The Late, Late Movie: The Horse Soldiers (1957) – John Wayne, William Holden, Constance Towers

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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. The screenplay by John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin was loosely based on Harold Sinclair’s 1956 novel of the same name, a fictionalized version of Grierson’s Raid in Mississippi

A Union cavalry brigade led by Colonel John Marlowe—a railroad construction engineer in civilian life—is sent on a raid behind Confederate lines to destroy a railroad and supply depot at Newton Station. Major Henry Kendall, a regimental surgeon who is torn between duty and the horror of war, is constantly at odds with Marlowe.

While the unit rests at Greenbriar Plantation, Miss Hannah Hunter, the plantation’s mistress, acts as a gracious hostess to the unit’s officers. But she and her slave, Lukey, eavesdrop on a staff meeting as Marlowe discusses his battle strategy. To protect the secrecy of the mission, Marlowe is forced to take the two women with him. Initially hostile to her Yankee captor, Miss Hunter gradually comes to respect him and eventually falls in love with him. In addition to Kendall and Miss Hunter, Marlowe also must contend with Col. Phil Secord, a politically ambitious officer who continually second-guesses Marlowe’s orders and command decisions. MORE AT LINK