Robert Anderson

There were two heroes of Sumter: the Confederate who captured the fort and the Federal who surrendered it. After thirty-four hours of bombardment, Major Robert Anderson lowered Sumter’s flag around 2:30 p.m. on April 13. The next day the Federals fired a fifty-gun salute as the Stars and Stripes was lowered one last time. Anderson carried it with him as his men marched out, colors flying, drums beating, and boarded a ship for passage north. (As there was as yet no war declared by either side, there were no “prisoners of war.”) Arriving in New York harbor on the 18th, Anderson and his men saw thousands of people line the shore cheering. Cannon fired and ship bells rang, but Anderson was too tired to enjoy the adulation. A month later President Lincoln appointed him brigadier general. He was sent west and for a few months served as Union commander in his native Kentucky until illness led to his relief in October 1861. He retired from the army in 1863, but on April 14, 1865, Anderson raised the Stars and Stripes over Fort Sumter, four years to the day from when he had lowered it. (June 14, 1805–Oct. 26, 1871)

This is the caption as printed in 100 Significant Civil War Photographs: Charleston in the War. It has not yet been through this site’s research and fact-checking pass.