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Unlike the rest of the Confederacy, Texas was spared from most of the ravages of the war. Other than a few isolated Federal coastal outposts, the Lone Star state remained unoccupied and was only subjected to a few Union raids to shut down border supply points into Mexico. Brownsville, Texas was one of those supply points. Several times during the war, the Union outpost at Brazos Island (near present day South Padre Island) sent expeditions toward Brownsville 18 miles away.
The Civil War may have officially ended with the surrender of General Lee on April 9, 1965, but the last battle was fought over a month later at a remote outpost called Palmetto (Palmito) Ranch at the southernmost tip of Texas (about 12 miles east of Brownsville along today's TX Hwy 4) and the Confederates won. On May 13, 1865, Union troops, coming inland from Brazos, aware of the surrender of the major Confederate armies and expecting no problem with their attempt to occupy Brownsville, encountered a body of Rebels, either ignorant of Lee's surrender, or still defiant; and the result was a battle. Most accounts of exactly what happened are vague. All that is agreed is that the Union force was beaten and retreated to Brazos Island after a four hour battle. Prisoners were taken, injuries were sustained, but only one man was killed, Private John J. Williams of Company B, 34th Indiana, the last man to die in the Civil War.
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