Palmito Ranch Battlefield State Historic Site

The Battle of Palmito Ranch was the final land battle of the American Civil War. It was fought May 12–13, 1865, along the banks of the Rio Grande, 13 miles east of Brownsville and 10 miles from the Union-held seaport of Los Brazos de Santiago at Texas’ southern tip. The battle, a Confederate victory, took place more than a month after Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to Union forces and 13 days before the Army of the Trans-Mississippi under Gen. Edmund Smith surrendered in Galveston on May 26. The state historic site includes several interpretive panels on the Civil War in the Rio Grande Valley, both the September 1864 and May 1865 battles that occurred at Palmito Ranch, and activities to preserve the battlefield. There are historical markers nearby and two U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service viewing platforms with interpretive signage located near the intersection of Palmito Hill Road and Boca Chica Highway (HWY 4) and on the north side of Boca Chica Highway, 1 mile east of the Palmito Hill Road/Boca Chica Highway intersection. There is also a radio broadcast of battlefield and wildlife refuge information on 1610 AM. There are currently no public services or facilities at this site.