Original subtitles

BOY: They're comin'.

They're comin'! They're comin'!

They're comin'!

♪ Drango

♪ Some men live by love

♪ Some men live by lust

♪ Hero, coward and fool

♪ Each man does the thing he must

♪ Drango rode with trouble

♪ Drango rode apart

♪ No man stood with Drango

♪ There's a time every man

♪ Must ride alone

♪ Live or die

♪ He must ride alone ♪

[HORSE NEIGHS]

Which way to Judge Allen's house?

[HORSES TROTTING AWAY]

Can I help you, gentlemen?

I'm Major Drango. This is Captain Banning.

We'd like to see Judge Allen, if he'll receive us.

Would you be good enough to step inside?

I'm Clay Allen, the Judge's son.

I'll take you to him.

[DOOR OPENS]

We have visitors...

Major Drango and Captain Banning of the Union Army.

We've been expecting you, Major.

You must be tired after your journey.

Perhaps, we can get you a brandy.

I'm sorry. There's nothing like that left in the house.

JUDGE ALLEN: My apologies.

We used to keep an excellent cellar.

These are my orders, sir.

Please read them at your leisure.

We want everything to go as well as possible.

Aren't you assuming a great deal?

I'm afraid there isn't any choice, Mother.

You've got to understand that these men rule us now.

We don't want to rule anybody.

CLAY: Well, you're a military governor, aren't you?

Technically, yes.

Aren't those official papers,

giving you the power to do what you like

with our town, with all of us?

We came here to help.

Forgive me, Major, if I don't believe you.

Union soldiers have been here before... Nine months ago.

General Sherman's army.

They made certain we'd never forget them.

I understand, Mrs. Allen.

You're the leader of this community, Judge.

Nothing can be done without your cooperation.

Will you work with us?

This town was laid out almost 100 years ago, Major.

My grandfather helped build it.

There was a meaning to our lives then.

Now, we just want to be left alone!

We won't intrude any further.

Good day, ma'am. Good day, Judge.

Good day.

Good day, gentlemen.

O, Major!

A word of warning.

Our people won't live under a military governor.

If you stay, they'll kill you.

Sure make a man feel at home.

Think they know you?

Let's go.

211... Second floor, end of the hall.

Stay where you are and keep your hands up high.

[GRUNTING]

Get off him, Marc.

He hasn't any fight left.

[PANTING]

[MARC SHUTS DOOR]

I wasn't going to use the gun.

I just wanted to make sure it was you.

Who are you?

Name is Calder.

I've been hiding here, waiting for you.

I've been loyal to the Union for four years.

I've been beaten for it,

shot at.

That's done with now.

No, not in this town, or many others either.

These soldiers here, back from the army,

are ready to kill anyone who doesn't believe like they do.

They came for me two nights ago.

Where?

My place, about a mile down the valley road.

I got away only 'cause I...

I got a daughter can fire a gun.

You recognize them?

No.

I killed one of them, though.

Now, they'll hunt me down for sure.

Take me to Fort Dalton.

You killed a man here,

it's... It's gotta be settled here.

It's my life you're talking about!

I think you should stand trial here, Mr. Calder.

You killed in self-defense.

No jury can convict you for that.

I wouldn't have a chance.

You've seen the faces of the people in this town.

They hate you and everything you stand for.

They'll fight you in all the little ways that eat a man's guts out.

I know.

You've taken it for four years... Why?

I was born here.

This is my home.

Well, that's... That's why I want you to stay.

You're a strong man or you'd have run a long time ago.

We need men like you to help rebuild Kennesaw.

They don't intend to rebuild anything!

They're not interested in law and order.

All they want is revenge!

He's right, Clint. These people have got to be whipped into line.

I've seen enough killing!

We've got to make the law count again.

I'm taking you in, Mr. Calder.

Get word to his daughter.

Have Judge Allen come to the courthouse.

DRANGO: Will you give him a fair trial?

You can't deny his right to defend his life and his home.

I've lived by the law all my life

and I'll not use it to harbor a man

who turned his back on his own people.

[DOOR OPENS]

He wants me to stand trial, Kate, here.

Why don't you just put him up against the wall and shoot him now?

Please, please, Father. I'll go to Dalton myself.

Will you conduct the trial?

I'll have to.

CALDER: Do you think you can find 12 fair men in this town?

If I don't, there'll be no trial.

On your word?

What does his word mean?

Maybe, he's right.

We've never run away from anything, have we, Kate?

No.

[CROWD MURMURING]

[CROWD CLAMORING]

[CLAMORING STOPS]

We meet under strange conditions,

conditions that make understanding

on both sides vitally important.

Captain Banning and I have come to help you rebuild Kennesaw Pass.

[MUTTERING]

You may not believe that, but it's the truth.

It's up to us to prove it to you.

We're here for the trial of one of your own people... Henry Calder.

There's got to be a beginning someplace.

The law's a good place to start.

Is that your idea of law, sir,

you with a gun?

Don't you really mean, sir, this is a military trial,

a Union Army trial

and that the verdict will be yours, not ours?

[MUTTERING]

It will be your trial, your verdict.

I give you my word.

I want 12 men to serve on this jury.

Men who will swear to give an honest judgment.

Captain Banning, bring in the accused.

I have a list of men who held public office here before the war.

Mr. Gareth Blackford.

Yes.

Do you know the duties of a juror?

I think so.

Do you think you could render a fair verdict

in the case of Henry Calder?

Yes, sir.

I think hanging's fair for Henry Calder.

[CROWD MUTTERS ANGRILY]

Rev. Giles Cameron,

will you serve justly on this jury, sir?

I cannot.

Why, sir?

Come to the church.

You can look high up into its rafters

and see right through to the sky...

Burned out by Sherman's drunken troops...

A house of God.

George Randolph.

He doesn't deserve a trial.

[MUTTERING]

Have you ever read the Constitution?

Men from this state helped write it.

I think I can render a fair verdict in the case of Henry Calder.

[MUTTERING]

I know all of you pretty well,

know what you've been through.

As a doctor, I know all the sickness that war breeds.

But I just can't believe what I'm seeing here today.

The law doesn't belong to a man or an army.

Belongs to all of us.

If we turn our back on it now we've lost more than a war.

I say let's try this man fairly.

Now, who'll serve with me?

[PIN-DROP SILENCE]

[CROWD MUTTERING]

I am grateful, sir.

Do you believe me now?

Take my father to Fort Dalton tonight.

We found one man. There'll be others.

Can't you see it?

They're a mob. They want to kill!

What right have you to play God?

I warn you, Major,

my father's life is in your hands.

[GRUNTING]

Come on, Calder.

[MUFFLED GROANS]

[WHIP CRACKS][CALDER GRUNTS]

Any sign of the jailor?

Get our horses.

You killed him, same as if you did it yourself.

Leave him.

For what?

It's not a woman's job.

We'll give him a decent burial.

[LAUGHS]

Will you?

And will the troops at Fort Dalton fire a salute?

Have them fire into this crowd.

They wanted him dead!

We'll find the men who did this, I promise you, Miss Calder.

My father believed your promises.

I won't make the same mistake.

This what you wanted, sir?

No.

No.

Seen anything of five men headed up the valley?No.

Calder was hanged last night.

We heard.

Know anything about it?

No.

DRANGO: You're not clear of this, Blackford.

Everybody heard you in court yesterday

saying hanging was fair for Calder.

You accusing me?

A man's been murdered.

We've got to find the people who did it and we need your help.

BLACKFORD: Those two rode against you.

I'm not ridin' with you.

Come on.

You'll never take this place.

I'll kill you first.

Nobody's going to take your place.

My brother said different the night he died.

Yankee soldiers. [SPITS]

What's your name, son?

Jeb Bryant.

BANNING: Did you hear any men riding hard by your place last night?

No.

Did you?

We didn't hear nothin'.

Where's your father?

Gettysburg.

Is your mother here?

She's dead too.

Looks deserted. Just like the whole valley.

People living all through there,

maybe even some of the lynchers.

Why not call out the troops from Dalton?

They can't live with guns in their backs.

We've got to give them a chance.

It won't take 'em long to find out who you are.

How do you think they'll feel then?

[HORSE GALLOPING]

Miss Ransom?Yes?

I'm Major Drango. This is Captain Banning.

Yes, I know.

Henry Calder was hanged last night.

The lynchers headed this way.

I've seen no one.

You'd heard about Calder?

This is a small community, Major.

Search the house if you like.

I'm well aware of the ways of the Union Army.

General Sherman's men were here for five days.

There'll be nothing like that again.

Your father was in the legislature, wasn't he, Miss Ransom?

Yes.

Do you think he'd have hanged a man without a trial?

What do you think, Major?

He was a man of honor.

And you know a great deal about honor, don't you, Major?

Enough to respect it.

Good day, Miss Ransom.

You don't have to worry anymore. They're gone.

Do you think they believed you?

They had a chance to search, didn't they?

The Major didn't sound convinced.

I'd like to know more about this man...

Doesn't carry a gun, doesn't force himself in anywhere.

People might start listening to him.

MAN: I say kill 'em now, both of 'em.

CLAY: And bring Union troops around here?

I'll pick the place.

First, I want every man in this territory riding with us.

Luke, I want you to contact our people at Fort Dalton.

Tell them I want to have a look at Drango's file any way they can get it.

Yes, sir.Burke and Ragan...

I want you to go out on the street and keep a good lookout.

BURKE AND RAGAN: Right.

When does it stop, Clay?

There's nothing pleasant about a war... Never has been.

Drink?

There's nothing too small to put in that book, is there, Clay?

Have you put me there, too?

How you used my home, how I lie for you?

Not for me, Shelby,

for an army.

Do you really think you can change anything?

I know it.

This is a new kind of war, Shelby.

No great armies pounding at each other across fields and rivers,

but a war that will be fought

in a thousand places all at once,

in every town and city of the south.

There are men like mine everywhere, Shelby.

Disciplined men, waiting for a leader.

Maybe they have a leader.

If we can get every man in Kennesaw with us,

soon we can take Fort Dalton.

Then all of Georgia will rise up

and the other states will follow.

By the first day of the new year we've got to be ready,

before Stanton can order a full detachment of troops here.

Less than two months, Shelby,

and we'll be marching.

What Lee couldn't do with an army,

we'll do in our way.

We'll take back everything that was stolen from us,

everything we've lost.

I want to believe you, Clay.

I want to.

Them dirty Yanks. [SPITS]

You Yanks in there!

Come on out here!

Why'd you bring the troops back?

Can't you handle the job yourself?

[HORSES TROTTING]

MAN: Troop, halt!

Can you try a dead man?No, sir.

Were you ever instructed to conduct a jury trial here in Kennesaw?

No, sir.

Well, did anyone ever tell you

that a military governor asks for volunteers?

A military governor doesn't ask, Major, he commands!

Could we talk inside, sir?

I understand this man Calder had a daughter.

I'd like to talk to her.

She's staying at Dr. Blair's.

Would you get her, please?

Why wasn't I notified about Calder at once?

I just finished drawing up the report, sir.

I was going to dispatch it to you today.You're late.

The whole town of Dalton knew about it last night.

My men heard it on the street.

I don't understand that, sir.

Bad start here, Major.

It was unfortunate.Unfortunate?

It was stupid!

Now then, what have you done about finding the lynchers?

We tracked them to the farms in the valley.

We lost them in the hill country.

What did the farmers say? Someone must have seen them!

They won't say anything.

Oh, won't they?

Well, then, we'll bring them in here

and line them up in full view of the people

and if they won't talk, we'll burn 'em out!

Nothing will be burned!

I'm building here, not burning!

I was at Appomattox, Colonel.

I'm going to try to carry out the terms of that surrender

just as President Lincoln meant them.

Lincoln's dead. There's a different policy in Washington now.

Stanton knows how to handle these people!

My orders originated from President Lincoln's office.

They give me a free hand here as long as I'm in command, and I'm going to use it.

Without your guns?

Who's your next of kin, Major?

I'd like to know where to send the body.

If they kill me, you can bury me here.

Miss Calder, I'd like to express

the regret of the Union Army

and my entire district concerning your father's death.

That doesn't include all of your officers, does it, Colonel?

BRACKEN: Well, I hope so, ma'am.

Would you care to sit down?

No, thank you.

I want to ask you a question, ma'am.

Did your father ever agree to a jury trial here in Kennesaw?

No.

This man disarmed him, placed him in custody,

promised him a fair trial

in the name of the Union Army.

We could have gotten to Dalton.

I pleaded with the Major to take us there.

My father would be alive today

if Major Drango had never come into this valley.

I'm very sorry I had to trouble you, ma'am.

You'll be hearing from me again.

Captain, escort Miss Calder home.

I can't spare an officer for this job right now,

but I'll tell you one thing to your face, Drango...

I'm going to replace you by the first of the year.

Six weeks?

To try to repair what it took four years to tear down?

You weren't always so interested in repairing, Major.

I wonder if the war has left you quite yourself.

I need supplies for the winter...

Food, clothing and medicine. When can I have them?

I've got 17 communities to supply,

and you'll get your share in good time.

Maybe these people will whip into line

when they get cold and hungry.

Why don't you tell us the truth?

You're gonna hold us as hostages till you find the men who hung Calder.

That's the way a military governor works, isn't it, Major?

Does Blackford speak for all of you

or will you listen to reason?

Now, there's no harm in talking this thing out, Gareth.

What do you suggest, Major?

You're the leaders of the town.

Clear the land for planting.

Open the school. Get out the paper.

Put it out yourself.

That way the people will know it's your paper.

I want it to be their paper.

I want you to publish it like before.

I'll never print what you want me to print.

I'd rather see the paper dead like it is.

Print what you like. Just get it out.

Mr. Stryker, what about school for the children?

The school's burned out.

Well, we still have a teacher.

Suppose we set up school in the church?

Agreed, Reverend?

Yes.

Doctor, we've got to get a place

for the sick and the wounded who still need help.

Well, I guess we could use my house.

Can you get anyone to help you?

Mrs. Scott might.

And, uh, Kate Calder used to help out a little bit before the war.

We don't want any of her kind tending our people.

What do you know about her kind?

We need everyone's help.

And you, sir, will you persuade the farmers in the valley

to get their fields ready for spring?

You've got to decide, each of you...

Do you want Kennesaw a decent place to live in again?

Before long the government is going to send troops

into every area of the south.

If there's trouble here, they'll ride in with just one order.

To burn you out.

Liar! That's what he is.

This Yankee Major has a plan...

Destroy our purpose by false promises,

divide us against ourselves.

Do I have to tell any man here about the enemy?

MEN: [YELLING] No!

I order you!

Fight in every silent way.

Ostracize Drango and Banning.

Keep them alone and afraid.

Don't let a single man cross to their side.

Remember...

Never reveal anything about us to anyone

until you're sure of your man.

And when you're sure,

enlist him... Secretly.

Not even his family must know.

This time we'll win!

Take a look at this, Clay.

Hmm.

Borrowed 'em from the Yanks.

Did you have any trouble?

Cut a wagon off the Atlanta supply train last night,

just the way you laid it out.

Good, Gareth, good.

He'll probably die tonight.

Came home from the war with half his lungs shot away.

Kate, is that you?

Yes, Lieutenant.

Major, we've got to have medical supplies.

More of these people will die without them.

We'll get them, I promise you.

[CHURCH BELL TOLLS]

Whoa.

Where do you want these, sir?

Courthouse.

Ha!

Whoa!

Dismount. Unhitch those horses.

Those wagons are a welcome sight, Lieutenant.

When will the rest be here?

There won't be any more, Major.

These are the requisition orders, signed by Colonel Bracken.

Three wagonloads of food...

That'll have to get you through this winter.

No medical supplies?

No orders on that, sir.

Well, we've got to start back.

Lieutenant...

Children will starve here this winter

and people will die because they don't have proper clothing and medicine.

Remember that. And tell Colonel Bracken.

That's an order.

Yes, sir.

Attention!

Forward, ho!

[PEOPLE CLAMORING]

MAN: Stay away from that wagon!

Every one of you will get his share when the time comes,

not before!

Let's take it now! It belongs to us!

I'll arrest any man who lays a hand on these wagons without my permission!

I'll need some of you to help unload.

How long do you think the food will last if we stretch it thin?

Six weeks.

That's the way I figured it.

If we start giving it out now we'll never get through the winter.

When we do start, we can't give 'em enough to fill their stomachs.

We'll have to measure it out a little at a time.

[GUNSHOTS]

[GUNSHOTS][PEOPLE SCREAMING]

Drop that gun!

Twenty years in prison. That's what you could get for this, both of you!

It's mine. He tried to take it from me.

It's six months we ain't had meat.

We ain't had nothin' but coffee and weeds for the past two days.

I had to bring home somethin' this time.

Take your chicken and go on home.

This is the way we live under you...

Fightin' over a bone like dogs!

I've got to have those supplies... All of them.

We'll let the people eat, gorge themselves.

In a week, there'll be no more food

and they'll be hungrier than they are now.

And Major Drango will have nothing to give them.

They'll be ready to follow whoever promises them filled bellies and warm clothes.

The wagons ready, Gareth?

At the river... Far side.

No definite time on the watch.

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

Sorry to be so late, Major.

Had to bring a man in from the valley tonight.

Swamp fever.

Bad?

Yes.

Did you get any sleep?

How long since you've been to bed?

Marc will be here at 6:00.

Good night, Doctor.Good night, Major.

[KNOCKING ON DOOR]

It's my sister. We need you right away.

Well, I can't leave here now, Jeb.

But you've got to come. She's got the fever.

DR. BLAIR: Now, wait a minute. I'll tell you what you do.

Get on over to the hotel and get the m...

You did good, Jeb.

Go on home. You'll get your share of the food tomorrow.

[WHISPERS] Get back, get back.

[SLURRING] ...now I gotta drink this dump water.

They got all the good whiskey.

[BOTTLE SHATTERS]Gonna get me some of it!

Come on out. I know you're in there!

Come on out! I want some whiskey!

Come on!Gotta get out of here as fast as we can.

Gareth, you take the supply wagon.Right.

[SLURRED] I know you're in there. Gotta have some whiskey! Come on out!

Come on out![DR. BLAIR FIRES]

[SCREAMS][EXCLAIMS]

Get going, Gareth.

[GUNSHOT]

Yee-ha!

[FIRING][SCREAMS]

What happened?

They shot him!Easy here.

Let's raise him.

The bullet went deep.

Near his heart?

Mmm.

Easy, Doc, easy.

You've lost a lot of blood.

The bullet's still in there.

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

Did you ever take one out before?

I'm a little particular who carves me up.

Kate, bring me my whiskey.

We can't use an anesthetic.

Got to keep me conscious. I'll have to tell you what to do.

It's near the heart,

but not as close as was intended, I expect.

[MOANING]

Saved this all through the war.

[COUGHING]

Clean it with water first.

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

The instrument on the end there.

Probe with that.

[GROANING] That's it.

It must be blocked in there sideways.

Take the probe out.

Now, the small forceps.

This one.

Just take it slowly

and try to pull the bullet away from the heart.

And don't stop no matter what I do.

Hold me down if you have to.

[GROANING]

[SCREAMING]

[MOANING]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[SIGHING]

He'll be all right.

A man like Blair,

what he means to this town,

and they left him to die in the street.

The driver killed?

Gareth Blackford.

I grew up with Gareth.

We were in the same company all through the war.

He was never a thief.

Or a lyncher?

Something terrible's happening to us.

People are turning against their own kind.

Captain Banning's out gathering up the supplies.

I'll go help him.

Thanks.

Oh, would you men carry the doctor inside, please?

You can clean up in there.

You all right?

You're never going to find the men who did this.

They'll go on killing, lynching.

The people in this town will hide them,

lie for them, anything.

Not Dr. Blair, nor Randolph.

It'll take time, but the people will change.

With speeches?

How would you have it?

An eye for an eye?

Yes.

I... I know how you feel, Kate.

I know what your father meant to you.

Do you?

Ever since I can remember he talked to me about this country,

how it started, what it meant.

He saw the war coming and argued against it.

He said there had to be a way of settling it

without dividing up the country.

And when it came,

people wouldn't have anything to do with him anymore.

People he had known all his life,

they crossed the street when they saw him coming.

They killed him a long time ago.

War changes people.

Some of them stay changed.

They live on hate and revenge.

You can't be like that, Kate.

Why?

Because you're the only one who can make your father's life count.

You understand what the others don't.

I need your help.

I know a soldier's need for a woman.

I've seen the women go to the camps

with their children beside them,

trading themselves for a sack of meal.

Can't you understand what happens to a woman

in a country that's lost a war?

It's ugly.

I can hate a woman I once liked because she has shoes.

I can hate a man who... Who looks at me

because I don't feel like a woman anymore.

I wish I could make it up to you, Kate.

[CROWD CHATTERING]

Very good morning, Tommy.Hello, Mr. Allen.

You getting out the paper today?

No, just helping out.

My father was up all last night setting type.

Oh, was he? I heard he'd written a special editorial.

Could I see it?Sure, Mr. Allen.

Thank you.

"Tomorrow, December 24th,

"Major Drango will give out one share of food and clothing

"to every man, woman and child in this township.

"It will be a minimum allotment,

"only because as much as possible must be saved

"for the winter months to come.

"This paper will support Major Drango.

"We believe he is a fair and honest man

"and has made his decision in the best interests of our people.

"George Randolph, editor."

You know, it's a fine stand your father's taking.

It might draw the people together.

That's what he hopes.

You know, Tommy, you look like a newspaperman already.

You'll be taking over for your father one of these days.

No, not for quite a while, I guess.

Well then, look, have a nice Christmas, Tommy.

Thank you, sir. Same to you.

Bye-bye.Bye-bye.

You going to spend all Christmas day in bed?

I didn't know there was any Christmas in this country.

Where are you headed?Valley.

Can't you take one day out?

I've been watching you drive yourself, Clint,

more than any man can take.

Look, nobody can bring this town back to life. It's dead.

Then what are we doing here?

Since you insist on packing a gun,

you've always had your eye on this one, so merry Christmas.

Thanks, Clint.

I was gonna find me one just like it when I got back home.

I'll see you later.

Don't forget the party at the Ransom house.

Shelby'd be offended if you didn't come. I told her you'd be there.

You've been calling on Shelby again?

When would I have the time?

What's Kate doing for Christmas?

I don't know, staying at the hospital, I guess.

Is there anything else, Captain?

No, sir.

Attention.

Dismissed.

It's ready, Major.

A military coat is easy to cut down.

The wool is strong.

I've never seen buttons like these before.

Where'd you get them?

A dress I wore a long time ago.

I have no use for it now.

I'm grateful, ma'am.

[BALLROOM MUSIC PLAYING]

You've made another conquest, Shelby.

I want you to dance with him, talk to him.

There's a change in orders going out to all military governors from Washington.

Find out if they know them yet.

Captain Banning seems to be enjoying himself. Are you, Major?

Very much.

It was nice of Miss Ransom to invite us.

Oh, George, I'm glad to see the paper out again.

Good editorial, too.

Thank you, Clay.

Tommy's so excited he won't even leave the office.

[CHUCKLING]

He's setting up the type for tomorrow.

He's George's son, all right.

The paper's his life.

[SHELBY LAUGHING]

You know what it used to be like here Christmas time?

People came from all over, from far as 200 miles away.

You couldn't see the lawn for the carriages.

There was so much silk on the ladies

the veranda looked like a sea of brilliant waves.

I lived in a fine house, too,

in the back where the servants are kept.

When I was a boy I used to look out in the great halls at the parties

and see women like you.

I never thought I'd know one.

Do you know me?

Does anyone really ever know another human being?

I know that I love you,

have ever since I first saw you.

I've lain awake at night trying to think how to tell you,

wondering if it would matter.

No one's spoken to me as you have in a long time

and meant it.

Too much has happened.

MAN: I just came from town. The newspaper's on fire!

The whole newspaper office is burning like dry grass.

Did you see Tommy?I didn't see anybody.

He must have gotten out before it started.

Where is he, then? Where is he?

We'll find him.

Oh, oh.

[SOBBING]

[EXCLAIMING]

[CRYING] No.

Tell your people, Reverend,

that no man or woman in Kennesaw

will get another ration of food until they surrender the men who did this.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

How dare this man cut us off from the food and supplies in his storeroom?

Not one of us,

the smallest child, can stay alive without them.

This man Drango has exceeded all the limits of human decency.

[DOOR OPENING]

This is a private meeting, Major Drango.

If you see fit to inflict your presence, there's nothing we can do about it.

But you can't keep us from speaking the truth.

By all means, go ahead.

And the truth is this.

This man is using his position to tyrannize the people of this town.

He is denying us the food at his command in the name of justice.

I submit, gentlemen, that he is starving us into submission.

MAN: That's right. That's the truth. Call him out.

CROWD: Yeah, yes.

Please. Please.

We are not a mob, gentlemen.

This is an open meeting, Major.

You have a right to speak.

I met a man once

who loved this country very deeply.

He believed that

what one single person did in a country or a town

was important.

Because every man's a part of the people around him and they're part of him.

But we're not one people anymore.

Some men on both sides want to go on destroying, killing.

There are men among you who have

lynched a man,

burned a child,

tried to kill your doctor, and steal your food.

Are you going to give over your town and your lives to them?

[ALL MURMURING] No.

Many of you know who these men are,

but no one's come forward to testify against them.

That's why I cut off your food.

You gave me no choice.

GEORGE: He's talking sense.

If we don't take a stand together,

no family in Kennesaw will be able to live in peace.

I didn't fight four years to live under a Yankee dictator.

You're right.

Just a minute, folks, just a minute.

Does a dictator live on the same rations as the people?

Does he give a newspaper power to say what it will?

What good is talk?

We'd have food if the Yankees hadn't burned our crops and robbed our storehouses.

I spoke against this man from my pulpit.

I failed you and myself

because I was blinded by hate.

But this man has shown us the truth.

If we deny him, we deny ourselves.

Ask him if he's got enough food to keep us alive through the winter.

Maybe that's why the rations were stopped.

I say he's lied to us from the start.

Nobody hated Yanks worse than us.

We had reason enough,

but this man don't lie.

He said he was our friend and he is.

I have as much reason to hate as you.

My boy died in a northern prison.

But I know this man.

Do you, Mrs. Scott?

Do you know who this man really is?

Major Drango,

did you not hold command

of a troop of Union cavalry under General Sherman in May of 1864?

Yes.Did you not hold that command

in General Sherman's march to the sea, 3rd Brigade, 15th army corps?

I did.[ALL MURMURING] Oh.

What was your record, Major, in that march?

Do you decline to tell the people,

you who talk so much about the truth?

MAN: Tell us.MAN 2: Tell us what he did, Clay.

[CROWD AGREEING] Yeah.

This is the man

who commanded the very troops who rode down into our valley to destroy us.

This is the man who burned down our warehouses,

our homes, our church,

this very courtroom which your people and mine built in respect to the law.

I tell you, this man who doesn't carry a gun,

who talks about law and justice,

this man is a murderer.

He'd have killed us all.

Now he's asking us to follow him.

I say we'll never follow him.

CROWD: No. Never.

You've declared your leadership, Mr. Allen.

That knowledge is taken from secret Union Army files.

Only a man using paid spies could know it,

a man deliberately violating the terms of surrender praised by General Lee himself.

Mr. Allen, I charge you with arson, theft and murder.

I won't believe that, Major.

I'd rather see my son dead in the street.

Serious charges, Major.

Where are your witnesses?

Is there one witness to this man's crimes who will testify against him?

Whiskey.

I guess you didn't hear me. I said whiskey.

Give me a bottle.

You should have been over at the courthouse tonight.

You would have learned the truth about the Major here.

He had quite a record in the war,

not exactly the kind of record a man likes to talk about.

How do you feel, coming back here, Major?

Proud of what you did to this country?

Get out, Ragan.

I've been waiting to see if you had fight in you.

I'm not some hungry kid you can starve out.

[GRUNTING]

I didn't expect you till morning.

Rode straight through, Bracken's orders.

You were right, Clint. Time's run out.

Stanton's policy is going into effect all through the south,

sending full troops in.

Bracken's ordered you to report to Dalton as soon as you get these.

Have you seen the doctor?

No.

Kate, I...

I know who lynched your father.

Who?

Clay Allen.

He finally came out in the open tonight.

When are you going to hang him?

I can't even arrest him.

Why?

Well, because I...I'll kill him myself.

Kate.

Why do you just talk about justice?

Why don't you do something about it?

You're no better than the rest of them.

You don't want justice. You want revenge.

It's blinded you to everything your father believed in,

what you really believe in yourself.

And what is that?

This country, all of it.

Kate, if we go on divided against ourselves, looking for revenge,

people will go on suffering and dying.

I want to see the burning and killing stop.

Does that mean that Clay Allen is to go unpunished?

No.Then what are you talking about?

Right now I can't touch him.

He and all of Kennesaw would laugh at me if I tried.

See, they know something that you don't know.

They learned it from Clay tonight.

They know that near the end of the war I had a special command,

and like a good soldier I followed my orders.

What are you saying?

From the Kennesaw mountains to Atlanta,

I was ordered to burn and destroy.

My men rode through these streets, Kate.

My men ravaged Kennesaw Pass,

burned out the valley and destroyed the crops.

Why did you come back?

Why?

Do you know what it is to look into the faces of men and women,

little children,

knowing that they're going to starve and die because of you?

I wanted to give back the life I'd taken.

All I've done is cause more hurt and more hatred.

Now there's no more time to make it right.

Bracken's ordered me to Dalton.

He'll send troops in.

Maybe that's the only thing they'll understand.

Oh, Kate. Kate.

You're the one I've hurt most of all,

and I need you most of all.

You've got to come back.

You've got to.

Clint.

Yeah?

Just one thing,

when we first started here I didn't agree with what you were doing.

I didn't believe in it.

Kinda like you to know no matter what happens I believe in you now.

Thanks.

Don't let Bracken change anything.

Look out for yourself.You too.

Shelby?

Shelby.

Shelby.

Still drunk.

I want you to write a letter.

Get out.

Get out of my home.

[GASPING]Your home?

I risked my life for everything you have,

this house, these clothes, the food you eat.

You don't own me, Clay.

You don't own me.

Don't I?

Write what I tell you.

"My dear Captain Banning,

"I need your help.

"Please come to Ransom house immediately."

You're going to kill him.

You would have me ask him here

to the home where you loved me once?

Can you sleep at nights, Clay?

Don't you see that woman's face

when she looked at her dead son,

so burned that she couldn't recognize him?

Oh, Clay,

I dream about that face,

that face, that same face. [SOBBING]

Stop it. Stop it.

I'm going to stop you, Clay.

You're not going to kill anybody else.

Oh.

DRANGO: If the people laid down their guns,

and showed you themselves they can live peacefully without armed troops.

Would that be proof?Maybe.

And if they do that, will you give us the things we need to get us through the winter?

Us?

Are you fool enough to think these people are ever going to accept you?

You stand for everything they hate.

For defeat, Major.

Don't ever forget it.

Anyway, it's too late.

Your time has run out.

I got word yesterday that Stanton's troops will be here in three days.

Be ready to turn over Kennesaw Pass to the new command. That's all.

Anyone else know when those troops are coming in?

The whole post. Why?

With your permission, sir...I've arranged

quarters for your stay.Thank you, Colonel, I'm going back tonight.

Clay Allen shot him tonight

and strung him up in front of the courthouse.

Called us all together and made us a promise,

ride with him, take back everything we lost.

Ride where?

Against Fort Dalton.

How many has he got?

Every man and boy that can ride.

And he's armed them all.

They're not thinking anymore.

They're just a mob.

They'll do anything he says.

When do they move out?

Dawn.

Better get back to town.

We'll ride back with you, Clint.

No.

I want you with Allen's men in the morning.

No.

You can't go back.

I've got to.

Stay here.

All right. I'll meet you outside.

You've led them from the beginning,

my own son.

We were born to command, Father.

You told me that often enough when I was a boy.

Not this way, Clay.

They're crazy with hunger and fear.

You've got to stop them.

You stop them, Father.

They've always listened to you.

There was a time when you listened too.

When I respected you.

Things have changed since then, and you've changed with them.

Has the power to command crawled into your mind

until you're the only human being that counts?

Have you lost your courage, Father?

[GUN COCKING]

You're all that's left, Clay,

but if you take another step, I'll kill you.

Get out of my way.

[CLAY'S FOOTSTEPS RETREATING]

[ALL CHEERING]

Men!

There's food and clothes

and everything you need at Fort Dalton,

just sitting there waiting for you to take it!

Do you know how many men they've got in the whole fort?

One hundred and fifty-five!

Do you think they could stand against us if we march together?

ALL: No!

We'll take what's coming to us!

Now, let's discuss this thing reasonably. You've got to wait!

We've waited long enough.

You're soldiers again with a cause!

[ALL CHEERING]

Finally got yourself an army, Mr. Allen.

Have you told them they'll be hunted down and killed, one by one,

once they raise a gun against Fort Dalton?

Why don't you tell them the truth?

What kind of an army they really are,

what kind of a cause they've really got?

[GUNSHOT]

[GUNSHOT]

[GUNSHOT][CLAY SCREAMING]

My son was our enemy.

He terrorized our town.

He told me himself he was proud of what he'd done.

Can any one of us any longer doubt this man,

this man we've refused to accept,

that he truly wants to bring us the peace?

There can be no new war,

no going back.

I want every man to lay down his gun,

for good.

You're not through yet.

We're going to Fort Dalton, all of us.

We've got to have food and clothes,

seed for spring planting,

and medicine.

We're going to petition for the things we need

and we're going to get them!