Chrysler Repair: Electrical Problem on 2001 T&C, chrysler town and country, jumper cables

Question
After not driving my Chrysler Town and Country for about 1.5 month, I went to start it and it was dead.  I jumped it and it started right away.  After letting it idle for about 10 minutes (so I could put away the jumper cables and get my license) I decided I was going to drive it for about 1/2 hour to get some charge on the battery.  I put it in drive and when I hit the accelerator, the battery light came on and all of the gauges would jump around.  I let off the gas and the battery light stayed on and gauges went to what was normal for idle.  I tried it once more and the gauges jumped again along with the wipers turning on.  I turned around and tried it a final time, this time all the electrical power went out and the tach spun all the way around and is stopped on the bottom side of the peg.
So my two questions are, can a new battery solve the battery light and gauges jumping around and how do I get the tach to the correct side of the peg?

Answer
yes I would start with a new battery    do this when u have the new batt in


To activate the Self-Diagnostic program:
With the ignition switch in the OFF position, depress the TRIP ODOMETER RESET button.
Continue to hold the TRIP ODOMETER RESET button until Sof and a number (software version number (i.e. Sof 3.2) appears in the odometer window (about five seconds) then release the button. If a fault code is present, the cluster will display it in the odometer display. When all fault codes have been displayed, the cluster will display “end” in the odometer display. Refer to the INSTRUMENT CLUSTER DTC'S table to determine what each trouble code m