 He took command and was able to navigate the boat outside the Confederate guns. For his heroism, he was made captain of the Planter, the first black man to command a United States ship. During the war, he engaged in other heroics as well. He was instrumental in convincing Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to allow the recruitment of black troops into the Union Army, and helped to recruit former slaves for the 1st Volunteer South Carolina Regiment, one of the first black regiments.