What would cause the red light to come on and stay on running the battery down on a 1966 vw bug?

I hooked up the battery wrong and now the red light in the dash comes on and after charging the battery and starting the car a 1966 vw bug the red light stays on causing the battery to run down what would cause this problem?|||Check the fuses. Check the one in the fuse box and you should also have one by the voltage regulator . I had the same problem and that was what the problem was. If that doesn't take care of it then you probably did fry the regulator. Just check the fuses first $0.25 is a lot cheaper than $25.00....:-)|||you burnt up your voltage regulator i dont think that it is in the alternator on something that old|||The voltage regulator is shot or the generator is toast.