Fort Ridgely was a frontier United States Army outpost from 1851 to 1867, built 1853–1854 in Minnesota Territory. The Sioux called it Esa Tonka. It was located overlooking the Minnesota river southwest of Fairfax, Minnesota. Half of the fort's land was part of the south reservation in the Minnesota river valley for the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute tribes. Fort Ridgely had no defensive wall, palisade, or guard towers. The Army referred to the fort as the "New Post on the Upper Minnesota" until it was named for three Maryland Army Officers named Ridgely (Thomas, Randolph and Lott Henderson), who died during the Mexican–American War.
History
Construction
The War Department hired Mr. Jessie H. Pomeroy of St. Paul to build both Fort Ridgely and Fort Ripley. At Ridgely there were two Companies of troops that assisted in quarrying the granite two miles away, transporting it to the site, and the erection of a 400-man stone barracks. The barracks formed the east side of the 90 square yard parade ground of the wall-less fort.
In 1854–55, Congress approved $10,000 for the clearing of timber on a military road from St Anthony Falls to Fort Ridgely. On July 22, 1856, Congress approved another $50,000 to build a wagon road from Fort Ridgely to South Pass, Nebraska Territory. William H. Nobles was appointed superintendent of the road's construction. He encountered problems receiving disbursements to cover the basic labor costs incurred.
March 8, 1857, the Spirit Lake Massacre took place across the border in Iowa. Fort Ridgely sent troops commanded by Captain Bee to investigate. They found that Inkpaduta and his band had departed, but Lt. Murray and 25 men were left to search while Capt. Bee and the others returned to Fort Ridgely. The sole survivor was a 14 year old named Abbie Gardner who was made a prisoner for four months. On March 26 the band made a raid on Springfield, Minnesota and according to Abbie, Lt. Murray and his men came into sight two days later, unaware how close they came to encountering the band. Two Wahpeton bargained for the Government for her release and took her to the Upper Sioux Agency. From there she was moved to the Fort Ridgely where she was put on a riverboat to St Paul.
Sioux Uprising
The fort played an important role in the Dakota War of 1862. It would go into American West history as the only fort to come under attack as it experienced. On August 18 Captain Marsh, the fort commander, took most of the garrison to the Lower Sioux Agency upon receiving reports that the Agency had been attacked. Second Lt. Gere and a few men were on duty there. Marsh and his men came under attack when they stopped for water. That action became known as the Battle of Redwood Ferry. Earlier in August Capt. Marsh had requested assistance from C Company at Fort Ripley to oversee the annuity and provisions exchange at the Upper Sioux Agency. Fort Ripley's executive officer, 1st Lt. Sheehan brought two Mountain Howitzers and 40 men to do the job. Initially, Indian Agent Thomas Galbraith refused to extend credit to the Sissiton and Whapeton. However, after a heated exchange Lt. Sheehan with his howitzers convinced all parties that an orderly distribution of food was best. With that done and thinking their task was completed, C Company departed for their own post the morning that the lower Agency was over-run. Unbeknownst to Sheehan, Galbraith had refused to extend credit to the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute at the Lower Sioux Agency. B Company didn't have the same military force presence at the Lower Sioux Agency and the situation there spiraled out of control.