The Horse Soldiers (1959) Classic Movie Review 311 Revised

A highly fictionalized version of the American Civil War campaign, Grierson’s Raid, which occurred from April 17th to May 2nd, 1863. The raiders consisted of about 1,700 US cavalry troopers. The raid traveled and fought from Tennessee through Mississippi, ending in Union-held Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This raid was a significant factor in the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in July 1983.

Directed by John Ford, the story is military in nature, but the real struggle is between the mission-oriented commander, played by John Wayne, and a doctor, more concerned with lifesaving, played by William Holden.

Introduction – The Horse Soldiers (1959)

Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors and let you know there will be spoilers ahead. Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on The Horse Soldiers (1959).

This movie is rated 7.1 on iMDB.com[1]. The film fairs slightly better on Rottentomatoes.com, with 81 percent on the Tomatometer and 75 percent audience approval[2].

This film was criticized after and since its release. It was also a financial failure. Despite this, the movie is beautifully shot, often on location, and it remains a favor for fans of director John Ford and actors John Wayne and William Holden. By any measure, this film had an all-star cast backing up the principals.

Actors – The Horse Soldiers (1959)

Returning

The single-minded Union Commander, Col. John Marlowe, was played by John Wayne. True to form, Wayne was too old and fat to be a Civil War cavalry officer at 52 years old. Grierson was around 37 at the time of the raid. The great Western actor Wayne was first covered early on in Chisum (1970).

William Holden was outstanding as Doctor Maj. Henry Kendall. Holden was covered in Stalag 17 (1953).

Willis Bouchey had a prominent role as Col. Phil Secord, a glory-seeking politician in military uniform. Bouchey was first covered in The Violent Men (1955).

The regular John Wayne gang consisted of Ken Curtis, AKA Gunsmoke’s Fetus, as Cpl. Wilkie from The Alamo (1960), Bing Russell as Dunker from Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966), Hank Worden as Deacon Clump from The Alamo (1960), where he also played a reverend, and William Wellman Jr., son of the great director, was uncredited as a Bugler from The Born Losers (1967).

The great unheralded actor Strother Martin played the role of a Confederate deserter named Virgil. Strother Martin was first covered way back in McLintock! (1963). Denver Pyle played another deserter, Jackie Jo. Pyle was also first covered in The Alamo (1960).

At Newton Station, Mississippi, the local Confederate commander is Col. Miles, played by Carleton Young. Young was first covered in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

More senior actor Basil Ruysdael, covered in Blackboard Jungle (1955), played the Reverend Commandant of a boys’ military academy required to send his young men into combat based on the Battle of New Market. The academy scenes were filmed at the historic Jefferson College in Natchez, Mississippi. It is an excellent place to visit if you are in the area.

New

Constance Towers played fierce southern Hannah Hunter. Towers was born in Montana in 1933. As a child, Towers appeared on the radio and later had plans to be an opera singer. When her family moved to New York, she began studying at the Julliard School of Music and later at the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts (AADA).

Eventually, she was led from opera to stage work. Several movie roles came her way, such as playing a school teacher in the musical Bring Your Smile Along (1955), a sappy southern in The Horse Soldiers (1959), Sergeant Rutledge (1960) with Jeffrey Hunter and Woody Strode, she played a stripper in Shock Corridor (1963), and finally, a reforming prostitute in Samuel Fuller’s The Naked Kiss (1964).

She made her Broadway debut in 1965 and was indeed a star in this medium. She also later became very successful on television, including soap operas. More recent movies include The Next Karate Kid (1994), The Relic (1997), and A Perfect Murder (1998).

Althea Gibson played Lukey, the slave attendant to Hannah Hunter (Constance Towers). Gibson had a small part, but she has a pretty fantastic life story. Gibson was born in 1927 in South Carolina. She grew up in Harlem and, at the age of 15, won the New York City Black Tennis Championship. This got her a sports scholarship to Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, FAMU, in Tallahassee. Rattlers Strike!

In 1950, Gibson was the first African-American to play in the US Tennis Championship. In 1951, she became the first African-American to play at Wimbledon. She was victorious in the French Open in 1956, Wimbledon in 1957 and 1958, and the US Championship in 1957 and 1958. After retiring from tennis in 1958, Gibson traveled with the Harmen Globetrotters, putting on exhibitions. In 1964, she became the first African-American to play in the LPGA.

Gibson tried singing and acting, and this movie is part of the attempt. In The Horse Soldiers (1959), Gibson got the contrarian director to change some of her dialogue from stereotypical black speech. She was unable to create a successful film career. Gibson retired from golf in 1977 and spent almost two decades working in New Jersey sports. She died in poverty in 2003 at the age of 76.

Legendary cowboy star Hoot Gibson played the role of Sgt. Brown. It is said that he appeared in this film as a favor to his old friend John Ford. Edmund Richard Gibson, later known as Hoot, was born in 1892 in Nebraska. Hoot grew up in Wyoming, Colorado, and California and was a real cowboy. At 13, the young Toby Tyler ran away and worked in a circus. He began rodeoing and, in 1907, joined a Wild West company for 4-years.

In 1910, Hoot began performing stunts in movies. After the principal director he was working with was murdered, he began doing stunt work for D.W. Griffith. While working as a stuntman and bit actor, he kept rodeo riding and won national and international championships.

By the late teens, Hoot was working with Harry Carey and director John Ford for films like Cheyenne’s Pal (1917), Straight Shooting (1917), The Secret Man (1917), and A Marked Man (1917).

When World War I broke out, Hoot joined the Army, rising to sergeant in the Tank Corps, just like Elvis did later. In 1919, he was discharged and went back to the movies.

Hoot slowly became more popular, and the Ford-directed Action (1921) made him a star. Amazingly, Hoot was making almost $15,000 a week in 1925. He made the transition to talkies with no problem.

Hoot’s movies made the transition to race car driving and flying cowboys. Still, he was eventually done in by the singing cowboys such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Hoot toured with a circus in 1938 and 1939 before returning to movies in 1943. His last big film was Trigger Law (1944).

Hoot did some television work and cameos in movies like The Horse Soldiers (1959) and Ocean’s 11 (1960). In 1960, he was diagnosed with cancer and was out of money. He took any work he could find, including casino greeter and carnival appearances. He died in 1962 at the age of 70.

Story – The Horse Soldiers (1959)

This movie begins with lines of Union cavalry slowly riding along a levy and singing a song about home. This is classic John Ford directing as he loved to show long lines of men set against a vast expanse. I was never sure if this made man larger, towering over the landscape, or smaller when compared to the landscape.

Union Col. John Marlowe is taken by his commanding general onboard a ship where he meets Generals Grant and Sherman. The implication is that the raid will help Grant take Vicksburg as it did historically. They plan to head from LaGrange, Tennessee, to attack the Newton Depot, now known as Newton, Mississippi. Marlowe and his men will destroy anything they can on the way down related to railroading or the ability to wage war. This is very similar to the actual raid shown in The General (1926) and The Great Locomotive Chase (1956). Grant warns Marlowe not to get caught, or he will spend the rest of the war in Andersonville Prison, located in Georgia.

Back in LaGrange, the Union cavalry is getting ready to leave. The men have been led to believe they are going to Nashville for a parade. Colonel Secord (Willis Bouchey) announces he is going into politics after the raid.

Cpl. Wilkie (Ken Curtis), Sgt. Dunker (Bing Russell) and another man are sitting around swapping rumors, a favorite pastime of soldiers since the dawn of civilization. A white coat-wearing Doctor, Maj. Henry Kendall (William Holden), arrives and reports that he has been assigned to the raid.

Trying to be snotty, Marlowe says Kendall is out of uniform. When he discovers he is a doctor, he pitches a fit to the commanding general. The general says the doctor goes along. Marlowe takes Kendall in for a talk. Kendall is shocked that Marlowe plans to leave his wounded behind. Kendall is assigned to check the men for fitness, and he stands up to Marlowe. Kendall removes the veteran Sgt. Major (Jack Pennick) from duty. Kendall’s assistant is Hoppy Hopkins (O.Z. Whitehead).

Marlowe sends his men to capture another Sgt. Major, and they catch Sgt. Maj. Kirby (Judson Pratt) forcing him to go on the raid.

The troops ride out, and it’s not long until the men realize they are heading south. Soon after they entered the southern territory and sent out scouts, they came under attack from some Confederate dismounted cavalry. Two Union soldiers are wounded, and Kendall gives aid. One of them later dies.

Kendall is called to a slave cabin where a woman is giving birth. When Marlowe finds out, he places the doctor under officer’s arrest and orders him to work only on soldiers. Since the Union force was discovered, Marlowe sends about 1/3 of his troops back.

At sundown, they arrive at a plantation, which I believe is Oakland Plantation, a part of Cane River Creole National Historical Park. In the movie, two ladies are in the house: white owner Hannah Hunter (Constance Towers) and devoted slave Lukey (Althea Gibson). Marlowe kicks his way in and gets snotty. Hannah Hunter comes down and plays the southern belle dripping with julips and honey. Marlowe says his men will be sleeping on the property that night, and she is under house arrest. Hannah curses the Yankees as soon as they are out of sight.

She returns acting as a southern belle and charms Secord. She invites the officers to dinner. Kendall declines because he is under arrest, but comes to diner none the less. That night at dinner, they are well fed and provided for. Hannah belles it up and does a chicken breast vs human breast showing. Marlowe says they will use the room for a meeting, but she leads them to a smoking room. Kendall is sent to guard Hannah as she goes upstairs.

Marlowe and the other officers go over the plan. Lukey goes in with Hannah, and when Kendall opens the firebox, he learns he can hear the men talking in the room below. Marlowe tells them they will head across the southern territory to Baton Rouge after the attack on Newton Station. Kendall opens the door, and he sees Lukey and Hannah listening at the other fire pipe.

Downstairs, Kendall grabs the two ladies, throws them into the meeting room, and tells the officers that the ladies were listening. After being caught, Hannah goes full Confederate. Marlowe forces Hannah and Lukey to travel with the cavalry to protect their movements. On the march, Hannah makes a break but is quickly run down after she falls in the water. She is forced to watch Union soldiers dry her underwear while she sits in a blanket.

The scouts soon return and say an enemy scouting patrol is on the other side of the river. The Union cavalry hides in the trees to let the enemy pass by. Hannah tries to warn them, but Marlowe chocks her out. On Kendall’s advice, Marlow dumps a hat full of water on her. Two sergeants are demoted for letting her escape. Hannah slaps Marlowe for not allowing her privacy.

The scouting party, including Deacon Clump (Hank Worden), is fired upon from a barn. The men in the barn quickly surrender. The two Confederates are deserters Virgil (Strother Martin) and Jackie Jo (Denver Pyle). They are holding the local sheriff (Russell Simpson) as a prisoner. Hannah rides in and thinks Marlowe is mistreating the sheriff. Marlowe gives the deserters first aid and new cigars. The two deserters give all of the info on their old units. Marlowe then puts on a glove and knocks out the two deserters. They then tie them up and give them to the sheriff. Marlowe has told the sheriff that they are heading to Vicksburg.

The Union cavalry makes it to Newton Station with a rather cold reception from the ladies. There are wounded Confederates waiting in the town. The local Confederate commander is the wounded Col. Miles (Carleton Young). Kendall knows Marlowe from the old days fighting out west. Kendell says Miles is a West Point graduate and can’t believe he gave up without a fight. Just then, they get news that a Rebel train is coming in fast.

The Union forces quickly formed a defensive barricade on the road and between the buildings. The Confederates on the train jump off and charge straight into the barricade, where they are shot down like dogs. When most of the Confederates are dead, the now wounded Col. Miles comes down the street holding the battle flag. Kendall tackles him to save his life.

Kendall and a Confederate doctor tend to the wounded. Hannah helps for a while, but like Scarlett, she has to leave the hospital. Lukey leads the African Americans in making bandages. The Union troops get busy tearing up the railroad and making Sherman bowties, a name given to twisted railroad tracks in the South. These bowties are made by heating up a section of railroad track and wrapping it around a tree or a telephone pole.

In the real war, there was no real Battle of Newton Depot. The Union forces took it and burned some stuff up with little resistance. Marlowe sits with a young man as he dies. Finally, Col. Miles makes it to the operating table.

Outside of the hospital, Marlowe drinks and rages on everyone. Hannah studies him before she breaks down. Marlowe explains that he hates doctors because they killed his true love in an operation. As Kendal prepares to leave, he has a peaceful moment with his friend Col. Miles. Miles says that Confederate Gen. Bedford Forrest is after them, and they will soon be in Andersonville prison. Forrest was actually the pursuer of another Union raid named Streight’s Raid. Hoppy stays with the wounded prisoners.

The Union cavalry heads towards Baton Rouge, leaving Newton Station a burning mess. The townspeople send word that the Union forces are moving southwest towards Baton Rouge. Col. Secord is spreading sedition against his commander. Dunker has blood poisoning, and Kendall uses green moss to treat it. Marlowe is disgusted.

Later, the troop passes an African American church and are fired on by a Confederate militia. Lukey is shot, and Kendall begins to treat her. Before he can start, she dies. All the Union men, including Sgt. Brown (Hoot Gibson) and Marlowe, are kind to Hannah.

In the morning, Kendall finds that Dunker has removed his poultice. Kendall takes him in for surgery. The troop beds down for the night, and Kendall has to remove the leg. They plan on hitting a salt factory in the morning.

The Confederate commander of an artillery battery says he needs the aid of the cadets from the Jefferson Military Academy. This is based on the Battle of New Market, where on May 15th, 1864, cadets from the Virginia Military Academy, some as young as 15, fought gallantly.

The Commandant (Basil Ruysdael) says his oldest boy is only 16, but he agrees to help. The 16-year-old student commander orders his boys up. At dawn, they move to join the artillery battery. The Commandant leads the boys, except two with mumps, forward with only a bible and a cane.

As they pass a house, a woman comes down and begs that her son, one of the drummers, be excused because his paw, his uncles, and brothers have all been killed. The Commandant releases the boy, and the mother drags the fighting child into the house. In the morning, Kendall tells Marlowe that he lost Dunker during the operation. Marlowe jumps on his ass, and Kendall demands a fight.

Meanwhile, the little drummer boy escapes from his mother’s house. Marlowe and Kendall head to the woods to fight it out. Their one-punch John Wayne fight is cut short when the Confederate artillery battery opens up on the camped troops.

As an aside, I have a theory that many people who grew up watching John Wayne in movies have lost bar fights after throwing a single punch and then wondering why the opponent didn’t fall down like in the movies. I would love to hear your comments.

The Union men see the military academy boys crossing the field in a linear formation. Marlowe stops the Union men from firing, but the boys fire a couple of volleys. The troop mounts and gets ready to run. The drummer boy is caught by Wilkie, and Marlowe says spank him before you let him go. The boys charge with bayonets as the Union cavalry flees.

Later, the scouts come in and report that the road is blocked by Confederate regulars and that cavalry is closing on them from behind. Deacon says he knows the way through the swamp because he used to work on the Underground Railroad, smuggling escaped slaves north.

Quickly, the Confederate cavalry finds the Union trail in the swamp. Marlowe keeps his weakened band moving forward. Finally, the Union forces make it to a bridge over the river. Marlowe tells Hannah that they are leaving her behind to be picked up by the Confederate forces. At about that time, they start receiving fire from the side of the river they want to go to. Marlowe is hit in the foot by the fire. He is forced to go under the knife of Kendall. Hannah tends to Marlowe as he looks at her like he is in love.

He orders men to find a way across the river and orders Secord to fight and not surrender. Kendall takes the bullet out of Marlowe’s leg and fixes the wound. Marlowe goes to fight, and Kendall gets ready to treat the wounded.

The scouts find a place to cross. Marlowe leads a charge across the bridge into the throat of the enemy. The attack overpowers the Confederates. But the Union troops pay a considerable price. With the bridge in their hands, the Union forces place dynamite on the bridge. Kendall decides to stay with the wounded even though he will end up in a POW camp.

Marlowe tells Hannah he is in love with her, and they have a sad moment as the Rebel cavalry closes in. As Hannah watches, Marlowe lights the fuse and gallops across the bridge ahead of the explosion. The Confederates come in, and they have a surgeon, so Kendall could have left. He takes Hannah back to the hospital.

Conclusion – The Horse Soldiers (1959)

This movie was based on an actual Union raid during the Civil War. General Grant had been trying for almost a year to capture Vicksburg and thus control the Mississippi River. In the Spring of 1863, Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson led about 1,700 cavalry troopers in a raid on Newton Station. They tore up a lot of railroads and burned supplies, but there was minimal fighting.

Dr. Erastus Dean Yule, the Union surgeon whom William Holden’s Maj. Kendall was based, volunteered to stay behind, and was taken prisoner by the Confederates. This event took place before the deadly Andersonville POW camp was built.

The famous Confederate cavalry commander Nathan Bedford Forrest was in Alabama chasing another Union raid, leaving north Mississippi reasonably open. There was no battle with a boy’s school, and Grierson and his men made it to Union-held Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

These raids had the effect of drawing resources away from the defense of Vicksburg, defended by Confederate General Pemberton. Grant was able to take Vicksburg on July 4^th, 1863. The town did not celebrate the nation’s birthday for over 100 years afterward.

Notoriously mean to actors in the best of times, Ford was at a new level because he had been ordered by his doctor to stop drinking. Ford demanded that Wayne also refrain from drinking during the filming. The producer, Martin Rackin, sent Wayne and Holden to New Orleans, ostensibly to have their teeth cleaned. The actors spent the night drinking.

World-Famous Short Summary – Hannah Capulet and Marlowe Montague fall madly in love.

Beware the moors

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[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052902/

[2] The Horse Soldiers – Rotten Tomatoes