Chronological History of the American Civil War

P a g e | 280

daybreak. There Branson’s men halted and tried to conceal themselves in a thicket along the Rio Grande. The camp was spotted by “civilians” (probably Confederate soldiers) on the Mexican side of the river. Realizing that any hope of surprising the Confederates was lost, Branson immediately resumed his march toward Brownsville. At the Palmito Ranch, the Yankees encountered Capt. W. N. Robinson’s 190-man company of Lt. Col. George H. Giddings’ Texas Cavalry Battalion (CSA) which skirmishes briefly with the Union force before retiring. Bolivar, Tennessee’s settler, planter, and diarist John Houston Bills writes in his diary: “Col. M T Polk returns after an absence of four years in this unprofitable war, in which the Country has lost Everything is laid in ruins. He says all is lost . ” Son-in-law to John Houston Bills, Marshall Tate Polk, Jr. will live on a farm near Bolivar, Tennessee and will publish the Bolivar Bulletin. In 1877, he began serving the first of three terms as Tennessee state treasurer. Marshall Tate Polk Jr., is suspected of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funds. He is found guilty and dies while out of jail on an appeal. Saturday, May 13, 1865 : The Battle of Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, Texas and a few miles from the seaport of Los Brazos de Santiago (now known as Matamoros) continues as Col. Theodore H. Barrett (U.S.) himself arrives at 5:00 a.m. with 200 men, bringing the Union strength up to 500 officers and men. Under Barrett’s (U.S.) command the column moves on Palmito Ranch once more, and a “sharp engagement” takes place again this time in a thicket along the riverbank between Barrett’s 500 troops and Captain W. N. Robinson’s 190 Confederates. The outnumbered southerners were soon pushed back across an open prairie, and beyond sight, while the exhausted federals paused on a small hill about a mile west of Palmito Ranch. At 3:00 p.m., that afternoon, Colonel John S. “Rip” Ford (CSA) arrives to reinforce Robinson with 300 men as well as a six-gun battery of field artillery. By 4:00 p.m. a new plan of attack by the Confederates had the Yankee invaders on a running battle seven miles to Brazos Island. The action had lasted a total of four hours. Confederate casualties were a few dozen wounded. The federals lost 111 men and four officers captured, and thirty men wounded or killed. The battle is recorded as a Confederate victory. Estimated casualties are a total unknown (U.S. 118; CSA unknown). Ironically, at the same time as the “Battle of Palmito Ranch,” the Confederate governors of Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas were authorizing Lieut General Edmund Kirby Smith (CSA) to disband his armies and end the war. Brig. General Joseph Orville Shelby (CSA) threatens to arrest Smith if he does.

The Battle of Palmito Ranch is considered the final engagement of the American Civil War. Fighting in the battle involved Caucasian, African- American, Hispanic, and Native American troops. Private John Jefferson Williams (U.S.) (pictured) of B Company, 34th Regiment Indiana Infantry is reported as the last man killed in action. It was Private Williams only engagement with the enemy. A few days later federal officers from Brazos Santiago will visit Brownsville to arrange a truce with General Slaughter (CSA) and Colonel Ford (CSA). Later, many senior Confederate commanders in Texas (including Smith, Walker, Slaughter, and Ford) and many troops with their equipment flee across the border to Mexico,

possibly to ally with Imperial French forces, or with Mexican forces under Benito Juárez. Sunday, May 14, 1865 : A Federal expedition from Brashear City, Louisiana aboard the steamer, Cornie , to Ratliff’s Plantation, where the Yankees send out word that continued resistance is futile. More little skirmishes with guerrillas at Little Piney, Missouri, with a detachment of Federal Texas and Pulaski County militia.