Spanish for "little mouth," The Bay is centered at 2600' N, 9709' W and is bordered on the SE by Boca Chica Beach and on the N by Brazos Island

On May 11th, under the cover of darkness at Boca Chica Pass, 300 Union troops crossed to the mainland in an attempt to occupy Brownsville. After a forced march, they reached White's Ranch at dawn and attempted (unsuccessfully) to conceal themselves to rest. With the element of surprise gone, the troops openly marched toward Brownsville but didn't get far.

At Palmito Ranch they were confronted by a Confederate force of 190 members of Lt. Col. George H. Giddings's Texas Cavalry which resulted in a brief skirmish. Both forces disengaged with the Union force camping for the night. The Confederates attacked at 3 a.m., forcing the Union troops to return to White's Ranch.

Early on May 13, 200 reinforcements arrived, bringing the Union strength up to 500. This larger force moved on Palmito Ranch where the major battle took place. The outnumbered Confederate received succor late that afternoon, from Colonel "RIP" Ford's Second Texas Cavalry, and a six-gun battery of field artillery.

The flat, open land gave the advantage to the Confederate mounted cavalry and the Union troops were routed. A seven-mile running fight to Brazos Island ensued - and there the Federal troops were met by reinforcements, now causing the Confederates to retreat.

Since everyone knew the war was officially over, this may have seemed to Ford to be a good note to go out on. He addressed his troops, saying, "Boys, we have done finely. We will let well enough alone, and retire." The four hour battle left a score of Southerners wounded, but the Union fared much worse. Thirty men were killed or wounded and over a hundred were taken prisoner. A few days later a truce was signed. This seemingly minor see-saw confrontation may have been small by comparison with the Civil War's major battles, but it won a footnote in history by being the last land fight of the war - one that was won by the losers.

At first glance, after completing those six months of very hard and rigorous basic training, my response was to tell them to "Take This Job And Shove It." But as time passed better judgment kicked in. I decided to just let it play out.

At the time, I had never even heard of Boca Chica and honestly, panhandle Pampa wasn't a desirable place for this East Texas piney woods country boy to live either. So, we all languished in agony and pity for one another, trying to figure it all out and console each other a bit.

After letting our group moan, suffer and wallow in sorrow and humility for several days, we found out that the list was bogus. It was just another last minute attempt by academy officials to disappoint, harass, intimidate, belittle, and discourage the soon to be newly appointed Texas highway patrolmen. That wasn't an uncommon ploy, among other things, used by TxDPS during the 1950's, '60's and '70's. We all later agreed it was just another attempt to test our mettle. We all soon were once again heads up, chest out and highly proud to have overcome the disappointment and finished the academy.

A short few weeks thereafter I moved my little family to Crosby, Texas, in east Harris County as my first work assignment. There I spent a good part of my career. - Ray Maxie - Texas Escape's aka "Ramblin' Ray", June 21, 2007

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Boca Chica Texas.