Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1891-06-26
MAlIC GULF

and again repulsed, kept it mp for two
| days. On the second day a favorite bod
OF household troops of the king, called th,
lmmortals, because their ranks of 1OOO(
were always maintained to the maximum
were sent in under the personal direction
| of Xerxes They too were cut to piece.
and driven back by the Greeks, who con
stantly supplied fresh men to defend the
| narrow pass.
On the second night a citizen of the re
/ gion occupied by the Persians revealed 10
Aerxes the secret mountain path, and a
detachment of soldiers crossed over and at
daybreak attacked the Phocian guard with
a shower OF arrows. The guard, more
scared by the surprising attack than
| harmed by the missiles, fed down the
mountain, and the Persians pushed on to
the rear Of Leonidas Warning reached
the defenders Of the pass through scouts,
and opinion was divided whether to stay
and fight it out or retreat The Spartaus
were firm, their king holding that his own
honor and that of Sparta was at stake, and
that the pass they had been sent to defend
must not be yielded to an enemy. The
warriors Of two tribes, 100 Thespians ard
400 Thebans, volunteered to remain, and
the others retired.
Leon1das told his men to take some nour.
ishment, promising them that they should
sup with Pluto that night, and then
marched them outside the pass to assail
the advance guard of the Persaus. So
furious was the onslaught that many OF
XerXes soldiers threw themselves into the
sea to escape the deadly Grecian spears,
and the Persian officers resorted TO the
lash to keep the soldiers up to the rack.
In I,. So
Leonidas was killed, and desperate com
bat was waged around his body until
finally the remnant of his band drew it
back along the pass behind a cross wall
that effectually blocked up the way, and
theie calmly awaited the end. The Per.
sian detachment on the mountain side
quickly closed in on the rear and cut off
all means Of escape. Then the work of
slaughter began. The Greeks fought to
the last like wild beasts at bay, and when
their spears, swords and dagGors were lost
or broken, struggled with natures weap.
ons so long as the power remained.
The Greek dead is placed by the his.
torians Of the time at 1900, and this num-
Der includes the slaves attending the war.
riors. In the last struggle |, 400 persisted,
and out of the 1000 total that took part
during the previous days of course some
were killed. The Persian loss Is estimated
at 10000, number fairly proportional to
the circumstances, where one Greek was
fully equal to ten of the assailants when it
came to close quarters.
On the day of the last struggle at Their.
mopylae the Grecian fleet retreated before
the Persian, and it required another cam
paign to arrest the career of the mighty
invader This was effectually done during
the year at the naval battle Of Salamis, off
the shores Of Attica.
The defense Of the pass proved useless
sacrifice, though possibly the result would
have been different had the entire Greek
forces been on hand to cover the Their.
mopyl@ gates and the mountain path as
well But people who worshiped martial
valor doubtless found some compensation
in being able to hand down to later genera
lions the wonderful story Of the Spartans
whose deeds they commemorated on the
spot by this legend, Stranger, tell to the
Lacedemonians that we lie here in obedi
ence to their orders"
GEoPGF I, Krrupp