<BR>On a moonlit night in the spring of 1862, six slaves&nbsp;stole one of the Confederacy's most crucial gunships from its wharf in the South Carolina port of Charleston, and delivered it to the Federal Navy.&nbsp; This audacious and intricately coordinated escape, masterminded by a 24-year-old sailor named Robert Smalls, astonished the world and exploded the Confederate claim that Southern slaves did not&nbsp;crave freedom or have the ability to take decisive action.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>Robert Smalls's heroic career had only begun.&nbsp;&nbsp;A brilliant&nbsp;sailor and strategist, he was quickly promoted to the rank of captain in the Federal Navy where he served courageously in&nbsp;many critical battles.&nbsp;&nbsp;Not only was Smalls a&nbsp;great soldier, he was also&nbsp;a powerful activist, whose appeal&nbsp;to Abraham Lincoln convinced&nbsp;the president&nbsp;to enlist 5,000 former slaves, shattering the color barrier that had kept black men out of the service.&nbsp;&nbsp;Smalls&nbsp;drew&nbsp;great crowds as an eloquent&nbsp;public speaker, and his&nbsp;outstanding character&nbsp;inspired the broad public support that encouraged Lincoln to ratify the Emancipation Proclamation.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. tells the story of another great American hero, a man who did not flinch in the face of extraordinary dangers--a man whose&nbsp;dedication to the cause of freedom&nbsp;made him one the most important participants in the American Civil War.<BR></DIV><DIV>