Wikipedia

The Battle of Palmito Ranch is generally regarded as the final battle of the American Civil War, since it was the last engagement involving casualties. It was fought on May 12 and 13, 1865, on the banks of the Rio Grande east of Brownsville, Texas, and a few miles from the seaport of Los Brazos de Santiago (now known as Matamoros). It took place more than a month after Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

Union and Confederate forces in southern Texas had been observing an unofficial truce, but Union Colonel Theodore H. Barrett ordered an attack on a Confederate camp near Fort Brown, for reasons unknown (some claimed he wanted to see combat before the war completely ended.) The Union attackers gained a few prisoners, but the attack was repulsed near Palmito Ranch the next day by Col. John Salmon Ford, and most historians regard it as a Confederate victory. Casualties estimates are not dependable, but Union Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana is believed to have been the last man killed in combat in the war. The engagement is also known as the Battle of Palmito Hill or the Battle of Palmetto Ranch.

After July 27, 1864, most of the 6,500 Union troops were withdrawn from the lower Rio Grande Valley, including Brownsville, which they had occupied on November 2, 1863. The Confederates were determined to protect their remaining ports, which were essential for cotton sales to Europe, and the importation of supplies. The Mexicans across the border tended to side with the Confederates because of the lucrative smuggling trade. Early in 1865, the rival armies in south Texas honored a gentlemen's agreement, since there was no point in further hostilities between them.

Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace proposed a negotiated end of hostilities in Texas to Confederate Brig. Gen. James E. Slaughter, and met with Slaughter and his subordinate Col. Ford at Port Isabel on March 11–12, 1865. Despite Slaughter's and Ford's agreement that combat would prove tragic, their superior, Confederate Maj. Gen. John G. Walker, rejected the cease fire in a scathing exchange of letters with Wallace. Despite this, both sides honored a tacit agreement not to advance on the other without prior written notice.

A brigade of 1,900 Union troops, commanded by Col. Robert B. Jones of the 34th Indiana Veteran Volunteer Infantry, were on blockade duty at the Port of Brazos Santiago, on the mouth of the present ship channel of the Port of Brownsville. The 400-man 34th Indiana was an experienced regiment that had served in the Vicksburg Campaign and was then reorganized in December 1863 as a "Veteran" regiment, composed of veterans from several regiments whose original enlistments had expired. The 34th Indiana deployed to the Port of Los Brazos de Santiago on December 22, 1864, replacing the 91st Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which returned to New Orleans. The brigade also included the 87th and 62nd United States Colored Infantry Regiments ("United States Colored Troops", or U.S.C.T.), with a combined strength of about 1,100. Shortly after Gen. Walker rejected the armistice proposal, Col. Jones resigned from the army to return to Indiana. He was replaced in the regiment by Lt. Col. Robert G. Morrison, and at Los Brazos de Santiago by Colonel Theodore H. Barrett, commander of the 62nd U.S.C.T.

The 30-year-old Barrett had been an army officer since 1862, but he had yet to see combat. Anxious for higher rank, he volunteered for the newly raised "colored" regiments, and was appointed colonel of the 1st Missouri Colored Infantry in 1863. On March 1864 the regiment became the 62nd U.S.C.T. Barrett contracted malaria in Louisiana that summer, and while he was on convalescent leave, the 62nd was posted to Brazos Santiago. He joined it there in February 1865.

Why this final battle even took place is still debated. Soon after the battle, Barrett's detractors claimed he desired "a little battlefield glory before the war ended altogether." Others have suggested that Barrett needed horses for the 300 dismounted cavalrymen in his brigade and decided to take them from his enemy. Louis J. Schuler, in his 1960 pamphlet The last battle in the War Between the States, May 13, 1865: Confederate Force of 300 defeats 1,700 Federals near Brownsville, Texas, asserts that Brig-Gen. Egbert B. Brown of the U.S. Volunteers had ordered the expedition to seize as contraband 2,000 bales of cotton stored in Brownsville and sell them for his own profit. However, this is impossible, as Brown was not appointed to command at Brazos Santiago until later in May.

Lieutenant colonel David Branson wanted to attack the Confederate encampments commanded by Ford at White and Palmito Ranches near Fort Brown, outside Brownsville. Branson's Union forces consisted of 250 men of the 62nd U.S.C.T. in eight companies and two companies of the (U.S.) 2nd Texas Cavalry Battalion, 50 men without mounts. They moved from Brazos Santiago to the mainland . At first Branson's expedition was successful, capturing three prisoners and some supplies, although it failed to achieve the desired surprise. During the afternoon, Confederate forces under Captain William N. Robinson counterattacked with less than 100 cavalry, driving Branson back to White's Ranch, where the fighting stopped for the night. Both sides sent for reinforcements; Ford arrived with six French guns and the remainder of his cavalry force (for a total of 300 men), while Barrett came with 200 troops of the 34th Indiana in nine understrength companies.

The next day, Barrett started advancing westward, passing a half mile to the west of Palmito Ranch, with skirmishers from the 34th Indiana deployed in advance. Ford attacked Barrett's force as it was skirmishing with an advance Confederate force along the Rio Grande about 4 p.m. Ford sent a couple of companies with artillery to attack the Union right flank, sending the remainder of his force into a frontal attack. After some confusion and fierce fighting, the Union forces retreated towards Boca Chica. Barrett attempted to form a rearguard, but Confederate artillery prevented him from rallying a significant force to do so. During the retreat, which lasted until 14 May, 50 members of the 34th Indiana's rear guard company, 30 stragglers, and 20 of the dismounted cavalry were surrounded in a bend of the Rio Grande and captured. The battle is recorded as a Confederate victory.

Fighting in the battle involved Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, and Native American troops. Reports of shots from the Mexican side, the sounding of a warning to the Confederates of the Union approach, the crossing of Imperial cavalry into Texas, and the participation by several among Ford's troops are unverified, despite many witnesses reporting shooting from the Mexican shore.

In Barrett's official report of August 10, 1865, he reported 115 Union casualties: one killed, nine wounded, and 105 captured. Confederate casualties were reported as five or six wounded, with none killed. Historian and Ford biographer Stephen B. Oates, however, concludes that Union deaths were much higher, probably around 30, many of whom drowned in the Rio Grande or were attacked by French border guards on the Mexican side. He likewise estimated Confederate casualties at approximately the same number. However, using court-martial testimony and post returns from Brazos Santiago, Texas A&M International University historian Jerry D. Thompson determined that:

Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana was the last fatality during the Battle at Palmito Ranch, making him likely the final combat death of the war, and historians generally count this as the final battle.