The Last, Last Full Measure (Article 105)
To a grieving family and friends, the notification that their loved one serving in the military was killed in action surely is one of the most devastating experiences known to humanity. In any armed conflict, such notices seem to start too soon and continue for too long. And in every war, some family finally realizes that their loved one may have been the last to die in harm’s way. While their grief may not be worse than for other families, there must be some further anguish knowing that, if the conflict had ended only a few days earlier, their soldier would have survived to come home. In the American Civil War, unusual circumstances left us with two Union soldiers who were killed in action in the final days and left uncertainty as to which unfortunate man should be officially designated as the last to fall. Both, however, deserve to be remembered.
First, unlike many wars, there was no official end to this conflict; no negotiated cease fire and no treaty. Therefore, there was not a specific date past which soldiers, and their families, could assume they would be safe from the violence. However, by April 1865, Robert E. Lee had surrendered one of the larger Confederate armies, Jefferson Davis had fled the Capital of Richmond, and Abraham Lincoln had been killed. Soon after the assassination, General Joseph Johnson surrendered another large Confederate force. Certainly, the families of soldiers still deployed had reason to expect their loved one would soon be coming home. But fighting continued throughout sections of the deep south, especially in Texas and Alabama; partly because confirmed word had not reached some Confederate troops that they should surrender, and in part because some of them were determined to fight on anyway. In fact, one Confederate Naval vessel, the C.S.S. Shenandoah did not cease serving for another six months, until November 1865, and then never acknowledged defeat to Union representatives, but lowered their flag to English authorities in a British port.
But what about the two soldiers who were the last to give their life in service to their country in the Civil War?
John Jefferson Williams was from Indiana and worked on his family’s farm, while also doing odd jobs for additional income. He probably could have avoided service in the Army but, at the age of 21, he joined the 34th Indiana Infantry Regiment in March 1864. By then, everyone knew that the Civil War, which was, at first, expected to be a quick, decisive victory for one side or the other, had settled into a long slow slog, devouring thousands of young men. However, when he enlisted in 1864, there were encouraging signs that the Union might eventually defeat the Confederacy as victories were accumulating against the secessionist states. That said, there was no end yet in sight and John Williams would spend the next year mainly away from enemy lines, guarding storage facilities and other Union installations in and around New Orleans, Louisianna, a city already under Union control. His was a relatively safe assignment and he must have expected to be going home soon.
But military situations change and, in early May 1865, John Williams and the 34th Indiana found themselves in Texas as part of a Union force assigned to root out the remaining Confederates still at large in the state. Although fighting in the area had been sparce for weeks, Union commanders decided to engage a group of Confederate troops who had formed around a large ranch near Brownsville, Texas. On the 11th of May, about 300 Union troops marched toward the ranch, and during one skirmish, Confederates managed to consolidate their troops and drive off the Union force. To counter-attack, Union commanders ordered 200 soldiers from the 34th Indiana to join the initial forces to overcome the Confederate resistance. On May 12th, 1865, John Williams engaged in his first combat, as his unit was shelled by Confederate artillery. Then, on May 13th, the Confederate Cavalry attacked his position. Although three others in the 34th Indiana were killed in the earlier attacks, John Williams died in that final skirmish; part of the so-called Battle of Palmito Ranch. Based on battle reports at the time, the U.S. Army determined that he was the last man to lose his life fighting for the Union during the Civil War. Private Williams was only twenty-two years old.
But there would be another young man to die in action a few days later; however, the Army, in a case of military bureaucracy at its worst, determined he was on leave at the time, and not engaged in actual combat. Therefore, he was not given the tragic designation as the last soldier killed in action during the Civil War. At least not yet!
Corporal John W. Skinner was part of a 25-man detachment of the 1st Florida Regiment which escorted a mail and payroll wagon through eastern Alabama. The area was a dangerous place as several bands of “unrepentant” Confederate soldiers roamed at will, attacking outposts, farms, and supply wagons. Many were actually heading for home, but used the opportunity for mischief along the way.
As Skinner’s unit reached the small town of Eufaula on May 11th, the commander, noting the area had been quiet, granted leave for a few days to about half of the detachment; and Skinner, who had relatives in the area, was one of those who would get a few days reprieve. The men awarded leave were directed to report back on May 19th to a point ahead on the planned route, at Hobdy’s Bridge, which crossed the Pea River, several miles farther from Eufaula.
A few days after the several men left on leave, however, the Commander was informed that a significant band of former Confederate soldiers and cavalry had been seen nearby. The Commander decided to immediately take the remaining soldiers and head out early for the safety of Union controlled Montgomery, Alabama. The contingent crossed Hodby’s Bridge two days before the men on leave were expected to be there. At a time when there was no ready communication, his decision would mean that, when the men returned from leave on May 19th, they would be on their own.
As ordered, all of the men showed up at Hodby’s Bridge on time and only then learned that the Commander and the other men had crossed two days earlier on their way to Montgomery. The men returning from leave assumed they were expected to follow the original route and began to cross the bridge.
Right into an ambush!
The attack was relentless, although short lived, and just as quickly, the Confederates left the area. Three other Union soldiers were wounded, but Corporal Skinner died on the bridge. The survivors, not knowing if they would have to fight their way to Montgomery, chose to bury Corporal Skinner near the bridge where he fell and began their journey to rejoin their unit. They arrived several days later, informed the Commander of the attack, and assisted him in the completion of written battle reports. Clearly, those reports indicated that Corporal Skinner was killed by enemy troops on May 19, 1865.
However, Corporal Skinner’s unfortunate distinction as (perhaps) the last man killed in action in the Civil War was not recognized for another thirty years!
After the war ended, the three wounded men applied for pensions, but the U.S. Army continuously rejected their petitions on the basis that they were on leave, not in combat, at the time of the skirmish and that the “War was over” at the time. That ruling, without naming him, but by extension, meant that the Army would still not designate Corporal Skinner as the last Union Soldier to die in the Civil War. But, finally, in 1897, after several more appeals, the pensions of the three wounded men were approved when higher authorities ruled that the men had reassembled as ordered on May 19th and were, therefore, back on duty. While that thirty-year late decision again did not directly address the circumstances for Corporal Skinner, most historians now accept the he was truly the last Union soldier to be killed in action during the Civil War.
While the decision gave some closure to the issue, we must also acknowledge that, although Private Williams and Corporal Skinner fell in battle, another sad fact about any war, including the Civil War, is that many young men succumb after the war ends from wounds received earlier in battle. Certainly, their families grieve no less.
On this Memorial Day, we pay honor to all of those who have died in service to our country, since the first casualties fell fighting for independence in 1775 at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill.
Unfortunately, such last full measure of sacrifice continues to this day.
The least we can do is take a moment for thoughtful remembrance.