Battle of Fort Ridgely The Battle of Fort Ridgely was an early battle in the Dakota War of 1862 . Built between 1853 – 1855 in the southern part of what was then the territory of Minnesota , Fort Ridgely was the only military post between the Sioux Reservations and the settlers . Background . On August 18 , 1862 , the Lower Sioux Agency in Renville County , Minnesota , was attacked by Indians . The Native Americans had come to the Agency to barter for the food that had been withheld them until starvation had set in . There was a discussion amongst the leading white men gathered there and the head of the Lower Sioux Agency . The primary Agent was against it , but the other men persuaded him to give the natives a small amount of porkback and flour . The Agent then added that the food would only be delivered to the reservation in the morning and only if the Indians returned to the reservation immediately . Until that point , the well - armed Indians had stood by peacefully in the hot August temperatures . The greatly out - numbered 67 white men gathered there became uncomfortable with the stipulation and began to form small groups to head back to their homes . Inevitable fighting began with some of the warriors pursuing the settlers who left , while the rest remained to fight those who holed up in the Agency building . Within a few hours 20 whites had been killed and 10 captured . Some survivors escaped , heading for Fort Ridgely , while the majority tried to race for their homes and families . The men heading for their homes made plans to assemble in the morning to try to reach the fort . Mr . J . C . Dickinson , who seems to have been the first to escape , took his family in a wagon to Fort Ridgely , where nobody believed that there had been an attack . More settlers arrived , convincing Captain John S . Marsh , Company B , Fifth Minnesota , that the Agency had been attacked . Marsh ordered Drummer Charles M . Culver , a twelve year old ( who would die in 1943 , at 93 , as Company B ' s last survivor ) to beat the long - roll . About 74 men fell in , amongst who were Captain Marsh , Second Lieutenant Thomas P . Gere , about 4 sergeants , 7 corporals , and about 62 privates . Marsh chose 46 men , along with Indian Interpreter Peter Quinn , to set out for the Agency . Along the way they saw many dead white folk and Indians . Quinn was one of the first of this party killed by Chief White Dog , along with about 10 of the soldiers . By late afternoon , Capt . Marsh had only eleven men left in his command , with twenty - four having been killed . Marsh decided to head back to the fort and tried to take the men across the Minnesota River . Marsh was a strong swimmer , but he was seized by a cramp . Sergeant John F . Bishop , the ranking officer , ordered Privates John Brennan , James Dunn , and Stephen Van Buren to swim for Marsh . Brennan reached him first , and Marsh grabbed Brennan ' s shoulder but fell off . Marsh drowned and the men saw his body float by in the river . He was about 28 when he died . ( See Battle of Redwood Ferry . ) Sergeant Bishop led the remaining eleven back to the fort . They arrived before midnight and the Battle of Redwood started . Before Marsh left , he had sent word to Lt . Sheehan , who left Fort Ridgely on August 17 , to return with 50 men from Company C , Fifth Minnesota . When Bishop and Sheehan met , they sent Private William J . Sturgis out to warn others , especially Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsey about the uprising . Lt . Norman K . Culver , Company B , and others began recruiting volunteers in St . Paul , and they arrived at Fort Ridgely with the " Renville Rangers " as reinforcements . There were about 50 white men under First Lieutenant James Gorman , men who were going to muster into Civil War Service , but went instead to Fort Ridgely with a Harper rifle and three rounds of ammunition each . Altogether , about 70 Minnesota citizens volunteered . About 10 of them were women and others were related to soldiers . Company B membership rose from about 65 to over 200 . Some notables include Sutler B . H . Randall , Ordnance Sergeant John Jones , Dr . Alfred Muller , and Major E . A . C . Hatch , an experienced cavalry man who would one day lead Hatch ' s Battalion , Minnesota Volunteer Cavalry . Battle . On a sunny August 20 , Lt . Timothy J . Sheehan , Company C , commanded Fort Ridgely . First Lt . Culver , Company B , was commissary and quartermaster . Eight men were wounded or assigned hospital duty . The Fort was trying to adjust to all the new volunteers that had arrived . Suddenly , a reported 400 Indians attacked the ill - prepared post . First shots killed Private Mark . M . Greer , Co . C , and wounded Corporal William Good , Co . B . Good was shot through the forehead and was declared dead but he managed to live and was eventually discharged for disability on October 24 , 1862 . Sergeant Bishop commanded the pickets and awaited a native named Little Crow and his warriors but to no avail . Several soldiers were wounded . Private William H . Blodgett , Company B , was wounded in the spinal column but continued to fight . By the end of the battle five soldiers were killed and another 15 wounded . The next day a thunderstorm struck , so the men and women at the Fort could organize the post and strengthen the defenses . Ordnance Sergeant Jones had three six - pound artillery guns , two twelve pound guns , and one twenty - four pound gun placed . Jones commanded the 24 - pounder while Sgts . James G . McGrew and Bishop commanded the twelve pounders . In the 25 - mile area around the fort , white settlers had been trying to escape for two days and their bodies and burning homes dotted the landscapes . Indians had been through all the homes and wagons looking for food and goods to bring back to the reservation . Some women and children had been kidnapped , but for the most part , the settlers were killed , many of them barbarically . One account , a narrative of Justina Kreiger tells of a group of settlers who set off on August 18 and were almost all killed , while Mrs . Kreiger did not arrive at the Fort until September 3 . It took great effort to save her life as she had sustained many life - threatening injuries and was also almost starved . On August 22 the sun shone , and proved that the native Americans had put the rainy day to use , as a force of 800 Indians attacked the fort . The first attack was repelled and smaller attacks were attempted throughout the day , mainly to keep the soldiers alert and at their posts . Towards the cooler evening hours , the Dakota warriors staged a more serious attack on the northern side of the fort . Lt . Sheehan was forced to order the buildings on that side to be set afire as he became aware that the Indians were sneaking into the Fort through them . The men watched as the buildings went up in a greenish smoke . The Indians melted back into the darkness . Little Crow and the other native chiefs maintained their siege until August 27 , when Colonel Henry H . Sibley arrived with 1 , 400 trained militia . Colonel Sibley accepted command of this large force , which contained elements of the 5th and 6th Iowa State Militia . [ citation needed ] Aftermath . The Native Americans moved on from Fort Ridgely and small groups of them continued to attack various white settlements until September 23 , 1862 , where a large group were captured at Wood Lake . About 400 were captured , 393 were tried , and 303 sentenced to death . An estimated 500 white people , militia and civilian , were killed in the uprising . President Abraham Lincoln reduced the executions to thirty - eight men . One man was pardoned December 25 , 1862 as it came out that he was ten miles away from the deed for which he was convicted . Thirty - eight Dakota men were hanged December 26 , 1862 , in Mankato , Minnesota , the largest mass - execution in U . S . history . For rosters of soldiers see : Company B , Fifth Minnesota Infantry , Recollections of the Sioux Massacre , 1909 , pages 82 – 83 Company C , Fifth Minnesota Infantry , Recollections of the Sioux Massacre , 1909 , pages 83 – 84 Renville Rangers , Recollections of the Sioux Massacre , 1909 , pages 84 – 85 Post Locals , page 85 Citizens , 120 - 121