The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-10-13
U ENR CLAY.
A Graphic Account Of this Gallant Kentued
ms Heroic Death At Buena Vista.
ny GEORGE LIpPARD.

tho men of Palo Alto, Resaca de Ia Palm
and Monterey saw the clouds come dow
on the charge of Buena Vista, and a splei
did scene, worthy Of the days Of Washing
ton, closed the day in glory.
Do You behold hat dark ravine, dee
sunken between those p~recipitous banks
Here no sunlight comes, for the walls
rock wrap up the pass in eternal daylight
Withered trees grow between masses {
granite, and scattered stones make the be
OF the ravine uncertain and difficult for th
tread. II
Hank that cry, hat rushes like a mour
tain torrent bursting its barriers, and quic
as the lightning flashes from darkness, th
.Iismal ravine Is bathed in battle ligh,
From its northern extremity q confuse
band OF Mexicans, an army in itself, cam
Yelling nlong the pass. treading one anothe
Cow as they fly; their banners, spear
horses and men tossed together in inextri
cable confusion. By thousands they rus
into the shadow of the pass, their darI
faces Redeemed with the heated glare O
~Inusketry. The cayerns of the ravine sen,
back the roar of the panic, md the Cru,
rocks arc washed with their blood.
But the little band that pursues thi
ermy--who are theyf You may see in thei
trra, heroic ranks, the volunteer costum
1aa AACAbQCh1. Az lutlI utuQ
urging his men with shouts, rides the gal
.act Mckee, by his side young Henry Clay
that broad forehead that reminds you o
ms father, bathed in glare, as his swors
iuiycrs on high ere it falls to kill. There
too, a wild figure, red with his w blooc
and the blood Of his Mexican foes, his uni
form rent in ~tatters, striking terrible blow
with his good sword-Hardin, Of illinois,
came gallantly forward.
The small but iron band hurl the Mexi
cans from the height in the ravine, and fol
low up the chase far down into the eterna;
twilight OF that mountain pass.
Lookl As their musketry streams il
steady blaze, you would think that a cease
less sheet of lightning bathed these rocks il
tamesl Over the Mexicans, men and horseI
hurried backin mad disorder, the American
dash on their way, never needing the over
whelming numbers of their foes, never heed
ing the palpitating forms beneath their feet
with bayonet and sword they press steadiI1
on, their well-known banne ever STREAMING
overhead. The howl of the dying war
horse-harki Does it not chill your bloo(
to hear it? The horrible cry of the wound
ed man, with the horses hoof upon hi
mouth, trampling his face to q hideoui
wreck-does it not sicken your soul to heu
itp a 81 'lLf7 1917
A hundred yards or more into the pas
the Americans had penetrated, when sud
denly a young Mexican, rushing back open
their ranks, raises the falling flag of Ala
hanac and rushes to death. To see him
young and beardless, q very boy, rush will
his country's flag, with barred breast upoI
that line of sharp steel-it was u sight {,
stir towards into manhood, and it shot int,
Mexican hearts like an electric flame
Even in their panic stricken disorder, the,
rallied by hundreds, they grasped arms ami
rolled into one long wave of lances and bay
onets upon the foe. Woe to the brave mel
OF Illinois and Kentucky Locked in tina
deadly pass, a wall Of Infatuated Mexicans
between them and that wall Of rocks, abov
their heads, through every aperture anon
he cliffs, the blaze Of muskets pouring q
hover of bullets in their faces-wherever
hey turned the long and deadly lance
ut their throats-it was q moment
o think once of homeland die. Those
rho survived that fearful moment tell with
huddering triumph the deeds of three
Ieroes-McKee, Hardin, and Clay.
Mckee, you see yonder with his shattered
word dripping with blood he endeavors to
gard of those deadly lances, and fights on
lis W knees when he can stand no longer,
then the ~combatants close over him,
you see MIN no more.
Hardin nrose from a heap Of slaughtered
cad, his face streaming from its hideous
lnce wounds and waved q Mexican flag in
MS his life-blood rushes in q tor
emit over his muscular form. Then fling
ag his captured flag to a brother soldier,
Give it to her as n memorial of Buena
'ista My wife 1t was his last words.
Jpon his barred breast the fury of ten lances,
the horses hoofs trampled him into the
emp of the dead.
Blu most sad, and yet most glorious of
Il, was to sec the death of the second Hen.
y Clay. You should nave seen him, with
lis back against yonder rock, his sword
rasped firmly us the consciousness that he
'ore q name that must not die ingloriously,
eemed to fill his every vein, and dart q
leadly fire from his eyes. At that time he
ooked like the old man. For his brow,
high and retreating, with the blood-clottcd
lair waving back from the outline, VIA
wollen in every vein as though his soul
hone from it ere it fled forever. Lips set,
row knit, hands firm-a circle of men fight.
ng round him, he dashed into the Mexican.
Until his sword was wet, his arms WEAR
nth blood.
At last with his thigh splintered by n ball,
le gathered his proud form to its full height
nd fell. His face ashy with intense agony,
10 babe his comrades to leave him there to
lie. That ravine should be the bed Of his
lory. But gathered around him a guard
breasts of steel, while two of his comrades
'ore him along. These men of Kentucky
around their fallen hero, and, as re-
step by step, they launched their
words and bayonets into the faces of their
uemies, said with every blow, Henry
LAY |" 1t was wonderful to see how that
n =, parx-aI thasr orD,c ,rl ,a1lnl n .,c;Io
o the face Of the dying hero. How it would
ave made the old man of Ashland throb to
ave heard his name yelled as a battle-cry
Iown the shadows of that lonely pass along
he ravine and up the narrow pass The hero
leeds as they bear him on, and tracks the
ray with his blood. Faster and thicker
warm the Mexicans. They see the circle
round the fallen man, even his face uplifted
5 n smile crosses its fading lineaments,
nd, like a pack of wolves seeming the for
traveller at dead of night, they came
up the rock, and charged the de-
band with one dense mass of bayon-
Is.
Up and on The light shines yonder on
he tempest rock of the ravine. 1t is the
lght of the setting sun. Old Taylor's eyes
re on that rock, and there we will fight our
ray and die in the old mans sight. 1t was
mufuetouS why, tnuu patn up une steep
'ank Of the ravine /; Uttered with dead,
with blood, it grew blacker every
with Mexicans, and the defenders
4 the wounded hero fell one by one into
he chasm yawning around. % H5i
At last they reach the light, the swords
nd bayonets glitter in the sight of the con.
armies, and the bloody contest
oars towards the topmost rock. Then 1t
vas that, gathering up his dying form
rmed with supernatural vigor-young Clay
tarted from the arma of hia ~sunDortera and