Roll of Honor
Incident
Company E of the Frontier Battalion under the command of Captain W.J. Maltby had established a camp on Home Creek in Coleman County about 18 miles from Brownwood. The rangers were engaged in battling Comanche and Kiowa raiding parties. While Captain Maltby was on patrol two rangers arrived advising that a flood had destroyed their camp. A sudden storm struck at 3:00 a.m. and a ranger on guard gave an alarm. The rangers tried to cut the horses loose and climbed trees. Within five minutes the entire was washed away. Ranger Private Cliff was drowned as were seven horses and one pack mule. Captain Maltby sent an escort to retrieve Cliff’s body and take it back to Camp Colorado. Private Cliff was buried with the honors of war.
Cliff enlisted on June 6, 1874 in Brownwood. He was reportedly from Hopkins County.
Pvt. Cliff, On today, the 150th anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of the state of Texas.
BPA Mike Casey United States Border Patrol(Retired) September 23rd, 2024
In Our Keeping
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BO-US-TX-48E8E411- Stewardship
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- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
152 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Private Cliff served with the Texas Rangers.
Thank you for your service to the Austin community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Private W. H. Cliff is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TX, 653 of 2,421 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 27% of this state's fallen. That is 4 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Texas Rangers, 11 of 122 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 9% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. W. H. Cliff's cause is highlighted.
How W. H. Cliff Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. W. H. Cliff is highlighted in Sep.
Others Who Wore This Badge
121 officers from Texas Rangers are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
