Courage

indentured people if they joined the British. The colonists felt betrayed, and Royal Governor John Murray became a hated man with the proclamation, and enslaved twenty one year old by the name of Titus Cornelius saw a chance of freedom. He escaped and promptly enlisted with the newly formed Ethiopian regiment that worked closely with British soldiers. A new start required, heared a new name, and from that moment on he

was known simply as Ty. Determined to prove his worth, during the Battle of Monmouth in seventeen seventy eight, Ti captured a Patriot captain and his courage didn't go unnoticed. The British found his services and loyalty valuable, and they sent his unit on a raid in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. The plan had been orchestrated by Benjamin Franklin's son William, a British loyalist. Ty led the effort, preferring to strike at night. The regiment captured eighty cattle, twenty horses, and

two sought after patriots. Again pleased with his bravery and fortitude, the British paid Thai five gold guineas. Throughout the summer of seventeen seventy nine, he and his crew targeted wealthy slave owners. His continued success moved him up the ranks. By winter, Tye served with twenty four loyalists called the Black Brigade. Together with the band of white loyalists, they

defended New York City. On March eighty, the Black Brigade captured two well known Patriots and burned the home of another. In retaliation for executing loyalists, Tye attacked and killed Patriot John Russell and wounded his young son. Two months later, he and his brigade swept the home of another Patriot leader, captured twelve men, and destroyed their artillery. In September, the men raided the home of Patriot Captain John Joshua Hutty.

They set the homestead on fire, but Hutty and a female servant held the brigade at bay until help arrived. While the two sides clashed, the captain escaped. During the battle, Tye was shot in the wrist. Within days, he fell ill from infection tetanus turned to gang green, killing him. Though the British didn't formally recognize black soldiers, upon his death,

they bestowed him with the title of colonel. During his life, ty learned that to attain freedom there had to be courage, a lesson that another man would take to heart and make the most of. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows. It was all about location. The climate and soil in Beaufort, South Carolina, made growing indigo used to make ink and sea island cotton highly profitable. By eighteen thirty nine, the city became immensely wealthy. Beaufort had good schools, a college,

multiple libraries, and a regular steamboat schedule. Massive plantations sat nestled among moss draped live oaks. Many plantations had been handed down generation to generation. On Prince Street sat a large mansion belonging to the mckeeth. Emily Henry, the only son of a wealthy cotton grower had inherited his father's land and fortune at the young age of twenty three. He married two years later in eighteen thirty six, and in eighteen thirty nine his wife gave birth to their daughter,

Eliza Jane. A month later, Henry's son, Robert, was born to an enslaved housemaid, Lydia. Henry had known Lydia for most of his life. Twenty years his senior, she had helped raise him. Of all his servants, Henry favored her, and when their son was old enough, Henry took the boy on his day trips to the city of Ashdale. The mckeys thought of Robert as a smart and kind child. Robert even played with Eliza and eventually other McKey children. He grew close to his half siblings, though while they

were at school. He worked alongside his mother as a houseboy. Lydia reminded him that while they weren't free, their life was better than those working in the field. To show him how other black people lived, she took him to a slave auction as well as the local jail to witness a whipping of an enslaved man. She intended to prepare her son for the future Robert, however, became angry and rebellious. Allowed to be away from the plantation on his own when labor was done, he'd often break curfew.

On more than one occasion, patrols brought him back to the mckeys. Henry never punished him the way he had seen that day at the jail, but undoubtedly Robert's continued rebellion played a hand in Henry sending him to his sister in law in Charleston when he turned to twelve. Now away from home for the first time, Robert slept in slave quarters and was hired out as a laborer, a practice not uncommon at the time, known as Robert Small's. He worked as a waiter at one of Charleston's most

prestigious hotels. From there, he worked with lamp lighters, cleaning sooked from the globes. As the years past, he turned his attention to the harbor, imagining what it would be like to captain a ship. With Henry's permission, Robert found work on the docks, loading and unloading cargo. With a strong work ethic, his employer moved him to driving the horses that made deliveries, and by the following summer he was hired out to a schooner as a sailor. Along

with the job, he earned extra pay. While still not a freeman, Robert made a life for himself. At seventeen, he decided it was time to marry. He courted another day laborer and enslaved girl named Hannah. There was a problem, though she belonged to another property owner. Henry granted Robert permission to marry and paid Hannah's owner for allowing the two to wed. Robert thought marriage was practical. In his words, he wanted someone to do for him and take care

of him, and Hannah fit the bill. While marriage certificates were not granted to enslaved people, the McKee family hosted a wedding at their plantation home, inviting a small number of guests, including Lydia. When the couple had a daughter, Robert worried that his family could be taken away from him at any time and offered to buy his wife and daughter from their owner. Although the price was too high, Robert didn't give up hope he had saved his money. Besides,

times had begun to change. Lincoln's pushed end slavery didn't go over well with wealthy plantation owners. Southern political leaders in favor of keeping slavery part of the South, declared that they would secede from the Union if Lincoln won the eighteen sixty election. When their fears came to pass, South Carolina became the first state to leave the Union

in December of eighteen sixty. In January of eighteen sixty one, Union major Robert Anderson in Charleston withdrew his troops to the island fortress Fort Sumter, seeing the fort as a stronghold. Unwilling to allow Union forces to control a key point in the harbor, the South Carolina militia fired upon a U. S Ship delivering supplies to the fort, forcing the ship, named the Star of the West, to retreat. On April twelfth of eighteen sixty one, the first shots were fired

on the fort, starting the Civil War. South Carolina rejoiced when Fort Sumter feld Confederate bombardment. The Charleston Mercury called it a splendid pyrotechnic exhibition. Robert had hoped that the new administration might make him and his family free. Instead, little had changed, adding to his fears. He now had a son raising the price to buy his family. When the chance to join the crew of a Confederate ship named the Planter presented itself, along with a raisin salary,

he eagerly accepted. As the war intensified, the Union authorized the Confiscation Act, which allowed Federal forces to confiscate any Confederate property, including enslaved people. The Union argued that any young black man thus confiscated was able to fight against the Confederacy. Within days of the news, dozens of escaped men, women, and children arrived at the Union stronghold, Port Monroau seeking refuge.

By June, the number increased to nearly five hundred. In the fall of eighteen sixty one, Robert had been promoted to wheelman. The Planter's wartime job had changed to transporting Confederate soldiers and supplies. South Carolina remained a battle ground

every day. Robert longed for freedom. When the Union had taken over the harbor at Port Royal and freed the enslaved there, including his mother, Lydia, he rejoiced, but ached for the day that he and his family could live free to In the meantime, he transported more Confederate soldiers and more ammunition destined to be used against the very people trying to free him. Um. When the Planter returned to Charleston Southern Wharf, all seemed quiet aboard. The captain

and crew trusted him. He had worked hard and had never given them a reason to doubt him. Below deck, the ship was laden with ammunition destined for Confederate troops. Under the starlit sky and soft breeze, Robert stood alone on the deck. Escape he realized was now or never. His plan was both brilliant and dangerous to steal a Confederate general's ship loaded with ammunition and make it to Union lines. If he got caught, he and everyone aboard the ship would be killed. Pull it off, though, and

everyone would be free. Playing it through in his head was one thing. Pulling it off was another. The Planter wasn't stealthy. It produced a lot of smoke and was rather noisy. Getting out of the harbor unnoticed would be near impossible, so he'd have to impersonate a white general. Robert had a plan for that too. They'd go in the dead of night, and he'd wear long sleeves in

the general's wide brimmed hat. First, he and the others needed to gather up the families of the enslaved men on board, and hope that none of them talked or backed out. Next, he would have to steer the ship through the heavily guarded harbor. If they made it into Union territory, they'd have to convince the North that they weren't attacking, that they were surrendering. The plan had a lot of potential pitfalls. There would be no second chances and no room for error. He broached the subject with

Hannah first. If the plan failed, the men faced execution, and their wives and children would be separated and sold off. Hannah's reply was simple. Where he died, she died. His fellow enslaved crew members agreed to the plan as well. Freedom was worth the risk. Robert knew that the more people involved, the more likely they'd get caught, but he couldn't operate the Planter alone. He had to trust that

his crew members wouldn't get cold feet. When three of the original six lost their nerve and backed out, he scrambled to find three more men and hoped the others would keep quiet. Every night, the general and the ship's officers left the Planter, preferring to sleep in their own homes. And thankfully. On the night of the heist, they left the ship. As usual, Hannah rounded up the other men's families, who had been left out on the plan until the last minute, that have to be quiet when they arrived

at the ship. Although the women gathered their children and followed Hannah, when they heard Robert's plan, some became frightened and began to cry. The men hustled them on board and locked them in a stateroom, threatening to kill the first person who made another sound. The entire trip a bit drastic sure the threat worked, though, and none of the women or children made a single noise after that. At three in the morning, the men stoked up the

steamship's fires. As plumes of smoke filled the air, and there was no turning back. The men gathered hands and vowed that if they were captured, that all jump overboard and drowned themselves. At four, they raised the Confederate flag and headed north. Robert kept the ship steady and that a normal pace as the heavily guarded Fort Johnson came into view. Once passed, he rang for more steam, but the danger was far from over, and the men held

their breath. The most guarded and heavily armed checkpoint of all came next, Fort Sumter. As the Planter cruised past, a Century called out from the fort, blow the damn Yankees to hell. Robert remained calm, tipping the jet earl's wide brimmed hat had replied, ay I. Once Fort Sumter was safely behind them, the men began to weep. They

made it through the worst. Now in Union territory, the men scrambled to take down the Confederate flag and hoist the white flags, signaling their surrender, before nearby Union ships fired at them. Just as they finished, a Union ship approached. Wary of the Planter's white flags, Captain John Nichols of the Onward ordered all cannons pointed at the Planter. The white flags could be a trick. Once the ships were

side by side, Robert hailed them, removing his hat. Nichols was intrigued, and somehow a black man had managed to commandeer a Confederate ship out of Charleston Harbor and passed two checkpoints unnoticed. The two men stared at each other, unsure what to do next. Robert broke the silence between them. Good morning, sir, he said, as cheerful as possible. I've brought you some of the old United States guns, Sir. Not only had the enslaved man stolen a ship had

stolen one full of weapons. Astounded, Nichols boarded the ship right away. Crew members asked if his ship had a spare and proper United States flag for the Planter. He did. The men hoisted the new flag, making the Planter a Union vessel. At the port. Nichols wrote to his commanding officer praising Robert's heroics. Congress agreed and awarded each of the Planter's crew hundred dollars in reward money, about thirty eight thousand each today. Finally, the crew and family aboard

the ship were free. By November of eighteen sixty three, Hannah was pregnant with the couple's third child. Robert continued his work as a crewman aboard the Planter, now a Union ship carrying supplies from Foley Island to Morris Island. During one delivery, the crew found themselves caught in the crossfire between warring ships. The captain abandoned his post and ran for cover, leaving the rest of the men on

deck to fend for themselves. Robert quickly took charge. Without anyone to steer, the Planter would have undoubtedly been sunk. Confederate soldiers would have hung him and the other black crew members. He knew the ship well, and he commanded the other deck hands while safely navigating the ship and crew out of harm's way. Once out of danger, the captain took control once more. The crew finished their journey

without another incident and returned to home port. When the chief quartermaster learned of Robert's bravery, he promoted him to the captain of the Planter, the very ship had worked on as a deckhand wheelman and had stolen. Along with the promotion came extra money. He and Hannah welcomed their new sons soon after that, making the boy the first and the family not born into slavery. An extramount to feed was no longer a worry. His new salary afforded

him and his family a very comfortable living. Life was good, but he couldn't have predicted the changes and challenges to come. By eighteen sixty four, the war was almost over. The Union had taken over much of Charleston and the surrounding area,

including any plantations abandoned for unpaid taxes. When the large white house on Prince Street in Bufort became available, Robert thought the property had been born on, served in as a houseboy, and later married Hannah in The couple made the mansion their own, sleeping in the master bedroom while their children each had their own rooms, rooms that had belonged to generations of McKay children. That May, Robert took his family to Philadelphia while the aging Planter underwent repairs.

During his absence, the people in Beaufort voted for him to serve as a South Carolina delegate to the National Union Party's convention in Baltimore. He declined the honor, keeping his word to serve the Union. During their stay in Philadelphia, the Smallest worked on fundraisers that drew attention to the needs of freedmen across the country. Robert had become quite the celebrity, often appearing in newspapers over the years. Not every freed person had it so easy, though. Segregation remained

an issue even in northern cities like Philadelphia. In June, Robert and a white boat pilot boarded a street car. The conductor refused to allow Robert to sit inside, insisting that all people of color ride the platform. Instead, in a show of solidarity, the white pilot rode the front of the street car with him. The news spread quickly, sparking outrage that a Union hero had been disrespected. Robert's treatment sparked change. A month later, a Pennsylvania state senator

argued for legislation to end segregation on street cars. After months in Philadelphia, the family returned home to Beaufort for Christmas. With their homecoming came the news of Sherman's march to the Sea and the fall of Savannah. Robert and the Planter immediately set to work transporting Sherman's forces from Georgia. In February of eighteen sixty five, the Confederates abandoned Charleston,

with the city now in Union hands. Robert, his family, and the group of Union officers made the short trip there from Beaufort on the Planter. The city had taken a beating during the war and barely resembled the place it had been that Starlit night long ago. Though had been gone for a few years, many of the townsfolk remembered him and were happy that had returned. He didn't stay in the city long, although he and the Planter made several humanitarian aid trips there in the months to come.

With each trip, he watched his the people in Charleston undertook the slow and painful process of rebuilding. He hoped that the worst was behind them. That wasn't to be, however. The news of President Lincoln's assassination emboldened bitter Southerners looking to return to their old ways. Henry McKee's widow sued Robert in an attempt to reclaim the mansion on Prince Street. Fortunately, the judge ruled against her, and Robert retained his home.

Seeking peace between his family and the mckeys, he allowed the ailing widow and a few of the McKey children to stay at the mansion until their mother's death. When the family moved out, he learned that one of the McKey daughters needed financial assistance. As a continued gesture of goodwill, he gave her a small sum to help her get by and recommended her sixteen year old son for a

position at the U. S. Naval Academy. Robert continued his work as the captain aboard the Planter for seventeen more missions. One May, during his final mission, he was transporting to Union generals, a colonel and the major from Savannah to investigate islands off the Georgia and Florida coast. As they made their way back to South Carolina, they noticed another ship closing in on them. The other boat pulled alongside the Planter, giving the men a chance to read the

ship's name and see the men aboard. The Fannie was a newer steamship owned by one John Ferguson. On deck stood a man Robert knew simply as McNulty. Within minutes, the other ship pulled away, leaving the officers wondering what had just happened. What they didn't know was that Ferguson had owned the Planter the night Robert commandeered it into Union Territory, where it was confiscated, and McNulty was not only the prior owner's employee, he was a loyal follower.

Seeing the Planter flying in American flag with Robert as the captain had likely sent him into a rage. Robert kept watch on the other steam ship as it pulled ahead. His uneasy feeling panned out when the Fanny suddenly veered sideways, blocking the Planter's path instead of veering off. Robert plowed into the other ship's port side, pushing it half a mile up the Savannah River. Furious that his boat had just been rammed, McNulty emerged from the cabin brandishing a pistol.

In turn, Robert grabbed his shotgun. Both men leveled their guns at one another while the general repeatedly ordered McNulty to put away his gun. After a few tense moments, the general talked both men into lowering their weapons. The captain of the Fanny steered the steamboat around, and both ships headed back to port in Savannah. Once there, the General ordered McNulty's arrest. Ferguson never gave up trying to

regain his former ship. When the Planter went to auction back in Charleston, he managed to buy it from the winning bidder. Ferguson didn't have it back for long, though. On March twenty fifth of eighteen seventy six, the Planter sprung a leak in the bow while attempting to tow a schooner. The captain wanted to beach the steamer, but rough seas caused extensive damage and the ship took on too much water. The crew abandoned the Planter and it sank off shore. Upon hearing the news, Robert said he

felt as though had lost a family member. His life as a captain might have ended, but he wasn't quite done making history. No longer a captain or serving the Union, Robert moved on to other things, namely being a father. Having never learned to read as a boy, he made sure his children went to the best schools. Wanting other children of color to have a solid education, he started a school for African American children in eighteen sixty seven.

The school wasn't his only venture. Robert also opened a general store and started a small newspaper. There. He found an audience, and, wanting to implement more changes, he became interested in politics. In eighteen sixty eight, he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives, where he lobbied for compulsory free schooling for all children in South Carolina. Later, he was elected to the South Carolina Senate. Robert continued to grow his wealth. He bought several properties in his

home town and heavily invested in its economic development. In eighteen seventy, he and other representatives formed the Enterprise Railroad. This horse drawn railway covered eighteen miles and carried cargo and passengers between Charleston and inland depots. The railway venture was predominantly black owned, prompting author Bernard E. Powers to describe it as the most impressive commercial venture by members

of Charleston's black elite. Robert continued to move up in politics, becoming a member of Congress in eighteen seventy four, where he fought for black voter rights across the South. He was a proud Republican and said the Party of Lincoln had unshackled the next of four million human beings. While serving in the state Senate, in eighteen seventy seven, he was charged and arrested for reportedly taking a five thousand dollar bribe, and that's about a hundred and fourteen thousand today.

He was convicted and served time in prison before the governor pardoned him in eighteen seventy nine. Hannah died unexpectedly in eighteen eighty three. Saddened by the loss, Robert threw himself deeper into his political work. In eighteen ninety, he met and married Annie, a teacher sixteen years his junior. That same year, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him as the U S customs collector in Beaufort. Robert and Annie had a son together, and sadly, though he became widowed once

again end just five years later. Robert remained customs collector until his retirement in nineteen eleven. The military tried to lure him back into service twice in the early nineteen hundreds. He turned down the opportunity to rejoin the military as a U. S Army colonel, and he declined another offer of the post of Minister to Liberia. Content with retirement,

Robert stayed at the mansion on Prince Street. Though his children were grown and had moved away, and he never married again, it was his home and where he felt comfortable. He had developed diabetes, and after about of malaria, Robert Smalls passed away and the home had been born into. On February twenty third, nineteen fifteen, at the age of seventy five, his children returned to bury their father in the family plot at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Beaufort.

After a life full of enormous accomplishments, it was time for Robert to rest. There's more to this story. Stick around after this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. In eighteen sixty three, twenty four year old Union officer Robert Gould Shaw led his men into battle who Some thought the men were subpar risky, but Shaw couldn't disagree. More, it didn't matter to him that his entire unit was black.

In fact, he was honored to lead them. It started when Massachusetts Governor John Andrew called for black citizens to enlist during the Civil War. Many Union officials thought that African American troops might lack discipline, be hard to train or run during combat, and seeing potential where others did not, Governor Andrew went to Washington to plead his case to the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. Stanton wholeheartedly agreed and issued the order allowing Andrew to proceed with the creation

of the fifty fourth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He asked Shaw to lead the regiment, but the young officer hesitated. He'd have to leave behind his men, and he felt unsure that the Union would allow black soldiers to fight on the front lines. Eventually, he agreed and the process of

enlistment began. It proved difficult at first, but Andrew promised recruits thirteen dollars a month that's about three thousand, seven hundred dollars to day, and assured them that if they were captured, the United States would do everything within their power to guarantee that they were treated no differently than their white counterparts. While some had once been enslaved, others

were citizens from all over the North. Two recruits were the sons of abolitionist Frederick Douglas, and on February fifteenth, Shaw began training his men. They impressed him greatly, learning quickly and paying attention to detail. Before long he dispelled the naysayers. Shaw boasted that the men were as fine as any he had ever served with, but shortly after training the new regiment, he was promoted to major. The regiment's first mission landed them in Georgia, where they joined

up with another group for a raid. The other regiment looted and burned buildings, but Shaw and his men refused, appalled, he believed burning buildings served no purpose and that the practice of leaving women and children without food and shelter was barbaric. After completing their first mission, he was promoted

to colonel. Their next assignment was in Charleston, and the battle there would be a tough one they needed to capture Fort Wagner, a heavily guarded and exceptionally well armed garrison. Despite being outnumbered, on July eighth, Shaw's men followed him into battle, yelling forward, fifty four the regiment crossed the moat and scrambled up a muddy hill outside the fort's outer wall. There they came under heavy fire, yet not one man backed down. They surged forward, even after Shaw

had been shot three times through the chest. The fifty fourth fought valiantly until driven back around ten o'clock that night. The losses were heavy, though Frederick Douglas's sons both survived. After the battle, Confederate forces returned the bodies of white soldiers, with one exception Shaw. Confederate General Charles Douglas said that Shaw had been buried in a mass grave alongside his black soldiers, and that had the colonel commanded white men,

he would have been returned. General Douglas meant his remarks to be the highest insult he could give. However, Shaw's family and friends knew exactly how it felt about his men, and considered his burial with them an honor. The sling Colonel's father stood before the public and told them how proud he was of his son and his troops. He added that his son had not been just a soldier, he had been a crusader for emancipation and could not

have died in better company. Massachusetts legislators could think of no better expression of gratitude for Shaw and the heroic black soldiers of the than to commission world famous artist Augustus st. Gaudens to erect a memorial. The black citizens of Beaufort, South Carolina began raising funds immediately after the battle, but due to unstable soil and some white resentment, funds were redirected to Boston. The bronze memorial dedicated to Shaw in the fifty four Regiment was unveiled on May on

the Boston Common. Augustus recaptured the moment that Shaw rode horseback alongside his beloved men as they marched out of Boston toward war. Rain fell the day of the unveiling, but it didn't stop Boston from turning out in droves. A band struck up the battle Hymn of the Republic. The local artillery battery fired a seventeen gun salute offshore. Three warships each fired twenty one gun salutes. Sixty black

men stood in the streets, most wearing their Union uniforms. Forward, they shouted, and the men, still as fine and still as courageous, said Shaw had ever seen, led a parade down the streets of Boston, and the crowd couldn't help but cheer. American Shadows as hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by Michelle Muto, researched by Ali Steed, and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive

producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, visit Grim and Mild dot com. From more Po pedcast from i Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. H