All language subtitles for 7th.Cavalry.1956.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

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.

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