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Lieutenant Thomas P. Gere was born in 1842 in Wellsburg, New York. He enlisted in the 5th Minnesota Volunteer Infantry Regiment at age 19, mustering in on January 17, 1862. He was promoted to first sergeant on March 5 of that year and then to second lieutenant on March 24. He later became first lieutenant and adjutant.
He was nineteen years old and based at Fort Ridgely in 1862 when the U.S.-Dakota War broke out. On the morning of August 18, he was in charge at the fort when Capt. John Marsh left to see about reports coming from the Lower Sioux Agency about Dakota attacks. Commanding 25 soldiers, and caring for hundreds of terror-ridden refugees fleeing attacks, Gere Gov. Ramsey and Fort Snelling asking for reinforcements. Organizing his soldiers and some refugees to prepare for attack, he awaited help. He was finally joined by Sheehan and his soldiers, along with Indian Agent Galbraith and the Renville Rangers, and the fort held out for the next ten days.
Gere later fought in the Civil War. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1865 for his actions at the Battle of Nashville in 1864. He mustered out of the military in 1865 and began work in the railroad business. He died in 1912 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
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1862
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Bibliography
Carley, Kenneth. The Dakota War of 1862: Minnesota’s Other Civil War. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1976.
Dahlin, Curtis A. The Dakota Uprising. Edina, MN: Beaver’s Pond Press, 2009.
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