We'll be able to see the fort from the top of the next rise.
There she is, Fort Lincoln,
< the base of the finest cavalry regiment in the country...
..and our home.
What's the matter, Tom?
The garrison flag isn't flying.
I wonder what's happened.
I don't know.
See that little draw?
Yes.
Go stay out of sight till I come.
I should...
Don't worry, I won't be long. Keep under cover.
Franklin, Calhoune, Lacey, Decker!
Go on, call them louder.
Call the roll of the dead.
Charlotte.
But you're not dead, Captain Benson.
You're alive because another man died in your place - my man.
Get hold of yourself. What happened?
You were Custer's favourite. Why not ride out to Little Bighorn and ask him?
Ask him why he put Captain Reynolds, my husband, in command of C Troop, your troop,
when he knew Jim wasn't fit for duty.
You knew he hadn't recovered from the wound he got last year,
but your great general took him and he died in your place.
What are you talking about?
Did you bring back your bride-to-be, Captain Benson?
Look at me, I was an army bride too.
Charlotte, what happened here?
Dead, all dead,
all those men who were with Custer, massacred, tortured.
Sitting Bull making big medicine with the Sioux braves
and the squaws with knives in their hands
amongst the bodies of our dead and wounded...
..and my Jim
one of the dead.
< Bates.
Well, Captain Benson.
If you've got an excuse, it'd better be a good one.
It got out of hand.
Did you have a nice honeymoon?
Kruger !
Sergeant Kruger, that's me, sir.
I'm only going to ask you once.
I was detailed to stop the prisoners and drunks getting out of hand.
< I let them go. I didn't think they should be killed like rats in a trap
especially if Crazy Horse decided to jump the fort.
Bates is a regular Napoleon, giving orders like a Major General.
They were the only men left to defend the post, but they got to the liquor
Get them on their feet and fit for duty.
Rise and shine, the wake is over.
Present arms!
BUGLE PLAYS
Down arms!
BUGLE PLAYS IN THE DISTANCE
Bates, Kruger, come with me! The rest, take your posts!
Here they come - what's left of five troops of the Seventh Cavalry.
Looks like the squadrons that went down with Custer weren't the only ones who had a rugged time.
Ed...
Man, I...
It is Vic, Custer's mount, isn't it ?
No, Dandy, the General's second mount.
The General was riding Vic.
But you were Custer's bugler.
I was, until we rode right smack into the whole Sioux nation.
Custer sent me back with an order. I was the only lucky one.
Is it true the whole of C Troop was wiped out?
They were outnumbered 15 to 1. The Sioux had Winchester repeaters against our single-shots
and more ammunition.
You know that country, we scouted it together. It's bad. It looks flat but it isn't.
Its dips can hide 10,000 until you're right in the middle of them.
The Sioux and Cheyenne seemed to come right up out of the ground.
I saw it all from the top of the hill five minutes after I rode away.
I've been seeing nothing else since.
I'll go on seeing it, I guess, till my dying day.
I'm asking for a transfer from this outfit as soon as I can write out the request.
Before we square things with the Sioux ?
I'll do that with another regiment. This one's finished.
I want to know why it happened, Bob.
You can read all about it in the reports.
You must know. Shep?
I'll not venture an opinion.
If you have an opinion, I want it.
Is this a one-man board of inquiry?
I have a reason for wanting to know.
Worried about Custer's reputation?
There'll be little left once the truth is known.
Get it off your chest.
Little Bighorn proved what I thought about Custer all along.
He thought he was God Almighty.
I want the facts.
I'll give you the facts.
He set the stage so that if there was any glory, he'd grab it.
Custer was as responsible for the slaughter of five troops...
I'm sorry, Bob. Forgive me.
Seems you do your best fighting in the officers' quarters.
Miss Kellogg.
Yes ?
Where is Captain Benson?
Probably going about his duties.
His duties. How very convenient everything has been for him.
Are you suggesting he left his post to bring me back knowing Custer was going to attack?
He was closer to Custer than anyone.
He must have known his plan.
Can anyone actually believe that?
I can believe it.
Why do you believe it?
We all have the greatest respect for you and your father
We were discussing Captain Benson.
Very well. For one, I never considered Benson belonged.
He wasn't West Point.
I never knew exactly what he was.
Are you implying he is not a gentleman?
You must be well acquainted with his background.
You tell me.
A professional gambler on a river boat before joining up.
He decided not to stake his life on such a mad gamble so he appealed to Custer and begged off
to fetch you from Fort Supply.
If I were a man, Lt Fitch, I'd know how to answer you.
You forget, her father is Colonel Kellogg.
He shares my opinion of our "gallant" captain.
Why didn't you come to Captain Bentine's?
I'm not in the mood for social calls.
It's hardly a social gathering.
Why didn't you tell me about being a gambler?
I wanted to, Custer and I decided it was nobody's business.
You could have told me.
It's in the past, not that I'm apologising for it.
Did you think it would change things?
Your father's from the old army school. He's not fond of me.
You weren't marrying my father.
I wasn't sure I'd be able to marry you until I carried you off.
Pity I heard it from someone else.
Fitch?
Yes, but it could have been anyone.
He made a passage once on the Silver Queen, my father's boat.
I don't care...
I want you to hear it all from me.
I was a drifter, flush one day, broke the next.
Between seasons on the river, I scouted for the army.
That's how I met General Custer.
He brought me into the Seventh.
This makes it a little easier for me to do something I must do.
You're going back to Fort Supply.
When are we leaving?
I'm not, you are.
I'm not going any place without you.
The daughter of Colonel Kellogg
married to the man remembered as the one that wasn't there.
You're suffering with the thought that when your men needed you,
you weren't with them.
My place was with them.
And my place is with you.
Don't make me feel when the man I loved needed me, I wasn't with him.
It's no use. It's best you go back.
BUGLE PLAYS
At ease.
I've played taps over 1,000 times since I've been in the army.
Tonight, somehow it was different.
Yes, I heard it and understood it for the first time.
It's a sad call, like saying goodbye to old friends.
A requiem for the regiment?
Yes. I won't see you for a while.
I'm taking a despatch for Colonel Kellogg.
Colonel Kellogg? Does Miss Martha know?
No, sir. I just received the orders.
Major Reno's insisting Colonel Kellogg come to conduct a court of inquiry.
I know, sir. You wanted to be there.
Thank you, Morrison. Good night.
(WHISPERS)
Good afternoon, Charlotte, Mrs Brummer, Mrs...
You sent for me, sir ?
Yes, concerning your request
for an escort to take Miss Kellogg to Fort Supply. It is refused.
On what grounds?
One, not sufficient men are available for an expedition,
two, Miss Kellogg has no intention of returning there,
seeing that her father is coming here.
I suppose when you asked for active service it was your intention to command her escort.
When I ask for active service, I ask for a captain's duty.
I see what I can find for you to do.
Detail, atten-tion!
Dress right!
How the mighty are fallen. Having to take recruits to the rifle range.
The adjutant sure took care of him.
If the officers had their way, they'd bury him with the other garbage.
Captain Benson wasn't the only one who should have been with Custer.
You weren't there.
One, two, one, two.
Detail, halt!
At ease, Benson.
Colonel Kellogg.
What is this?
Recruit target practice on the way to the rifle range.
And you're in command, on foot?
Yes, sir. It's special duty.
Martha will be happy to see you.
Have the two of you married yet?
No, sir.
Good.
Squad, march!
Gentlemen, I'm here to conduct an investigation into the reasons for this shocking defeat
by direct order of the President of the United States.
It's my duty to establish the truth about the elements that led to this disaster.
Who's to blame? Why did Custer divide his command?
Where were the officers and men to support him?
Were certain officers derelict in their duties?
At the height of his career as an Indian fighter,
a brave man led five troops to their deaths.
Where was the rest of his command when he died? Why was Custer unsupported in his hour of need?
Major Reno, the support of your battalion could have saved Custer.
Don't you agree ?
I don't know, sir.
You knew he desperately needed help.
No, sir.
You were there, you knew what was happening.
You had guides, scouts, messengers.
Custer wouldn't have lost contact with his officers.
That is exactly what he did.
You're suggesting he didn't ask for support? >
Yes. He had promised to support my battalion.
You have orders to that effect?
My orders were to cross the river and charge the Indian village there.
I was to be supported by the whole outfit.
You carried out your order?
As far as I could, till I found myself faced by impossible odds.
We were outnumbered ten to one. I sent a messenger for support - it never came.
We had to fall back to the river.
Isn't it true your withdrawal left the Indians free to mass against Custer?
I couldn't help that. I had to save what was left of my battalion.
Your orders were to engage.
Custer foolishly divided the regiment into three when he should have kept it intact.
You're condemning Custer's decision without explaining why he made it.
It was an invitation to disaster and it came.
It's easy to assassinate the reputation of a dead man.
Order! I'll not allow these proceedings to be interrupted,
particularly by an officer who can only theorise about the battle.
That's all anyone's doing.
Sit down.
Were you also unaware that Custer needed support?
No, sir. I'd received an urgent order to join him.
Did you obey that order?
I tried.
What do you mean?
The Indians were attacking when I came, I thought it was Custer,
but when I got closer I saw it was Major Reno in trouble.
I ordered my battalion to help.
Your orders were to help Custer.
There was no way through. We faced a hoard of armed Indians.
I joined forces with Major Reno's battalion.
Together you could have charged the Indians. Why didn't you ?
Half of Major Reno's men were already dead.
To go on would have been suicide.
A supposition, not a fact.
I exercised my judgement.
By doing so you knew you were abandoning Custer to his fate.
How could I be certain of that?
Why not, when you were sure it was suicide to join him?
Now listen here...
I'm quite capable of conducting this investigation.
You will remain silent or I'll have you removed.
Both of you tried to carry out your orders, but not hard enough.
His orders were premature.
Premature?
Custer was instructed to await the arrival of General Gibbons' infantry...
but he went into battle alone.
Obviously, you went into battle with no feeling of confidence in him.
Captain Bentine, did you have confidence in Custer's plan of battle?
How could I when he refused to believe his scouts when they told him he is facing the Sioux
< and thousands of Cheyenne
and insists he can defeat them with one regiment?
The Seventh.
Yes, the Seventh.
These officers are trying to cover up their own mistakes...
I've been very patient with you.
This is a whitewashing party at Custer's expense.
You're confined to quarters until tomorrow when I shall enquire into your conduct.
How did it go?
Words, words, words!
Forgive me, I haven't had a chance to speak three words to you yet
or even had a good look at you, a little peaky,
but then that's to be expected.
A long ride from Supply and what you found when you got here.
There's one thing I'm thankful for - that you aren't married to Benson.
Father, I want to talk to you about Tom.
I'm afraid there's very little I care to discuss concerning him,
less now than ever.
Could you just listen to me, try to forget your dislike for Tom?
I tolerated it for your sake. Don't ask me to change my opinion.
I'm going to marry him, if he'll have me.
A man who's an outcast from the service?
A man who's being humiliated and punished for no good reason.
He's complained to you, I suppose?
He won't even come near me, he just takes it.
Thick-skinned, huh?
Doesn't it matter to you about the way I feel he's being treated?
It matters a great deal. It was to spare your feelings that I opposed your interest in him.
I knew it to be a dreadful mistake that you'd have reason to regret.
I have no reason to regret.
He's more than just a gentleman, by Act of Congress or appointment by the President.
When he came to get you and bring you back his bride, I couldn't lock you up,
but I told you I'd never accept him as a son-in-law.
But Custer accepted him as his closest friend.
Custer's preference hardly constitutes a recommendation for anyone.
I can't even beg you to help stop this persecution?
I'm going to do my duty
and that includes an inquiry into the circumstances of Benson's absence
in a time of dire need.
You know Custer gave him permission to get me.
That is yet to be officially established.
Why don't you try him for cowardice or desertion?
I'm sorry for you, Martha, terribly sorry.
Please don't be. The lower you drive him, the further down I'll go too.
Name, rank, organisation.
Thomas Benson, Captain, Seventh Cavalry, commanding C Troop, now non-existent.
You were the officer closest to Custer?
I think so.
Did he ever discuss the campaign?
He did, sir.
You knew its purpose?
To round up the hostiles off the reservation and return them.
Custer thought this an easy task?
He'd been in too many battles to believe that.
Why did you request leave of absence at such a time?
I absented myself at his order.
But you did absent yourself?
Yes, sir.
Do you know Custer was once court-martialled for absenting himself?
I consider that statement improper and prejudicial and completely irrelevant to the proceedings.
I need no instruction on conducting this investigation.
Then you should know the difference between hearsay and evidence.
Have you a copy of this order granting you leave?
No, sir.
May I ask why?
Custer's permission was verbal.
What led up to this verbal leave of absence?
A private discussion.
In this inquiry, nothing is private.
Very well, sir. Custer was aware of the difficulty I was having
in persuading a certain lady to become my wife,
due to objections to our marriage in certain quarters.
I see. General Custer was acting Cupid.
He was a great human being.
What was the exact nature of these verbal orders granting you leave?
You want his exact words?
I do.
"Show enough gumption to bring back that girl and marry her.
"If anyone stands in the way of the happiness of his daughter,
"I'll give the bride away myself."
(LAUGHS)
I'd have given anything to see his face.
I was only quoting Custer.
He deserved it.
He was asking for it.
I wonder what the findings will be.
Not proved by reason of insufficient evidence.
They can't prove he didn't authorise my leave.
I'm going to hound your father to return me to useful active duty or kick me out.
Will you stop worrying?
Attention!
At ease.
I've just received an order from the President.
"A burial detail will proceed to Little Bighorn to inter the bodies
"and mark the graves of the cavalry.
"The bodies of the officers will be returned to Fort Lincoln for shipment to their families."
Burial detail?
He doesn't realise the impossibility.
The country around there is still swarming with hostiles.
Crazy Horse and his braves are drunk with victory.
Sitting Bull has declared it sacred.
You move in there and they'll be on them like wolves.
The order must be carried out.
Sir, I'd like the assignment.
You're aware of the risk involved?
Yes, sir, but that wouldn't disturb too many people.
Very well. I can't give you more than two troops.
A force that size would defeat your purpose.
To go with a force of any strength would invite another massacre.
Perhaps the Captain intends to go in alone.
No, Fitch, with volunteers.
But, Captain, it stands to reason...
What's the matter?
It's suicide.
A small party wouldn't have a chance.
You're refusing the duty?
This is for volunteers.
Is that what's troubling you?
If you've got the guts to go...
You're volunteering?
What is the duty, sir ?
See these men and supplies are ready to move out at a moment's notice.
You've got the name of every scrounger, drunk and shirker in camp...
They're all volunteers, even if they don't know it yet.
Them, volunteers?
Get set, volunteers, your captain awaits you. (SNIGGERS)
I'd like to fix the Captain's wagon.
It's been fixed.
He's still the best troop commander in the outfit.
Getting religion?
Getting soft in the head.
It's all right by me to let Custer rot where he is.
We can't do that. We're picked men, the Captain picked us himself.
Yeah, because we weren't with Custer when we should have been.
Blow his nose for him, he's gonna bawl.
Mmm. Coffee's good.
Did Father give you this assignment or did you ask for it?
I asked for it.
The truth?
Truth.
You come back, you hear.
All platoons, right wheel, go!
You're gonna kill off this outfit with your forced marches.
You look healthy to me.
As for the rest, it'll wear their bellies down.
OK, you're the boss.
That's right.
# The Captain's in the horse marines
# He feeds us all on corn and beans
# While he is living beyond his means
# The Captain's in the horse marines...
LAUGHTER
# When the enemy comes, of course he runs
# He's not cut out for the cavalry...
LAUGHTER
# The Colonel's daughter loves him too
# For he's the friend of the cavalry... #
Bates...
Yes, sir.
..bring an axe.
I tried to warn him about the liquor.
That's rich.
Now wait a minute! We need that liquor to keep the stench of the job out of our noses.
Well, Bates?
Oh!
On your feet.
Reveille at 4am.
Indians!
No, I want to take him alive. You two, come with me.
Bull's-eye.
I told you I wanted to keep him alive for questioning.
I didn't know you wanted to take him home for a pet.
Bury him.
Yes, sir.
Maybe you shot the wrong man, Dixon.
Maybe you've got something there.
He said bury him.
If you hadn't killed him, we wouldn't be stuck up here like a sore thumb ahead of the column.
I ain't gonna let him get me killed, not if I get a chance at him first.
Right now it's his chance.
It's a warning. Sitting Bull don't want no white men coming in.
He's made the battlefield his personal big medicine ground.
When we take out those bodies, we disturb his medicine.
Little Bighorn is now a holy place.
It's like busting into a church.
Here's where we turn back.
I gave no order to turn back.
We'll be the ones who'll be buried if we don't heed that warning.
If you want to take orders from Indians, ride up and join 'em.
Squad, ho!
Is he trying to get us all killed?
Nervous? There's no danger...yet.
That's what the Captain says.
You can see the Indians on the hills.
He's leading us into another ambush.
We'll walk into a trap we can't get out off, then they'll butcher us.
Anyone else beside Vogel who can read Indian minds?
You and me are scouting ahead.
Out there alone?
That's an order.
We must be a coupla miles ahead of the camp.
Dismount.
Huh ?
Get off that horse.
You've been doing a lot of talking since we started this march...
(If we get him now, we'll all have a chance to get out alive.)
(Bates would turn back in a flash.)
(Sure. If we keep on this way we'll never get back.)
(It may be too late even now.)
(Nah, it's not too late.)
(They won't bother us as long as we don't disturb their medicine ground.)
(Don't use a gun. A shot would wake up the whole camp.)
(I ain't gonna use no gun.)
(I took this from that dead Indian as a souvenir.)
GUNSHOT
Bogle! Bogle!
He was your friend.
No, no friend of mine.
Get a shovel, bury him.
Yeah, sure.
Help him.
I didn't expect this, but I want to thank you.
It was nothing personal. I'd do the same thing for any man.
Miss Kellogg, I'm Corporal Morrison. I've been riding courier to Fort Supply.
Yes ?
I just rode in. I heard about Capt Benson, the court of inquiry.
It's over.
Is it true Captain Benson couldn't prove Custer had ordered him to go?
That's right.
He can prove it now, by me.
By you?
I was standing beside Custer when he gave the order to go.
You heard him give the order?
I did, and I'll swear to it.
Why didn't Tom say this?
He's a proud one.
Yes. You'll never know what wonderful news you've brought me.
I'd like to tell him, but my horse is used up.
I'd like to take Custer's second mount. He's real fast.
Would you get the Colonel's permission for me?
I will, go on.
With Dandy, I'll make good time.
God bless you. Tell Tom I love him.
Yes, ma'am. Good night.
Good night.
That horse Morrison's on, wasn't that horse Dandy?
Sure was. That's Custer's horse.
The valley of Little Bighorn -
the men we are to bring home are down there waiting for us.
"Bring the officers home for burial," he says. How do we tell which are the officers?
We don't even know which grave is Custer's.
Yes, we do. I located it this morning.
You've got eyes that see underground, huh?
No, Sitting Bull marked it for us.
There it is.
Kruger, bring a spade.
Sitting Bull's own stick marks it apart -
the tribute of one great leader to another.
Yes, sir?
Dig here gently.
Captain Benson!
They got us right where they want us, all boxed in.
Keep digging.
You're the man who can get us out of this, we'll all follow you.
They come to recover the bodies of their dead.
Their dead belong to us.
If I could make them go in peace...
If they leave without Yellow Hair...
Hah!
The wisdom of the counsel of a young heart.
If they go in peace, we shall let them live,
but if they refuse, they shall die.
He's making the sign of peace.
I come in peace.
You are welcome in peace.
I am Young Hawk.
I am Captain Benson.
Our warriors have painted their faces and taken up their weapons.
You are defiling sacred ground.
We've come to honour our dead.
It is strange to hear a chief speak the white man's tongue so fluently.
Until my twelfth year, I was reared by white men on an army post.
I know what is in the hearts of your people and mine.
You must know we mean no harm.
You do not understand. This all is now a part of my people,
a part of their lives, a part of their faith.
The spirits of the dead have been reborn in the bodies and souls of the braves.
Even the spirits of the horses have passed on into our ponies
and Custer, the great Yellow Hair, lives now in the hearts and minds of the Sioux.
He has endowed our braves with his own bravery and wisdom
transmitted through his spirit, which is in our keeping.
But Young Hawk knows such a belief is only superstition.
Is the white man's belief in the miraculous powers of his own saints
nothing more than superstition?
It is our belief that if Yellow Hair's body is removed, his spirit will go with him
and the fruits of our victory will be lost.
Our great chief has ordered me to bring Yellow Hair home
to lie amongst his own kind in honoured rest.
My people will never let him go.
That's the end. If there's a choice between the dead and the living, we'll take the living.
Captain, the men have decided you're not fit to command. I'm taking over.
This means court martial.
We're not going to sit here and get what Custer got.
I'm with you, Sarge.
You're going to carry out orders.
Are you going to stop us, all by yourself?
You're the fella who believes a man should have a chance for his life.
Not this time. It's you or all of us.
You pull back that hammer and you're dead.
Put up your gun, Kruger.
This is between Bates and his superior officer.
Benson's already saved two troops by bringing us scroungers here to do men's work.
Kruger, put up your gun.
Go ahead, shoot, then you won't have to worry about me.
You'll have nothing to worry about but Indians.
Are you watching them? They're set, ready to charge.
You give the orders, Sergeant. Tell these men how to save their hair.
Get it over with, take command.
What's the matter, haven't you the guts?
I guess I'm the one that's nuts.
This ground is sacred, blood must not be shed.
Young Hawk has proven his heart is a Sioux brave, but at times he think like a white man.
DRUMS BEAT
Use your mounts and the wagons for a barricade! You two, move!
Come on, maybe you can fool them into thinking you're troopers!
You! You heard what the Captain said!
No rifles will be fired against them,
no lance will pierce their hearts, no arrow will hit them,
but they will die, perhaps more slowly but just as surely.
What are they waiting for?
Yeah, what? Reinforcements?!
They're waiting for us to die,
not from bullets, from thirst -
our tongues swollen until we choke to death.
We're cut off from water and everything else.
Benson wanted to be with Custer. Well, let him, not me.
Vogel!
Get back under cover, you idiot.
You're the idiots, staying here like rats in a trap.
I'm gettin' out.
THUD
NEIGHING
It's the General's horse, Dandy.
They're falling back.
They think it's the spirit of the General's horse, Vic.
Sound the charge.
BUGLE PLAYS
They're as struck as lightning.
They're sure it's Custer's horse.
They think Custer's spirit is in the saddle.
We're going to mount and ride.
Come on, we're riding out.
I want you to ride out of here as if those Indians weren't there.
Squad, ho!
I've had the DTs in my time, but they couldn't touch this.
Let them go in peace. The spirit of Yellow Hair has spoken.
Congratulations for your mission.
Your conduct will be reported to the President.
Can you forgive a man who acted more the anxious father than an officer?
Yes, sir, if you can forgive a man who acted more like a bridegroom than as troop commander.
Captain Benson, about face!
BUGLE PLAYS