MovieChat Forums > The Horse Soldiers Discussion > What happens to the military cadets?

What happens to the military cadets?

posted 15 years ago by cryptical70
12 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen this movie in about 30 years though I did see it on TV quite a few times. But never saw it on DVD or in a theatre.

The battle with the military cadets ends abruptly and you never find out what happens to them. Though one cadet is captured and John Wayne commands his subordinate to "give him a spanking."

That is where the tv station always broke to a commercial, and when the movie was resumed, the cadets were gone forever. Anyone know if the tv version cut out something? So what happened to the rest of the cadets that were heading into battle?

[–] megatosspot 15 years ago

I guess the captured one is the wee fellow whose mother hauled him out of the column. The remainder 'chase off' the raiders, who offer no resistance.

[–] MadTom 15 years ago

There probably wasn't anything cut out of the TV broadcast the OP saw. The cavalrymen retire without firing a shot at the cadets other than the one that Kirby aimed at the Preacher that Marlowe spoiled. However, no such incident took place during the real-life Grierson's Raid; the scene was inspired by the real-life deployment of Virginia Military Institute cadets at the Battle of New Market in May 1864. In that battle, ten cadets were KIA or mortally wounded fighting against Union infantry.

[–] cowgoesmoo 13 years ago

I'll provide some more detail. Potential SPOILER ALERT.

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The Union cavalry are lounging around while Wayne/Holden get into a fist fight to settle their differences. A battery of Confederate artillery begins to open fire while the cadets march out and form ranks. They get off two or three volleys but the cavalry look on without returning fire. The Confederate drummer boy that got pulled out of ranks by his mom escapes to rejoin his mates but gets captured. The cavalrymen retreat but administer a spanking to the POW before they leave. The rest of the cadets pursue on foot but the cavalrymen escape.

There were no apparent casualties on either side.

[–] jamesbwill 13 years ago

As MadTom says in his reply, The incident is based on the VMI cadets taking part in the Battle of New Market on May, 15, 1864. Ten cadets were killed in the battle. They successfully charged a Union artillery battery and captured the guns along with several prisoners.

The Confederate victory at New Market saved the Shenendoah Valley wheat crop for the South that summer.

The actual charge made by the Cadets was probably very similar to the scene in the movie, except that the Union soldiers did not hesitate to fire on them. Not one Cadet broke during the charge and all 215 of them did their duty as well as any adult soldier. They had been pressed into the battle due to the desperation for manpower. Confederate General Breckenridge had sworn only to use them if absolutely necessary. With no other troops available, he ordered them forward with tears in his eyes.

There is a ceremony held at VMI each year on May 15. All the cadets fall our for roll call. The names of the ten cadets who died in the charge are read. As each name is called, a cadet steps forward and says, "Dead on the field of honor, Sir."

[–] juanmonge69 13 years ago

I remember that all the boys are running away and one of the boys is definately grabbing his posterior as he runs away.

[–] sbpalm 13 years ago

I Am trying to find out the name of the marching song played when the cadets march off to war. There is a clip which includes the song on youtube. The URL for the clip is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW7PPpyo6yw&feature=player_embedded#at=169

[–] MadTom 13 years ago

The tune is titled The Bonnie Blue Flag; the story of the song, plus lyrics, can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bonnie_Blue_Flag

The song chronicles the secession of the various Confederate states, and can arguably be considered more of a Confederate national anthem than Dixie. (The Confederacy never actually had an official national anthem; for that matter, The Star Spangled Banner did not become the official US national anthem until 1931.)

Despite the popularity of the song, the actual Bonnie Blue Flag (a white 5-pointed star on a dark blue field, pretty much the same as a present-day Navy rear admiral (lower half) or Air Force brigadier general's flag) was likewise never officially used as a Confederate national or battle flag, and its unofficial use was rather short-lived.

[–] elskootero-1 11 years ago

It is a sendup of the Battle of New Market, where cadets from VMI (Virginia Military Institute)did indeed rout a large force of Union Cavalry, but this happened for 2 reasons. 1. They were on another mission and did not want to prolong the battle and 2. They decimated the corps of cadets because they were armed with 7 shot Spencer Repeating Rifles, and, according to VMI records, almost 40% of the entire corps were either killed or so severly wounded that they had to resign from the academy.

[–] Aloysius_von_der_Trenck 8 years ago

Unlike in the battle of New Market on May 15, 1864 mentioned by several posters, nothing happened to those cadets that day. Nothing important, that is.

Miss Hannah Hunter: [military cadets have opened fire] "What are you going to do now *Mister* Col. Marlowe?"

Col. John Marlowe (John Wayne): "With all due respect, m'am, I'm gonna get the hell outta here."

And that was it.

[–] filmtenk 8 years ago

They were hanged.

[–] MAGolding (1096) 6 years ago

No they weren't hanged.

Watching the movie again I noticed that the cavalry were riding in retreat very close to the cadets running after them. Even though the horsemen should have been faster than the running boys. Thus the cavalry should have started riding away just seconds before the beginning of the shot.

And I think that was cutting it too close. The cavalry should have either ruthlessly charged the boys and scattered them and then rode to capture the battery that was shooting at them, or else should have retreated as soon as the shells started to strike their camp and as soon as they saw infantry approaching. Since Marlowe said they should avoid fighting as a general rule, they should have retreated before the cadets were close enough to see that they were kids.

It looked like that part of the brigade let the kids get within about ten or twenty feet before riding away. And that was way too close. If any of the kids still had loaded muskets they could have shot down the soldiers right in front of them. How could they have missed at that range?

The cavalry should have retreated long before letting the enemy got that close. As far as I can tell, the only reason some of them weren't killed and wounded was because the cannon balls and musket balls read the script and knew that nobody was going to be shot in that scene.

A lot of infantrymen said they never saw a dead cavalryman, implying that the cavalry were cowards who rode away to safety on their horses when things got dangerous. If I had been there I would have proven them right long before the cadets got that close.

[–] Luis (187) 4 years ago

Cavalry rode away to safety on their horses because their duty was never to go one-on-one with infantry. Cavalry used carbines. Infantry used rifles. Rifles had longer range than carbines. If you remember Gettysburg, the conflict opened with a fight between Union Cavalry versus Reb Infantry. I think the Union commander was Brigadier General Bufford. He was concerned, and was very relieved when the first Union Infantry appeared. And even though Bufford's force did hold the initial fight, they had to cede ground. In front of Infantry.

The job of the Cavalry is to scout. Figure where the enemy is. In some cases it would extend to quick raids.