page_title: Battle of Buena Vista
section_title: Immediate aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Buena Vista / Immediate aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: "Death of Lieut. Col. Henry Clay Jr.," lithograph by N. Currier, 152 Nassau Street (corner of Spruce), New York, New York. Courtesy of the Beinecke Rare Book &amp; Manuscript Library, Yale University.[1]
context_page_description: The Battle of Buena Vista, known as the Battle of La Angostura in Mexico, and sometimes as Battle of Buena Vista/La Angostura, pitted the invading forces, largely volunteers, under General Zachary Taylor and the much larger Mexican Army under General Antonio López de Santa Anna the Mexican-American War. Buena Vista, a village in the state of Coahuila, is seven miles south of Saltillo, in Mexico. La Angostura was the local name for the site. The outcome of the battle was ambiguous, with both sides claiming victory. Santa Anna's forces withdrew with war trophies of cannons and flags, leaving the field to the surprised American forces, who had expected there to be another day of hard fighting.
context_section_description: Santa Anna withdrew his troops, leaving the battlefield to the surprised U.S. forces. Santa Anna's forces had captured important war trophies of U.S. Army cannons and flags, as well as arms, which remained on display into the modern era at the Artillery School of Mexico.  In the account written by Mexicans in the immediate aftermath of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the war, they consider the battle.  "On our part, the army was proclaimed victorious, alleging in proof the trophies captured, the positions taken, and the [U.S.] divisions vanquished. The truth is, our arms routed the Americans in all the encounters, and so far the issue of the battle is favorable to us.  There had been three partial triumphs, but not a complete victory."  There were serious losses of Mexican dead and wounded.  Forty officers were wounded, and counted among the dead were many officers. 
  Recovery of the bodies of the U.S. dead was a phenomenon of this conflict. The most famous from Buena Vista/La Angostura was that of Henry Clay Jr., the third son of American statesman Henry Clay, a vociferous opponent of the Mexican War. His death was the subject of at least seven prints by Currier and Ives, and Neale and Pate, and others. In the Currier and Ives print (shown), depicts him shortly after being wounded to his fate, urging his comrades to leave him. The grave site became well known, with two surviving daguerreotypes recording it at different times of the day and different angles. Clay's body was disinterred and transported to the U.S. for burial by Jefferson Davis. Also killed were Archibald Yell, former governor of Arkansas, and John J. Hardin of Illinois, a Whig political rival of Abraham Lincoln. The state of Kentucky paid for the retrieval and transport of some officers and enlisted men, who were subsequently buried in a common grave near the Kentucky State House in the capital Frankfort.  There was a large public funeral on 20 July 1847 honoring the sacrifices of the fallen Kentuckians, with John C. Breckinridge praising them. Breckinridge had been an opponent of the war, but volunteered shortly after his own patriotic speech.
caption: "Death of Lieut. Col. Henry Clay Jr.," lithograph by N. Currier, 152 Nassau Street (corner of Spruce), New York, New York. Courtesy of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University.
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