To the best of our knowledge, no persons died during the bombardment itself (one Confederate horse was killed). But in a tragedy, one federal man was killed and two others badly wounded when a gun burst during the firing of the one-hundred-gun salute. Even so, considering that so many shots had been fired, it was astonishing that there were not higher casualties. One European observer concluded that an American battle, or siege, was as harmless as a country fair.

On April 15, 1861, Major Anderson and his men were taken on a Confederate steamer. They landed at Manhattan two days later. Anderson became a national hero and was quickly promoted to brigadier-general. He and his men received heroes’ welcomes in New York City.