"Michael" (also called "Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore") is an African-American spiritual first noted during the American Civil War at St. Helena Island, one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina. It was sung by former slaves whose owners had abandoned the island before the Union navy arrived to enforce a blockade. The song was first published in 1867 in the book "Slave Songs of the United States". Folk musician and educator Tony Saletan rediscovered it in 1954 in a library copy of that book. The most successful recording of that spiritual was released in September 1960 by the folk group Highwaymen, and reached the no.1 position one year later in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Norway, furthermore no.3 in the Netherlands and no.4 in Germany.