Original subtitles

At ease, men.

Welcome back, Sergeant. Is this all there are of you? Just the seven men? Yes, sir.

At ease.

Well, Mr. Fraser, how soon can you ward up and take on supplies?

What?

I'm sending you back up to Missouri immediately.

This time with an entire battalion. And bring back another cargo of coffins.

It's the United States Army's duty to see that every

Indian above Trapper's Landing is wiped out.

You'll be ready to leave by six in the morning. I'm telling you no, Colonel.

You don't even know what happened up there.

A courier came back and gave us a full report.

The only full report is right here on this boat with me.

We know all we need to know, Mr. Frazier.

Nearly a full platoon wiped out.

Lieutenant Devereaux failed in his duties.

You're not going to use this boat to risk any more lives.

This boat doesn't leave the dock until the generals heard my side of the story.

Mr. Frazer, I'm not used to having the Colonel's judgment questioned.

I'm only trying to question his facts, General.

Are the era carriers on the warpath, or are they not?

Sure they are, but... Well, then I mean to send a force to control them, sir.

General, I might have made a mistake when I sent so few men,

but it was all that I could spare.

Maybe if I hadn't counted so much on Lieutenant Devereaux...

Devereaux wasn't to blame.

That's what I've been trying to make you see.

Gentlemen.

Mr. Holden.

General Jacoby. Colonel Holden.

What happened to the wing, Ben? It's nothing, Gray.

I'm afraid you have a very headstrong pilot working for you.

I hope you can reason with him.

Oh, that's not easy.

I just got back into town, gentlemen. I don't know

any more about this than you do. Excuse me.

Ben, I got here as soon as I could. Now tell me, what's this all about?

They're trying to take over the boat again, Gray. By six in the morning,

they'll be on their way to a full-scale bloodbath. Well, we'll see, we'll see.

Now let's get the whole story.

There's no need to send any more men up there, don't you see?

That's what Devereaux died to keep them from doing. Devereaux?

Uh-huh.

Yes, but Ben, this is the United States Army. I don't see how you can stop them.

When they hear the truth, it'll stop them. I've got the proof, right here.

General, if you'd just let me show you what's behind all this.

Come in, Mr. Rothgate. Good evening, General, gentlemen, colonel. Rothgate,

I'm deeply sorry to have disturbed you this way.

The army needs me. I want to cooperate anytime. Would you sit down, please?

Well, what can I do for you?

I'd say you can go to jail, Rothgate, and count yourself lucky. Jail?

For what? If the army wants to control the Indians,

there's a lot simpler way than kill them.

It's not the Indians' fault.

It's the fault of Rothgate's fur company. Just a moment, Fraser.

You're making very serious charges. You bet I am.

If you'll just give me five minutes.

This hearing will be conducted in an orderly manner. Is that clear?

Yes, sir. All right.

I'm going to ask Colonel Nicholson to give us the full account from the beginning.

You'll have a chance to tell your side of the story in due time.

Throughout the swing of this year, Mr.

Rothgate has come to me with stories of Indian attacks on his fur trading posts.

I considered them merely nuisance raids by renegades,

so I thought a handful of troops could control them.

With this in mind, I went to Mr. Holden to charter his boat.

I can't sit off on a trip like that without talking to Holden first, Colonel.

All right, well, let me talk to Mr. Holden.

He's in New Orleans.

Oh, what's he doing in New Orleans?

I don't know, but I wish I was doing it too.

I thought the Eric Harris were part of the Sioux Nation.

Haven't they signed a treaty? That's right, and broken it.

They were given land to live on west of the river.

The government pays them a generous monthly annuity,

but that's not enough for them. They've attacked my trappers, stolen my furs.

An outpost near their village will put a stamp to that.

Therefore, I'm sending one platoon and a dozen workmen to build them a stockade.

It's a long way upriver.

Those channels give a boat this size a lot of trouble.

My partner spends half his time in that country. Name's Noy Woodley.

I'll notify him to meet you at Trapper's Landing and guide you the rest of the way.

Can he supply fuel? I'll see to it he has wood cut for you when you get there.

I don't know. This is the only sound boat in St. Louis at the moment.

You're a good pilot.

Must I remind you that I could commandeer this boat?

The Enterprise isn't a troop ship, Colonel. Well, she's going to be. Now,

you get rid of all the luxuries. Strip her down to just the essentials.

We're ready to leave in 48 hours.

What's your name?

Don't be ordering me around, mister. I'm not in the army. Well,

you might as well be. You're working for it.

There's a free Irish-born civilian, and don't you forget it.

May I have your name, please?

James Michael Cassidy.

You carpenter? That I am. All right. Name?

Tony Welchek, stonemason.

Polish?

You got something against the Poles? I'm married to one.

Left, left, left, left, left, left, left, left.

It's that guard outfit from Jefferson Barracks.

They bring them up Fourth of July for welcoming congressmen. Saints preserve us.

Me life's in the hands of schoolboys.

All right, you got five minutes.

But stay in the dark. Don't make me come and haul you out of the saloon.

Dismissed.

Don't they have an officer in charge?

Yes, I believe he's putting in his appearance now.

Now then, which one of you is going to pay for the carriage?

My pleasure.

Sir, shall I attend to your luggage? No, thank you. I'll take it. Oh,

you might ask Sergeant Bulger to get the men aboard.

I'll be alone as soon as I say goodbye to my sisters.

Yes, sir.

Andre, I just don't think the United States Army is

showing good manners at all taking you away from us.

It will only be for a few weeks. All I ask is that you be true to me, all of you.

Oh, Andre.

You're going to be careful, aren't you, honey, up in that wilderness?

Careful?

Janine, if I thought I'd be in danger, I would never go home.

Now, I really must hurry. Goodbye, love.

Goodbye, love. Goodbye, sweetheart. Goodbye.

Lieutenant Devereaux reporting as directed, sir. Well, not precisely as directed,

Lieutenant. Colonel, should I have my men move these things aboard?

They were just removed by my orders.

Yes, sir. I see, sir. You're not going on any pleasure

excursion, Lieutenant? Certainly not, sir.

It was an embarrassing, un-military display, sir.

But I was counting on field experience and freedom from the

temptations of the town to make an officer out of it.

What kind of an officer? A bloodthirsty, stuffed shirt?

I'll tell you what kind of an officer, Mr. Frazier.

A capable military commander.

Not an impulsive poppin' J that lost control of himself.

Sir, Sergeant Bulger reported an incident that I believe you ought to hear.

Sergeant Bulger.

At ease, Sergeant. Yes, sir.

Sergeant, you related an incident to me about friction between

the first platoon and the workmen that I'd hired.

Friction which Lieutenant Devereaux failed to control. Would you tell us about it?

Well, sir, ever since the lieutenant took over the platoon,

we've been getting a reputation of being, well, soft, saloon troops.

And them workmen started writing us about it as soon as we come on the boat.

Well, now, you just don't worry, mister. This outfit can fight.

You're fine for carousing, maybe, but precious little use in a scrap.

Would you like to find out for certain? All right, now sit down, Chase.

They got no call to ride us.

There ain't one of you can stop us.

Pull it!

Attention!

At ease.

Lieutenant, these... Chase, be quiet.

Yes, sir.

Gentlemen, we have a long trip to make together.

This isn't going to help.

We were just giving him a little ragging, sonny.

Well, you've had your joke.

Now settle down and forget it.

The Army's got no business sending boys to do man's work.

Just let them tangle with a few Indians, Sonny,

and you'll find yourself in command of a platoon of corpses.

What did you say?

I said corpses.

Them Indians is smart and they're tough.

These boys of yours won't live ten minutes.

Spunky are you fancy, Bridges.

All right, you got a bite.

What's the matter with you? You come here to stop a fight or start one?

All right, settle down. Of course, he was only sticking up for the platoon colonel.

He always did that.

That's very commendable, Sergeant.

Nevertheless, sir, no good officer brawls in front of his men, whatever the reason.

No, I should think not.

Well, thank you, Sergeant.

Now, gentlemen, we've heard an account of a hot-headed officer who later,

I understand, jeopardized the lives of all his men.

It hardly supports Mr. Frazier's charges against me. Is that all?

That's not all by a long shot.

Is it all right if I talk now, General?

All right, Mr. Frazier.

I don't blame you for feeling the way you do about Devereaux.

Till the night of Trapper's landing, I would have agreed with you.

There was a lot more to him than that.

I'm not trying to excuse the fight. I was mad about it too.

If I believe that, I have you turn this boat around right now.

I doubt you'll lose that many.

I don't intend to lose any, not a man.

Well, I only meant that this can be a difficult

mission or I would have never been sent on it.

How do you know that?

I make certain no one looks to me for daring leadership in the field.

I lack the gift for it, so I avoid it.

Oh, the army.

First they take over my boat,

and then they send me an officer who thinks he's heading for the fairgrounds.

Well, am I wrong?

You don't think we'll actually see any fighting, do you?

I don't know. I know the river.

There's bad water ahead and rough country ashore.

We're days above Leavenworth, days above anything but trade and post and wilderness.

And I'm counting on you to keep order among your men. I promise I'll keep order.

You're not convinced?

You don't have much faith in me, do you?

I don't know.

You're a frontiersman. You've spent your life on the rivers. That's right.

Well, then you'd hardly be prepared for someone like me.

You something special?

I am André Vázquez de Verón.

Spanish mother, French father.

And both of them born of generations of privilege and frivolity.

You've seen where I come from, surely. In New Orleans, huh?

Mobile? Natchez? I don't worry too much about where a man comes from.

What he does seems more important.

Admirable. Fair and straightforward.

Well, what I do now is command that silly platoon.

So far, they've never been exposed to danger in battle.

I've done my best to make sure of that.

And now I will do my best to make sure that no harm comes to

them while we guard these sacred outposts of the fur traders.

Don't worry, Fraser.

I'll look after the men.

And thanks for the medication.

And in the next few days, I began to realize he meant it.

He wasn't always what you gentlemen might call military,

but he looked after his men.

He'd drill them for hours and they'd look mighty smart.

Then he'd get bored with that and get out a pair of

swords he had and try to teach him how to fence.

He could take a good deal of hardship.

Then he'd turn around and say the food wasn't up to what he required.

River catfish.

I'll enter that.

Spend a good bit of time learning to cook, Lieutenant?

Mr. Travis, if you squander money the way I have in Madrid, Paris,

surely you know a little about cuisine.

No, not quite that.

Ferris, huh? Uh-huh. You might have been better off to stay there.

You would think so, wouldn't you?

But you see, I didn't go there for pleasure.

I went to study, and I failed the course.

Study what?

Wine, women?

Those be lies became my consolation.

No, I was starting to be a priest.

You, a priest?

You're no more surprised than I am, Mr. Travis, now that I look back.

But in those days, confusion and a troubled spirit made me look at many careers,

searching for one that might be valuable.

You don't call being a priest valuable?

Not if a man is confused, no.

Only if he is certain.

A priesthood is a vocation that calls for strength and courage.

It was a disappointment to decide to give it up.

Let's try the fish. Swinging pretty wide across

the channel, wasn't it? To join the army?

Oh, the army.

A naive European solution to a sad romance.

I figured you'd been pretty successful in that line.

Oh, it wasn't the lady who disapproved of me.

It was her husband.

There was even talk of a new hool.

Oh, I'd never do, facing up to a challenge.

I am clever with swords, Mr. Travis. I wouldn't have lost.

But it seemed wasteful to take a life simply

because the lady and I were... undependable.

Takes guts to turn down a fight sometimes.

Thank you, that's what I like to tell myself.

But it did seem best to leave town.

I knew people who would contrive to get me a commission.

I knew a tailor who would trust me for the uniform, and so I joined the army.

Mr. Frazer, I need you at the pilot house. The town's turning narrow.

You starting snacks?

Dozens of them. Willow Tree Bend.

Have some men on deck and we'll tie up for the night. Yes, sir.

What's Willow Tree Bend?

It's the first of the Badwater.

First of the Indian country.

We'll be in Trapper's Landing tomorrow.

Then we're lucky we have a decent dinner.

It might be our last.

Remember it. Can you check the wood?

Yeah, just now. It's mighty low. All right,

be ready to wood up at Trapper's Landing. Where's he stirring us anyhow?

Hey, we're going to hit the bank. Sometimes that's where the deep water is.

Hit the bank. All right, get a line out, Trapper.

May I watch from here? Come on up.

You're one of the cool, nerveless kind, aren't you?

Excellent. Extraordinary.

Very skillful. Just shut up a minute.

Marker halfway.

Steady then, steady.

The faster, the worse of it.

For now.

For now.

Hand me that glass, will you?

The whole place has been burned to the ground. Are there any survivors?

Looks like only two.

Two survivors turned out to be C.C. Thompson, the Indian agent for the territory,

and Mr. Rothgate's partner, Noah Woodley. Now, hold on, Fraser.

I'll defend myself against your charges any time.

But, General, should he be allowed to drag

in the names of two good men who are dead?

I'm only trying to report what really happened, Rothgate.

I'll get to the point, Fraser.

Yes, sir.

It was dangerous tying up at a place where Indians had just attacked,

but I didn't have any choice. I needed fuel bad, and Thompson needed care.

Mr. Thompson, there is a treaty with this tribe, isn't there?

What made them attack the post? It's too weak to talk now.

Mr. Thompson, this is gonna hurt, but that bullet has to come out.

Put your butt on this.

I can't understand why they do it.

We were told they were only molesting trappers from time to time. Yeah,

who understands why Indians do anything?

How long ago did they attack you?

Night before last, just at dusk.

Must have been a full war party.

It was close to a hundred braves.

We were cutting wood for your boat.

All your trappers were killed?

Four of them there. The rest made it inside. They got burned out during the night.

How did you and Thompson get away?

He got shot right at the beginning. I took him into the woods.

The Indians didn't notice us when they left.

How can we be sure they left? They may be watching every move we make.

That's right. They may be. This isn't what we expected at all.

What would suddenly make them destroy a trading post?

Lieutenant, they didn't give us a chance to ask.

I got it.

Thanks, mister.

Take it easy.

It was just the same with you, Mr. Fraser. I haven't eaten in two days.

All right, come with me.

You think it's safe to go ashore? I don't know.

I haven't seen an Indian for two days.

I'd have been long gone for Pinewood Station if

it hadn't been for Thompson waiting for you.

That doesn't mean they're not there, hiding.

How far is Pinewood Station?

Oh, about 18 miles across the country.

Less by the river. It's our biggest post.

We'll never make one mile without wood.

I'll take some of the crew ashore and cut it,

and I'll need some of your men to guard them, Devereaux.

You're not going to risk going ashore.

I'm not going to risk sitting here forever. We might be walking into an ambo.

She said there were a hundred braves. That was two days ago.

If you go, I want to go along.

You've had enough.

You may need me.

All right.

Go and get your men, Lieutenant.

Ben.

Come outside a minute, please.

Ben, this isn't what we were sent up here for.

We were supposed to build an outpost.

Impress a handful of troublemakers.

We have to have wood. What can we do except go cut it? We can go back. Now.

I'll report the situation to Colonel Nicholson. Let him handle it. Oh, dear.

Well, you can cast us loose, can't you? Let the current carry us back down.

Yeah, bro, you saw the channel we just came through.

It takes a full head of steam to make the boat answer a wheel.

Drift him with the current, I'd be aground in two minutes.

You're right, I admit. You need more men.

I'll go with you myself, if that will help.

But I can't risk the platoon. You don't have any choice.

Devereux, I know how you feel,

but you're in a war and you're going to have to fight it.

Yes, that's what we've stumbled into.

But why? What started it?

I don't know.

I just know you're in command here, not of a drill or a parade or an honor guard.

Command of a combat force. Small as it is, I need your help.

Now go below and get me ten men.

We'll be ready in a few minutes.

As it were, as it were, I need ten of you to go ashore with a wood party.

Past that clearing, sir?

Yes.

Well, ain't those woods full of Indians, sir?

We don't know.

I'll lead the squad.

Who's coming along?

There ain't gonna be any volunteers, Lieutenant.

You just have to pick them.

Yes, I suppose that's best.

Form a guard around the clearing. Start at the top of the hill.

And keep alert.

Detail, double time, hike!

All right, let's get these axes working.

He's signaling for a parley.

Can you speak that language? A little bit. All right, see what he wants.

Hold your positions, and don't anybody shoot.

They aren't even armed.

Come to sell us beads, maybe. Shut up, you two.

I've seen meaner-looking Indians than that sleeping in saloons.

What did they tell you?

All the usual complaints.

The government owes them this and that.

Boats and threats, I told them they're gonna get precious little,

they're gonna keep on burning trading posts. We better pull back till they leave.

Forget the wood, men. Head back to the boat.

Corporal Chase, back to the boat.

You'll have to leave him, Devereaux. He's dead.

Come on.

Come on, Devereaux.

They say a man's bound to chains the first time he's shot at.

I don't think Andre even noticed being shot at.

What he was going through was learning what it's like to give an order.

And see another man die for obeying it.

I have a thing, yes.

Just rest, Dunbar, just rest.

Five, I counted.

Five of us. We hardly even saw any Indians.

We thought that... I didn't hear you.

We thought this was just going to be a boat ride.

Why don't you come and have some food?

Later. Devereaux, I had to try it. I can't move upstream or down without fuel.

I understand.

They were just too clever, that's all.

So we'll sit here and see what else they have in store for us.

But why then?

If men are going to get killed,

don't they have the right to know what the fight's about?

Trappers and their families have been wiped out.

Now six of your men and two of mine.

We can't let Indians run wild.

Oh, so we're fighting for revenge. Not exactly.

Well, then what is it, Ben? Fur collars?

That's it.

The right to wear fur collars.

I had one on a coat once.

I was proud of it.

But it wasn't worth a human life.

All I can tell you is for a long night, you're going to need food and rest.

I admire your practicality.

I'll be in shortly.

Maybe I should take some men and try to reach Pinewood Stockade overland.

You wouldn't get past the clearing.

Well, can't we at least take the boat away from shore?

It's safer tied up. We only have to guard the side of the boat that faces the water.

The Indians won't try to cross that clearing.

Well, I hope that lieutenant of yours has sense enough to put sentries out.

You men, the lieutenant wants you to get up from steam all you can.

I take my orders from Mr. Frazer, sonny.

I said the lieutenant wants you to get up from steam. Now move it.

If this means business, all right, give him steam.

Move it, who gave the order to cast off? That fool!

Mr. Frazer, you're wasting your time defending Lieutenant Devereaux.

You're quoting the lieutenant as saying some very

bitter things about my furs and my company.

Is that the only reason you're attacking me?

I'm going to prove everything I'm saying.

Then please do so, Frazer.

There's no point in dragging out this story of a weak man's disgrace.

He wasn't a weak man. That's what I'm trying to make you understand. Now,

I've started, and I'm gonna finish.

Andre had put us in a bad spot.

Nothing but black water around us.

And now what little wood we'd had was completely gone.

Now they can bore us any time they like.

When you do something stupid, you really do it right, don't you?

Don't stand there cussing yourself.

You try to help your men that didn't work.

Go and help them now.

And see that they keep their eyes open.

Look, there must be some way to work us off this stand bar. Without wood?

Look, we're going to work up a real head before we can move her.

Then we'll have to reach Pinewood by land.

How do you know the Indians haven't burned Pinewood, too?

They wouldn't dare attack it. It's bigger than Trapper's Landing.

It's protected by a small stockade. Well, we'll see you in the morning.

Maybe we can make Pinewood by daylight.

Fraser, I swear you can. I guarantee to get you there. You guarantee?

I mean, I know the way. I'll guide you there.

Fraser, you can't ask us just to sit here until those Indians come after us.

I said we'd see you in the morning. Right now, nobody leaves this boat.

That's you, Lieutenant? Aren't you on duty?

No, sir. Hale just relieved me. You know, it makes you kind of jumpy, sir,

just standing around here staring at this water.

I got to where I was hearing things.

The current, maybe.

Yeah, maybe. Maybe.

Can't be too sure.

Try to get some rest.

Good night, sir. Good night.

Are we going to get out of this, sir?

We know in the morning.

What time is it now?

A little past three?

Morning.

We ain't never gonna make it to daylight, sir.

Oh, I don't know. We've lasted till daylight before, all of us.

In the saloon at the Palace Hotel.

That's a fact, sir.

Keep it in mind.

I'll buy you a drink next time we're there.

Yes, sir. I'll sure remember that.

How are you feeling, Mr. Thompson?

I gotta talk to that army officer.

He's pretty busy right now.

I haven't much time, Frazier.

I gotta talk to him.

Well, what about him?

Alex?

Sir?

Just checking. Don't worry, sir. I'm still awake.

Hale.

Men, listen to me. They're trying to pick us up one by one.

Break out every man, Bolger, and all those workmen. Nobody's off duty any longer.

I want a ring of men around the lower deck, not more than six feet apart,

any of them. There won't be enough of us, sir, even with the workmen.

I'll ask Fraser for his crew also. Get moving, Sergeant. Yes, sir.

Andre, come with me.

I can't.

It's Thompson. He's going fast. The Indian agent.

He's saying things you better hear for yourself.

Mr. Thompson, I have to be with my men. I just want to warn you, son.

No sense losing a lot of good soldiers. I've already lost a lot of good soldiers.

What is it?

You better listen to him.

He told me Woodley left the boat.

He's trying to make pine wood on his own. I don't care what Woodley's trying to do.

It's me and Woodley, them Indians he's after.

You and Woodley?

They've been stealing the Indians' government money for months,

giving it back to him a dime at a time for first.

He came in here and warned me not to talk.

But I gotta talk.

He wouldn't let them burn his own trading post.

They tried to warn him, just like they tried to warn us about the ambush.

He thought they were bluffing.

Bluffing.

That whole Aracara village is starving.

You were responsible for getting that money to them.

Weren't you?

Son.

I let him cut me in on it.

Weren't you?

But I gave my share back.

He's got it with him in that buckskin bag he carries.

All the money in the records.

Rothgate made a deal with the government office in St.

Louis for Woodley to bring the money to the trappers, along with the mail.

Then they'd tell Thompson the money never arrived from Washington.

Rothgate wanted to drive the Indians out so they could trap both sides of the river.

That's why I needed your troops.

Make it look official.

My men?

Slaughter?

For common thieves to line the pockets of thieves.

I tried to stop it when it got so bad. But I'm an old man, son.

How long ago did he leave?

An hour or so.

He'll hide out at Pinewood. Or pay them Indians off if he has to.

I want him back.

He's got an hour's start, Devereux.

I want him back.

I want my hands around his throat.

Don't you understand, Ben?

Not one of these men needed to die.

Not one of them.

Mr. Fraser, I'll sue you for every penny you're worth. Hold them, too.

The deaths of those men are on your hands, Rothgate,

because you sent them up there to make you money.

Slander.

Gentlemen, who's going to support these charges? Thompson's dead. Devereaux's dead.

I'm going to support them.

Do you mean to say that if these Indians had been paid,

there would have been no bloodshed? What's the matter with you gentlemen?

That's exactly what he means.

All the Eric Harris need is honest treatment.

Do you think I have the power to interfere in Indian affairs?

Nobody will believe that. Oh, I believe that.

You do have proof, don't you, Ben? I sure have.

I have it because Devereaux got it.

Excuse me. It's all right. Come in. You're not disturbing anything.

I don't even know what to say.

It's been a long time since I paid any attention to this.

If Travis is putting the deck boat in the water,

we're gonna have to row well upstream. Not we, I'm going alone.

You'll never catch him by yourself. I'm going alone.

I don't want to share this feeling with anyone. What feeling?

For the first time in my life, I can understand loathing and hatred and revenge.

I want to kill a man.

I've been a slow student, but I've learned it now.

Are you sure killing Woodley is worth risking your life for?

My life?

My life has been a wealth of accomplishment, hasn't it?

One failure after another.

One helpless attempt after another to find something to believe in,

something that couldn't be tarnished or destroyed.

For a while I thought it might be that... that silly platoon of soldiers.

In a fight, some men are killed. All men get killed, Ben.

When we take our first breath on this earth, we set out on the road towards dying.

And the chief concern of most of us seems to be hurrying the journey along.

I don't know what you're talking about.

I only know I don't want to see you get killed.

Straightforward as ever.

The honest, direct frontiersman.

Say what I feel. What's wrong with that?

Nothing. I admire it.

I admire all vigor and honesty and vitality of mind, spirit, and purpose, but...

I am made of different material, Ben, and I was a fool to forget it.

I am made of weak, soiled stuff that's best discarded.

I've been taught the wrong values from the day I was born.

Oh, they're stubborn, my relatives.

Death and decadence cling around their shoulders like a shroud,

and they cloak the young in it.

My grandfather taught me it was my privilege to rule over people,

even after those same people had risen to revolt against them.

My uncles tried to persuade me that the old prestige would be restored.

My own father, that...

That poor, bewildered man could only fight duels to remind himself of valor,

and drink toasts to his victims to remind him of honor.

That's my heritage, Ben.

Senseless bloodshed. Killings, what I was born for.

Now maybe I will accomplish my purpose.

Deck boats in the water!

It's getting late.

I'll be ready.

We're not going to let him go by himself, Mr. Frager. That's right.

They'll kill him before he even gets to shore.

How many of you men willing to volunteer? All of us.

If somebody can draw those Indians away from the clearing,

can you wood up and get this thing moving? Sure. Put

another boat in the water. All right.

We'll send Bulge and his squad to attack from upstream.

And don't try to be a hero. Just keep him busy enough for Travis to get wood. Yes,

sir. I'll go with Devereaux to find Woodley.

Us too, sir.

Me and my platoon.

All right, get your gear.

No.

But sir, we're your platoons.

The two boats separated.

While Bolger served as a decoy for Travis's wood party,

Devereaux and I led the rest of the men towards Pinewood Station and Noah Woodley.

If all went well, Travis would bring the Enterprise downriver and pick us up there.

Does it look safe enough, Doc Roach?

I'm not sure. Ben.

What do they...

I'm sure glad to see you fellas. I figured you might come after me.

You mean you haven't been inside the post yet?

I haven't even dared cross that open ground.

You don't know if it's Trappers or Eric Harris in there then?

I don't even know if it's abandoned. Even if it's Indians, you're safe enough.

You can give them the money you owe them and receive a royal welcome.

Where is the money you stole?

Don't get away, Lieutenant. He won't.

There aren't any Indians around here. I'm going after him.

Come back, Alfredo. Come on, let's go.

I told you not to leave cover!

Come back!

Now, you men stay here. That's an order. Daryl, come back.

Please, don't shoot! Please! I have the money! Look!

Let's get the wounded men and get out of here. Devereaux, the boat's here.

Come on. Come on, we can get away.

Look, I have it right here!

Another poor, bewildered little man.

Andre, the boat.

I can't leave him, Ben.

Not like that.

You can't help him. You can't even reach him.

I've got to reach him. He's a living man.

Woodley, I want to help you.

Keep away! Keep away from me!

What's in the bag? Money.

And the records.

Everything Thompson said was true.

Why did you have to go back for Whitley?

You came here to kill him.

I couldn't do it.

Let me get you back to the boat.

I am tired of your silly boat.

I want a fancy boat.

Full of people and fun.

So he died.

I guess he was a man who should have been a priest.

Anyway, he died like one.

To keep other men from dying.

And I wouldn't call him foolish or a poppin' J or say he failed.

It's all there. Proof.

Why, there can't possibly be any proof that it would stand up in court.

Colonel Nicholson. Now, stay here, gentlemen. Quiet, sir.

Inform the battalion.

Call off the campaign.

Immediately, sir.

I'll also send foodstuffs and funds to the Eric Harris.

Crossgate.

You'll come with me to the district judge's home now.

But, General, you can't... Now, sir.

Will you gentlemen come along? Oh, thanks, General.

Come on, Ben.

I think you can handle it from here on in.