English: The Mississippi Rifles by Ken Riley for the state of Mississippi, 1847. Note: Buena Vista, Mexico, February 23, 1847. Fighting in the open on a dusty mountainside in a foreign land a thousand miles from home, facing an enemy many times its own strength, the Mississippi Rifles, commanded by Colonel Jefferson Davis, displayed a rock-like defense against a Mexican attack in response to the command, "Stand Fast, Mississippians!" Earlier, the battle had reached a critical stage when the Rifles (in the action depicted) were ordered to attack Mexican cavalry and infantry advancing on the Americans. The "hard-fighting Mississippi gentlemen" moved up, fired, then drew Bowie knives and closed in. The Rifles -- the 155th Infantry of the modern Mississippi Army National Guard - thus wrote another chapter in the proud National Guard tradition.