Original subtitles

All right, you mud -footed lint heads. We're going to welcome General Sherman

like soldiers.

Now, we're going to keep the ranks straight.

Stay in step.

All right. Left face.

Right shoulder.

For it.

Want to take a look, Wade?

Sure.

I never saw anything like that before.

Today the BPS &D is going to turn this little crossroads wood stop upside down.

Barnabas, they'll come out right side up. Would you like one when they're

developed?

Yeah, a picture of General Sherman?

Hey, maybe we could get one of the troops too, huh?

Sure, I'll make up an extra print for you. Hey, do you think General Sherman

will make a speech today?

Just a short one.

He'll only stop at Pikesville for a minute or two.

He's not bothering us, ma 'am.

I run a business, Mr. Tarrant.

Not a backdrop for a carnival.

Wade earns his money by doing chores, not watching the sights.

All right, I need somebody to carry around some equipment.

The job pays two bits an hour. Think you can handle it, Wade?

Sure, sure I can.

You're a corrupting influence.

You mind if I corrupt you as well, Miss Anderson?

I've got to test my camera and you'd make a mighty pretty subject.

Now, don't worry, Wheezy.

You look real pretty.

Just remember, you speak loud and clear so the general can hear you. And stand

up nice and straight.

And smile.

You here to see the general?

Indeed we are, ma 'am.

I must apologize for interrupting.

Oh, Mary Louise was just about to practice her poem. Would you like to

I'd be happy to, ma 'am.

Wheezy, recite your poem for the gentleman.

Kennesaw frowned in its glory, frowned down on the flag of the free, but the

East and the West bore out standards as... as... As Sherman marched

down to the sea, still onward we pressed as our banners swept out from Atlanta's

green wall.

And the blood of the patriot dampened the soil where the traitor flag falls.

Why, you remember that just fine, mister.

All my kinfolks have good memories, sir.

Will?

What is this, a robbery?

No, sir.

It is an execution.

Famous man, General.

One more civic luncheon and I'm going to develop a famous case of indigestion,

Mr. Calhoun.

Where's the next ambush?

Well, it's a little crossroads here called Pikesville.

Well, I imagine they'll have a mayor, a band, a lady's auxiliary, and a hot

fried lunch.

Maybe, but I don't think so.

It's just a little village, maybe a dozen families. Shouldn't be bad at all.

Hmm. Thank you.

Have a seat.

All of them, Cousin Hugh.

Good. Well, would you ask everybody to step to the other side of the tracks?

That'd be applied for you, understand, gentlemen?

And ladies.

Permit me to introduce myself.

I am Captain Hugh Sinclair, Army of the Confederacy.

And my company.

Willie Sinclair.

Jimmy Sinclair.

Lou Sinclair.

Pleased to know you all.

And Jess.

Now, who owns this store?

I do.

Amelia Henderson.

Miss Henderson, pardon my haste, but please understand.

I want all your guns and ammunition.

Lou, will you escort the lady to her supply room?

The lady will suffer no insult, sir.

I promise no harm will come to any of you.

Unless you create trouble.

Sergeant, I'm asking for your cooperation.

Well, you got a long wait, Reb.

Don't you care about these people?

Yeah, I care.

Then why are you risking their lives this way?

I do as he says.

I don't have none.

I don't carry a gun.

Then you won't mind if we check that, sir.

I must apologize for doubting your word, Mr... Tarrant, Dave Tarrant.

Of the BPS &D? That's right.

Excellent. You'll prove most useful, Mr. Tarrant.

I'm obliged to remind you all of the rules of war.

Anyone caught with a weapon while this town is occupied will be shot.

Just how long do you plan to occupy this town, sir?

We shall leave at a quarter past three this afternoon.

What's supposed to happen then?

At that time, Sergeant, General Sherman will be dead.

I thank you kindly, ma 'am.

You're stealing my property.

You don't have to be polite.

It's a military necessity.

You're trying to shame me, Miss Henderson.

You can't.

We're going to execute a man that deserves it.

And there ain't nothing going to stop us.

Your pardon.

Give me that.

Amy, they've got the whole town hostage. If I could just get a drop on this and

clear it. Yes, yes, yes. Of course, you could get yourself killed and some other

people, too.

What are you going to do?

Something sensible.

Mr. Sinclair!

I understand you want all our weapons.

Will?

A most appreciative man.

Jamie, Will, take the women and the children and put them in this house over

here.

Mr. Sinclair, may I stay in the store with my brother? I'm sorry, ma 'am. I

cooperated with you.

Very well.

I do appreciate what you did. You can stay with your brother.

Move the men inside the store.

Gentlemen.

Jess?

He's here.

You Yankee soldiers pick that man up. Take him inside.

In fact, Mr. Tyrant, and you.

It's a flesh wound. You'll survive.

Oh, I'll be mighty fine.

I'm hard to kill.

Yes?

Why did you shoot him?

He was reaching for a gun.

What caliber would you say this is?

I couldn't tell for sure.

Well, now you know.

And there'll be no more shooting unless you are sure.

Mr. Tyrant, take off his jacket.

Does anyone have a knife?

I said take off his jacket, Mr. Tyrant.

Sergeant, I'm sorry about your wound, but I need your jacket and I can't have

bloodstained.

All right.

I'll thank you for your uniforms.

You can undress in the storeroom, but be careful. Any uniform gets damaged.

I'll damage the man that did it.

All right, go ahead.

Would you care to wait upstairs, ma 'am?

I'll wait here with the others, thank you.

Miss Anderson, do you think you could find some clothes for my men?

Of course.

Wade, fetch some shirts.

The sergeant seems shy.

Maybe he just doesn't want to look at you.

Mr. Dawson.

I never thought I'd find myself in a blue -bellied uniform.

But you'd do it for an assassination.

Under the circumstances, I do not consider it to be dishonorable.

This is not a battle.

It's only an execution.

Well, Lou, collect those uniforms.

I suggest the rest of you relax.

There'll be a guard posted outside, front and rear.

Not all ready.

That's just the junction.

We're still more than an hour apart.

Praise be.

Frankly, Ben.

I have a deathly fear of crowds.

Strange.

I heard you were entertaining the thought of going into politics.

Absolutely not.

All the politicians came sniffing around me like a hungry dog after a worthwhile

bone.

They even approached me suggesting I campaign for the presidency.

I think that I gave a clear -cut answer.

Gentlemen, if nominated, I will not accept.

If elected, I will not serve.

How are we going to get out of here?

We can't sneak out of here with all these guards.

Let's rush the guard to the front door and take his gun. Sure, then we can get

the second guard.

There's nine of us against the other three. Most of us could get killed.

No, Sergeant.

Without guns, we can't rush five armed men.

You're a cautious man, Terrence.

Yes, when it comes to the lives of women and children, I try to be.

If Amy hadn't turned in our rifle, I could... What would you have done with

made yourself into a hero so you could have a hero's burial.

Amy, I'll... Wait a minute, Wade.

She gave us a chance when she gave him that rifle.

To do what?

To prevent a murder.

Miss Henderson, Sinclair trusts you.

Talk to him.

Distract him.

That'll give me a chance to get out the back.

And then what?

I'll throw a sighting switch. It should stop the general's train.

He won't get here.

They'll kill you.

No, I don't think so.

Sinclair sees himself as an honorable man.

At any rate, he won't shoot anybody else.

I'm sure he won't because I won't help you.

Miss Henderson, there'd be no risk to you personally.

Perhaps.

What about Mrs. Dolphin and her children?

They won't be involved.

Now you're being logical, Mr. Tarrant. Well, those men are not logical.

If you block their plan, they could kill every one of us.

All right, you've...

You've got every reason to be afraid.

I'm not afraid for myself.

Oh, no, I am afraid, but it's not just for myself.

My father was a brave man.

Storekeepers aren't supposed to be courageous, but he was.

It killed him. Four years ago, some gunman came into this door, and he was

brave, and he went for his gun, and they shot him down right where he stood.

He died right here.

I watched him die.

I scrubbed his blood off the counter.

I'm sorry.

Don't be.

You taught me something.

It's an ugly world, Mr. Tarrant.

There really isn't very much mercy.

I screamed for help.

And nobody came.

Does that have to mean you can't help any other man?

It means that I won't take a foolish risk for General Sherman, a man I don't

even know.

Can you understand that?

Yes, I'm afraid I can.

Well, maybe I could talk to Sinclair. Yes, you could talk to him, Barnabas,

you couldn't distract him. How can you be so sure?

Because they're suspicious of every man in this town.

We don't know that, Dave.

I do.

Now let's get something clear.

Any of you men cause trouble.

Any trouble.

You women and kids are gonna hurt. You wouldn't kill a woman.

Oh, I didn't say kill.

I said hurt.

Is that clear enough?

We've got to do something.

We can. We can start by finding out who they are and what they plan to do.

We're going to kill General Sherman, he said.

But we don't know how.

Where are you going?

Out for a little talk.

You can't.

Will you help me?

The next shot will kill you.

I want to talk to Captain Sinclair.

Inside.

Captain! Yes!

It's important!

Mr. Tarrant.

Captain, you've come here to kill General Sherman.

But along the way, a lot of innocent people might get hurt.

There were five women and children named Sinclair.

General Sherman taught them the high price of innocence when he marched to

sea.

He and his army of devils burned and gutted our country.

That was a war in which I was an officer, sir.

An officer is responsible for the conduct of his troops, Mr. Tarrant.

Even in the Yankee army.

But how long does that responsibility last?

The war's over.

Wars don't end when generals surrender.

They end when memories die.

If I kill your wife and child, Mr. Tarrant, when will you forgive me?

One year?

Ten years?

You can't kill a memory by killing a man.

Sooner or later, all of you get killed as well.

Lou there.

This isn't his revenge, but he'll pay for it.

Jess? Lou?

They've all been hunted down.

Where's Willie and Jamie?

They were in front of that house.

Yes, stay at your post.

Lou, cover the street.

Mr. Tarrant.

Now you stay in front of me.

If there is a trap, it'll close on you first.

Now move, sir.

Get back inside. Why did he go to my house? You're smart.

Now, that door opens again.

I'll put a bullet through it.

Mrs.

Dolson had some fresh pie.

Looks tasty.

It is you.

Go ahead and eat.

That's enough for everybody, Captain.

Would you like some?

Thank you, ma 'am. But not really.

My sister Anne loved to bake.

You don't remember your cousin Anne.

Go ahead and eat.

She died when you were just babies.

Like these.

She wasn't full grown herself.

She was just 18 the day she burned to death. Cousin Hugh.

And finish your pie.

Captain. My mother.

My sister.

My two aunts.

Your second cousin, Jeffrey.

He was a month shy of his eighth birthday.

Finish your pie.

They were just about finished breakfast when Sherman's army came, and they were

frightened.

Three women, a girl, seven -year -old boy.

So they hid in the cellar.

That pie smells good, doesn't it?

I wonder what it smelled like when the house began burning. Stop it!

You finish your pie.

No. Then you finish what you came here for.

General Sherman is coming in on that train. He's coming in today.

We'll get him.

We can't think of anything else. We can't do anything else.

We have got to remember we are here for just one thing.

To kill a man.

One more time, and you two relieve Lou and Jess.

Load.

Aim.

Fire.

Dismissed. There's nobody watching that back door now.

They don't have to. Lou's on guard.

I still can't believe Sinclair hurt the children.

Mr. Dolson, Sinclair's a fanatic.

He isn't going to allow anything to interfere with killing Sherman.

Anything we do to stop him risks their lives.

Dean Sutton.

Stand straight.

We are going to practice until we are fit to be an honor guard for the

Shoulder up.

think we ought to make a try for it.

We can't take chances with my family.

Do you believe, Tarrant?

I'll kill you before I let you risk my children.

Miss Henderson, out here.

Miss Henderson?

What is it?

Can you find me some paper and a pencil?

Thanks. Gonna try and get a message through old Howley to the post?

That's right.

Now, Barnabas, you find yourself a way out the back.

And into the wagon.

That's right.

Good luck.

Right.

Send him away.

He's harmless.

He's got blood.

I said send him away.

I don't want to have to hurt an old man just because of your stubbornness.

You send him away.

A day of joy, Miss Henderson, graced by your

sunlit presence.

And to you, Mrs. Dolson, Sergeant.

God, I don't recognize you.

Sergeant Sinclair, from the fort.

Oh, then the rumor is true that General William Tecumseh Sherman is arriving in

person, grazing our territory with a visit.

You can't stay, Howley.

Why not, pray?

We've had sickness.

It might be typhoid.

Oh, but I have remedies, Sergeant, for every ill that afflicts the human body.

You will have to move on, Howley.

We've had sickness, and you're just not welcome.

Miss Henderson, I have regarded you as a friend.

Now I am forced to amend my consideration.

The lady was just anxious about your health, sir.

Perhaps.

You're a gallant sergeant, which is rare.

Thank you, sir.

As rare as a Georgia gentleman wearing Union Army stripes.

How did you know I came from Georgia?

Well, frankly, I was once an actor.

Breath of the length of this union, sir, including Georgia.

Oh, I can trace an accent as a bloodhound traces a fugitive.

Oh, you are clearly educated, distinctly from Georgia and probably from the

other side of Atlanta.

Remarkable, come to think of it.

A southern gentleman welcoming Sherman.

Well, it's been a long time since the war, Howley.

True, true.

But it still makes for an intriguing story.

I am afraid it does.

And I can't have you telling it.

You step down, sir.

After we leave, you can give him a decent burial.

And what do we say over him?

Murdered for no reason?

He was killed in the course of a military action.

Military action.

That sounds good, Captain.

Just because he might have told on you.

Yes. And I will take no chances.

Only a short time.

Then we'll be out of your lives forever.

Less than an hour.

Very well.

Tell me, this little town, Pikesville, are they going to a deal of trouble?

Well, I suppose it's a big deal for them.

If this is a big thing that ever happened to them.

Up till now, the most excitement they have is going down to the general store

every day and watching the clerk measure cloth.

I want you to get your men into the storeroom.

Why, Reb?

I want to keep them out of temptation's way.

Not you.

All right, men in the back room.

All in, Hugh.

Good. You trust the rest of us?

I need Mr. Tarrant and his assistant.

I hold your wife and your children.

I'm sure you'll be reasonable.

And I want you separate from your men.

To less than an hour, gentlemen, Miss Henderson.

I beg you all, do not be reckless.

Yes?

We've got to do something.

Why?

Why do we have to gamble our lives for a stranger?

It's not for a stranger, Amelia.

It's against a killing.

There's already been one unnecessary death.

Howley, there mustn't be any others.

And you won't help.

The lady's afraid, Mr. Dawson.

I'm being sensible.

It's not cowardice.

You're trying to keep yourself walled in, away from all feeling.

One man is dead, Amelia.

And while you're being so sensible, another man's going to be killed.

If we don't do anything to stop them, we're just as guilty as they are.

Which one of you carries a pocket watch?

Cousin Hugh's got to be certain of the time.

Your watch says it's 2 .14.

The one over there only reads 2 o 'clock.

You wouldn't be fooling around with the clocks now, would you? Why should we?

Because we've got to be ready for that train at exactly 3 o 'clock.

That one runs slow.

Needs fixing.

So it does.

my father.

Bridges in the chamber, hammers cocked.

When I give the command, present arms.

The front rank will drop to a kneeling position.

Bring your rifle to the shoulder and fire.

No more.

Dave, there's nothing you can do.

Dave.

We got a plan.

Oh, one of us forget it. Nobody can get a warning message out of this town

alone. Wait, Ken.

I've got these pigeons on the roof. I can send a message to a friend in Briggs

Junction.

No, the cards are... catch you. Not if I go out there and distract him.

No. I'll handle the guard.

All I need is five minutes.

I'll get you the five minutes, Wade.

Where are you going?

I was just going to go show Barnabas my rock collection.

I guess that's all right.

Sinclair!

Sinclair, you call yourself an officer and a gentleman.

You're a murderer!

That's enough of you inside.

I'm calling you out.

Your choice of weapons.

Inside! You or any of your kin, you're all murderers.

Get back inside, Terrence.

You killed a harmless old man, Sinclair.

Are you afraid to fight me on even terms?

Us and you!

We have no time for personal arguments.

the attic door to the roof. His friend is up on the roof now.

You're up now.

I want to see you.

Come on down, boy.

You're responsible.

It was your idea. You used my brother. Yes, I agreed to the plan, but you

betrayed it.

I didn't know that Wade was in on it. No.

You thought it was Barnabas.

Now, does that excuse you?

Boy, I should have you shot.

He didn't know what he was doing. Yes, I did. Quiet. I knew what I was doing. It

was my idea.

Be quiet.

Quiet, both of you.

Please, Miss Henderson, I should have you shot, but I won't.

Because it was your idea, sir, wasn't it?

No. Wait.

Dave, you know it wasn't your idea.

Quiet!

Wasn't it?

Yes. And that's why you came outside to challenge me to a duel.

That's right.

I accept your challenge.

You will have your duel.

My choice of weapons.

And I am going to kill you.

I feel ridiculous.

I'm a popinjay strutting across the West for the benefit of journalists.

You know, in a time of peace, a soldier should be crated and stored like rifles.

Looking for another war, are you, General?

Scarcely.

I told my new recruits, all of them, war is hell.

It's not glory and it's not adventure, but pure hell.

I'll go along with that.

I served in Confederacy during that war.

And I fought against it.

You know, every time an ex -Confederate looks at me, I can see the accusation.

That I burned half of Georgia in my march to the sea.

Well, that all seems like it happened a long time ago, General.

It's a new country out here. It's got a great future.

And I'm trying to build a new railroad.

Not preserve old Hayden's.

I appreciate that.

You know, I shall never forget my march through Georgia.

I'm not proud of what I did.

Neither am I ashamed.

It was ugly and it was war and it was necessary.

But I did kill the few to end the killing of many.

Like I say, it happened a long time ago.

The best thing that any of us can do at this point is forget it.

Look ahead.

If Dave's killed, you're to blame.

I know.

I know.

I'm sorry.

That's easy enough, isn't it?

If he does get killed, I'm getting out of here no matter what.

We all are, no matter what.

It isn't hardly a fair duel.

Well, Terran asked for it.

Be careful, Yankee.

That hilt will be the last thing you'll ever touch.

Not your weapon, sir?

I've handled a saber before.

Don't make no difference.

Cousin Hugh was the best swordsman in the entire Corps.

Killed three men with a saber.

Old men, Captain?

On guard, sir.

Not so quickly, sir.

What do you want me to do?

Nothing.

Just nothing.

If they kill Tarrant, they'll be looking at him.

That'll give us our chance.

So I don't want you to warn Sinclair again.

I won't.

I'd like to be sure of that.

Get his assistant out there and Miss Henderson.

Deterrent, you get out your equipment.

Now.

Blue, get the women and children out here.

Deterrent, set up your camera.

You help him, boy.

I want to help.

What?

I'm ashamed. What can I do?

I go behind the darkroom to distract Sinclair.

When he hears, smile and get the women and children off the platform.

Thank you.

The rest of you fall in.

one body no one else is to be harmed just the great marauder

the butcher shaman

Wheezy, why don't you practice your poem?

Okay, if General Wheezy... General Sherman's coming. Yeah, you go ahead.

What's she up to?

A distraction.

Tennessee frowning its glory, frown down on the flag of the free.

The east and the west bore out standards, and Sherman marched down to

And the blood of the patriot dampened the soil where the traitor flag falls.

I don't forget Barnabas.

I'll give you the signal.

You holler, smile, good and loud.

Right.

Detail. Dean Huck.

Or do you want me to make an example?

We've got to make history, Captain.

I don't like it, but I'm going to take a picture of it.

History's on.

In another few moments.

And now, smile!

Sounds like quite a show.

Been waiting all day. I imagine they're pretty excited.

Where's your reception for you, General?

Do you have a match?

Lizzie? This ain't your poem for the general.

Smile.

Kennesaw frowned in its glory, frowned down on the flag of the free, and the

east and the west bore out standards as Sherman marched down to the sea.

Amelia. You're right on time.

BPS &D, miss, is always on time. Who is that for?

A very important person.

Who?

Can you move back a little?

Me? No.

Us.

Come on, smile a little bit.