Evolution of an Outpost: Fort Ridgely 1853-1867 and Beyond

1853 - With Forts Ripley and Snelling good distances away from the Dakota reservation and settlers moving into the Minnesota Valley region, plans were made and construction begins at Fort Ridgely.  Members of the Sixth United States Infantry helped build the Fort.

1855 – Civilian craftsmen and military personnel complete most of the buildings by this time.  

1859 - An artillery school begins at Fort Ridgely. Infantry is still garrisoned at the post, but with significant artillery personnel.

1861 - April 12: Fort Sumter is fired upon in South Carolina. In time regular troops are sent south and volunteer units assume responsibilities at the Fort.

Training of volunteers begins for service against the Confederacy.

by 1862 - Companies B, C and D of the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment garrison Forts Ridgely, Ripley and Abercrombie, respectively. The remaining 5th Minnesota companies fight in the western theatre against the Confederacy. (The three frontier companies will later join their unit in the South.) 

Aug. 17, 1862 - Four Dakota men kill five settlers in the Meeker County, Minn. (near Acton).  The consequences of these actions ignite an uprising fought by several Dakota factions. Another civil war begins between Dakota groups who chose to fight, and others who attempt to avoid conflict.

Aug. 18, 1862 - Fighting spreads to the Lower Sioux Agency where traders and other civilians are killed in an early morning attack.  

After settlers escape to Fort Ridgely, Captain John Marsh (commanding company B of the 5th Minnesota at Fort Ridgely) selects 46 men and government interpreter Peter Quinn to investigate reports about the fighting at the agency. The group is ambushed at the Redwood Ferry landing (below the agency).  Quinn is killed in one of the first volleys and Marsh drowns trying to cross the Minnesota River. More than half of the soldiers are killed.

Ferry survivors return to the Fort on the night of the 18th bringing news of the events. Civilians/refugees also seek the safety of the Fort from the surrounding countryside. Lieutenant Gere (of Company B 5th Minnesota now in command of Fort Ridgely) pens a hasty note asking for reinforcements. A dispatch rider takes the note to Fort Snelling and Governor Alexander Ramsey.  

Aug. 19, 1862 - Little Crow and other Dakota leaders gather west of Fort Ridgely.  29 men garrison Fort Ridgely at this point. Little Crow is interested in attacking the Fort, but is overruled by younger Dakota members who favor an attack on the nearby city of New Ulm. Lieutenant Timothy Sheehan (Company C, 5th Minnesota) arrives with reinforcements and takes command of the Fort. Soldiers inside the outpost anticipate a coming attack and begin improvising a defense.

Aug. 20, 1862 - 400-500 Dakota soldiers attack the fort with the first assault coming from the northeast corner. Ravines surrounding the garrison offer protection for the attackers. Artillerymen and infantrymen inside the garrison repel the assaults. Some civilians in the Fort join the fight as well. Additional attacks are made on the southwestern and southern corners of Fort, but the outpost stands.

Aug. 21, 1862 - A rainy day offers the combatants a reprieve from the fighting.

Aug. 22, 1862 - Fighting resumes with another attack on Fort Ridgely. 180 soldiers and some 350 refugees face 800-1000 Dakota soldiers.  The fighting follows much the same as on the 20th. At the end of the day after desperate fighting on both sides, the Fort still remains in the hands of infantry and artillerymen. An undetermined amount of Dakota combatants are killed. Big Eagle, a Dakota chief, indicates there were few. Three soldiers in the Fort are killed and 13 are wounded.

Aug. 27 - The siege is later lifted when reinforcements arrive under General Henry Sibley.

Sept. 23 - The last battle of the immediate U.S. - Dakota Conflict of 1862 is fought at Wood Lake (near the Upper Sioux Agency).

1862-63 - Fort Ridgely continues as a training post for soldiers in the Civil War.

April 1865 - The Civil War ends. Fort Ridgely will continue for two more years after regular army troops regarrison the post.

1867 - The post is closed leaving only Sergeant Howard behind in the event it should be reopened. Soldiers of Company H, 10th Infantry leave for Fort Sisseton.

1872 - Sergeant Howard leaves the Fort.

1874 and Beyond - Fort Ridgely is dismantled by settlers who seek stone, wood and other items. Settlers illegally occupying the military reservation convert the existing buildings to such uses as a dance hall, saloon, hotel wheelwright shop and doctor's office.