The Horse Soldiers

The Horse Soldiers is a 1959 drama film set in Mississippi during the American Civil War. Loosely based on Harold Sinclairs 1956 novel by the same name, it was directed by John Ford and starred John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers. Althea Gibson, US tennis champion, had a minor role and insisted that her dialogue be rewritten, as she found its dialect demeaning. John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin produced the movie and wrote its screenplay.

In April 1863, Colonel Benjamin Grierson led 1700 Illinois and Iowa soldiers from LaGrange, Tennessee to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, through several hundred miles of enemy territory, destroying Confederate railroad and supply lines between Newtons Station and Vicksburg, Mississippi. The mission was part of the Union Armys successful Vicksburg campaign to gain control over boat traffic on the Mississippi River, culminating in the Battle of Vicksburg. Griersons destruction of Confederatecontrolled rail links and supplies played an important role in disrupting Confederate General John C. Pembertons strategies and troop deployments. Union General William Tecumseh Sherman reportedly described Griersons daring mission as the most brilliant of the war.A Union cavalry brigade led by Colonel John Marlowe John Waynea railroad engineer in civilian lifeis sent on a raid behind Confederate lines to destroy a railroad and supply depot at Newton Station. Major Henry Kendall William Holden, a regimental surgeon who is torn between duty and the horror of war, is constantly at odds with Marlowe. ........

Source: Wikipedia