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User:Donner60/ACW References

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Citations and quotes and general facts for American Civil War articles. I have started this type of list several times and have not decided how best to organize it or how to complete it usefully and in a reasonable time. I usually have abandoned the effort and this one has stalled for a long time. It seems to become a daunting task, like writing one or several books. I still think it would be helpful in the long run for producing new and improved content in articles.

The main purpose of the page is to have readily available some basic facts along with the references or citations to support them, not necessarily to build up numerous facts for any single article.

The best way to create this compilation may be to add information as I come across it in reading or research, if I can remember to do so. I might also spend a few hours now and then finding and adding information that I think I might find useful. Of course, I do not want to spend much time recording information on topics that can be easily found in my library. I am trying ultimately to save some time and repetitive research so some balance and discretion on what to add here will be needed

Occasionally, a large separate section on a topic being researched which may come up again may be useful and added.

I have alphabetical lists below, currently divided into the following topics topics (1) People; (2) Battles, Campaigns; (3) States, Places; (4) Governments, Politics; (5) Logistics, Railroads, Transportation; (6) Statistics and (7) Other topics, perhaps to be divided further in the future. I will try to limit multiple entries although some incidents or facts relate to more than one general topic. In that case, more that one heading or identifying phrase may be shown in bold font.

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  • Fairfax Court House: "On the last day in May in 1861, slightly more than 200 men, consisting of two virtually unarmed Virginia cavalry companies and an infantry company, occupied the town as a Confederate outpost."[1]
  • Fairfax Court House: "Press accounts were as unreliable."[2]
  • Fairfax Court House: Significance: "The significance of this skirmish at Fairfax Court House is not reflected in the immediate sensation it made in the press or the subsequent postwar claims of the uniqueness of the conflict.... Instead, the significance of the encounter around a small country courthouse is that it is typical of what would become the wars most frequent form of combat: the skirmish."[3]

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  • Movement of Union troops into Northern Virginia: "Lincoln waited until the people of Virginia voted on the referendum on secession before moving Federal troops into northern Virginia."[4]

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States, Places

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  • Alexandria, Virginia: First, or early, casualties: "Ellsworth and Jackson died over the Confederate banner, while a Union sailor from the USS Pawnee lost his life while attempting to fix a halyard on the Alexandria city-hall flagpole."[5]

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  • Vienna, Virginia Railroad: "This concluded the action near Vienna, which has been cited as the first time the railroad was used in warfare."[6]
  • Virginia: "Lincoln waited until the people of Virginia voted on the referendum on secession before moving Federal troops into northern Virginia."[7]
  • Virginia: "While stories of Ellsworth and Jackson dominated the news, Union regiments were digging in and starting fortifications from south of Georgetown to Alexandria."[8]
  • Virginia: "Extensive earthworks fortifications were constructed on the eminences on the south side of the Potomac, opposite Washington and Georgetown, and beyond Alexandria. The troops were advanced a short distance into Virginia, but with the exception of the capture of a few rebel soldiers and disloyal residents, and some picket firing and skirmishing, little of importance transpired."[9]

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Logistics, Railroads, Transportation

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  • Railroads: "This concluded the action near Vienna, which has been cited as the first time the railroad was used in warfare."[10]

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  • Casualties: First, or early, casualties: "Ellsworth and Jackson died over the Confederate banner, while a Union sailor from the USS Pawnee lost his life while attempting to fix a halyard on the Alexandria city-hall flagpole."[11]
  • Combat: Typical Type; Fairfax Court House: Significance: "The significance of this skirmish at Fairfax Court House is not reflected in the immediate sensation it made in the press or the subsequent postwar claims of the uniqueness of the conflict.... Instead, the significance of the encounter around a small country courthouse is that it is typical of what would become the wars most frequent form of combat: the skirmish."[12]

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  • "Press coverage of the first year of the war, of even the smallest skirmishes, was extensive, and at times, events were hyperbolically depicted as heroic."[13]
  • Press coverage: "All encounters, regardless of how minor, received major attention because of the newness of the war."[1]

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Poland, Jr., Charles P. The Glories Of War: Small Battle And Early Heroes Of 1861. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006. ISBN 1-4184-5973-9. p. 35.
  2. ^ Poland, 2006, p. 41.
  3. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 43.
  4. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 5.
  5. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 28.
  6. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 46.
  7. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 5.
  8. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 33.
  9. ^ Crafts, William August. 'The southern rebellion: being a history of the United States from the Commencement of President Buchanan's administration through the War for the Suppression of the Rebellion'. Vol. 1. Boston, Samuel Walker & Co., 1867. OCLC 6007950. Retrieved May 22, 2011. p. 234.
  10. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 46.
  11. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 28.
  12. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 43.
  13. ^ Poland, Jr., 2006, p. 3


References

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  • Poland, Jr., Charles P. The Glories Of War: Small Battle And Early Heroes Of 1861]. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006. ISBN 1-4184-5973-9.

Last Battle of the American Civil War: Palmito Ranch

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The following sources, including relevant page numbers and quotations, state that the Battle of Palmito Ranch was the last battle (or engagement) of the American Civil War:

  • U.S. National Park Service description of Battle of Palmito Ranch. Retrieved January 20, 2014. "On May 12....Branson promptly led his men off to attack a Confederate camp at Palmito Ranch. After much skirmishing along the way, the Federals attacked the camp and scattered the Confederates. Branson and his men remained at the site to feed themselves and their horses but, at 3:00 pm, a sizable Confederate force appeared, influencing the Federals to retire to White’s Ranch. He 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 Palmito Ranch, skirmishing most of the way. At Palmito 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 where the men could prepare dinner and 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."
  • Hunt, Jeffrey William. "PALMITO RANCH, BATTLE OF," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qfp01), accessed January 20, 2014. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. "On May 13, 1865, more than a month after the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee, the last land action of the Civil War took place at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville."
  • Civil War Trust web site. Retrieved January 20, 2014. Civil War Facts. Answers to your Civil War Questions "Q. When was the Civil War fought? The war began when Confederate warships bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The war ended in Spring, 1865. Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. The last battle was fought at Palmito Ranch, Texas, on May 13, 1865."
  • Marvel, William. Battle of Palmetto Ranch: American Civil War's Final Battle Originally published by Civil War Times magazine. Published Online: June 12, 2006. Retrieved from Historynet.com on January 20, 2014. An earlier article in Civil War Times Illustrated on the same topic by Trudeau, Noah Andre, The Last Gun Had Been Fired, July/August 1990, p. 58. Page 63: "The Battle of Palmito Ranch, later termed by [Union commander] Colonel Barrett last actual conflict between hostile forces in the great rebellion," was over." See the excerpt from Barrett's August 10, 1865 report found in the The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the reference below to Conyer, Luther. Last Battle of the War. From the Dallas, Texas News, December 1896.
  • Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Publishing Company, 1908. OCLC 8697590. Page 723: In the Battles, Campaigns, etc. in Georgia section, the engagement on April 16, 1865 at Columbus is classified as "Action, Columbus." The Union loss is given as "6 killed, 24 missing." Page 881: In the Battles, Campaigns, etc. in Texas section, the engagements on May 12-13, 1865 at Palmetto Ranch are classified as "Skirmishes, Palmetto Ranch." The Union loss is given as "118 killed, wounded and captured." A separate skirmish is listed on March 13 at White's Ranch. On page 882, Dyer classifies the June 9, 1863 Battle of Brandy Station as an "engagement." In order for Dyer to classify an action as a battle, it had to be quite large and bloody. Neither Columbus/West Point, Georgia or Palmito Ranch/White's Ranch, Texas were identified as battles. I could not find that his exact criteria for the combat categories were set out anywhere in the text. On page 1733, in the entry for the regimental history of the 62nd Regiment Infantry, Dyer states in the service paragraph: "Expedition from Brazos Santiago May 11-14, 1865. Action at Palmetto Ranch May 12-13, 1865. White's Ranch May 13. Last action of the war."
  • Demy, Timothy J. Brownsville, Texas In Tucker, Spencer C., ed. American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection. Santa Barbara, California : ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2013. ISBN 978-1-85109-682-4. Retrieved January 20, 2014. Page 240: "On May 12–13, 1865, Confederate and Union forces skirmished outside Brownsville in the Battle of Palmito Ranch, in what is regarded as the last battle of the war. A few days later, Confederates in Brownsville agreed to a truce. On June 2, 1865, Lieutenant General (sic) Edmund Kirby Smith officially surrendered the Trans-Mississippi theater."
  • Hess, Earl J. The Civil War in the West; Victory and Defeat from the Appalachians to the Mississippi. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0-8078-3542-5.  – via Questia (subscription required) . Also preview at: The Civil War in the West; Victory and Defeat from the Appalachians to the Mississippi. Retrieved January 20, 2014. Page 284: "He pushed on toward Columbus, Georgia, nestled on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River just across the state line. On the evening of April 16, the Federal troopers staged a mounted attack on the earthworks that guarded Columbus on the west side of the river and managed to cross the stream before the bridge was destroyed. That night they captured Columbus with more than one thousand prisoners, along with the important war industry works in the city and its shipyard. Columbus was the last battle of Wilson’s command, for three days later he learned of Lee’s surrender. This did not necessarily mean that the fighting was over, for no one could predict how Confederate commanders in the region would react to the collapse of Rebel resistance in Virginia." Page 292: "[Brig. Gen. And Brevet Maj. Gen.] James H. Wilson informed his subordinates near Macon that Johnston's surrender foretold the doom of the Confederacy. "There remains nothing else to be done except to capture the rebel chiefs and their tresaure, and break up the forces in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas." fn 21 "Wilson to [Benjamin] Grierson, May 2, 1865, Special Field Orders No. 30, HQ Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi, May 4, 1865, OR 49(2):580, 601." OR: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1880-1901. OR citation volume (part) page.
  • Hearn, Chester G. The Civil War State by State. Devon: RedBlue Press, 2011. Maps by Mike Marino. ISBN 978-1-908247-04-9. Retrieved January 20, 2014 but no preview. Page 379. "The Last Battle. This engagement occurred after the surrender at Appomattox and took place on the banks of the Rio Grande, about twelve miles east of Brownsville, on May 12-13, 1865."
  • Varhola, Michael J. and Maureen A. Taylor. Life in Civil War America. Cincinnati: Family Tree Books, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4403-1086-7. Retrieved January 17, 2014.  – via Questia (subscription required) . Page 38: "Little fighting took place on Texas soil. The capture and subsequent recapture of Galveston, a major supply port for the Confederacy, were the most important actions, and the Battle of Palmito Ranch, fought after the Rebel surrender at Appomattox, was the last land battle of the war."
  • McComb, David G. Texas: A Modern History. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-292-72314-6. Retrieved January 17, 2014.  – via Questia (subscription required) . Page 74: "On May 13, 1865, Colonel John S. “Rip” Ford forced Union soldiers moving toward Brownsville to retreat to Brazos Island and won the Battle of Palmito Ranch. Texans thus achieved victory in the final battle of the Civil War, but the war was lost."
  • Piston, William Garrett and Thomas P. Sweeney, eds. Portraits of Conflict: A Photographic History of Missouri in the Civil War. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1-55728-913-1. Retrieved January 17, 2014. Pages 249-250: "In December 1863, the first black army unit from Missouri was mustered into service at Benton Barracks. The First Missouri Colored Infantry was stationed at St. Louis until February of the following year, when it was ordered to Port Hudson, Louisiana. While there the unit's designation was changed to the Sixty-second Infantry, USCT. In the spring of 1865, they went to Texas, where in May at Palmito Ranch they participated in what is usually recognized as the last engagement of the war."
  • Wagner, Margaret E., Gary W. Gallagher, and Paul Finkelman. The Library of Congress Civil War Desk Reference. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, Inc., 2009 edition. ISBN 978-1-4391-4884-6. First Published 2002. Pages 328-330. "...last engagement of the Civil War." (330) See also page 51: May 29, 1865: Johnson offers amnesty to all who participated directly or indirectly in "the existing rebellion" upon taking the oath of allegiance to the United States. No mention is made of the action at Columbus in the discussion of Wilson's Raid or elsewhere in the book. (Pages 324-325)
  • Weeks, Michael. The Complete Civil War Road Trip Guide. Woodstock, VT: The Countryman Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-88150-860-4. [Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York.] Retrieved January 17, 2014. Page 182: "Palmito Ranch, the last and perhaps the most unnecessary battle of the Civil War...."
  • Civil War Preservation Trust. Campi, James, ed. and Mary Goundrey, Wendy Valentine. Civil War Sites: The Official Guide to the Civil War Discovery Trail, 2d ed. Guilford, CT: The Globe Pequot Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-7627-4435-0. First edition published 2003. Page 308: You may be surprised to learn that the last land battle of the Civil War was fought on Texas soil on May 13, 1865. The Battle of Palmito Ranch occurred more than one month after General Lee's surrender in Virginia."
  • Fredriksen, John C. Civil War Almanac. New York: Facts on File, Inc., Infobase Publishing, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4381-0803-2. Page 591: "While small, Palmito Ranch is also the last pitched encounter of the Civil War."
  • O'Brien, Sean Michael. Irish Americans in the Confederate Army. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7864-2998-1. Retrieved January 17, 2014. Pages 208-209: "The last battle of the war was fought near Brownsville at Palmito Ranch, Mary 12-13, 1865....Ironically, the last engagement of the Civil War was a Confederate victory."
  • Selcer, Richard F. Civil War America, 1850 to 1875. New York: Facts On File, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8160-3867-1. Retrieved January 17, 2014. Page 268: "May 12-13, 1865. Last battle of the Civil War is fought at Palmito Ranch near the mouth of the Rio Grande River."
  • Townsend, Stephen A. The Yankee Invasion of Texas. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1-58544-487-8. Retrieved January 17, 2014. Page 130. "It was the last shot of the last battle of the Civil War. Says Confederate casualties were greater as later a Captain Carrington said the Confederates took time to bury their dead.
  • Weitz, Mark A. More Damning Than Slaughter Retrieved January 17, 2014. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-8032-4797-0.  – via Questia (subscription required) Page vii: "Despite the surrender of Lee at Appomattox and of Joseph Johnston twelve days later, Smith believed that the war was not over as long as an army remained in the field. The last official battle would come in June (sic) 1865, at Palmetto Ranch in southern Texas.
  • Campbell, Randolph. Gone to Texas: A History of the Lone Star State. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-513842-9. Retrieved January 17, 2014.  – via Questia (subscription required) . Page 259: "While the surrender of Texas remained in doubt, Confederate and Union troops fought the last battle of the Civil War on May 13, 1865, at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville. Confederates under Col. “Rip” Ford routed a unit of Federal soldiers that crossed from Brazos Island to the mainland and moved upriver, but even a fighter such as Ford had to admit that the war was over. Several days after the battle, he met with Union officers in Brownsville and arranged to stop the fighting."
  • Axelrod, Alan. America's Wars. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002. ISBN 978-0-471-32797-4. Retrieved January 17, 2014.  – via Questia (subscription required) . Pages 299-300: "On May 10, President Johnson declared that armed resistance was “virtually at an end,” but three days later, at Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, Texas, Confederate troops under Edmund Kirby Smith skirmished with Federals. This small engagement was the last fighting of the war. Smith surrendered to Canby on May 26. The very last Confederate commander to surrender was Stand Watie, son of a full-blooded Cherokee father and a half-blooded Cherokee mother, a brigadier general from Indian Territory. He laid down arms on June 23, 1865, at Doakville, Indian Territory."
  • Hunt, Jeffrey Wm. The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch''. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-292-73461-6. Page 5: "Indeed it was nearly two months after Appomattox when the last of the Confederate armies laid down its arms. Before that event took place there was one last battle on the banks of the Rio Grande near the southern tip of Texas, at a place called Palmetto Ranch, and it was fought just over four weeks after Lee's surrender. Ironically, it was a battle the Confederacy won."
  • In their survey works, some historians such as James M. McPherson, Allan Nevins, Russell Weigley and Harry Hansen do not mention the battles at Columbus, Georgia or Palmito Ranch, much less describe either one as the last battle of the Civil War. McPherson apparently does refer to Palmito Ranch as the last battle of the war in McPherson, James M. The Final Fury. New York, Simon and Shuster, 2002. ISBN 978-0-689-84833-9. Retrieved January 17, 2014. Only a preview was available on line, not including the text about the battle. However, the index entry on page 96 is "Palmito Ranch, last Civil War battle at, 84." This book was written for juvenile readers.
  • Wright, John D. The Language of the Civil War. Westport, CT; London: Oryx Press, 2001. ISBN 978-1-57356-135-8. Retrieved January 17, 2014.  – via Questia (subscription required) . Page 253: "'Rip' The nickname of Confederate Colonel John S. Ford, who commanded the raggedy Cavalry of the West. His nickname stood for "Rest in Peace," because Ford sent many of his enemies to the cemetery. A former physician, newspaper editor, and Texas Ranger, Ford won the last real battle of the Civil War, a month after General Lee had surrendered. His troops were attacked by Colonel Theodore H. Barrett's on May 12, 1865, at Palmito Ranch on the east bank of the Rio Grande, 12 miles from Brownsville, Texas. The two-day battle resulted in 30 Union soldiers killed and wounded and 113 captured, with Ford's men suffering only minor wounds. To avoid the official humiliating surrender of his cavalry to the Yankees, Rip disbanded his unit 13 days after winning the war's final battle."
  • Eicher, David J. The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-84944-5. Retrieved January 20, 2014. Page 843: "On May 12 came the final land battle of the war. Far out in the Trans-Mississippi, to which news traveled slowly, forces clashed near Brownsville, Texas, at Palmito Ranch (sometimes spelled Palmetto Ranch)...The last land action of the was was, ironically, a Confederate victory." On Page 837, Eicher noted this about Columbus: "On the same day [April 16, 1865], Upton struck into Confederate forces at Columbus, capturing that city and its naval works and burning the ram CSS Jackson."
  • Hendrickson, Robert. The Road to Appomattox. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2000. ISBN 978-0-471-14884-5. Retrieved January 17, 2014.  – via Questia (subscription required) . Page 221. "May 13. The battle or skirmish of Palmito Ranch is fought in Texas on the banks of the Rio Grande. Confederate troops under Colonel John R. I. P. (”Rest in Peace”) Ford win this last significant battle of the Civil War, the Union suffering considerable casualties. In the battle Indiana private John Jay Williams becomes the last soldier to be killed in action in a Civil War battle, according to many sources."
  • Kennedy, Frances H., ed. The Civil War Battlefield Guide. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998. ISBN 978-0-395-74012-5. Page 437. "Texas: May 1865 Palmito Ranch (TX 005). Cameron County, May 12-13, 1865. "The last battle of the Civil War was won in Texas by the Confederates." The only mention in this book of the Columbus, Georgia affair, on page 436, is that "…Wilson then pushed east to Columbus, Georgia, another major center of Confederate industry, and occupied it on April 16." The book includes the "384 principal battles designated by the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields. (Page x)
  • Gallaway, E. P. Texas, The Dark Corner of the Confederacy: Contemporary Accounts of the Lone Star State in the Civil War. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1994. ISBN 978-0-8032-2148-2. Retrieved January 17, 2014.  – via Questia (subscription required) . Page 19: "Scattered skirmishes of little significance occurred during the first weeks of April, and then, forty-nine months after the war began at Fort Sumter, the final armed encounter of the conflict was fought in Texas. Ironically, it was a Confederate victory. Ford and his Texans engaged a Federal force on the afternoon of May 13, 1865, at Palmito ranch house, not far from Brownsville."
  • Forgie, George B. Brownsville, Texas: City of Brownsville In Current, Richard N. ed. The Confederacy: Selections from the Four-Volume Macmillan Encyclopedia of the Confederacy New York: Simon & Shuster Macmillan, 1993, introductory material, 1998. ISBN 978-0-02-864920-7. Page 173: "An attempt by Union forces to retake Brownsville in the spring of 1865 led to the last land battle of the Civil War. A month after Appomattox, but before the surrender of Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department, Federal troops under the command of Theodore H. Barrett advanced toward the city. On May 13, they encountered Ford's Cavalry of the West at Palmito Ranch, on the Rio Grande midway between Brownsville and the Gulf. The Texans routed Barrett's troops and drove them back to their position on the coast." Page 173: Frazier, Donald S. Brownsville, Texas: Battles of Brownsville. "On May 12, the Federals occupied a Confederate camp at Palmito Ranch east of the city. The following day, Colonel Ford and four hundred horsemen who called themselves the 'Cavalry of the West,' aided by a battery of Confederate artillery partially manned by French gunners from Mexico, attacked the Federal column. The Union troops, expecting a fairly easy advance since the principal Confederate armies had surrendered over a month earlier, fled back to Brazos Santiago. This Confederate victory marked the last land battle of the war. Two dozen Federals were killed or wounded while eight-five were captured. Ten Texans were also wounded." (Usual casualty figures given in sources are 30 Federals killed or wounded and 113 captured and as few as five or six Confederates wounded, as in the next article.) Page 1100: Bailey, Anne, J. Trans-Mississippi Department. "When Lee surrendered in April, 1865, Kirby Smith, along with military and civil authorities, issued calls for the people of the Southwest to continue the fight. The last battle of the war occurred in the Trans-Mississippi deep in South Texas where Col. John S. ("Rip") Ford and the Second Texas had not learned that the end was near. Three hundred Federal troops from the island of Brazos Santiago under Col. T. H. Barrett landed on the mainland and headed toward Confederate-held Fort Brown. Barrett, whose command was mostly black soldiers, met a detachment of Ford's regiment at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, but after a brief skirmish, both sides withdrew. The following day, May 13, Ford struck at the Union soldiers; 113 surrendered and 30 were killed or wounded. The Texans learned from their prisoners that Lee and Johnston had surrendered in April."
  • Josephy, Jr., Alvin M., The Civil War in the American West. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1991. ISBN 978-0-394-56482-1. No preview. Pages 223-224. "On May 13, 1865, after Appomattox, they [the Union force] ventured forth to try to retake Brownsville. Colonel Ford and 300 mounted men had not yet surrendered. They charged the Federals at Palmito Hill and drove them back to their original position. It was the last official battle of the Civil War and the last echo of Banks's frustrated campaigns to take Texas."
  • Ward, Geoffrey C. and Kenneth Burns. The Civil War. New York: Knopf, 1990. ISBN 978-0-394-56285-8. Retrieved January 17, 2014. Page 317: "...where on May 13, 1865, Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana became the last man to be killed in the Civil War, in a battle at Palmito Ranch, Texas. This final skirmish was a Confederate victory." (My edition has this on page 397.)
  • Richter, William L. The Army in Texas during Reconstruction, 1865-1870. College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0-89096-282-4. Retrieved January 20, 2014.  – via Questia (subscription required) . Page 17: "Brownsville had been occupied by the Yankees in late 1863, but a lack of manpower prevented them from establishing a good hold on the region. Then in July, 1864, Confederate forces wrested the city from Union control and prevented its recapture in the last battle of the Civil War, at Palmetto Ranch, May 13, 1865."
  • Gillett, Mary C. (US Army). The Army Medical Department, 1818-1865. Washington, DC: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1987. OCLC 15550997. Retrieved January 18, 2014. Page 261: "The division that went on to Columbus, Georgia, sustained an additional 28 wounded in capturing that city four days later." Page 263: It was also west of the Mississippi, at Brownsville, Texas, on 13 May 1865 a small number of Union and Confederate soldiers fought the last battle of the Civil War."
  • Delaney, Norman C. Palmito ranch, Tex., eng. at. 12-13 May 1865. Page 556. In Historical Times Illustrated History of the Civil War, edited by Patricia L. Faust. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. ISBN 978-0-06-273116-6. "...the situation changed with the arrival on Brazos Island of Union Col. Theodore H. Barrett, an inexperienced and ambitious officer. His coming led to the last engagement of the Civil War, fought 12-13, May 1865. "...30 Federals killed and wounded, and another 113 taken prisoner..." "Ford gave his own casualties as only 5 suffering from minor wounds." No specific mention of the Columbus action is made in a stand-alone article or in the articles about Wilson, James Harrison (832), Wilson's Raid to Selma, Ala (834), or Selma, Ala, capture of (665-666).
  • Bowman, John S., ed. The Civil War Almanac. New York: Facts on File, Bison Book Corp., 1982. ISBN 0-87196-640-9. No preview. Page 168: "13 May 1865...The Battle of Palmitto (sic) Ranch is to be the last significant land battle of the war."
  • Foote, Shelby. The Civil War: A Narrative. Vol. 3, Red River to Appomattox. New York: Random House, 1974. ISBN 978-0-394-46512-8. Page 1019. "Such things as they did now were done on their own, usually under enemy compulsion: for example, a two-day engagement at Palmito Ranch, May 12-13, on the east bank of the Rio Grande near Brownsville, down at the very tip of Texas. Andrew Johnson's May 10 declaration that armed resistance was "virtually at an end" had thus been premature, but only by three days."
  • Long, E. B. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1971. OCLC 68283123. Page numbers are from 1971 print edition; web address is for 2012 reprint. Page 688. "Last Land Fight. In the last land engagement of any significance...Palmito Ranch on the banks of the Rio Grande." On page 677, for April 16, 1865, Long states: "James Harrison Wilson's Federal cavalry, well into Georgia now, captured West Point and Columbus." On page 687 under May 10 (the date that Confederate President Jefferson Davis was captured) Long quotes President Andrew Johnson as stating that "armed resistance to the authority of this Government in the said insurrectionary States may be regarded as virtually at an end... (emphasis supplied). On page 696, Long notes that on April 2, 1866, President Johnson declared "that the insurrection which heretofore existed in the States of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida is at an end and is henceforth to be so regarded." On pages 696-697, Long notes that President Johnson declared the insurrection at an end in all the States, including Texas, on August 20, 1866.
  • Black, III, Robert C. The Railroads of the Confederacy. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1952. OCLC 445590. Page 289: "For three more weeks a vague Confederate authority lingered on in Texas, the state wherein, oddly enough, the rule of Richmond had seemed most shadowy. There the last land engagement of the war, Palmetto Ranch, was fought on May 11 (sic), and what is more, was won by the Confederates."
  • Coulter, E. Merton. The Confederate States of America, 1861-1865. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1950. OCLC 478709. Retrieved January 18, 2014. Page 564: "The last instance of resistance took place at Brownsville on May 13, a Confederate victory,..."
  • Benedict, H. Y. Texas In The Encyclopedia Americana. New York: The Encyclopedia Americana Corporation, 1920. OCLC 7308909. Page 465: "The last battle of the Civil War was fought at Palmito, near Palo Alto, on the Rio Grande, on 13 May, 1865."
  • Andrews, Mathew Page The Dixie Book of Days. Philadelphia and London: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1912. OCLC 2634699. Page 115: "Texas troops, C.S.A., defeat Federals in last battle of the War, at Palmito Ranch, 1865, the victors learning from their prisoners that the Confederacy had fallen."
  • Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Publishing Company, 1908. OCLC 8697590. On page 1733, in the entry for the regimental history of the 62nd Regiment Infantry, Dyer states in the service paragraph: "Expedition from Brazos Santiago May 11-14, 1865. Action at Palmetto Ranch May 12-13, 1865. White's Ranch May 13. Last action of the war."
  • Wood, Walter Birkbeck and Sir James Edward Edmonds. A History of the Civil War in the United States, 1861-5. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons; London: Metheun, 1905. OCLC 2455862. Page 524: "In the Trans-Mississippi Department the last actual fighting of the war took place on May 13th in Texas, and on May 26th, General Kirby Smith, commanding in that Department, surrendered all his forces."
  • Garrison, George P. Texas: A Contest of Civilizations. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1903. OCLC 950883. Page 290. "There was no fighting in the interior of Texas during the whole period of the war, but it is a fact worth noting by the curious that the last engagement between the Federal and the Confederate forces took place at Palmito near Palo Alto on the Rio Grande, May 13, 1865."
  • Wood, Robert C. Confederate Handbook. New Orleans, Graham Press, 1900. OCLC 1526005. Page 32: "The Last Battle of the War. The defense of West Point, Ga., April 16, 1865, by General Robert C. Tyler. with 300 men, against a federal raiding force of 3,700, was the last organized resistance of the Confederates east of the Mississippi River. General Tyler, who had been several times wounded previously, and had lost a leg, was killed in this engagement. On May 13, 1865, at Palmetto Ranch, near Brownsville, Texas, an engagement took place between a Confederate force of 300 under Gen. James E. Slaughter, and a Federal force of 500 under Col. T. H. Barrett. This was the last action of the war." Page 69: "1865. May 13, Palmetto Ranch, near Brownsville, last engagement of the war."
  • Schouler, James. History of the Civil War, 1861-1865. Being vol. VI. of: History of the United States of America, under the Constitution. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1899. OCLC 10963739 Page 619: "After one more skirmish, near Brazos, quite needless, Smith, too, on the 26th of May, surrendered his whole armed force to Canby...."
  • Armstrong, Lt. William H. The Negro as a Soldier. in War Papers Read Before the Indiana Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Indianapolis: Published by the Commandery, 1898. Page 331: "…and rounding the record up by fighting the last engagement of the war on the far-off Rio Grande."
  • Conyer, Luther. Last Battle of the War. From the Dallas, Texas News, December 1896. In Brock, R. A. Southern Historical Society Papers. Volume XXIV. Richmond: Published by the Society, 1896. OCLC 36141719. Page 309. "The last battle of the war between regularly organized forces was fought in Texas May 13, 1865 and called "the battle of Palmetto Ranch," near the city of Brownsville, Texas, on the Rio Grande." [refuting W. J. Slatter in November 1896 issue of Confederate Veteran magazine asserting that the battle of West Point, Georgia, April 16, 1865, was the last battle of the war between regularly organized forces.] Page 310: Quotes from report of Colonel T. H. Barrett, 62nd United States Colored Infantry, from the Official Records: "Headquarters, Third Brigade, First Division, Twenty-Fifth Army Corps, Camp (near) Brownsville, Tex., August 10, 1865. General: I have the honor to submit the following report of the battle of Palmetto Ranch, Tex., May 13, 1865, the last engagement of the war."
  • Tomes, Robert and John Laird Wilson. Battles of America by Sea and Land: The great civil war. New York: James S. Virtue, 1878. OCLC 1905635. Page 948: "Meanwhile collisions were taking place between portions of the rival forces on the borders of the Rio Grande. One of these, which happened near Brazos Santiago, and which resulted somewhat unfavorably for the Nationals, proved to be the last battle of the war." Page 949: "Such was the battle of Palmetto Ranche, famous for being the last of the Civil War."
  • Lossing, Benson John and William Barritt. Pictorial history of the civil war in the United States of America, Volume 3. OCLC 1007582. Hartford: Thomas Belknap, 1877. Retrieved May 1, 2011. Page 580. "The running fight continued about three hours when the Confederates desisted. So ended the Battle of Palmetto Ranche. It was the last one in the great struggle. At about sunset, on the 13th of May, between White's Ranche and the Boca Chica Strait, in Texas, the Sixty-second United States Colored Infantry, fired the last volley of the war." (Italics in original.)
  • Martin, ed., John H. Columbus, Geo., from Its Selection as a "trading Town" in 1827, to Its Partial Destruction by Wilson's Raid in 1865.. Columbus, GA: Gilbert, Book Printer and Binder, 1874. Page 178. "The enemy arrived in sight of Columbus, on the Alabama side of the river, on Sunday, the 16th of April. We copy from the [Columbus] Enquirer, of June 27th (which was the first number of a paper issued in the city after the raid) an account of the attack and capture of the city....On Sunday, the 16th of April, the last battle of the war, east of the Mississippi river, was fought in Girard, Alabama, opposite this city. The Confederate troops consisted of two regiments of the Georgia State Line, Waddell's battery, some of the forces of Gens. Wofford and Buford, a small number of the Georgia reserves, the organized companies for local defense in this city, besides a number of citizens of Columbus and a few hastily collected reserves of Russell County, Alabama – numbering in all, perhaps, two thousand men." On page 180, the newspaper account names or identifies nine Confederates, including Col. C. A. L. Lamar, who were known to have been killed in the battle. Page 181: "We have called this the last fight east of the Mississippi. There was a sharp fight at West Point on the same day, but earlier in the day. There may possibly have been a brush or two in Western North Carolina after the 16th of April, but nothing like a battle of any importance. A fight occurred two or three weeks later in Western Texas near the old Palo Alto battle ground, in which the Confederates were successful; and this closed the fighting of the civil war, so far as we have any advice." On page 183, Wilson's report is quoted saying that his force captured twelve hundred prisoners while losing twenty-five men killed and wounded.
  • Draper, John William. History of the American Civil War. Volume III. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1870. OCLC 337190. Page 619: "The last conflict of the Civil War occurred May 13th, on the Rio Grande, near Brazos Santiago. A small expedition had set out to surprise a Confederate camp, which it succeeded it doing, but was overtaken on its return by a large force, and defeated, with the loss of 80 men."
  • H. H. Lloyd and Co. Lloyd's Battle History of the Great Rebellion. New York: H.H. Lloyd & Co., 1866. OCLC 3946782. Retrieved November 8, 2012. Page 673. "On the 11th of May, Colonel Barrett conducted a body of troops, about 400 strong, from Brazos to seize a rebel camp, with its horses and cattle, about 15 miles above on the Brownsville road, at Palmetto Ranch....The fight was of some importance, as being the last action of the war."

From Selcer, Richard F. Civil War America, 1850 to 1875. New York: Facts On File, 2006. ISBN 978-0-8160-3867-1. Retrieved January 17, 2014. Page 234: "According to the best estimate, some 10,455 clashes of arms were fought between 1861 and 1865. These can be broken down from the largest, campaigns lasting months and producing tens of thousands of casualties, to inconsequential "affairs" and "scouts." In between are major battles and actions that mark progress of the war toward victory for one side and defeat for the other. Unfortunately there is no handy guide to Civil War field operations that carefully defines every clash of arms in terms of numbers engaged, duration, casualties and other details. Contemporary usage is the only guideline that exists. Although campaigns, sieges, and scouts are easy to define, the difference between, say, a "combat" and an "engagement" is much more subtle and arbitrary. In many cases the classification depends on the terminology favor by the participants. Major battles require no fine parsing of terminology, because most people understand in a vague sort of way what a "battle" is.

References to last battle of the Civil War and Columbus, Georgia - usually qualified as in Georgia or the east.

  • Jones, James Pickett. (1976) Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson's Raid Through Alabama and Georgia. page 144: "Some have called the fight for Columbus the Civil War's last battle. Others have found subsequent actions in the west and qualify the claim. To those writers Columbus is the war's last battle east of the Mississippi....An undetermined number of soldiers and the people of Columbus had to pay the price for being engaged in one of the Civil War's last battles, a battle of no real military consequence in a dying conflict."
  • Gray, Jeremy and Jeff Davis, China Williams. (2002) Georgia and the Carolinas. page 182: "….This is considered the last significant land battle of the Civil War." [no citation]
  • Sullivan, Buddy. (May 2010) Georgia: A State History Page 93 "After a brisk skirmish with Columbus home guards centered on the Chattahoochee River bridges - the last land battle of the war in Georgia - the Federals occupied the city on April 16."
  • McGhee, James E. (2008) Guide to Missouri Confederate Units, 1861-1865. Page 23: "10th Light Battery (Rice's/Barrett's)...." Page 24: "The final fight of the battery occurred at Columbus, Georgia, on April 16, 1865, sometimes referred to as the last battle east of the Mississippi River."
  • Gilbert, Stirling Price. (2010, originally 1946) A Georgia Lawyer: His Observations and Public Service. Page 201: "The last battles of the war in this state were fought in Columbus and West Point on April 16, 1865, following Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9th."

Some general Wikipedia articles on the American Civil War

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