For more than four long bitter years
this nation was torn by a civil war.
The bloodiest and most destructive in our history.
For it was a war of neighbor against neighbor,
family against family, brother against brother,
flag against flag.
Nor was the slaughter confined to the armies of the North and South alone.
There was a war-bred outlaw army of guerrillas
masquerading under the flags of both sides
pillaging, burning,
and killing for private gains.
The most savage and merciless among the lawless tribes
whose organized violence terrorized the country
were the men who marched, raided and killed
under the ominous black flag of William Clarke Quantrill.
Well, sir, there she is, Lawrence, Kansas.
Figure we oughta ride through or had we better go around?
Well, why shouldn't we ride through?
Because a town that big is bound to have a sizeable troop of Union soldiers in it.
I ain't scared of no Union soldiers,
it's them Redlegs that worries me.
How come a man gets mean enough to want to be a Redleg?
My pappy says there ain't nobody meaner.
He says they're just acting like they're working for the Union Army
so's they have a chance to kill and rob decent folks.
Well, are we gonna sit up here all day and gab or are we gonna move on?
We're riding through.
See how that thing reads, Frank.
"Scores counted dead in New York draft riots.
"Fall of Vicksburg. Mississippi opened to Union forces.
"Quantrill guerrillas strike Kansas border with fire and swords."
Quantrill must be quite some man.
Looks like these town folks is kinda jumpy, Jess.
You think we ought to stop here or keep on moving?
Don't look like we're gonna have much to say about it one way or another.
Redlegs!
Which one of you does the talking?
What do you want to know?
What're you doing in this town? Just passing through.
Where to? We ain't just sure.
If you're so set on finding out, you're welcome to tag along.
If they ain't Quantrill's men, I'm a horse thief.
You're a horse thief.
So Quantrill sent you in to do a little spying, huh?
Quantrill? Never laid eyes on the man.
That's not what I asked you.
You got your answer, Mister.
Bring 'em down to the post.
What your names? You.
Jesse James. Frank James.
You brothers? Yep.
Cole Younger. Jim Younger.
You brothers, too? That's right.
Kit Dalton.
What's the matter? Ain't you got no brothers?
Oh, I got a couple of brothers back home,
but they were smart enough to stay there.
How long you fellows been with Quantrill?
I asked you a question!
Ain't no sense answering,
done that once already.
You fellows don't seem to realize
that there's a war going on.
Maybe for you there is, but it ain't no concern to us.
That's where you're wrong.
In the border country you're either a Union man or a spy.
The Union men get put in the army,
the spies get hung.
Ain't much of a choice, is it?
That's the choice you got.
When it comes to joining an army,
we'll just make up our own minds.
All right,
and we'll see you get a nice legal court-martial
before the hanging.
Let's hang him now!
Hold it!
What's all this talk about lynching someone?
We caught these five snooping around town. They're Quantrill men.
Is that true? I been trying' to tell him we ain't,
but he seems more set on hanging us than hearing what we got to say.
Well, what have you got to say?
Are you Quantrill men, or aren't you?
No, sir.
Turn 'em loose. Now look here...
Just a minute!
Till I get orders to the contrary,
I'm in command of the military here.
What're you trying to do? Go Quantrill one better, hanging little kids?
Quantrill never done no such thing.
See? What'd I tell you? That's enough.
Get on your way, boys.
Captain, I'm obliged to you for speaking' up for us back there
Forget it, son. I'd like to give you a piece of advice.
If you are figuring on joining Quantrill, don't do it.
Thanks, but we don't want that kind of advice.
All right, then take a warning.
Quantrill and what's left of his guerrillas are as good as hung right now.
If that's what you're looking for, go ahead.
I wonder if they would have really strung us up back there?
You reckon so, Jesse?
I reckon.
We'd either be swinging right now or fighting for the Yankees.
You know that Captain didn't come in any too soon.
I sure thought we was gone
when old Jess busted out and stuck up for Quantrill that way.
I don't like to stand by and see nobody blacken a man's name.
To hear you talk, you'd think you and Quantrill was old friends.
He's a real man's all I know
A real fighting man.
You know, I'm wondering why that Captain let us go.
He had a mighty good notion where we was going.
Yeah, he did.
I'd like to know his name.
I'd kinda like to remember him.
To hear the Yankees tell it,
Quantrill's got two horns, two hoofs and a long tail.
He sure must be a real man at that
Chewing up that Union cavalry faster
than the Yankees can send them out here.
Him and 50 men whipped a whole regiment at Gainesville, I hear.
Well, I wonder if we're getting near his camp.
It's sure been a long ride.
We're getting near, all right,
or them Redlegs back in town wouldn't have been so scared.
You know,
riding with a man like Quantrill,
we're liable to all be famous one of these days,
that is if the war lasts long enough.
Might have our own outfits,
a company, a whole regiment even.
I can see me now, riding at the head of 100 men
in a spanking grey uniform and black shiny boots.
Man, there ain't nothing' wrong with that!
Nothing, except the pay.
The regular army ain't no place for an ambitious man.
I suppose you expect to get rich.
Uh-huh.
How're you gonna get rich? Fighting Yankees?
Where's your brains, boy?
Don't you know them banks in them Yankee towns are just bulging with money?
Yeah, but that'd be stealing.
With the regulars it would,
but not with a guerrilla outfit like Quantrill's.
Well, what do you know?
What do you say about that, Jesse?
Well, the bank's got plenty of money in it,
no harm taking a little of it, I guess,
in war time, anyway.
What's that?
Looks like our Mr. Quantrill is close by these parts sure enough.
They must've been spies.
Well, they couldn't have known much about their trade.
nosing around a Southern guerrilla outfit dressed up like Redlegs.
Well, if they were spies they got just what was coming to them.
Maybe he's the kind of a man that likes a hanging every so often.
Hello. Can we be of any further help to you?
That trace pulled loose.
Would you mind hooking it up for me?
Kit.
Don't believe I've seen you boys around here before, have I?
No.
Just drifting, huh?
Wouldn't be heading for Quantrill's headquarters, would you?
Maybe.
Anywhere's near?
What do you think he's running, a nursery school?
I wouldn't know, ma'am.
Thanks anyway.
More recruits for the butcher brigade.
That's a funny way to talk.
Don't you know about women? They can't talk no other way.
She could be real pretty if she weren't looking so mad.
Well, we'd better get going, or the war'll be over
and we'll be old men before we even see Quantrill.
Yeah, come on, Jesse, let's go
It's about that time, ain't it?
It's long past. He's late today.
Looks like a bad day for them Yankees.
Every day's a bad day for them Yankees when Quantrill holds court.
Court's in session.
All right. Follow me!
Come on, step out. Come on.
Come on there, come on!
All right, right in here.
Line up, come on.
Get in there. Come on, get in line over there, come on.
Right over there, come on!
You're under military arrest as enemy spies.
But it has always been my policy to permit my enemies
to speak in their own defense before pronouncing sentence.
We're not enemy spies! We're soldiers, sir,
in the uniform of the Northern Army.
We were ambushed by your men while on a scouting mission
We demand the customary treatment accorded prisoners of war
You'll get the customary treatment of enemy spies.
That's it, Willis.
All right, move out, Come on!
Step out there.
Well, fella, what've you got to say?
They ain't nothing I could say that'd bring back my wife and children, is there?
You fired on my soldiers!
Not till after they murdered my family, I didn't.
Fortunes of war, mister.
Women and babies don't fight nobody.
That man led your drunken raiders onto my place
and shot 'em down when they was running for safety.
You call them soldiers?
They're cowardly, thieving killers!
Robbing, burning, shooting at anything or anybody
without a chance or warning.
You call that war? Put that away, Tate.
Mr. Anderson, whom have we here?
Prowlers, Colonel. The dangerous kind, Colonel.
Probably in the pay of the Redlegs,
I suggest we get rid of them along with the others
They're boys, mere boys.
Yeah, plenty young and plenty fresh.
They look like good boys to me. What are you doing here?
We came to join up.
Can you ride? Can you shoot?
We do fair.
Can you fight? Do you want to fight?
Well, that's what we rode all the way from Missouri for, Mr. Quantrill.
Colonel Quantrill.
Well, you'll sort of have to excuse us, Colonel,
we ain't had too much experience with uniforms.
It's all right.
So you want a fight, huh?
Well, we'll see.
This is my second-in-command, Mr. Anderson,
my third, Rudolph Tate.
Five of you, huh?
Well, we'll swear 'em in tonight.
In the meantime, they're all yours, Mr. Tate.
All mine, sir?
Within reason. Yes, sir.
Come on.
Where you kids come from?
Just told you, down Missouri way.
I didn't know they let you put on long pants so young down there.
What you boys figure on doing in this outfit?
Mind the horses while the men do the fighting?
We figure on minding our own business
if others will do the same.
What you mean by that, boy?
Look, mister, why don't you go on about your chores
and stop making out such a hard case.
Maybe you think I ain't a hard case.
We don't know.
You look hard enough on the outside,
but that don't say what you've got on the inside.
Well, this is where you get your chance to find out, sonny.
Looks like somebody's gonna have to fight the man.
I'll take him, Jesse. Let me fight.
No.
Looks like I'm the one he's taken a hankering for.
Just you name it, sonny.
All right, I may as well make it for keeps.
Looks like that's the only way we're gonna have any peace around here
Frank, find us a couple of knives.
He's got a lot of nerve, that kid.
I once seen a couple fellas cut each other to pieces
in one of them handkerchief fights.
You know the rules.
First one that lets go of the handkerchief loses.
I know, I know!
I just hope you know 'em 'cause you gonna need 'em when I get through with him.
Take your time, Mister,
you ain't likely to have too much of it left.
All right, Tate, show him how tough you are!
That youngster meant it when he said he wanted to fight.
Yeah.
Kill 'em and bury 'em.
All in day's work, huh?
You've got the wrong idea, ma'am.
It was either him or me.
Besides, it didn't look like none of his friends was gonna bury him.
He didn't wanna kill you.
Quantrill told him to pick a fight with you
to test your mettle.
Didn't you know that?
I don't believe it.
He could've stopped it, couldn't he?
Why don't you go home? Go home and take your kid friends with you.
First off, we don't have no homes left to go back to.
The Yanks took care of that.
That's why the Colonel's enemies are ours.
Do you think Quantrill's fighting a war?
You heard that farmer talk about his murdered family, didn't you?
You know about the robbed and burned-out homes.
Quantrill's responsible for that,
for all of it. He ordered it!
I don't think the Colonel would do a thing like that.
I think he's a fine man.
The Colonel's a fine man,
and so was Rudolph Tate.
The troops are mounted and ready, sir. Very good, Lieutenant.
Any word from the reconnaissance patrol? No, sir.
The patrol's six hours overdue. I don't like it.
Think they might've been trapped in a guerrilla ambush, sir?
That's what I'm afraid of.
We could get there a lot faster, Captain, if we knew where we were going.
We should've had that information two hours ago.
Information that would lead us straight to Quantrill's headquarters.
Give him a half-hour more. Him?
We've got a man in their camp in the pay of the Union Army.
You mean, sir, we've got a spy in Quantrill's camp?
That's right. He's one of Quantrill's right-hand men,
Rudolph Tate.
What kind of show you figure this is gonna be, Jesse?
I don't know, but it looks like we're gonna find out
Maybe the Colonel's fixing to roast a couple of Yankees for his supper.
I heard when Quantrill swears anyone in,
he likes it kinda fancy-like.
All right, on your feet!
Where are the candidates? Right over there, sir.
You five, down here.
Comrades and fellow soldiers,
we are gathered here to take into our midst,
if they be worthy,
five volunteers in the service of Quantrill's Guerrilla Arny.
Are those five prepared to take the oath?
We are.
Do you swear never to betray a comrade of this band
or ever to reveal a single secret of this organization
or a single word of this, your oath?
We swear.
Do you further swear
never to desert a comrade who is in peril,
or ever, even in the face of certain death
permit him to fall into the hands of our enemies?
We swear.
Then Frank and Jesse James,
Cole and Jim Younger,
Kit Dalton,
you are henceforth and forevermore sworn comrades and blood brothers
of this, the company of Quantrill's Guerilla Army.
Congratulations, Mr. James, you're now one of us.
Thank you, sir.
You're the leader of this group, I presume?
Well, I wouldn't say that, sir.
He wouldn't, but the rest of us will.
You bet.
Come on in to headquarters, I'd like to talk with you a minute.
Mr. Anderson, you can break out the grog.
Kate,
this is Jesse James.
I want you two to be friends.
You should've seen the way he handled Rudolph Tate this morning.
I did.
Oh, I meant to ask you about that, Colonel.
Why did he prod me that way? I didn't give him no cause to pick on me.
'Cause he was mean, an untruthful man,
always was that way, no good.
He was good enough for you until today.
That's because I had to put up with him, Kate, you know that.
But I never did trust him.
Good riddance. We'll drink to it.
Come here, I wanna show you something.
Do you know where this war is gonna be won?
Here, right here in the West.
You know who's gonna win it? We are.
Now this, my boy,
is what we call "grand strategy".
Now here's the approximate position of the armies right now.
Lee is retreating from Gettysburg,
New Orleans and Vicksburg have fallen
leaving the entire length of the Mississippi open to the Union forces.
Now, what does that mean?
Well, the way I see it, it means our side ain't doing so good.
It means that the South is effectively surrounded,
now that the Northern Navies control the seas.
Is it that bad?
No, no, no, you missed the point!
This is just the first phases, the preliminary battles.
Let the North win the battles,
we'll win the war!
How we gonna do that if they keep on licking us all the time?
Because we're only giving ground,
the North is giving men.
And the manpower of the North is not completely inexhaustible.
Lee's strategy has been good on the whole, quite good.
Although as yet, he's not seen far enough ahead
but he will.
We'll see to that.
Come on, drink up.
What's the matter, don't you like this stuff?
It's just that I ain't so used to it.
Oh.
Well, now here's what I mean.
When Lee eventually realizes the hopelessness of his present position,
what's he gonna do?
Where's he gonna go?
There's only one possibility.
Here, the West.
May take months, even years.
But here he can bide his time,
gather his strength for that great counter-attack
that will drive the Union Army into the sea.
Colonel, you're right.
If he could get his men on this side of the Mississippi,
the Yanks would never dare cross.
There you are.
I knew you had a head for strategy.
Now you know why I said that we will win the war!
That's our great task. Our glorious cause.
Our gateway to immortal fame.
Let's drink to it.
That Colonel Quantrill sure chatters like a magpie, don't he?
Mighty near give me an earache.
My ole pappy used to say that if a man talked long enough
and loud enough somebody's sure to believe him.
Yeah, that's what worries me
Jesse hangs on pretty near every word Quantrill says.
We'll sweep 'em into the sea.
I've got a hundred men now.
I'll have 100,000, more!
I'll be second-in-command to Lee himself,
after all Lee's no longer a young man.
Let's drink to that.
Now, with my strategy... Stop it!
Haven't you given the boy enough strategy for one night?
I guess you're right, my dear.
The hour is late.
I was just gonna say I...
I think I ought to be going.
Goodnight, Colonel. Goodnight, my boy.
Goodnight, Miss Kate.
You'll have to excuse me, I ain't so used to it.
What are you trying to do to that boy?
Stuffing his head with all your nonsense.
Nonsense?
I meant every word of it, Kate. Every word of it.
Can't you realize how useful that boy can be to me?
You saw his devotion.
He's a born leader
Who knows, maybe someday he might even share my power.
What's the matter, Kate?
I'll tell you what's the matter.
Everyday you're becoming more and more a blood-thirsty murderer.
Strategy...
Here, come on, Jesse, wake up. Come on, Jesse, come on.
Frank,
the Yanks will never cross the Mississippi.
That's right, Jess, and neither will you if you don't get some sleep.
Come on. I tell you, Frank...
Well, will you look at Old Jess?
Jess boy, you and the old man must've really got along first rate.
Well, how does it feel to be a member of the grand and glorious secret order
of the Quantrill Clowns?
Jesse, Jesse, come on, boy.
I'll have nobody talking about him like that. He's a great man.
Jess, my boy, you're drunk. Oh, shut up, will you, Kit?
Come on, Jess, he was only funning with you.
Hey, Jesse, where do you suppose the Colonel got that uniform?
Look like it come right out of a store window.
I'd sure like to have me an outfit like that.
You gotta be a Colonel to have one of them
and you gotta talk like a Colonel, too.
Well, boy, if he can fight like he can talk,
he sure must be something.
Goodnight, Frank, Jesse.
Goodnight, Kit.
Goodnight.
He is a great man, ain't he, Frank?
Hmm?
Yeah. Yeah, sure he is, Jess.
Go on to sleep.
Do you understand your orders, Sergeant? Yes, sir.
Good luck. And another thing,
Tell the Colonel the quicker he sends reinforcements,
the safer it's going to be for the town of Lawrence.
Very well, sir. Good luck.
Left by twos! Forward all.
That's good, huh? Good?
It's like I been kicked in the head by a Missouri mule.
Was I?
You weren't kicked by one, you were just trying to drink like one.
Now, here, put this on and straighten yourself up,
the old man wants to see you right away.
What's this?
Well, when you put that on, you're officially a member of the Quantrill Raiders.
Oh, good.
Say, Frank, I didn't do anything wrong last night, did I?
I ain't sure, but by the looks of things
you seem to have done just about right.
He wants to see you right away.
What's that supposed to mean? We're going on a raid.
Raid? You mean us, the whole outfit?
Yep, we're leaving right away.
Quantrill's talking to the group leaders right now.
So get a move on, I'll saddle up for you.
As you all know our objective is another enemy strong point
similar to those that we've been attacking with such excellent results
these past several months.
The very cause of the Confederacy itself
may well depend upon our success.
I want every man to know that and to act accordingly.
Mr. James, you're late.
Sorry, Colonel.
One more thing.
Now that Mr. James is here,
he will act as group leader of his own recruits
replacing the late Mr. Tate.
Any questions? Yes, sir.
Mr. Anderson.
The men ain't gonna like it. Like what?
Having this kid put over for him.
There's plenty other deserves it more and been here a lot longer.
As long as I'm in command here I'll give the orders and make the appointments.
That's all.
Mr. James, have you had your breakfast?
No, sir.
Napoleon made the profound observation
that an army travels on its stomach.
I suggest you fortify yours
if you hope to be of any use to us.
I've arranged for your breakfast inside.
Thank you, sir.
Come in.
The Colonel said that... Yes, I know. Sit down.
You don't have much time. Thank you.
The Colonel made me an officer just now.
Oh? He likes ambitious, young men.
He's decided you've got a head for strategy.
I don't know about strategy, but I sure got a head.
I sure hope I wasn't too much trouble to you last night.
Oh, you weren't any trouble.
You were just a little tongue-tied, that was all.
Yeah, I guess so.
Yes. Every time the liquor was passed,
you just couldn't manage to say the word "no".
Yeah, I guess, I did try to learn about that stuff a little too fast.
You'll catch on quick enough.
You'll catch on to a lot of things.
You've got a good teacher.
Why did you join Quantrill, Jesse?
You and Frank?
Do some killing.
What do you mean by that?
Something that happened back home.
Something that I don't want to ever see happen again.
There are some men that... Well, they do things.
They gotta be killed.
Quantrill kills, too.
Yeah.
Yes, he does.
But only them what's got it coming to 'em.
You better go.
I hope you've got a good strong stomach!
Your stomach all right now?
There seems to be an awful lot of talk about my stomach this morning.
Well, maybe after last night,
folks just want to be sure you've still got one.
Our point of attack is that farmhouse.
I have information that there's a troop of Union soldiers quartered there.
Mr. Anderson, Mr. James, you know the plan.
You'll start the attack on the customary signal from me.
Hey, James!
Better get your share of the loot before it's all gone.
Willis, where are those Union soldiers we were supposed to fight?
Grow up, James.
Quantrill always tells us that just before every raid.
It makes him feel like a real colonel.
I'm gonna kill you for that.
You're gonna do what?
Draw your gun.
Fortunes of war, Mr. James.
Bugler, sound the assembly.
I'm good. Hit me.
Again.
Find him yet?
No.
Where you reckon he's keeping himself?
We ain't hardly seen him for the last three days.
Man, he's sure changed.
What's got into him anyway?
He ain't a preacher or a preacher's son.
He ought to know how things go in an outfit like this.
Well, I don't know. He don't always see everything the same as other people.
Maybe it'd be better If he did.
You don't suppose he just up and rode away without saying nothing, do you?
Nope. Jesse wouldn't do that to us.
Well, he's hardly said a word to us
since we came back from that first raid.
We don't have to, we know what he's thinking.
Well, I'll tell you what I'm thinking.
I'm thinking this may not be the sweetest smelling way to live,
but it's downright better than walking behind a plow.
Right.
Maybe it is and maybe it ain't.
Come on, deal me in.
Haven't seen you around for a few days.
I haven't been around.
Tell me,
how did you enjoy your first taste of Quantrill warfare?
Warfare?
So that's what he calls it?
Well, I can't say you didn't try hard enough to warn me. Thanks.
Maybe you're not like the others,
maybe I was wrong.
Was I?
I guess I ain't so different.
But you could be, Jesse.
You could be.
How?
Quantrill's going on another raid.
He's been looking for you.
Well, I ain't ridin' with him no more.
Are you going to tell him that?
Yes, I am.
Now's a good time.
Mr. James, you're late again. You've kept me waiting.
I ain't ridin' with you, Colonel.
Not riding with us?
May I ask why?
I been thinking all night.
I been thinking for three days.
Thinking about what?
What I ought to say and now I got to say it.
I came here to fight.
Came here straight from my home, what's left of it three weeks ago.
That was the day Frank and me came home and found the house burnin',
my ma with her arm shot off,
my pa hangin' in the tree in the front yard.
It was Red Legs. Yankee guerrillas.
One of 'em drunk and was still there.
I come here because I wanted to kill every man I could ever find
that would do a thing like that.
Then we went out on that raid the other day.
I found we was doin' the same thing.
We was murderin' people that didn't have no chance.
People just like my ma and pa.
Maybe that's strategy, Colonel,
and maybe I don't understand it
but you don't need me for what you're gonna do tonight.
Maybe we don't need you for nothin' at all.
Put that gun away, Mr. Anderson.
Are you sure you don't want me to...
You heard what I said. Put that gun away.
I suggest, Mr. James, that you remain behind on this trip.
You sure you know what you're doing, Jess?
Yep, I know what I'm doing.
Hello, Jesse.
I thought I'd find you here.
What's the matter?
Are you thinking maybe you should've gone on that raid?
No.
I was just thinkin' about the Colonel.
I ain't never been much of one to judge people for what they have been,
or even what they are.
It's the way they feel inside.
Sometimes a man or a woman will get into a thing
and well, they just can't get out of it.
But it's not that way with the Colonel.
He can get out of it.
I don't know, Kate.
It comes hard for me to place all the blame on him.
After all there's Anderson, and all them others
I'm not asking you to blame him. But, Jesse, listen to me.
Bloodshed and murder don't mean anything to Quantrill.
It's all part of a dream, a dream of playing war.
But the people he kills are real people.
He saved my life, did you know that?
Yes, I know.
He saved mine once, too, in a way.
Don't you... Don't you feel nothin' for him no more at all?
No. I did once.
I believed everything he said.
Until I began to see for myself.
I'd see them come riding home night after night.
Some of them, still had the blood on their hands.
Don't you see what they're doing is wrong, terribly wrong.
No matter what you feel about him,
he'll die at the end of a rope,
and if you follow him, so will you.
Jesse, you've got to get out of here.
I'll go with you.
I'll never get out any other way.
If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for me.
We couldn't just ride off without...
Well, then we'll tell him. Tell him just like you did this morning.
Jesse, you're not afraid, are you?
Mr. Anderson, see that the boys don't make too much of a night of it tonight.
All right, you heard him.
Well, my boy, I'm glad to find you here.
I thought that after this morning, you might be angry at me.
I see you're not. That's fine.
How are you, Kate? Have a nice day?
I want to talk to you, Colonel.
I want to talk to you, too, Jesse.
I've been thinking about you all day and what you said.
But first I have something to say to Kate.
If you'll wait for me outside.
That's an order, Jesse.
Go ahead, Jesse.
Now,
where did you get this?
He gave it to me.
Jesse?
Yes.
I see.
Very pretty.
My dear Kate,
I'm too old a man to have any illusions about the constancy of women,
or to be seriously disturbed by the lack of it
but when your intrigues start interfering with my plans
that's something else again.
Why don't you let him go?
Please. He's only a boy.
He's man enough for my purposes.
If you want to help him, stay away from him.
Jesse,
you've been thinking some pretty harsh things about me, haven't you?
I don't know what to think no more.
You've been talking to Kate?
Yes, I have.
Kate's a woman, Jesse.
There are some things that a woman simply cannot comprehend.
A leader is a lonely man.
There are so few that he can trust.
And even they often fail to understand
just when he needs their understanding most.
Do you think it's by choice that I lead this rabble?
Do you think I condone their brutality any more than you do?
General Lee needs me
and through me, he needs you.
And in the days to come, we're going to need you more.
All I want is one word from you, Colonel,
there won't be no more of what happened on my first raid.
My boy, you have it.
Then I'm with you. I knew you would be.
Now that we understand each other, I can tell you,
our next engagement will be a major one
of vital importance to the Confederate Cause.
We're going to raid the town of Lawrence, Kansas.
Lawrence, Kansas.
You better get some rest.
Jesse,
what I said about your being a candidate
for the butcher brigade still goes.
But you were all wrong, Kate.
Everything's gonna be all right now.
The Colonel gave me his word.
His word. And you believed him.
Like I said, Jesse, Kate's a woman.
There are certain things that she'll never comprehend.
Good night, Kate. Good night, Colonel. Good night, my boy.
You have a winning way with children, Colonel.
Thank you, Kate.
My information is that the town's only defense
consists of a few Red Legs and a handful of Union soldiers.
Mr. Anderson,
you will be in charge of any military or civilian opposition.
Mr. James, your objective will be the bank.
Just make it clear to Mr. James that that bank money ain't his.
You understand that, Mr. James?
I understand that, Anderson.
Do you understand that we're fightin' soldiers
and not shootin' unarmed civilians in the back?
That's clearly understood.
Mr. Pell, you'll take charge of posting pickets
to guard against any return of the Yankee soldiers.
Yes, sir. We'll advance on the usual signal from me.
Quantrill. Quantrill!
We don't want to have to shoot nobody,
and we won't if you keep your hands where we can see them.
Who runs this place? I do.
General Lee wants all the Yankee money you've got.
Where do you keep it?
You boys are going to regret this day's work.
You're gonna regret it a lot more if you don't open that safe.
Next time it won't be your hand.
Kit.
I told you these Yankee banks were just bulgin' with money.
Fortunes of war, mister.
Why, you little...
General Lee's gonna be much obliged to you.
Will. Will.
Will.
Murderers. Murderers!
Don't shoot! Don't shoot!
Hey, James. Look here.
Come here. See here, James? See here?
Just like the Colonel ordered.
We ain't killin' no unarmed men and women.
This here is a military prisoner.
I'll take that prisoner, Anderson.
Oh, you will, huh?
Better get off the street, Captain. I can't see.
Frank, take him inside. Wait a minute. I know that voice.
Don't I know you? No.
Come on, Captain. This way.
Where's Quantrill?
He's over at the hotel.
Thank you, thank you, sir. You're most kind.
You have earned the undying gratitude of Quantrill.
And mark you, gentlemen,
the day will come when the favor of Quantrill
will be worth a king's ransom.
Far more than these paltry trinkets which you so kindly donate to my cause today.
A very fine piece. A family heirloom, no doubt.
That's all. Dismissed. And you, sir?
Well, what have we here?
Some more family heirlooms?
We'll see.
Mr. Quantrill? Colonel Quantrill, Mr. James.
Your men are shooting unarmed civilians.
What are you gonna do about it?
If you don't like the way we're fighting the war, Mr. James, tell Mr. Anderson.
Mr. Anderson's dead.
I just killed him.
You... Colonel. Colonel.
Yankee cavalry are headin' this way.
Looks like the whole Union Army.
Tell the bugler to sound assembly.
Gentlemen, gather up our contributions. We're moving.
Ready to ride, men?
Yeah.
I don't know where you're aimin' to go when you leave us, Jesse,
or what you plan on doin' once you get there
but, whatever it is, you ain't gonna be no better off than you are now.
Like my old pappy used to say,
a hog that straddles a fence ain't likely to wind up no place.
Our old pappy was always right, Jess.
Stayin' here's better than plowin' from sun up to dark
and livin' on side-meat and corn bread
and never havin' a dollar you don't owe somebody.
Can't you see, Jesse? This is the life.
Plenty money, shootin', gamblin', sleepin'.
Ain't I right, Frank?
He knows what he's doing.
Are you aimin' to ride back to Missouri, Jess?
Maybe.
Look, Jess, ain't nothin' back there
except a blackened chimney where your house once stood.
And a couple of new graves coverin' your folks,
where the Yankees and the Red Legs put 'em.
You can't go back to Missouri, Jess.
We're already marked with the Quantrill brand
and if the Yanks don't hang you, the law will.
Can't get no revenge rottin' in somebody's jail
or swingin' on the end of a rope.
My old pappy used to say that... Yeah, I know! Your old pappy.
Well, some of what you say does make sense.
Guess I'll ride with the Colonel a while longer.
Again and again they raided,
looted, burned and destroyed,
following Quantrill and his ominous black flag
into an inferno of violence,
brutality and destruction of life and property.
But the Union Army
spurred on by the people's angry voices,
slowly cut down the size of the Quantrill band.
Day after day they became fewer and fewer.
Well, gentlemen, you know what that signal means.
Sure we know what it means.
What are we gonna do about it?
We're gonna make a stand right here and fight until there's not a man of us left.
The men in ain't no shape to fight, Colonel, even if they wanted to.
There ain't but one thing to do.
Split up. Every man for himself.
Do you mean to question my authority?
You ain't got no authority left, Colonel.
We ain't only fightin' the Union Army now,
the whole state of Kansas is after us.
And when General Lee turned against you,
we all decided it was time to quit.
All right, get out all of you. Come on, men.
Well, why don't you desert with the rest of them?
What're you waiting for?
We're sticking with you, sir.
Good. That's fine.
We'll proceed at once to my Kentucky headquarters.
You're forgetting something, Colonel. What's that?
Kate. We're not leaving her.
Very well, Mr. James.
Looks like the Yankees got here first.
They may still be here. Kate's either...
There's only one way to find out. Wait here.
I hoped you'd come back.
You didn't expect us to leave you here, did you?
Where are the rest of the men? They deserted.
A commander without an army.
Dismount and take cover.
Are you hit, Colonel? It's my eyes, Jesse,
Cole, get Kate and let's get outta here.
You know, it's a funny thing,
him gettin' it in the eyes like that.
Just the same as that Union Captain.
Yeah.
It's like he says himself.
War is war.
It's mighty funny, all the same.
Just like it was some kind of judgment on him or somethin'.
Any better now, Colonel? I can't see, Jesse.
I can't see.
We should've had some hot water.
We can't risk a fire, Kate.
The whole country side's swarming with Union soldiers,
I must look quite thoroughly disreputable,
I'd hate to run into any of my fellow officers in this condition.
I don't imagine there'd be any sudden danger of that.
You know, I've been thinking
considering the circumstances and my present condition
it would be well if you would assume command, temporarily.
Yes, I think that would be best.
All right, Colonel, if that's the way you want it.
Well, so be it then.
Now that you're the Colonel, Jesse,
where you gonna get us somethin' to eat?
You know what Napoleon said, an army travels on its stomach.
Yeah, but Napoleon didn't have my kind of an army.
Yeah, well...
From the looks of that road, Jesse,
there must've been more than 100 Yankee troops
passed this way.
They're too close. We been ridin' around in circles for days now.
At this rate we'll never break out. What are we gonna do, Jesse?
We just have to keep riding.
Cole, you and Kit hide the horses.
Seems like we've been here before, don't it, Jesse?
It's burned out so bad I can't tell.
Get inside, Colonel.
Where are we, Kate? Do you know this place?
No, I don't, Colonel.
Must have been a nice place, once.
Wonder how it got burned.
Red Legs most likely.
Yeah, Jesse. Red Legs.
Hey, Jesse.
Jesse.
Look here, what we found.
"Wanted dead or alive.
"$10,000 reward for the capture or killing,
"or any information leading to the capture or killing
"of the notorious guerrilla
"and the destroyer of Lawrence, Kansas,
"William Clarke Quantrill
"and any member of his band who may be with him."
Any member of his band that may be with him?
That means us, don't it, Jesse?
That's us.
Is that better?
Yes. Thank you, Kate.
Kate, we haven't had a talk for a long time. Don't you think...
You ought to get some sleep.
I guess you're right.
Good night, Kate.
What're you thinking?
Of this place.
Then you have been here before, haven't you, Jesse?
On my first raid with Quantrill.
He ordered it burned himself.
You were right, Kate.
You been right all along
when you told me how Quantrill and his kind always wind up.
But you're still with him.
Yeah, I know.
Somehow I couldn't leave him, either.
But you've got to, Jesse. You know that.
And you've got to pretty soon.
Every day it gets worse and every day we take more chances.
If they catch you with him, you know what'll happen to you.
To you and all of us.
Our finish will be the same as his.
I just been puttin' off thinkin' about it, I guess.
You can't put it off any longer, Jesse.
It isn't fair to the boys either.
I don't know what to do.
You're young, you've got your whole life ahead of you.
Someday you'll want to settle down, a wife and kids.
A place of your own.
I'll never want nobody but you, Kate.
Hello. Anybody inside?
What do you want?
We saw smoke coming from your chimney, I just wanted to ask if...
Oh, this time I do know you.
That won't do you any good.
My men have this place surrounded.
We've been looking for you and your Colonel.
How many men do you think you'll have left when you get him?
Maybe I do owe you something. I don't know.
You don't owe me nothin'.
I don't want any more killing if I can help it.
I'll give you until daylight to surrender the Colonel,
then we're coming in after you.
Well, we've got until daylight.
Listen, Jesse. I ain't gonna get hung for what the old Colonel's done.
I didn't notice you bein' so fussy
about what the old Colonel done a while back.
Nobody's gonna get hung.
Jesse.
You're all right, you're a fine boy.
You're all fine boys.
We'll get through, don't you fear.
There're still great days ahead for Quantrill and you'll share them,
all of you.
We know that, Colonel. Thanks.
Better try to get some sleep.
Yeah. I can sleep now.
Jesse?
We've been doin' some thinkin' on our own.
We can make a deal with that Yankee Captain.
$10,000 is a lot of money.
We're gonna turn him in.
We're gonna turn him in and collect the reward money.
It's him they really want, not us.
No. But it's him or us.
It's him or us, all right. Not that way.
What other way is there?
You don't trust them Yankees to make a deal with us, do you?
Remember that reward notice read "Dead or alive.
"And any member of his band that might be with him".
Have you figured some other way, Jesse?
In a couple of hours when things settle down out there,
we'll make it out the back way
down to the creek bed and come in behind them to the horses.
You heard that, Kate?
Get ready to go.
What about him? He'd never get through.
They've got just about one hour more.
Now we all know what to do.
We'll stand a better chance if we go out one at a time.
Kit, good luck.
Jim?
Cole?
Frank, take Kate with you. Jesse.
Go along with Frank.
Jesse.
Well, why don't you go?
Go where? With the others.
You knew I wouldn't leave.
Yeah,
and I know why you wouldn't.
Jesse, I want to tell you something.
I guess from the beginning I've been fooling myself.
I know I never fooled you.
Maybe I never fooled anybody else.
But no more. This is the end for me and I know it.
I'm not going to sit by and see you pay the penalty
for something that you had no part in.
There are two things we can do, Colonel,
make a fight of it here, or try to get out like the others did.
Like you said, Jesse, you'd never get through with me,
a blind man.
I figured you'd want to fight. I was gettin' things ready.
Suppose I told you this is the way I wanted it,
suppose I ordered you to go?
It wouldn't do you any good. Why?
You said I was givin' the orders, remember?
Mr. James,
I'm staying here alone.
You're to go. That's an order, Mr. James.
Did you hear me?
That's no good, Colonel.
Either fight together or break through together.
All right, we'll go.
Chances ain't too good, you know.
Are they any better here?
Help me with my coat.
Have to hurry, Colonel, it's getting light out.
I'm ready.
Jesse, if I don't make it...
You'll make it, all right.
You see any of them? They're mostly around in front.
Well, I guess this is as good a time as any
to make up our minds where we're goin', what we're gonna do.
I know what I'm gonna do.
I figure with all the experience I've picked up here lately
me and my brothers could make a real good go of it.
Well, that's fine, Kit. Cole, how about you and Jim?
We figured on stringin' along with you two.
That is, if you don't have any objections.
No, that's all right.
Jess, we'll just ride out a ways and you can catch up with us
if you're a mind to.
You said once you'd go anywhere with me.
Were you just saying that or did you mean it?
Maybe then. But... But what?
Look, Jesse, in a few years the war'll be over,
and everything will look different to you then
and so would I.
Good bye, Jesse.
And so into the pages of crime history,
rode five young men,
Kit Dalton, Cole and Jim Younger,
Frank and Jesse James.
Five whose warped lives
were to be a heritage from their teacher,
William Clarke Quantrill.