Last Battle in the Civil War Texas May 11, 1865

Palmeto Ranch May 1865

Union Col. Theodore H. Barrett, commanding forces at Brazos Santiago, Texas, dispatched an expedition, composed of 250 men of the 62nd U.S. Colored Infantry Regiment and 50 men of the 2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment under the command of Lt. Col. David Branson, to the mainland, on May 11, 1865, to attack reported Rebel outposts and camps.
Unable to cross to Point Isabel as instructed, because of foul weather, the expedition crossed to Boca Chica. At 2:00 am, on May 12, the expeditionary force surrounded a Rebel outpost at White's Ranch but found no one there. Exhausted, having been up most of the night, Branson secreted his command in a thicket and among weeds on the banks of the Rio Grande and allowed his men to sleep.
Around 8:30 am, people on the Mexican side of the river informed the Rebels of the Federals whereabouts. Branson promptly led his men off to attack a Confederate camp at Palmeto Ranch. After much skirmishing along the way, the Federals attacked the camp and scattered the Confederates. At 3:00 pm, a sizable Confederate force appeared, influencing the Federals to retire to White's Ranch.
Branson sent word of his predicament to Barrett, who reinforced Branson at daybreak on the 13th, with 200 men of the 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The augmented force, now commanded by Barrett, started out towards Palmeto Ranch, skirmishing most of the way.
At Palmeto Ranch, they destroyed the rest of the supplies not torched the day before and continued on. A few miles forward, they became involved in a sharp firefight. After the fighting stopped, Barrett led his force back to a bluff at Tulosa on the river to camp for the night. At 4:00 pm, a large Confederate cavalry force, commanded by Col. John S. "Rip" Ford, approached, and the Federals formed a battle line. The Rebels hammered the Union line with artillery.

To preclude an enemy flanking movement, Barrett ordered a retreat. The retreat was orderly and skirmishers held the Rebels at a respectable distance. Returning to Boca Chica at 8:00 pm, the men embarked at 4:00 am, on the 14th. This was the last battle in the Civil War. Native, African, and Hispanic Americans were all involved in the fighting. Many combatants reported that firing came from the Mexican shore and that some Imperial Mexicanforces crossed the Rio Grande but did not take part in the battle. These reports are unproven.

Texas State Battle Map
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Kids Zone Underground Railroad
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State Battle Maps
American Civil War Exhibits
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Women in the War

American Civil War Book Titles
Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas, 1862 October 1, 1862, state militia arrested more than two hundred Unionists from five northern counties . At least forty-four prisoners were hanged, others were lynched in neighboring communities	Sabine Pass: The Confederacy's Thermopylae Confederate president Jefferson Davis made the claim: "That battle at Sabine Pass was more remarkable than the battle at Thermopylae." Sabine Pass was the site of one of the most decisive Civil War battles	Horse Sweat and Powder Smoke: The First Texas Cavalry in the Civil War Regimental history from the time the regiment was raised by Colonel McCulloch to defend against indian warriors tor the time the regiment was part of the Confederate Army under the Colonels Buchel and Yager until the end of the Civil War	Only a Private: A Texan Remembers the Civil War : The Memoirs of William J. Oliphant A first-hand account of the common soldier's point of view. No colonel or general, William Oliphant was, "only a private." His perspective provides a window into Texas during the first days of the Civil War, and first-hand descriptions of battles
Battle Flags of Texans in the Confederacy Excellent Confederate Flag information resource	Texans in the Confederate Cavalry Often outnumbered Texas Cavalry, through Bravado or sheer madness, frequently helped turn the tide of battle. From Colonel Parsons' assault on the Federal Navy during the Red River Campaign of 1864 to Terry's Texas Rangers with General Wheeler's horsemen badgering Sherman on his "March to the Sea,"	The Finishing Stroke: Texans in the 1864 Tennessee Campaign Luckily for the North and the Union, there weren't more Texans or else the contest would have ended differently.	A Rebel Wife in Texas: The Diary and Letters of Elizabeth Scott Neblett, 1852-1864 Elizabeth Neblett's observations on slave and class relations, regional politics, lynching, farm management, medical practices, mental illness, and the Civil War in Texas.
Battle on the Bay: The Civil War Struggle for Galveston Civil War history of Galveston is one of the last untold stories from America's bloodiest war, despite the fact that Galveston was a focal point of hostilities throughout the conflict. Galveston emerged as one of the Confederacy's only lifelines to the outside world.		The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch May 12-13, the last battle of the Civil War had been fought at the southernmost tip of Texas—resulting in a Confederate victory. Although Palmetto Ranch did nothing to change the war's outcome, it added the final irony to a conflict replete with ironies	The Final Fury: Palmito Ranch, the Last Battle of the Civil War There was no formal, final surrender; Lee's color-striking at Appomattox Court House only ended the war for one Confederate fighting force. While the government moved out of Richmond, other Rebel forces remained, dormant but unbowed.

Civil War History Documentary DVD Movie Titles
Civil War Combat: America's Bloodiest Battles The violent mayhem of the hornet's nest at Shiloh, the valiant charge on the sunken road at Antietam, the carnage in the wheat field at Gettysburg, and the brutal fighting at Cold Harbor	Civil War Journal - The Conflict Begins These four programs from the History Channel series Civil War Journal cover critical aspects of the early days of the war.	Civil War Journal Collector's Edition 4-DVD Set Made exclusively for Books Are Fun. Discs include: · Stonewall Jackson · Sherman and the March to the Sea · West Point Classmates-Civil War Enemies · Robert E. Lee · Battle of 1st Bull Run · The 54th Massachusetts · John Brown s War · Destiny at Fort Sumter	Gettysburg / Gods and Generals The tide of the war changes during three fierce days of combat at Gettysburg [Disc 1] the gripping saga of the tactics command errors and sacrifices behind the bloodiest battle ever fought on U.S. soil. Gods and Generals [Disc 2] reveals the spirited allegiances and fierce combat of earlier Civil War struggles
History Channel Presents The Civil War From Harper's Ferry, Fort Sumter, and First Bull Run to Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg. The most legendary Civil War battles in brilliant detail. A selection of the soldiers and legendary leaders.	The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns Here is the saga of celebrated generals and ordinary soldiers, a heroic and transcendent president and a country that had to divide itself in two in order to become one	The Blue and the Gray The Complete Miniseries The Civil War proved a backdrop for this 1982 miniseries. Complete and uncut three disc set. Two families divided by the War Between the States. A Southerner caught when he becomes a war correspondent for the Northern newspaper. He finds himself where history's in the making from the Battle of Bull Run to Abraham Lincoln's assassination	Blue Vs. Gray - Killing Fields Relive the most vicious fighting of the Civil War, in which General Ulysses S. Grant forcibly reversed the tide of the conflict by paying with the blood of thousands. It was a desperate time for the Union

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