies are made of … except not this time, not yet. But somehow, outside of the Lowcountry, Smalls' actions are not all that well known.</p>
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<p>If you’re new to Beaufort or just vacationing here, or if you’ve been here all your life and just don’t know much about the Robert Smalls story, I encourage you to take a little time and dive in.</p>
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<p>Visit the Robert Smalls monument and gravesite at Tabernacle Baptist Church or take a trip to the Beaufort History Museum and learn a little about Smalls. A trip to the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park couldn’t hurt.</p>
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<p>Or read a detailed 2017 chronicle of the actions of that night 159 years ago by Cate Lineberry of Smithsonian Magazine at<a href=" https://bit.ly/3bki7Mw"> https://bit.ly/3bki7Mw</a>.</p>
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<p>The more you know about Smalls and his heroics, the harder it is to believe he isn’t a hero to more Americans.</p>
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<p><em>Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.</em><br><br><em>Above: The bust of South Carolina statesman Robert Smalls is located on the ground of Tabernacle Baptist Church on Craven Street. Photo by Bob Sofaly</em></p>
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