{"nrhp_refnum":"93000266","name":"Palmito Ranch Battlefield","other_names":["Palmito (or Palmetto) Hill Battlefield","41cf93"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Between TX 4 (Boca Chica Hwy.) and the Rio Grande, approximately 12 mi. E of Brownsville","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brownsville","county":"Cameron County","state":"TX","lat":25.94178018650004,"lon":-97.28410395206721,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-06-23","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1997-09-15","areas_of_significance":["Military"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Palmito Ranch Battlefield is a site in the southernmost tip of Texas, near Brownsville in Cameron County, midway between Brazos Island and Fort Brown. It is where Union and Confederate troops fought on May 12-13, 1865.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as the site of the last land engagement of the Civil War, and argues its greater importance lies in the Lower Rio Grande Valley's role as the Confederacy's cotton outlet, arms supply route and diplomatic border. It also reports that the battlefield remains largely unchanged and has a good level of integrity compared with other Texas Civil War battlefields.","narrative":"Palmito Ranch Battlefield lies on a windswept, marshy coastal plain at the southern tip of Texas, roughly halfway between Brazos Island and Brownsville. Here, on May 12 and 13, 1865, Union troops from Brazos Santiago marched toward Fort Brown and skirmished with Confederates. Colonel John S. (Rip) Ford then led a two-pronged counterattack that drove the Union force back to the island. The fight is known as the last land engagement of the Civil War, though the nomination stresses a wider meaning. The Rio Grande was the Confederacy's only international border, and cotton and European arms moved through Mexican ports while Union blockades closed other harbors. The region also offered a view of French activity in Mexico. The land has changed little because storms, marsh and poor soil discouraged development, and ranching has continued since 1865. A review of Civil War battlefields cited in the form rated its integrity as good, the best among five documented in Texas.","period_of_significance":"May 11-13, 1865","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"Current use is listed as agricultural field and unoccupied land; the area has been used mainly for ranching since 1865, with only ruins of a circa 1920 dwelling and outbuilding atop Palmito Hill.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.211619-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/9709/40970913/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/93000266_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000266/973a36fd83-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000266/973a36fd83-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"25or6to4","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmito_Ranch_Battlefield_2012-09-30_11-15-36.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">25or6to4</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palmito_Ranch_Battlefield_2012-09-30_11-15-36.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40970913","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmito_Ranch_Battlefield","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7128403"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/cameron-county/palmito-ranch-battlefield-93000266/"}