The Horse Soldiers is a 1959 American adventure war western film set during The American Civil War directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers.
A Union Cavalry detachment embarks on a mission deep into Confederate territory with the objective of obliterating a vital rail and supply hub. Accompanying this force is a surgeon whose mere presence sparks immediate discord with the commanding officer. Adding to the intrigue, a Southern Belle overhears the covert mission plans, necessitating her inclusion to ensure her silence. Each of Union officers harbor individual motivations for participating in this critical undertaking.
The Horse Soldiers contains examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Sergeant Major Kirby who arrives at Marlowe's camp drunk (having been dragged off a train as a last minute replacement for the hospitalized Sgt. Maj. Mitch Mitchell) and takes every opportunity on the mission to get drunk, including posing as official taster to the senior officers.
- Alliterative Name: Miss Hannah Hunter
- An Arm and a Leg: Kendall is forced to amputate Dunker's leg after Dunker ignores his advice and removes the moss Kendall had bandaged to his leg to prevent infection. Despite Major Kendall's best efforts, Dunker does not make it.
- Badass Pacifist: Major Henry Kendall. Kendall is a regimental surgeon who is torn between duty and the horror of war. He refuses to carry a sidearm, honours his Hippocratic Oath by treating civilians and enemy combatants despite the pressures and dangers of the mission, and is the only person willing to stand up to Colonel Badass John Marlowe.
- Child Soldiers: At one point Marlowe’s entire command is routed by a battle line of boys from a Mississippi military school: although the retreat is largely caused by Marlowe's reluctance to fire of a line of children. (Loosely based on the actual Battle of New Market
.) - Cigar-Fuse Lighting: Colonel Marlowe uses a cigar to touch of the Powder Trail he uses to blow up the bridge to prevent the Confederates from following him and his men at the end of the movie.
- Colonel Badass: Colonel John Marlowe. A railroad construction engineer in his Pre-War Civilian Career, Marlowe is selected to lead a raid behind Confederate lines to destroy a railroad and supply depot at Newton Station.
- Couldn't Find a Lighter: At Greenbriar Plantation, the officers light their post-dinner cigars off the candelabra Hannah is holding.
- Dangerous Deserter: A pair of Confederate deserters bushwhack Marlowe's scouts after mistaken them for sheriff deputies.
- Exact Words: After Hannah attempts to alert the Confederates by shouting at them, Colonel Marlowe angrily reminds her that she had giver her word of honour that she would not try to run away. She agrees, but says that she said nothing about yelling to Confederate troops.
- Eyepatch of Power: Jackie Jo, one of the pair of Dangerous Deserters captured by Marlowe and his men, wears an eyepatch which adds considerably to his dangerous and desperate air.
- A Father to His Men: Although generally brusque and businesslike, Colonel John Marlowe cares deeply for his men. This is best demonstrated when he reassures the wounded soldier Hoskins, and then holds him when it becomes obvious that Hoskins is dying; promising to write to Hoskins' mother as Hoskins requested.
- Food Slap: After Dunker dies, Marlowe makes one dig too many at Kendall and Kendall flings a cup full of whiskey in his face.
- From Dress to Dressing: Following the battle at Newton Station, Lukey and the black servants in the hotel tear up the sheets to turn them into bandages.
- Hand Gagging: Kendall tackles Hannah to the ground and clamps his hand over her mouth to prevent her from yelling out to the confederate troops and giving away their position.
- Indignant Slap: Hannah hauls back and smacks Colonel Marlowe in the face when she learns that he has had his men keeping watch on her while she performed her ablutions.
- Insignia Ripoff Ritual: After Hannah almost gives away the brigade's position to the Confederates, Colonel Marlowe calls up the two soldiers assigned to guarding her and gives them a dressing down. As he does so, Sergeant Major Kirby takes a knife and cuts off the corporal's stripes.
- Job Title
- Man Bites Man: Hannah bites Kendall's hand when he Hand Gags her to prevent her from yelling out and giving away their position. He still doesn't let go.
- The Medic: Major Henry Kendall is a regimental surgeon assigned to accompany the raid on Newton Station along with his orderly Otis 'Hoppy' Hopkins.
- Named Weapon: A Confederate artillery battery consists of the guns Peter and Paul.
- Non-Actor Vehicle: John Ford cast tennis champion Althea Gibson as Lukey partly to attract African-American viewers. Gibson was a racial-barrier-breaking athlete, the female Jackie Robinson of tennis, who—just prior to being featured in this film—had won both the Wimbledon and US Open tennis championships in 1957 and 1958.
- "No Peeking!" Request: A silent version. After her clothes dry, Hannah gets dressed between a pair of blankets being held up by three soldiers. The two soldiers holding the blanket in front of her are facing away from her, but Sgt. Maj. Kirby, who is holding up the blanket at the back, is facing her. Hannah looks over her shoulder and gives Kirby a silent Death Glare until he turns around.
- Powder Trail: Used to blow the bridge at the end of the movie.
- Pre-War Civilian Career: Colonel John Marlowe was a railway engineer before the war, which is one of the reasons he is selected to lead the mission to sabotage the rail and supply and depot. Colonel Secord was a politician (and is planning to run for Congress after the war) and Major Gray was an actor. Of the senior officers, only the surgeon Major Kendall is a career soldier.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: After finding a pair of Confederate deserters holding the local sheriff hostage, Colonel Marlowe allows them to believe he will take them into his command. After he has gained all of the tactical information they possess about Newton Station, he knocks them out, ties them up and hands them over to the sheriff to be punished for desertion.
- Southern Belle: Hannah is a Silk Hiding Steel example, posing as The Ditz while secretly eavesdropping on a staff meeting as Marlowe discusses his battle strategy to learn what his mission is.
- There Are No Rules: When Marlowe and Kendall decide to settle their difference by duking it out, Kendall asks what the rules are. Marlowe replies "Just make them up as you go along" and—before he has finished speaking—Kendall punches him the the face.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: The movie is a highly fictionalized version of Grierson's Raid in Mississippi.
- Water Wake-up: Hannah faints after Kendall tackles her and Hand Gags her to prevent revealing their position to the Confederates. Kendall sends Marlowe to fetch some water, and Marlowe brings it back in his hat. Kendall takes the hat and then casually tosses the water in Hannah's face to wake her up.
