Join us in celebrating the 160^th anniversary of the battle of Palmetto Ranch, the last engagement of the Civil War

May 12th 2025

The last land engagement of the War Between the States was fought on the banks of the Rio Grande, a little less than 12 miles from Brownsville, Texas, near Palmetto Ranch. This action, in which nearly 2,000 men ultimately took part, has been shrouded in myth and misinformation since almost day the day it was fought.

Historian Jeffrey Wm Hunt, author of The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch (University of Texas Press, 2002), brings the truth about Palmetto Ranch to light and reveals that, contrary to popular myth, the Confederate and Federal forces who fought there were aware of the surrender of Robert E. Lee and other major Rebel armies east of the Mississippi, as well as the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Nonetheless, Southern forces in the Trans-Mississippi region had not yet agreed to lay down their arms, and the Rebel cavalrymen led by Colonel John S. “Rip” Ford were still willing to fight. So too were the men of the 34^th Indiana Infantry, 1^st Texas Cavalry (U.S.) and the 62nd United States Colored Troops, who proved to be the heroes, not the villains, of the Union defeat as is often claimed. Why the battle was fought, the secret peace negotiations preceding it, the fight’s casualties, and its international flavor, as well as the context of the war on the Rio Grande are all brought into focus in this presentation on the war’s last clash on American soil.

Fill out the form below to register for this exciting, online anniversary event!

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