Synopsis
Book by Tucker, Phillip Thomas
Review
"The Final Fury is more than just an account of Palmito Ranch (May 12-13, 1865), the last notable engagement of the Civil War, and one in which the Confederates came away with the honors of the day. The book does a very fine job of placing the battle into the overall context of the history of Texas, the war in the Trans-Mississippi Theater, including relations with Mexico, and, of course, to events during the closing weeks of the war. It also provides excellent background on the personnel and units involved . . . Tucker provides a good, clear account of the battle, often going into considerable detail . . . Overall, Tucker's mining of the sources is extremely impressive, and demonstrates what a determined researcher can do even when confronted by an obscure and very neglected topic."
--The New York Military Affairs Symposium
"Until the appearance of this book, the battle of Palmito Ranch spawned little interest, except among Texans or teachers of Civil War history . . . Now Phillip Thomas Tucker has provided other possible reasons to know about the engagement, especially for readers who enjoy Civil War minutia . . In fact, his book is full of little-known facts and tidbits of information . . . To make it more appealing, he argues that this battle was one of the war's most ethnically diverse, and included Anglo, African American, Irish, Mexican, German, Tejano, and French soldiers . . . the many hours he must have spent in compiling all of this obscure information . . . the book helps provide a more thorough understanding of the contributions of African American troops to the war . . . readers who want to know more about every Civil War battle will find Tucker's look at Palmito Rance a most satisfying one."
--Journal of Southern History
--"This forgotten battle was the last significant battle of the war. It was fought on May 13, 1865, six weeks after General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army at Appomattox . . . This book contains some interesting information such as a French "volunteer" artillery crew fighting with the Confederates as well as historical information on the area of the Rio Grande Valley. It involved black troops, and Rebel Tejanos fighting against Yankee Tejanos . . . Confederate aggressiveness and leadership were the keys to a victory . . . I found this book to be interesting . . . This is a story that needed to be told and it is worth reading."
--The Civil War Courier
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