The Last Stand of the Civil War

Santos Benavides, the highest-ranking Tejano soldier in the Confederate Army,
commanded a regiment at Palmetto Ranch.

(NYTimes) PALMITO RANCH, Tex. – On the flat, cactus-studded coastal plain of South Texas the prevailing wind brings the salty smell of the Gulf of Mexico. Gloomy, low-hanging clouds stream overhead, northward. Other than the saw grass and yucca, the landscape is featureless, bounded only by the muddy Rio Grande and the sea.

It was here, though, that the American Civil War ended in its final and ultimately pointless battle, 150 years ago. Continued