The Amazing Story of a Slave Who Commandeered a Confederate Military Ship to Escape to Freedom

Through animation, Cracked tells the the amazing story of Robert Smalls. Smalls was a slave who worked on the CSS Planter, a Confederate military ship who May 12, 1862, donned a captain’s uniform and surreptitiously commandeered the ship after all the soldiers had gone into town. As he set on his course, Smalls gathered his family and other slaves and sailed north to freedom. After being hailed a hero in the northern states and serving in the Union Army, Smalls became a successful businessman and in 1882, became a U.S. Representative for 7th congressional district and then its 5th congressional district.