 The young man who escaped slavery by audaciously stealing a warship never faltered in the face of adversity. Escaping because he could not afford to purchase his wife's freedom, after the war he used some of the money awarded by the Union as a prize for the capture of the CSS planter to purchase his former owner's home. The young hero who played a pivotal role in incorporating black soldiers into the federal army was eventually a major general in the South Carolina militia.