The attack resulted in sporadic shootouts, the burning of several buildings, and the theft of horses found around the town, but the defenders repelled any attempt to damage the fort.

With a limited number of army units defending the frontier due to the ongoing American Civil War, many settlements took initiative in their own defense.

The next day, Whitcomb was commissioned as a Captain in the Minnesota Volunteer Irregulars and recruited 60 men[2] from the community (this number would climb to 77 according to the muster list).

[2] On September 2 Company B arrived at Forest City, then marched to Swede Grove where one of the skirmishes that injured one settler and killed two Dakota took place the day before.

The news of a large number of Dakota warriors present and attacking an army unit ensured the quick construction of a stockade in Forest City, which was completed within 24 hours of the beginning of the Battle of Acton.

On September 23, he would be defeated by Col. Henry Hastings Sibley at the Battle of Wood Lake in modern day Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota.

An annual Threshing Bee takes place in August and many people including reenactors and living historians volunteer to depict 1800s style life in local events.