Gerard E. Crist (b. ca. 1836) was a farmer from Augusta County, Virginia. At the time of the 1860 Census, he was living in the household of his widowed mother, Mary Crist. He mustered into service as a private in Co. I, 52nd Virginia Infantry on July 30, 1861. He soon rose to the rank of corporal. G. E. Crist was wounded at the Second Battle of Manassas on August 29, 1862 and again at the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862. He spent most of the next year in various hospitals and was still on wounded leave when he was taken prisoner near Lexington, Virginia on June 11, 1864. Crist was confined at Camp Chase, Ohio until March 1865, at which time he was sent to City Point, Virginia for exchange. By 1870, Gerard Crist was married and once again farming in Augusta County.