If I may suggest, sirs, the time has come to join the fiesta.
Sitting alone is bad for the soul.
Captain Tyreen. Does he shave?
- Does it matter? - Didn't to me.
She's not here.
Too bad.
There was something about that woman.
There sure, sure was.
Made me think of...
satin.
- Soft, white satin. - Major.
Excuse me, Major.
A waltz.
I'd be delighted, sir.
- Lieutenant Graham. - Sir!
- Why aren't you with the pickets? - I've been relieved, sir.
Carry on.
Sir, in my opinion we need more guards at the blockhouse...
or the French prisoners are going to escape.
Thank you, Lieutenant, for your opinion.
Now, I trust you will carry on.
No, sir. You see, I'm cutting in, sir.
- What? - Cutting in, sir.
Lieutenant Graham, have you been drinking?
- Seņorita. - Thank you, Lieutenant.
A Mexican dance, perhaps?
I wanted to say goodbye, and thank you.
It was good to celebrate just being alive.
- Are you planning to stay on here now? - I don't know.
I met my husband when he was a medical student in Vienna.
My family disapproved violently.
So violently, I no longer have any ties there.
And I'm needed here.
There is no one else except for Linda, not for a hundred miles.
You will say goodbye to Lt. Tyreen for me?
I'd be delighted.
I liked the way he asked me to dance.
As if we were in a ballroom in Vienna.
- It was a lovely little charade. - The Lieutenant has style.
He must be a fanciful man.
He is corrupt. But I will save him.
Thank you for being kind.
All I feel is kindness.
Next time I'll be more fanciful.
Hadley! Wiley! Get them mules in here.
Mount up. Just fall in. Get in there.
Ryan is missing, sir. Graham went to look for him.
- Who went to look for Graham? - Gomez.
Sergeant Gomez, be gentle with the bugler boy.
He's ill.
Take your time, Trooper Ryan, take your time.
We're delighted you decided to join us.
Now if you'd only warned us, we could have sent Sgt. Gomez...
to serve you breakfast in bed.
Ryan, put it in the saddle!
All accounted and...
All present and accounted for, sir.
I can see that, Lieutenant Graham. I can clearly see that.
Suppose you could manage to move them out now?
Twos left, right turn.
Last night the Major let the French prisoners escape.
He hoped they would go to their garrison for reinforcements.
They did.
This afternoon he sent Lt. Graham and some troopers out as a decoy.
The rest of us hung back, waiting.
Jefferson, that scarf is to decorate the cannon, not you.
- Yes, sir. - Wiley, secure those pack animals.
Sergeant Chillum, are the pickets out?
They're out. Not that they'll do any good.
If them Lancers has got a fieldpiece...
they could move it in, lay in one round, and then finish us off...
with them 10-foot frog stickers they're packing.
No, they'll camp.
Begging your pardon, Lieutenant, but who says so?
I do.
Don't they look pretty?
My boys can take that outfit, the walking ones anyway...
with one hand tied behind our backs.
How's that, Aesop?
They're soft, O.W. They ain't never been south.
They're closing up.
They'll be less than five miles from Graham by full dark.
What if they don't stop?
What if they don't camp? They just keep on, smash hell out of the Lieutenant?
Mighty is the arm of the Lord.
January 15. It took the French three days to discover...
all they were chasing was a one-armed scout and a renegade Apache.
By that time, Mr. Potts and Riago figured we were safe...
and decided to lose them and find us.
We rested and healed our wounds.
Hey! I'm drowning!
- Come on in. - I already had my bath.
Hey, the water's fine.
- First shave, Tim? - Yep.
- Maybe we should call you Ryan now. - Yeah.
We are waiting for Mr. Potts, Sgt. Gomez...
and the rebel captain to return from the scout.
We fear that the French have taken reprisals against the village.
I keep thinking about Linda and pray for her safety.
- What happened? - Just like watching a bird die.
- And the woman? - I don't know, Amos.
If they hanged her, they cut her down.
Them boys in the pretty hats make the Apache look like missionaries.
Never underestimate the value of a European education.
- No sign of Charriba? - Don't worry about that, Amos.
He wants to drag it out.
I think he figures on leaving stories about you that'll be told...
around the campfires of his people for a thousand years.
We were healing, becoming a command again.
Hard and watchful, anxious for battle...
when that which the Major hated most occurred.
Sir! A deserter.
O.W. Hadley has deserted, sir. Last night.
A horse is gone, food and ammunition supplies broken into.
Mr. Potts, you take Riago and pick up his trail.
I want that man back.
It ain't my job, Major.
I didn't sign on to go chasing after no homesick soldier boys.
It's mine.
All right, Sergeant, you find him.
Beg your pardon, sir...
but what'll they do to Pvt. Hadley when they catch him?
What?
Son, it'd be our good luck if he killed him.
But he won't and the Major will.
Oh, no, Mr. Potts...
the Major will not.
In two days, Sgt. Gomez returned with O. W. Hadley.
Along the way he found the lady doctor with some children and Linda.
They had all fled the village.
The Major wasted no time trying O. W. Hadley for desertion.
Boys, by doggies, I want you to know what kind of company we've been keeping.
He just plain clean shot a hole in me.
And he would have let me bleed to death...
if it hadn't been for that woman over there come along and bandaged up my leg.
Now, you know I ain't no deserter.
I just went into that village to court a little seņorita and say hello to her folks.
I was fixing to come back. I was.
You all know I always stay close to my big brother.
- Ain't that right, Arthur? - That's right.
And you ain't gonna let them shoot your kin for no deserter, are you, Arthur?
You gonna do something about it, ain't you?
Sergeant, I don't want to look up at him.
Captain.
You know me.
I've been over the hill before.
But I always come back, didn't I?
And you whipped me for it and I deserved it.
But you never killed me none.
Now you ain't gonna hand me over to no bluebelly...
just because I had a hankering for a woman?
She's a sweet little thing, Captain.
She's pretty and polite and a lady. She surely is.
And that grub is for her kinfolks.
You remember her, Captain?
I was dancing with her and I introduced you to her. You remember her, don't you?
I remember.
Sergeant Chillum, would you say it was common knowledge in this camp that...
that village had been burned, people scattered?
Well, I know that, Major, sir...
but I just figured I'd sit there and wait till they come back.
- Lieutenant. - Yes, sir.
How much food and ammunition would you say was taken?
Enough for three men for a week, sir.
Look, Major, forget about the book.
The men of this command risked their lives for those supplies.
It may have slipped your mind, but he also risked his life.
Trooper...
you're gonna be shot.
Hadley!
Major, hand him over to us. I'll deal with him.
I'm not going to let you kill him.
You used to be a soldier. Do you know what you're saying?
I'm saying if you kill that boy that's the beginning of it and not the end.
You're wearing out, Ben.
You were a rock once, now you're crumbling like old chalk.
Lieutenant, select a firing squad by lot.
- Exclude the Confederates. - Yes, sir.
I said we will serve in this command and we will serve!
But only until we have caught the Apache.
And then, Major...
I am going to kill you.
Are you, Ben?
Yes.
Yes, Amos.
You gonna let them shoot me, Captain?
I'm obliged to, son.
You should have remembered you belong to the Major and not to me.
I'm sorry.
That's it, boys, by doggies...
let's pitch in and get it over with.
Hell, Major, you're just doing what you got to do...
but damn your soul for it, and God bless Robert E. Lee.
We are a command divided against itself, and I fear nothing will ever heal this breach.
Even some of our own people are bitter against the Major.
But he bears the burden of command and I do not feel fit to judge him.
I'm not one of your soldiers.
I could not bear to be with all those men, in the midst of all that hatred.
- May I walk with you? - Not afraid of the tiger?
Are you the tiger that prowls these mountains?
No, I'm not afraid, Major.
- Oh, it's lovely here. - I don't spoil it?
No.
What happened today was terrible.
We all died a little with that boy.
But perhaps you, most of all.
Why are you with me?
I've seen too much dying...
and I wanted so desperately to feel alive...
for both of us to feel alive.
It troubles you a great deal, doesn't it, how the men feel about you?
I'm concerned with how they fight, not how they feel about me.
But why is this so important, this fighting?
There are other things.
Men can understand fighting. I guess maybe they need it sometimes.
The truth is, it's easy.
Forget about your problems, responsibilities...
just let someone feed you, tell you what to do.
But whom do you answer to?
If you go to Durango you'll have to go into hiding, won't you?
It will be difficult, but not impossible.
Did you ever think about living in the United States?
I don't think about that, Major.
Get it out.
I can't. It's too deep. It's too close to the artery.
They have to take you to the doctor in Durango.
I'm staying with the command.
You get me some whiskey and bandages. Go on.
Sergeant, get a stretcher for the Major.
You're getting leave, Major.
And it's time you did.
In fact, you ought to give up soldiering altogether.
You were trapped at the river. Ambushed like a shavetail.
You caused a boy's death and you've split your own command.
And now how do you explain being outside your own picket lines?
What are you doing, Major, easing your conscience in the arms of a woman?
A woman, if I might say so, of rather doubtful virtue.
Just what the bloody hell are you doing here in the first place, Amos?
There are so many French soldiers in Durango.
We won't show the colors.
- I can't speak the language. - But you understand.
Major.
It is close, very close.
If you're thinking of cutting that leg off, Doctor, don't.
I am only concerned to stop the loss of blood.
Though much of it is alcohol.
You should be able to walk in seven days and ride in twelve.
I'll walk in two and ride in one more.
Mr. Potts, you and Sgt. Gomez can rejoin the command now.
I can get to the river camp by myself.
And I'm perfectly capable of following your trail from there.
Well, you'd better stay off those streets, Amos.
You make an unlikely-looking Mexican.
No, it's no use.
They're on to me, those Frenchman.
Just waiting for me to run, lead them back to the command.
I see our French friends are still waiting.
The tequila. Did you bring the tequila?
I asked for something to drink. This isn't enough to spit.
No.
Sure, it gets better every day.
Be able to dance on it soon.
You don't believe me?
I'll show you. Come on.
Miss Covington, I believe I have the honor of this next quadrille.
You wait and see.
This army doesn't dance...
doesn't march, doesn't fight.
Except on this last battlefield.
We're joining the Juaristas at Guaymas.
I came here to reassure myself that you were still alive.
I'm alive.
Yes, I see.
You should be careful.
The French police is already suspicious of this place.
Wait.
If I ever do get out of here...
The war won't last forever.
It will for you, Major.
No, the war will not last forever.
"Awake! For Morning in the Bowl of Night
"Has cast the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight"
- What are you doing here? - I've come to rescue you.
We spent all night looking for you.
- Why? - So I can kill you myself.
Makes sense.
Well, there goes our little watchdog.
Shall we go, Major?
I drink, Ben. Did you know that?
That is the secret of my great success. I drink.
But I don't drink enough.
Why don't you drink, Lieutenant Tyreen?
Don't you ever have any doubts about who you are?
I've been three men already, Amos.
That's enough for one lifetime.
- Irish immigrant... - Cashiered American officer.
And Confederate renegade.
- I don't like any of them. - Well, now, isn't that a coincidence.
Get away from me.
I have orders, appropriate to your character.
I have to take you out the back door.
- Finish it. - The patrol. We leave now.
Leave me alone, all of you.
Company!
Sergeant Gomez.
Major.
Fire!
Lt. Graham will be a general before he's 30.
Why, come on, get out of it!
- Come on! - Ben, for God's sakes, let me be.
Why not, Major?
You're not worth killing anyway.
Until the Apache is taken or destroyed.
January 30. We thought we had lost three troopers in Durango...
but two returned this morning, and we became a command again.
- Lieutenant Graham! - Yes, sir.
When I left I gave you a specific order. You failed to carry it out.
No, sir. You gave me a command.
From then on I gave the orders.
You surely did. Have a cigar.
Move them out, Lieutenant.
We ran from the French as we followed the Apache...
but time was running out.
The French patrols became thicker while we never got closer to Sierra Charriba.
- How long ago? - Four or five hours ago.
Charriba says you're to make your peace with your Christian God...
as you are about to join him.
We must have hurt the old man at the river more than we figured.
At least now he's got to finish it.
So far, he's been circling west.
Some time in the next week or two he'll hit us again in a canyon...
or the middle of a river at night, or dawn.
When are we going to stop fighting this Indian on his own terms?
Right now.
From this point on we tuck our tail between our legs and run for home...
- straight for the Rio Grande. - You'd let Charriba escape?
Let's just say I'm giving him an equal opportunity, Lieutenant.
Major, but we have to make it look good.
First swing right, then head for the river. But we really got to move.
If we don't, he'll be waiting for us there, just like he is now.
- How'll we know? - We won't, until it happens.
On your horse, Lieutenant, move them out.
- Go cut him down, Sam. - You cut him down, Major.
I think he's earned it.
March 23. Today we learned that Riago had been a true soldier.
I bitterly regret my suspicions, as I'm sure does the Major.
April 18. We ran from the Apaches and the French...
then circled and headed for the river and home.
The men were angry, wanting to continue our pursuit.
And then suddenly we all knew we weren't running away from anything.
We were running toward the end of our search.
River's less than a mile from here.
This is your last chance, Major.
It's as good a place as any to do what you got in mind.
Sergeant, if you put your pickets out far enough...
the Apache might leave them alone.
But no matter what happens, don't fire unless you're attacked.
Just remember your orders and hope.
Good luck, Mr. Potts.
Who will you send against me now?
Fire.
He looks so small now.
He was big enough, son.
Now, Major...
or across the river in Texas?
Right now is just fine, Ben.
You boys want a fight, I got one for you.
Get up here and look.
We had forgotten the French, but the French had not forgotten us.
Where can we ford the river into Texas?
It's the only shallow spot within a half day's march from here, Major.
Mount up the troop, Lieutenant, we're going back home.
- Sergeant Gomez! - Sir?
- Mount the troops, we're moving out now! - Yes, sir.
Congratulations, Major.
It appears that at last you have found yourself a real war.
- Sergeant Gomez. - Sir?
Dismount and deploy your men...
prepare to receive a mounted cavalry charge from your front.
They won't charge, Major. Why should they?
By holding their positions, they hold us here for the others.
- We have to move against them. - When I'm ready.
- Lieutenant Graham. - Sir?
- Make ready your artillery. - Yes, sir.
- It's ready, sir. - Simon.
Break out the ammunition...
we're about ready to engage the pride of Europe.
Yes, sir.
- Well, Ben? - I'll need five men mounted.
I'll hit their flank after you break their charge.
- Bully. - Bully.
Lieutenant, show the colors.
- Standard-bearer! - Sir?
Show the colors.
- Sergeant Chillum. - Sir!
Cut the fuse for 500 yards. Elevation 20...
- Make that 28 degrees. - Ready, sir!
Start the ball, Lieutenant.
A mile, maybe less.
They'll be coming now.
- Sergeant Gomez. - Sir?
- The bugle will be your signal to fire. - Yes, sir.
Company, charge!
Any of you damn gringos fire before the signal...
I swear to God I kill you.
On my signal, the horses. I repeat, only the horses.
Mount your men.
Take up a skirmish line at the foot of the bluff.
Here comes the second wave, Ben. We're ready when you are.
Rally around me!
Major, I shall see you in Texas.
You're damn right you will. Bugler!
Dundee!
All present and accounted for, sir.
Your orders, sir.
Move them out, Lieutenant, column of twos.
Column of twos.
- Trooper Ryan! - Sir.
- Play us a tune, son. - Yes, sir.
Forward, ho!
April 19, 1865.
After a brief but costly battle with French irregulars...
we crossed the Rio Grande and re-entered the United States.
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