Robert Smalls was a man who was responsible for stealing a Confederate ship and sailing his family to freedom in Charleston Harbor. Smalls was a slave who worked as a pilot on the CSS Planter, a Confederate transport ship. In May 1862, he stole the ship while the crew was ashore and sailed it past several Confederate fortifications to the Union blockade in Charleston Harbor. He and his family, along with several other slaves, were able to escape to freedom as a result of this courageous action. Smalls later became a politician and played a significant role in the Reconstruction era following the Civil War.