(The 2nd Battle) & (The 3rd Battle) of texas in the civil War

Battle of Galveston” was a decided victory for the Union as it closed an important Confederate port to commerce. Unknown to the Renshaw and the rest of the Union, the victory would be short lived.
Plans for the second battle of Galveston began in November 1862. Maj. General John B. Magruder was given command of the military forces in Texas on November 29 and he immediately set his sights upon retaking Galveston. His plans culminated on New Years Day 1863 at three in the morning as four of his gunboats headed towards Galveston.
The Commanders of the Union forces were Col. Isaac Burrell and Cdr. Renshaw. Cdr. Renshaw still had several of his boats including the Westfield and the Harriet Lane and Col. Burrell had three companies of the 42nd Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Maj. Gen. Magruder had ships and landing troops.
Shortly after Magruder’s gunboats entered Galveston Bay, he landed also began a land attack. These Confederate troops proceeded to fight their way across the island and into the town itself.
In the end, all of the surviving Union troops had been captured except for the regiment’s adjutant. The Harriet Lane and been boarded and taken over as had two barks and a schooner. Cdr. Renshaw’s flagship the USS Westfield had attempted to come to the aid of the Harriet Lane and instead run aground. The Union naval personnel blew her up at 10:00 am to prevent her falling into Confederate hands.
The final major conflict in not only Texas but for the entire Civil War took place at Palmetto Ranch, also known as Palmetto Hill after April 12, 1865 when General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.
Between May 12th and 13th 1865 Union Col. Theodore Barrett had detachments from the 62nd US Colored Infantry Regiment and 34th Indiana Volunteer Regiment begin an assault upon the Confederate forces under the command of Col. John “Rip” Ford. Col.
Ford had detachments from the Giddings Regiment, Anderson’s Cavalry Battalion and various other Confederate units. Some reports even say the Confederates received aid from the Imperial Mexican forces located right over the Texas/Mexican border but there has been no real proof of this.
Fighting along the Rio Grande
River between Union and Confederate forces had halted in March 1865 after a cease-fire agreement had been made. On May 11, 1865 Col. Theodore Barrett decided to break this agreement and sent some 250 men from the 62nd US Colored Regiment and 50 from the 2nd Texas Cavalry to attack the various Confederate outposts and camps.
These troops, which were under the command of Lt. Col. David Branson, were to cross at Point Isabel but foul weather upset these plans and required them to cross at Boca Chica much later in the day. Sometime around 2:00 am on the morning of May 12th, Branson’s troops surrounded what was supposed to be a Confederate outpost at White’s Ranch. Imagine the soldiers’ surprise after staying up all night to do this only to find the outpost was deserted.
Lt. Col. Branson decided to allow his men to find hiding places along the banks of the Rio Grande and rest up for future assaults against the Confederate troops.
Unknown to the Lt. Col., people from the Mexican side of the river could see his men and decided to inform. Confederates as to the locations of the Union troops. Hearing their calls, Branson immediately rousted his men to attack Palmetto Ranch.
After several skirmishes, the Confederate troops seemed to scatter from Palmetto leaving food and horse feed that Branson’s troops made use of.
At 3:00 pm a large group of Confederate troops appeared and caused the Union soldiers to retreat. They attempted to burn the supplies they hadn’t consumed before leaving. By this time Branson decided to send a message to Col. Barrett to apprise him of the situation.
Barrett then left with 200 men of the 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry and assumed command of the entire force. He and his troops began fighting their way back towards Palmetto Ranch.
Once they reached Palmetto, they destroyed the remaining supplies and decided to continue onward with the fight. A few miles later Col. Ford’s cavalry attacked them and after heavy fighting Col. Barrett decided retreat was the better part of valor. They had returned to Boca Chica by 8:00 pm and embarked upon the waiting ships by 4:00 am on the morning of May 14th.
Ironically, the final battle of the Civil War was won by the Confederacy.