Talk:The Horse Soldiers

Question
This is a Civil War film set in Mississippi. The last time I checked a map, Mississippi was in the deep South, not the West. This is not a Western, it is a Civil War film. Just because John Ford is the director and John Wayne is the lead actor does not mean the film is magically divined into the Western genre. If this were true, then all of John Wayne's WWII films should be classed as Westerns. StudierMalMarburg (talk) 15:50, 22 July 2008 (UTC)
 * No one responded to this in nearly 10 years? This is not a Western. I'm taking that out. - Gothicfilm (talk) 20:55, 7 April 2018 (UTC)

Benjamin Henry Grierson
Since "The Horse Soldiers" is loosely based on Grierson's Raid I thought I'd provide some further historical adenda and Wiki editors can use it as they see fit. My info comes from "The Book of War" by Dwight Jon Zimmerman, 2008, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., pgs. 256-257 (there's a picture of Grierson with a beard, looking nothing like John Wayne). Grierson, a cavalry commander, actually didn't like horses--he was almost killed by one when he was 8 years old when it kicked him. When the Civil war started he volunteered, later joining the 6th Illinois cavalry where he was promoted to major, then in April of 1862 he was promoted to colonel. His service in the war was in the West with the Army of the Tennessee and later with the Army of the Mississippi. During the Vicksburg campaign General Grant ordered Grierson to create a diversion so Grant could cross the Mississippi south of Vicksburg. Grierson left La Grange, Tennessee on April 17, 1863, with 1,700 men and headed south. The raid lasted until May 2, during which time he and his men traveled as much as 800 miles (accounts vary), destroying large amounts of military property, disabling two railroads, skirmishing with Confederates and taking prisoners and horses. The raid concluded at the Union stronghold at Baton Rouge and was so successful that Grant crossed the river virtually without opposition. Grant later said that Grierson's Raid was "one of the most brilliant cavalry exploits of the war". The two consecutive Union victories at Gettysburg on July 3 and Vicksburg on July 4 were tremendous morale boosters for the North. Colonel Grierson received three brevets on Feb. 10, 1865: Major General, U.S. Volunteers; Brigadier General U.S. Army (for Grierson's Raid); Major General U.S. Army (for raids conducted in 1864). Grierson remained in the army after the war as a colonel and retired in 1890 with the rank of brigadier general. He died in 1911.****By the way, what is the actual scene in the movie in which the stuntman died? One hears about people dying in movies (as urban legends), but someone actually died in "The Horse Soldiers" and they left it in? One would think they might excise such scenes, lest morbid curiousity prevail, but it's an interesting subject. Does Wikipedia have a site about all the people who died in movies? Movies are interesting but they're not worth dying for. 64.163.110.8 (talk) 20:25, 27 April 2010 (UTC)Sgt. Rock

Marlowe's rank
In the film John Wayne wears the insignia of a LTC. Is that not a bit junior for a brigade commander? --109.91.74.243 (talk) 22:56, 31 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Yep. You weren't expecting realism, were you? 72.86.42.38 (talk) 14:36, 18 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, but not unheard of. The Spotsylvania Court House Union order of battle shows a few brigades commanded by LTCs, not including Artillery brigades, for which it was normal. 98.101.227.58 (talk) 17:54, 16 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Absurdly, there is no full Colonel in this three regiment brigade. If we look what actually happened, the only regiment under a LtCol was Grierson's own 6th IL as he was leading the brigade. Both the 7th IL and the 2nd IA were under their Colonels. --Reibeisen (talk) 22:56, 5 January 2024 (UTC)

Set locations
While watching this movie I recognized one of the set locations that was used in the filming of this movie. The campus of the historic Jefferson Military College in Washington Mississippi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Military_College) was the scene where the cadets were marching off for battle. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tim J Carr (talk • contribs) 16:30, 4 June 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks. This is one of things I came here to find out. 72.86.42.38 (talk) 14:37, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

Star of the novel
The real-life protagonist, a music teacher named Benjamin Grierson, becomes railroad engineer John Marlowe in the film.
 * And in the novel too, presumably. Valetude (talk) 16:30, 12 December 2021 (UTC)

The 🇺🇸
In the last battle scene, the soldier was carrying an American flag with at least 48 stars, maybe 50. Production error! 2600:1700:BD20:BA90:35C5:BFC0:B8B:4A4D (talk) 03:05, 20 October 2022 (UTC)


 * This might be interesting information if applied to the IMDB page for this film, but without some sort of sourcing, it's not especially helpful on Wikipedia. BusterD (talk) 15:50, 20 October 2022 (UTC)
 * The flag shown in the final attack (1:53:25) is the US flag approved in use between 4 July 1861 and 3 July 1863. You can identify it by five rows of stars: 7, 7, 6, 7, 7. Compare it to the one at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States#/media/File:Flag_of_the_United_States_(1861-1863).svg. It is the correct flag. 71.220.174.201 (talk) 22:18, 10 March 2023 (UTC)