With darkness approaching and his ironclads badly damaged, Du Pont broke off the action. He reported that he broke off because of darkness, but fully intended to renew the attack the next day until he received the ship reports: "...I was fully convinced that a renewal of the attack could not result in the capture of Charleston, but would, in all probability, end in the destruction of a portion of the ironclad fleet and might leave several of them sunk within reach of the enemy. I therefore determined not to renew the attack."
The Confederates had beaten back a serious attack and gained a stunning victory. And they had defeated the Union's vaunted ironclads.
Du Pont was thankful that the result was " a failure instead of a disaster." He wrote General Hunter, "I am now satisfied that the place cannot be taken by a purely naval attack."
A Union Failure. --Old B-Runner
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