Teancum attempts a repeat of the strategy that led to the death of Amalickiah, and now leads to the death of Ammoron, Amalickiah’s brother. In this case, he is not so lucky and he does not escape with his life.
Polemic: From a storyteller’s point of view, the death of Teancum is the loss of a great hero, and a tragic interruption of otherwise great Nephite victories. A storyteller bent on exalting the Nephites should have had Teancum continue to be the hero, and survive this account. If this were fiction being written in the overly contrived style of some of the literature of the early 1800’s we should expect that Teancum lives to receive his hero’s welcome. Teancum’s death is either remarkably poignant use of artistic drama, or simply the relation of a historical event. With the rest of the military descriptions in the Book of Mormon ringing so true to Mesoamerican warfare, it is difficult to see this as an example of anything but a historical record.