The Battle of Palmito Ranch, also known as the Battle of Palmito Hill, is considered by some criteria the final battle of the American Civil War. It was fought 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, at the southern tip of Texas. The battle took place more than a month after the general surrender of Confederate forces to Union forces at Appomattox Court House, which had since been communicated to both commanders at Palmito, and in the intervening weeks the Confederacy had collapsed entirely, so it could also be classified as a postwar action.
The Battle of Blackburn's Ford took place on July 18, 1861, in the Confederate state of Virginia, as part of the Manassas campaign of the American Civil War. Union general Irvin McDowell's Army of Northeastern Virginia was marching south towards the Confederate capital of Richmond, and encountered the Confederate Army of the Potomac under the command of P. G. T. Beauregard. McDowell sent troops from Daniel Tyler's division to probe the Confederate defenses along Bull Run Creek to locate the Confederate left flank. At Blackburn's Ford, the Union troops attempted to cross but Confederate fire broke up the attack. The repulse at Blackburn's Ford led McDowell to seek to attack the Confederates at a different point along their line, leading to the First Battle of Bull Run three days later.
The Battle of Elkin's Ferry, also known as Engagement at Elkin's Ferry, was fought in Clark and Nevada counties in Arkansas as part of the Camden Expedition, during the American Civil War.
The Battle of Byram's Ford was fought on October 22 and 23, 1864, in Missouri during Price's Raid, a campaign of the American Civil War. With the Confederate States of America collapsing, Major General Sterling Price of the Confederate States Army conducted an invasion of the state of Missouri in late 1864. Union forces led Price to abandon goals of capturing the cities of St. Louis and Jefferson City, and he turned west with his army towards Kansas City.
The First Battle of Newtonia was fought on September 30, 1862, between Confederate soldiers commanded by Colonel Douglas H. Cooper and a Union column commanded by Brigadier General Frederick Salomon near Newtonia, Missouri, during the American Civil War. Cooper's force had moved into southwestern Missouri, and encamped near the town of Newtonia. The Confederate column was composed mostly of cavalry led by Colonel Joseph O. Shelby and a brigade of Native Americans. A Union force commanded by Brigadier General James G. Blunt moved to intercept Cooper's force. Blunt's advance force, led by Salomon, reached the vicinity of Newtonia on September 29, and attacked Cooper's position on September 30. A Union probing force commanded by Colonel Edward Lynde was driven out of Newtonia by Cooper's forces on the morning of the 30th.
The Battle of Milliken's Bend was fought on June 7, 1863, as part of the Vicksburg Campaign during the American Civil War. Major General Ulysses S. Grant of the Union Army had placed the strategic Mississippi River city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, under siege in mid-1863. Confederate leadership erroneously believed that Grant's supply line still ran through Milliken's Bend in Louisiana, and Major General Richard Taylor was tasked with disrupting it to aid the defense of Vicksburg. Taylor sent Brigadier General Henry E. McCulloch with a brigade of Texans to attack Milliken's Bend, which was held by a brigade of newly-recruited African American soldiers. McCulloch's attack struck early on the morning of June 7, and was initially successful in close-quarters fighting. Fire from the Union gunboat USS Choctaw halted the Confederate attack, and McCulloch later withdrew after the arrival of a second gunboat. The attempt to relieve Vicksburg was unsuccessful. One of the first actions in which African American soldiers fought, Milliken's Bend demonstrated the value of African American soldiers as part of the Union Army.
John Sappington Marmaduke was an American politician and soldier. He was the 25th governor of Missouri from 1885 until his death in 1887. During the American Civil War, he was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.
John Salmon Ford, better known as "Rip" Ford, was a member of the Republic of Texas Congress and the Texas Senate. He was also the mayor of Brownsville and Austin. Ford was a Texas Ranger, a Confederate colonel, a doctor, a lawyer, and a journalist and newspaper owner. He commanded men during the Antelope Hills expedition and later led the Confederate forces in what was arguably the last engagement of the American Civil War, the Battle of Palmito Ranch on May 12–13, 1865. It was a Confederate victory, but as it occurred more than a month after Robert E. Lee's surrender, it did not affect the war's outcome.
The Battle of Prairie D'Ane, also known as the Skirmish at Prairie D'Ane, Battle of Gum Springs or Battle of Moscow, was fought in present-day Nevada County, Arkansas, as part of the Camden Expedition, during the American Civil War. The Camden Expedition was launched by Union forces as part of the Red River Campaign of 1864. U.S. planners envisioned two federal armies converging simultaneously, one force under the command of Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks pressing northward up the Red River commencing at Alexandria, Louisiana and the other federal army under the command of Maj. Gen. Frederick Steele driving southwestward from Little Rock, Arkansas. The objective was to press the rebel army of Gen. E. Kirby Smith back upon the rebel stronghold at Shreveport and defeat him. If successful, a somewhat vague second phase envisioned the two federal armies combining into one large force and continuing their offensive with a westward push into Texas.
The Battle of Rivers' Bridge was a battle of the American Civil War fought on February 3, 1865.
The 34th Indiana Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment, nicknamed The Morton Rifles, was an Infantry Regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It had the distinction of fighting in the last land action of the war, the Battle of Palmito Ranch, Texas May 12–13, 1865, and also of suffering the last soldier killed during the war, Private John J. Williams.
James Hobart Ford was a Union colonel and brevet brigadier general during the American Civil War, notable for his contributions in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the war.
The 10th Arkansas Infantry (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War from the state of Arkansas. The unit is also known as A. R. Witt's Infantry, C. M. Cargile's Infantry, E. L. Vaughan's Infantry, Thomas D. Merrick's Infantry, S. S. Ford's Infantry, Obed Patty's Infantry, George A. Merrick's Infantry, Zebulon Venable's Infantry and Robert C. Bertrand's Infantry in contemporary accounts. After being captured at the Siege of Port Hudson, the unit reorganized as a mounted infantry unit, and was known as the 10th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment or Witt's Arkansas Cavalry.
The 1st Missouri Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. Originally commanded by Colonel John S. Bowen, the regiment fought at the Battle of Shiloh, where it was engaged near the Peach Orchard on April 6, 1862. On April 7, during the Union counterattacks at Shiloh, the regiment was instrumental in preventing the Washington Artillery from being captured. The regiment was next engaged at the Second Battle of Corinth, where it outflanked several Union positions. On the second day at Corinth, the regiment was only minimally engaged. On November 7, the 1st Missouri Infantry was combined with the 4th Missouri Infantry to form the 1st and 4th Missouri Infantry (Consolidated), as a result of heavy battle losses in both regiments.
Horace Randal was a Confederate States Army colonel during the American Civil War. Randal was mortally wounded while commanding a brigade at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, Arkansas on April 30, 1864, dying two days later. Confederate President Jefferson Davis did not act upon a request made by General E. Kirby Smith on November 8, 1863, to promote Randal to brigadier general. After Randal's performance at the Battle of Mansfield, General Smith, as the Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department, assigned Randal to duty as a brigadier general on April 13, 1864. Randal was not officially promoted. Jefferson Davis subsequently revoked Smith's appointment of Randal as a brigadier general.
James Monroe Williams was an American lawyer, soldier, and merchant. He served both as a cavalry and as an infantry officer in the Union Army within the Trans-Mississippi Theater during the American Civil War, and was breveted a brigadier general near the end of the conflict.
The First Battle of Cabin Creek took place on July 1 through July 2, 1863, in Mayes County, Oklahoma during the American Civil War. The Confederate forces under Colonel Stand Watie attempted to ambush a Union supply convoy led by Colonel James Monroe Williams. Williams was alerted to the attack and, despite the waters of the creek being swelled by rain, made a successful attack upon the entrenched Confederate position and forced them to flee. The raid by a Confederate Army detachment on a Union Army supply train bound for Fort Gibson in July 1863 failed to stop the Union detachment, which enabled the Union to succeed in winning the Battle of Honey Springs later that month. The battle was the first in which African American troops fought side-by-side with their white comrades.
The 1st Missouri Field Battery was a field artillery battery that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery was formed by Captain Westley F. Roberts in Arkansas in September 1862 as Roberts' Missouri Battery and was originally armed with two 12-pounder James rifles and two 6-pounder smoothbore guns. The unit fought in the Battle of Prairie Grove on December 7, as part of a Confederate offensive. Roberts' Battery withdrew after the battle and transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas, where Roberts resigned and was replaced by Lieutenant Samuel T. Ruffner.
Nichols's Missouri Cavalry Regiment served in the Confederate States Army during the late stages of the American Civil War. The cavalry regiment began recruiting in early 1864 under Colonel Sidney D. Jackman, who had previously raised a unit that later became the 16th Missouri Infantry Regiment. The regiment officially formed on June 22 and operated against the Memphis and Little Rock Railroad through August. After joining Major General Sterling Price's command, the unit participated in Price's Raid, an attempt to create a popular uprising against Union control of Missouri and draw Union troops away from more important theaters of the war. During the raid, while under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Nichols, the regiment was part of an unsuccessful pursuit of Union troops who were retreating after the Battle of Fort Davidson in late September.
John Worthington Ames was an American Brevet Brigadier General and engineer who participated in the American Civil War. He commanded the 6th United States Colored Infantry Regiment throughout the war, previously being within the 11th Infantry Regiment.
United States (Union)
United States Army (Union Army)
Bvt. Brigadier General