The War Between (2025) Movie Script
1
- Israel.
- Lieutenant!
- James, James, James!
- Israel.
Daddy.
Please don't go yet.
It isn't right.
- Charlotte, I volunteered to serve.
I took an oath to defend this country.
- Have we not sacrificed
enough for this country?
- I am sorry. I gotta go.
- It'll all work out.
I've had enough heartbreak
for two lifetimes.
I can't lose you too.
- Who are you?
The name is Jennings!
Meaning no harm!
- Why are you tracking me?
- I'm not! Going home.
Now let me pass. I'm alone.
Show yourself!
Show yourself!
Hold your fire!
I'm showing.
Throw down the iron.
- You're alone?
- Yes.
- Hey, stay there!
What's your handle?
Terry.
Corporal Terry.
Christian name?
Doesn't matter.
You're not sure?
I'm not sure of anything
except how to use this.
Where were you wounded?
In my head.
As you must plainly see.
Yes, I do see,
I mean, where did it
happen?
Not far from here.
Why are you alone?
That is an awful wound
to leave untended.
I don't know.
I'm headed to Fort Defiance,
I will look for answers there.
Look, I came for water
and I suspect you did too.
Call a truce? Fill our canteens?
- Why not accompany me to Fort Bliss?
- Bliss?
There you'll
find all the answers you need.
that, that is my destination.
Your tunic is army blue.
As are my trousers.
Do I belong to your army
and you to mine?
Fair assumption.
Come to think of it. Jennings,
Moses Jennings.
Private. Moses Jennings.
Come to think of it,
Private Moses Jennings.
Those are corporal stripes on
your shell. Are they not?
It belonged to a trooper who
didn't need it no, more.
I see.
But here I am.
- I noticed you have a
nice pair of field glasses.
May I have a gander?
- Just a quick look-see?
- Okay.
Be careful.
First rate!
- Hey, hey. Where you going?
- Hey!
Outstanding.
- You see anything?
- We should stick together.
There's safety in numbers.
Numbers?
There's only two of us.
This is Apache country.
Two stand a better chance
than one out here.
Very well.
Hold it. Put your other hand here.
Lower it, lower it,
lower it. Okay, let go.
If I didn't think it was gonna kill us,
I would almost say it's beautiful.
Atticus!
- Israel.
I don't blame you, neither
can I forgive you.
- Atticus. Come back.
Israel.
- Charlotte, Charlotte.
- I Israel Terry, do solemnly swear
- Lieutenant
- James, James.
No, no, no.
Lieutenant!
Lieutenant!
You son of a bitch!
I'm going kill you you son of a bitch,
I'm going to kill you!
James, I'm sorry.
James, I'm sorry.
- Hey,
- Hey!
What in the blazes!
This here's my shell jacket.
I'm Terry.
Corporal Israel Terry.
Where did you get this?
See this!
I didn't think
much of it. I found it.
Where did you find it?
I'm Terry.
Israel Terry.
I, I meant to say that I bought it
from a desperate man,
carrying sundry goods
for the rest of my
rations.
This is my jacket.
- It's mine.
- I want it back in the morning.
- If you do not return,
I will search the desert
for you until I find you,
with or without the army's help,
with or without God's help.
- Those are Apache arrows.
- What are you doing?
Trying to show his poor
fellow some respect.
He's beyond caring. He's gone.
What are you doing?
We might find something useful.
You're stealing.
It's contraband.
Why don't you come help me over here?
What good is that gonna do
us, besides start a fire?
- We'll turn it over to the
Provost at Fort Defiance.
Now come help me.
These are notes drawn from the
Bank of Amarillo.
I'm just taking them back.
- What are you a Pinkerton man?
Whose side are you on?
My side.
I know what you are.
What?
A damned insurrectionist and a thief.
Now drop your haversack right here.
I prefer to keep it on.
I'm not gonna ask again.
All my dreams -
right here.
I took advantage of your infirmity,
for that I'm sorry.
Chickens will come home to roost,
my young Texas friend.
April 17th, 1862.
Somewhere in Arizona territory
at a place called, Picacho.
I'm Moses Samuel Jennings.
Do solemnly swear that
I will bear true faith
to the Confederate States of America.
Killed two of the enemy during action.
God willing, I intend to follow
the Butterfield Stage Line
to the Texas border.
Are the artistic scribbles yours?
Yeah.
I shall cherish them.
Don't, don't.
Don't.
- Let us proceed to Fort Defiance, once at
the gates, I'll make my way to Bliss.
You're damn fool. I can make my way to
Fort Defiance on my own.
I know this territory better than you do.
- I have a map.
Do you?
- Where is it? What have you done with it?
I burnt it in the fire
last night for insurance.
- Turn out your pockets.
- Go your own way, Private.
Let us depart the way we met.
- You realize we're being followed?
And the way I see it, one man
ain't gonna stand a chance.
Apaches!
How many?
Well I saw one at the pass
with those glasses of yours.
I'll take my chances.
Please don't go.
- I can't make it out here by myself!
You have chances. I do not.
I'm not as proficient
with firearms as you are.
- Grab his arms!
Arms.
- Dear Charlotte,
if I'm dead, when you read these humble
words,
I want it to be known that I died fighting
for what I know to be right.
Take comfort in the fact that
I'll not rest until I find you.
And we embrace in joyous reunion and,
and my love for you is unbounded by time,
distance, failing memories,
the torment of life or
or even death itself.
Israel.
- Thank you.
I read your journal.
Entertaining?
I took interest in your
time as a prospector.
Wish I could have seen the Gold Rush.
California sounds grand.
It was miserable.
Lost a good friend there.
Came out west together from Ohio.
Atticus.
Atticus and I were in
Sacramento working at a foundry,
after our best laid plans of
striking it rich went bust.
He got in an argument
over Kansas-Nebraska,
with one the ladle pushers.
Then a rabble, of pro-slavery
bastards beat him to death,
while they held me down.
He should have been more
circumspect.
What does that mean?
It means he should have kept
his mouth shut.
Was he yourn?
Was he my what?
Your slave.
He was my father's slave.
Until he freed him.
How would you know that?
Like I said,
you talk in your sleep.
I'm sorry about your friend.
- Nothing?
Where the hell is this gold?
That ain't it?
Atticus why in the hell
did you let me talk you into
accompanying me to this godforsaken land
of mud and disease?
You could've stayed in Ohio.
- Why did you talk yourself
to coming to California?
I had a clothes on my back.
Comfortable position in your father's
house, and your friendship.
Probably all I'll ever have.
I'm gonna ask you a question.
What's that friendship worth to you?
- Everything. My life. More than my life.
- Uh huh.
Israel. I had two choices -
stay home, work for Mr. Terry,
with no wife, no children.
Or, I could come to California
and try to make a fortune with my friend.
Now why would I pass up
such an opportunity like that?
Now what was your question again?
- We should be coming up on a
Butterfield swing station soon
How do you know?
It was on my map.
- I'd show you.
Only cinders and ash await us up there.
Let's set up camp.
I saw a natural rock shelter
a hundred yards back and
and a passel of fur-bound
meat here abouts for us
to trap and eat.
Boy, what are you talking about?
I'm telling you, there's a depot up ahead.
We can get some water, maybe
some food, and a bath -
and maybe a silent Butterfield
agent you can gibber with
while I sleep under a real roof
and maybe tomorrow
morning we can get a horse.
- Speaking in Apache.
Don't talk that language around me!
- Stage line's been abandoned
since last August!
All troops along the line
gone East to wars. - What?
None left for protection.
Not safe from Apaches.
That language. Why you think
we ain't seeing a single
soul on this trail?
- You are forever questioning my judgment.
You practically slaver
like a famished dog at the
opportunity to do so.
I'm sick of it and I outrank you private!
In whose army? - In the only
army that counts,
you son of a bitch.
- You know your brain's
built up quite a head
of steam for such a cold start.
- Yeah, just so private.
- And I just gave myself a promotion
to 1st Sergeant, Corporal.
- Well I see your bet
and I raise you one -
Lieutenant General. That's me!
- Well there's Fort Jennings General, sir.
Oh don't you mean Fort Terry
Private, sir?
I do not, I saw it first.
- Hello?
Anyone here?
- I can't see a damn
thing. - There's a hearth.
Cozy, you should light a fire.
I'm given the orders,
contemptible little dog robber.
Try and simmer
down General, sir.
Hey,
here's a straight razor.
It's almost new.
It'll come in handy.
Especially for you,
about time you learned how to use one.
Gimme a Lucifer.
Our Father who art in heaven.
Hallow'd be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven.
General.
General. Look!
God rest their souls.
- Look to be from Texas.
- No kin of mine,
but we owe 'em a Christian
burial nonetheless.
Did you find a shovel?
I'll use a board if I have to.
In the morning.
Mornin'?
They've been here a while.
One more day will hardly matter.
Woman. Girl I think, another girl.
No a boy.
Apaches.
More than likely.
Maybe we ought to douse the fire.
- They won't be back. Apaches
don't attack at night.
Better a chance the light
will be seen by my regiment
and we can return to the
Rio Grande with them.
Then I'll douse the fire.
No, let it burn. Let it burn!
- I will keep watch. I can't
pass the night in darkness
with those people.
All the same Private.
I'll bed down out back.
You can have your hearth.
Goodnight General.
I pray for your protection.
I pray that my enemies
do not see me coming.
My arrows find my enemies.
I will return home
and wait whatever fate you have chosen
for me, and I will thank you.
- Morning.
Morning General.
- You would've left that
miserable express man's
corpse to rot in the sun.
But when it's your own people you -
Found some water out back.
- What you reading?
Mesilla Union from last August.
Article by one of your
fellow abs.
Damn it Private,
I'm not an ab.
He writes well for an
abolitionist, I'll give him that.
- I'm sick of this shit.
- This'll come in handy.
You aiming on taking a bath?
Reckon I need one.
Hey, let me,
if that thing keeps sitting in the
sun, it's gonna get ulcerated.
My father was a doctor.
I can't work if you keep moving.
What's the news from Mesilla?
Well the ab editorial was more horseshit,
about rebels being
scoundrels and traitors.
Who wish to further extend the
abomination known as slavery
from the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean.
If there's a traitor to be had
it's these libelous bastards
who forsaken their birthright
to the founding fathers.
It's not horseshit. Spreading the scourge
of bondage to the territories.
It's not a birthright, it's a curse.
You should watch what you say.
I was with General
Baylor when he killed the
son of bitch who wrote this.
Owens was his name.
Owens.
I prospected with an Owens
in California, who wrote
for the Sacramento Daily
Union. To bring the voice
of freedom to the territories.
Same fella. He was an honorable man.
- Honorable.
- He was an abolitionist
- Who was poisoning the
minds of those who would
otherwise support our noble cause.
And putting dangerous ideas
like freedom in the minds
of people like your friend - Atticus?
Shut your traitorous mouth. Get up,
- Get up!
- Get up!
- Get out!
I wish your feeble mindedness was
of a more permanent nature.
You shut your fuckin'
mouth. Sit down, sit down.
Put your hands around the
pole. Get 'em on there.
Hold 'em together. Hold them.
I know why I'm here. I
know why you're here.
You gonna leave me like
this? - I have a mind to.
I'm taking you to Fort Defiance.
And if I got other plans?
Then I'll kill you.
- Why are you doing this?
- Atticus, Barrett,
Owens, Charlotte, Levi.
- Barrett.
Charlotte, Owens. You've been calling out
those names every night.
I'm plum sick of it.
- Faces and voices
but couldn't remember
who they belonged to.
This has cleared some of the
fog afflicting my brain.
Now I know who they are, who they were.
The people I respected,
the people I cared for,
the people I loved.
- And your Confederacy
- Took two of them away from me.
All for your so-called birthright.
- My people, my country. We have a right,
- Your people, your country.
It's our people, our
country. You are our people.
My wife, my son are our people.
Atticus was our people!
General, we have company.
What? Where?
Beyond those rocks.
Apache I'll bet.
Stand up tall. How many can you see?
Just one.
You're wasting cartridges.
Where the hell is he? - He's all over.
He is trying to get us to
burn through rounds.
Only we could draw him in.
Get him to stand still.
Yeah, sure. We can tie
up a spare horse or beef.
That'll surely lure him in.
You got spare horse or beef? General?
Ain't got a horse.
But got a horse's ass from Texas.
- Picked a poor time for
your mind to go. - What?
What good is this?
Get up. Get up!
Hold on General, I'll not be bait.
Get up! - You must be
tetched. Oh shit. Don't worry.
- If you follow my orders, I'll cover you.
What are the orders?
Hold that Springfield up.
Let him see what a first rate piece
of iron it is.
If you're aiming to trade
for our lives it won't work.
He'll shoot me first then you.
Go, or I'll shoot you
and he'll still get at that carbine.
Whether you're alive or dead
I'll take my chances either way.
It's suicide.
Go, get up!
- Alright. Hell with that!
- come on, come on.
Nice shooting Private, for once!
- No!
- You filthy beggar.
Have you lost your mind!
Don't kill him. - He's an
Apache. - Leave him be.
Get him up.
I want to tie him up.
Let's bind his wounds
and get him some water.
I wanna talk to him.
His name is the Seer, the
One Who Sees, Great Seer.
Moses, found in the bull rushes?
Hey, how'd you learn to
speak English so well
for a red savage?
From books.
Where'd you learn to shoot
so well for a white savage?
Have yourself a merry time.
Where'd you get the Henry?
The monsters that invade our land,
bring many marvelous things.
What happened to your face?
A lance of fire from the
sky struck me.
A lance of fire?
Enda, have no imagination.
Lightning. Lightning struck me.
Now, if you do not intend
to kill me, I wish to rest.
Get your ass out here.
We should have killed him.
Look what his people did here.
His people, thought he
was your people too.
He's a heathen. Unfit to take his place
among the rightful heirs to this country.
You're still mixed up General.
Then we're all mixed up Private.
We can hold him hostage
and go across the desert,
until we reach Fort Bliss,
and General Baylor's paying bounties.
So you are willing to
sacrifice his life for money.
Who's mixed up now?
Hey, you missed something.
Wonder who the poor bastards
were. - Poor bastards
far from home. It's odd though.
What's odd about a blood
thirsty savage taking scalps.
- That's just it. Apaches
generally don't scalp
they don't cotton to handling
the dead.
You're saying he didn't
take 'em? - No, he took 'em.
Just had to be mighty important
for him to take 'em.
Trophies.
No, something else.
He's different, and not just
'cause he can speak three
languages and can read.
He's a loner. I think he's
an outcast. - For what reason?
Well, getting struck by
lightning for one thing.
It's sort of a curse among his people.
And I ate a coyote, an unclean animal.
Either that or starve.
- There's gotta be more.
You're right. There is more.
I killed my chief's brother-in-law,
caught him laying with my wife.
His family chose not to kill you?
Chief Naiche's a compassionate
man. Gave me a choice.
Suffer the fate
chosen by his family,
or surrender myself to the desert.
You chose the desert.
I prayed for an answer and I got one.
Kill four invaders and return home
for final judgment.
Why four?
Four is a magical number to his people.
- Hmm. Well it looks like
you're halfway there.
Who have you got in
mind for the other two?
Anyone we know?
How came you to speak the people's tongue?
I lived with the Lipan in Northern Texas.
Leader's name was Yolcha
and my father was friends with Sam Houston
and like him, he taught me
to respect the Red Man
and welcome his stay in Texas.
Yet you'll collect a bounty on my head?
I expect you to be gone
before we have a chance to.
- What?
- He said, just you two?
You'd better answer smartly feller.
- Got anything to eat.
General.
- Water. - Tobacco.
- Who the hell are you?
- Who the hell are we?
Perhaps a nightmare for
you my friend.
- Move off.
I don't think you can see us.
- Can you shoot straight and true?
Here, let us help you see.
- Shit!
Alright. Alright. Private,
get these fine gentlemen
some tobacco and your canteen.
We only have one.
- Horse is gone,
and I'm assuming
Great Seer with it.
- Who are you?
- Scouts. Currently on
detached duty, from General
Carlton's forces.
- S, gathering food
and forage.
- Deserters.
That's your opinion.
- Water.
- Hey Compadre.
Save some of that agua for me.
Puto.
- Bound for Texas?
- My Compadre here,
has a hacienda in Juarez.
We're headed there.
S, I'm tired of fighting your war.
It's time I go home. My
friend has graciously agreed
to hire on as my ranch
hand.
What have you got to eat?
First, throw that .44 Army over here.
- How were you able to
find us in the dark?
- My friend,
has eyes like a cat.
We are night crawlers. Now the
days are too bright for us.
- Once we've fed and water'd you,
we'd be much obliged if you moved on.
- S my compadres, we are done here.
- Right?
- Son of a bitch!
General are you hit?
Get this bastard off me!
Where's the other one?
- Oh, good shooting private.
I was about to say the same.
What do you mean?
I didn't shoot nobody?
He may have eyes of a cat,
but I have the eyes of a hawk.
Lord Almighty, we're indebted to you.
And thank you for your stupidity.
Now I wish to sleep.
Goodnight, Private. Corporal.
It's unclean work,
but it's the only way to prove my honor.
Good Lord. Well,
looks like you got your magical four.
I also collected some agave for roasting
and killed a rattlesnake.
You still have an appetite?
No, it's fled like a skeered jack rabbit.
Suppose you'll be expecting
me to bury the bushwhackers?
No, I'll help you.
I gotta work up my appetite again anyway.
Don't you feel like we've
spent the lion's share
of our spare time burying corpses?
Tell me a story,
how you came to be captured and paroled?
We're stuck together for a reason.
And I think you know why.
You sure?
I want the gospel truth from
you. I want the gospel truth.
I killed a lieutenant.
I dropped him like an old
unawares turkey hen,
that I used to hunt when I was a child.
Then I
turned and I saw a man
charge straight toward me,
firing a pistol wildly in my direction.
He came at me with such
unbridled ferocity,
like a wolverine, and I, I managed
to reload and fire and then he fell.
And then in, in a, in a state of shame
and delirium, I just ran
off towards the desert.
The man that charged you?
The man that charged you?
- It was you.
- It was you.
Help!
James, help!
You son of a bitch!
I was just doing my duty to my country.
- Your country.
When you finish covering
up our new friends,
we should break camp.
If you're to make your fort by sundown.
- Jesus!
Mary! Ahh!
Like a whole nest of hornets!
Ah, ah, ah, ah,
ah, ah.
Where, the hell you've been?
Found agave.
Make a poultice for yellow hair.
Needed to find yarrow, but did not.
We have to move on.
He's very sick.
He'll lose more water.
We have none to spare.
All the more reason to
quickstep it to Fort Defiance.
You can get water there.
I'll be splitting off
towards Fort Bliss,
and my father.
- You'll be splitting
off to the Promised Land,
if you try.
- Let me see your ankle.
- Eat this.
- He needs water. Needs to keep it down.
You'll never make it to
Fort Bliss, young Private.
- You'll see.
- You'll see.
- What's the idea?
- He's Akinse now.
One who has kinship
with the people.
Sleep again.
We don't have time.
If we march all day and all night,
we can be in Fort Defiance
by tomorrow morning.
- He cannot.
Then leave him!
Corporal.
Why are you so angry with
him now?
He's my enemy.
I almost forgot that.
What would it cost you to forget it?
My honor.
You sound like an Apache.
You go to hell.
If there's a place worse than hell,
we are in it.
My dear Charlotte,
I remain in the company of
a young Confederate soldier.
A dangerous reaction to
the poison of a scorpion,
has conspired to send him
to the precipice of death.
There is no reprieve from
the justice of nature.
It is quick and it is final.
He is my enemy, yet I
do not want him to die.
All I see now is a little
boy, afraid of the dark.
- Enda!
General.
When you bury me, surround my grave
with a circle of ash,
it'll keep me from wandering too far.
If you see my father,
tell him I died in service to my country.
But don't tell him where
I lay. I won't be moved.
It wouldn't be right.
I have seen this.
Sometimes the spirit
rallies and the body follows.
But for a moment. Do not
expect a different outcome.
Hey boy. Hey boy. Relax.
You're okay.
Where you going?
I'm going to pray.
Goodnight Corporal.
Goodnight Private.
Goien, Akinse!
Goien, Akinse.
Akinse.
- Private. Wake up.
- Moses!
Wake up you son a bitch! Ugh. Hey,
- Come on.
Lean back, lean back.
Thank you.
- You strong enough to
carry on? Alright. Okay.
Then we should break
camp. I think we can reach
Fort Defiance by sundown.
- Great Seer.
Goien?
Great Seer!
- He's gone.
Your Apache friend.
He left the Henry rifle.
- We gotta get you to Fort Defiance.
If we don't try, you will die.
- Let's go.
You're okay, you're okay.
- I killed him. I killed
your Lieutenant friend.
No.
And I'm sorry.
No, I blame myself.
You were just trying to
do what you thought was right.
You save your energy Private.
Is anyone here?
Where the hell's the garrison?
Is anybody here?
Is there anyone about?
- I have a soldier here,
he's dying.
Hey,
hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Okay.
- Okay.
- I have water.
Who are you?
- Corporal Israel Terry.
That's Private Moses Jennings,
friend of the Red Man.
We've come a great distance
and this is our destination.
Or rather mine.
- He cannot take water.
- Thank you.
Ah, ah, ah. Thank you.
Thank you, thank you. Thank you.
- You've come a great
distance to taste dust.
There are no whites
and no provisions here.
- Where's the garrison?
- We drove him out a year ago.
The nearest fort here is Fort Craig.
We'll let you continue on,
but I suggest you leave your friend here.
- Huh?
- We'll give him a proper burial,
and mark it for his people.
- Private. Private, Private.
Hey Private. Moses! Moses! Come on.
- Moses! Moses! Moses, wake up!
- Akinse.
- I have your boy here,
and Charlotte,
and Atticus.
I have them here,
and you need to take them.
Please.
- Moses Jennings. I
hereby award you a promotion
to the rank of Corporal.
- Say hello to Atticus for
me you Confederate bastard.
- You were enemies?
- Enemies and friends.
- The first one, then the other.
- No both,
together and neither.
- Bilagaana do not know themselves.
You'll kill one another until you do.
- Corporal.
The night will get cold.
- My time in this desolate
and breathtaking land is
rapidly coming to a close.
As I carefully retrace the
length of memories chain,
I find that there are links still missing,
but feelings remain in their place
like traces in the sand; anger,
joy, loss, longing.
I dream of my son.
An ugly dream, which is either
the residue of the past or
an omen of an unhappy future.
Visions of his mirthful laugh
and innocent face will
both comfort and haunt me.
To the end of my days.
Of Charlotte.
The desire to see her again sustains me.
I long to embrace her
and feel that she's near.
But how can that be?
Dear Dr. Jennings,
It is my
sad duty to inform you of
the death of your son Moses.
He and I had the misfortune
of being thrown together
by happenstance into
the unforgiving desert.
And it was unfortunate that his
journey came to such a cruel
and premature end.
Although I had the
privilege of knowing him,
but a short time, he impressed
upon me a sense of duty,
which you should be proud of.
And despite the hardships
he and I encountered
before his unexpected
death, he complained little
and bore his suffering with
stoicism and manly endurance.
I remain faithfully.
Corporal Israel Terry,
California Calvary, Fort Yuma.
- He is moving slow. Can you see?
- It looks like he's in bad shape.
Looks like a Navajo scout.
He is running for cover.
You're gonna miss him.
- Nice shot.
He's white. He's white
Stanton.
Move Stanton!
- He's still alive, let's get
him up. Get him to the infirmary.
- Come on. Move. Move!
- One, two, three. Lift!
- Roll him towards me.
This side.
Bind his wound.
Try to make him comfortable.
- I received a dispatch from
Washington just a few days ago
that listed Corporal Terry as
missing and unaccounted for.
- Sir, he was in a Navajo garb.
- Where's Private Stanton?
- I put him in the stockade Sir.
He failed to identify the Corporal
before blazing away at him.
- Considering what he
went through at Defiance,
I can understand him being
a little trigger happy.
Let him go and take
him off of sentry duty.
- Yes sir. One more thing, if I may, Sir.
- What's that, Sergeant?
Israel Terry? The woman in the infirmary.
- What about her?
- She says her name is Mrs. Terry.
- All right, that'll be
all Sergeant.
Yes sir.
- Israel.
Israel.
Stay.
Please, I must go to him.
- Ma'am do not exert yourself.
Ma'am. Do not exert yourself.
Please ma'am, you need to rest.
You've been exposed to
the elements for far too long.
Israel, yes.
Sorry.
It's okay.
I'm so sorry.
Israel. Israel.
No. No, no, no.
Come back to me please.
Please.
- Good Morning, Mrs. Terry.
- Colonel, how did,
how did he die?
- He was shot outside the Fort
by Navajo scouts.
They've harassed, attacked
us for a long time
and continue to do so.
- And you will track down those
responsible
and kill them?
- Yes. Upon my orders.
- Please don't. For my sake.
- Mrs. Terry your sentiment is
surprising to say the least.
- Colonel, this country has killed many
of my friends, my son,
and now my husband.
If we are to make a home here,
we must either clear away the
dangers which might destroy us
or try to come to terms with them.
I prefer the latter course.
I don't blame the Navajo
anymore than I could blame a
force of nature.
All I want now is to return to California
and try to reassemble the
broken shards of my life
as best I can.
- Understand.
Colonel.
- Ma'am.
He'll make sure you get to Fort Fillmore
and from there make sure you get aboard a
wagon train to California.
- Thank you Colonel. Colonel,
can you some how find a way
to send this to Fort Bliss?
My husband had it in his journal.
I think he intended to post
it when he had the chance.
- Fort Bliss is in Rebel hands.
- I know, it's important.
- I will see what I can do.
- Thank you for everything
you've done for me.
Journal of Corporal Israel
Terry and Charlotte Terry.
My Dear Husband, it was
with a heavy heart
that I read the words describing
your final journey from
this life to the next.
I had blamed you for the
loss of our dear boy,
for compelling us to follow
you to the fetid camps
of your fellow gold seekers.
Now, I know that was wrong.
My spirit is crushed.
But my will unbowed as I
am determined to carry on
with our grand experiment.
God rest you and buttons and Atticus
and your final companion, enemy,
and perhaps friend;
Moses Jennings.
Of whom you have written
so eloquently.
And who, I can only pray, is sharing
with you a world more peaceful
and harmonious than this one.
Salvum itinerabus.
Charlotte Terry,
Sunday, the 3rd of May, 1862.
- Sil a, Sil a, Sil a Gr
- Sure a' sure
And he loves me. When he'll come
back, will married be,
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Here I sit on Buttermilk Hill,
who can blame me cry my fill.
And every tear would turn
a mill.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Sil a, Sil a, Sil a Gr,
sure, a' sure
and he loves me
when he'll come back,
we'll married be.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Me, oh my. I love him so.
Broke my heart
to see him go.
And only time will heal my woe.
Johnny has gone
for a soldier.
I'll dye my dress,
I'll dye it red,
and through the streets,
I'll beg for bread.
For the lad
that I love is dead.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
- Sil a, Sil a, Sil a Gr
Sure a' sure
and he loves me.
When he'll come back,
we'll married be.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
- Israel.
- Lieutenant!
- James, James, James!
- Israel.
Daddy.
Please don't go yet.
It isn't right.
- Charlotte, I volunteered to serve.
I took an oath to defend this country.
- Have we not sacrificed
enough for this country?
- I am sorry. I gotta go.
- It'll all work out.
I've had enough heartbreak
for two lifetimes.
I can't lose you too.
- Who are you?
The name is Jennings!
Meaning no harm!
- Why are you tracking me?
- I'm not! Going home.
Now let me pass. I'm alone.
Show yourself!
Show yourself!
Hold your fire!
I'm showing.
Throw down the iron.
- You're alone?
- Yes.
- Hey, stay there!
What's your handle?
Terry.
Corporal Terry.
Christian name?
Doesn't matter.
You're not sure?
I'm not sure of anything
except how to use this.
Where were you wounded?
In my head.
As you must plainly see.
Yes, I do see,
I mean, where did it
happen?
Not far from here.
Why are you alone?
That is an awful wound
to leave untended.
I don't know.
I'm headed to Fort Defiance,
I will look for answers there.
Look, I came for water
and I suspect you did too.
Call a truce? Fill our canteens?
- Why not accompany me to Fort Bliss?
- Bliss?
There you'll
find all the answers you need.
that, that is my destination.
Your tunic is army blue.
As are my trousers.
Do I belong to your army
and you to mine?
Fair assumption.
Come to think of it. Jennings,
Moses Jennings.
Private. Moses Jennings.
Come to think of it,
Private Moses Jennings.
Those are corporal stripes on
your shell. Are they not?
It belonged to a trooper who
didn't need it no, more.
I see.
But here I am.
- I noticed you have a
nice pair of field glasses.
May I have a gander?
- Just a quick look-see?
- Okay.
Be careful.
First rate!
- Hey, hey. Where you going?
- Hey!
Outstanding.
- You see anything?
- We should stick together.
There's safety in numbers.
Numbers?
There's only two of us.
This is Apache country.
Two stand a better chance
than one out here.
Very well.
Hold it. Put your other hand here.
Lower it, lower it,
lower it. Okay, let go.
If I didn't think it was gonna kill us,
I would almost say it's beautiful.
Atticus!
- Israel.
I don't blame you, neither
can I forgive you.
- Atticus. Come back.
Israel.
- Charlotte, Charlotte.
- I Israel Terry, do solemnly swear
- Lieutenant
- James, James.
No, no, no.
Lieutenant!
Lieutenant!
You son of a bitch!
I'm going kill you you son of a bitch,
I'm going to kill you!
James, I'm sorry.
James, I'm sorry.
- Hey,
- Hey!
What in the blazes!
This here's my shell jacket.
I'm Terry.
Corporal Israel Terry.
Where did you get this?
See this!
I didn't think
much of it. I found it.
Where did you find it?
I'm Terry.
Israel Terry.
I, I meant to say that I bought it
from a desperate man,
carrying sundry goods
for the rest of my
rations.
This is my jacket.
- It's mine.
- I want it back in the morning.
- If you do not return,
I will search the desert
for you until I find you,
with or without the army's help,
with or without God's help.
- Those are Apache arrows.
- What are you doing?
Trying to show his poor
fellow some respect.
He's beyond caring. He's gone.
What are you doing?
We might find something useful.
You're stealing.
It's contraband.
Why don't you come help me over here?
What good is that gonna do
us, besides start a fire?
- We'll turn it over to the
Provost at Fort Defiance.
Now come help me.
These are notes drawn from the
Bank of Amarillo.
I'm just taking them back.
- What are you a Pinkerton man?
Whose side are you on?
My side.
I know what you are.
What?
A damned insurrectionist and a thief.
Now drop your haversack right here.
I prefer to keep it on.
I'm not gonna ask again.
All my dreams -
right here.
I took advantage of your infirmity,
for that I'm sorry.
Chickens will come home to roost,
my young Texas friend.
April 17th, 1862.
Somewhere in Arizona territory
at a place called, Picacho.
I'm Moses Samuel Jennings.
Do solemnly swear that
I will bear true faith
to the Confederate States of America.
Killed two of the enemy during action.
God willing, I intend to follow
the Butterfield Stage Line
to the Texas border.
Are the artistic scribbles yours?
Yeah.
I shall cherish them.
Don't, don't.
Don't.
- Let us proceed to Fort Defiance, once at
the gates, I'll make my way to Bliss.
You're damn fool. I can make my way to
Fort Defiance on my own.
I know this territory better than you do.
- I have a map.
Do you?
- Where is it? What have you done with it?
I burnt it in the fire
last night for insurance.
- Turn out your pockets.
- Go your own way, Private.
Let us depart the way we met.
- You realize we're being followed?
And the way I see it, one man
ain't gonna stand a chance.
Apaches!
How many?
Well I saw one at the pass
with those glasses of yours.
I'll take my chances.
Please don't go.
- I can't make it out here by myself!
You have chances. I do not.
I'm not as proficient
with firearms as you are.
- Grab his arms!
Arms.
- Dear Charlotte,
if I'm dead, when you read these humble
words,
I want it to be known that I died fighting
for what I know to be right.
Take comfort in the fact that
I'll not rest until I find you.
And we embrace in joyous reunion and,
and my love for you is unbounded by time,
distance, failing memories,
the torment of life or
or even death itself.
Israel.
- Thank you.
I read your journal.
Entertaining?
I took interest in your
time as a prospector.
Wish I could have seen the Gold Rush.
California sounds grand.
It was miserable.
Lost a good friend there.
Came out west together from Ohio.
Atticus.
Atticus and I were in
Sacramento working at a foundry,
after our best laid plans of
striking it rich went bust.
He got in an argument
over Kansas-Nebraska,
with one the ladle pushers.
Then a rabble, of pro-slavery
bastards beat him to death,
while they held me down.
He should have been more
circumspect.
What does that mean?
It means he should have kept
his mouth shut.
Was he yourn?
Was he my what?
Your slave.
He was my father's slave.
Until he freed him.
How would you know that?
Like I said,
you talk in your sleep.
I'm sorry about your friend.
- Nothing?
Where the hell is this gold?
That ain't it?
Atticus why in the hell
did you let me talk you into
accompanying me to this godforsaken land
of mud and disease?
You could've stayed in Ohio.
- Why did you talk yourself
to coming to California?
I had a clothes on my back.
Comfortable position in your father's
house, and your friendship.
Probably all I'll ever have.
I'm gonna ask you a question.
What's that friendship worth to you?
- Everything. My life. More than my life.
- Uh huh.
Israel. I had two choices -
stay home, work for Mr. Terry,
with no wife, no children.
Or, I could come to California
and try to make a fortune with my friend.
Now why would I pass up
such an opportunity like that?
Now what was your question again?
- We should be coming up on a
Butterfield swing station soon
How do you know?
It was on my map.
- I'd show you.
Only cinders and ash await us up there.
Let's set up camp.
I saw a natural rock shelter
a hundred yards back and
and a passel of fur-bound
meat here abouts for us
to trap and eat.
Boy, what are you talking about?
I'm telling you, there's a depot up ahead.
We can get some water, maybe
some food, and a bath -
and maybe a silent Butterfield
agent you can gibber with
while I sleep under a real roof
and maybe tomorrow
morning we can get a horse.
- Speaking in Apache.
Don't talk that language around me!
- Stage line's been abandoned
since last August!
All troops along the line
gone East to wars. - What?
None left for protection.
Not safe from Apaches.
That language. Why you think
we ain't seeing a single
soul on this trail?
- You are forever questioning my judgment.
You practically slaver
like a famished dog at the
opportunity to do so.
I'm sick of it and I outrank you private!
In whose army? - In the only
army that counts,
you son of a bitch.
- You know your brain's
built up quite a head
of steam for such a cold start.
- Yeah, just so private.
- And I just gave myself a promotion
to 1st Sergeant, Corporal.
- Well I see your bet
and I raise you one -
Lieutenant General. That's me!
- Well there's Fort Jennings General, sir.
Oh don't you mean Fort Terry
Private, sir?
I do not, I saw it first.
- Hello?
Anyone here?
- I can't see a damn
thing. - There's a hearth.
Cozy, you should light a fire.
I'm given the orders,
contemptible little dog robber.
Try and simmer
down General, sir.
Hey,
here's a straight razor.
It's almost new.
It'll come in handy.
Especially for you,
about time you learned how to use one.
Gimme a Lucifer.
Our Father who art in heaven.
Hallow'd be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven.
General.
General. Look!
God rest their souls.
- Look to be from Texas.
- No kin of mine,
but we owe 'em a Christian
burial nonetheless.
Did you find a shovel?
I'll use a board if I have to.
In the morning.
Mornin'?
They've been here a while.
One more day will hardly matter.
Woman. Girl I think, another girl.
No a boy.
Apaches.
More than likely.
Maybe we ought to douse the fire.
- They won't be back. Apaches
don't attack at night.
Better a chance the light
will be seen by my regiment
and we can return to the
Rio Grande with them.
Then I'll douse the fire.
No, let it burn. Let it burn!
- I will keep watch. I can't
pass the night in darkness
with those people.
All the same Private.
I'll bed down out back.
You can have your hearth.
Goodnight General.
I pray for your protection.
I pray that my enemies
do not see me coming.
My arrows find my enemies.
I will return home
and wait whatever fate you have chosen
for me, and I will thank you.
- Morning.
Morning General.
- You would've left that
miserable express man's
corpse to rot in the sun.
But when it's your own people you -
Found some water out back.
- What you reading?
Mesilla Union from last August.
Article by one of your
fellow abs.
Damn it Private,
I'm not an ab.
He writes well for an
abolitionist, I'll give him that.
- I'm sick of this shit.
- This'll come in handy.
You aiming on taking a bath?
Reckon I need one.
Hey, let me,
if that thing keeps sitting in the
sun, it's gonna get ulcerated.
My father was a doctor.
I can't work if you keep moving.
What's the news from Mesilla?
Well the ab editorial was more horseshit,
about rebels being
scoundrels and traitors.
Who wish to further extend the
abomination known as slavery
from the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean.
If there's a traitor to be had
it's these libelous bastards
who forsaken their birthright
to the founding fathers.
It's not horseshit. Spreading the scourge
of bondage to the territories.
It's not a birthright, it's a curse.
You should watch what you say.
I was with General
Baylor when he killed the
son of bitch who wrote this.
Owens was his name.
Owens.
I prospected with an Owens
in California, who wrote
for the Sacramento Daily
Union. To bring the voice
of freedom to the territories.
Same fella. He was an honorable man.
- Honorable.
- He was an abolitionist
- Who was poisoning the
minds of those who would
otherwise support our noble cause.
And putting dangerous ideas
like freedom in the minds
of people like your friend - Atticus?
Shut your traitorous mouth. Get up,
- Get up!
- Get up!
- Get out!
I wish your feeble mindedness was
of a more permanent nature.
You shut your fuckin'
mouth. Sit down, sit down.
Put your hands around the
pole. Get 'em on there.
Hold 'em together. Hold them.
I know why I'm here. I
know why you're here.
You gonna leave me like
this? - I have a mind to.
I'm taking you to Fort Defiance.
And if I got other plans?
Then I'll kill you.
- Why are you doing this?
- Atticus, Barrett,
Owens, Charlotte, Levi.
- Barrett.
Charlotte, Owens. You've been calling out
those names every night.
I'm plum sick of it.
- Faces and voices
but couldn't remember
who they belonged to.
This has cleared some of the
fog afflicting my brain.
Now I know who they are, who they were.
The people I respected,
the people I cared for,
the people I loved.
- And your Confederacy
- Took two of them away from me.
All for your so-called birthright.
- My people, my country. We have a right,
- Your people, your country.
It's our people, our
country. You are our people.
My wife, my son are our people.
Atticus was our people!
General, we have company.
What? Where?
Beyond those rocks.
Apache I'll bet.
Stand up tall. How many can you see?
Just one.
You're wasting cartridges.
Where the hell is he? - He's all over.
He is trying to get us to
burn through rounds.
Only we could draw him in.
Get him to stand still.
Yeah, sure. We can tie
up a spare horse or beef.
That'll surely lure him in.
You got spare horse or beef? General?
Ain't got a horse.
But got a horse's ass from Texas.
- Picked a poor time for
your mind to go. - What?
What good is this?
Get up. Get up!
Hold on General, I'll not be bait.
Get up! - You must be
tetched. Oh shit. Don't worry.
- If you follow my orders, I'll cover you.
What are the orders?
Hold that Springfield up.
Let him see what a first rate piece
of iron it is.
If you're aiming to trade
for our lives it won't work.
He'll shoot me first then you.
Go, or I'll shoot you
and he'll still get at that carbine.
Whether you're alive or dead
I'll take my chances either way.
It's suicide.
Go, get up!
- Alright. Hell with that!
- come on, come on.
Nice shooting Private, for once!
- No!
- You filthy beggar.
Have you lost your mind!
Don't kill him. - He's an
Apache. - Leave him be.
Get him up.
I want to tie him up.
Let's bind his wounds
and get him some water.
I wanna talk to him.
His name is the Seer, the
One Who Sees, Great Seer.
Moses, found in the bull rushes?
Hey, how'd you learn to
speak English so well
for a red savage?
From books.
Where'd you learn to shoot
so well for a white savage?
Have yourself a merry time.
Where'd you get the Henry?
The monsters that invade our land,
bring many marvelous things.
What happened to your face?
A lance of fire from the
sky struck me.
A lance of fire?
Enda, have no imagination.
Lightning. Lightning struck me.
Now, if you do not intend
to kill me, I wish to rest.
Get your ass out here.
We should have killed him.
Look what his people did here.
His people, thought he
was your people too.
He's a heathen. Unfit to take his place
among the rightful heirs to this country.
You're still mixed up General.
Then we're all mixed up Private.
We can hold him hostage
and go across the desert,
until we reach Fort Bliss,
and General Baylor's paying bounties.
So you are willing to
sacrifice his life for money.
Who's mixed up now?
Hey, you missed something.
Wonder who the poor bastards
were. - Poor bastards
far from home. It's odd though.
What's odd about a blood
thirsty savage taking scalps.
- That's just it. Apaches
generally don't scalp
they don't cotton to handling
the dead.
You're saying he didn't
take 'em? - No, he took 'em.
Just had to be mighty important
for him to take 'em.
Trophies.
No, something else.
He's different, and not just
'cause he can speak three
languages and can read.
He's a loner. I think he's
an outcast. - For what reason?
Well, getting struck by
lightning for one thing.
It's sort of a curse among his people.
And I ate a coyote, an unclean animal.
Either that or starve.
- There's gotta be more.
You're right. There is more.
I killed my chief's brother-in-law,
caught him laying with my wife.
His family chose not to kill you?
Chief Naiche's a compassionate
man. Gave me a choice.
Suffer the fate
chosen by his family,
or surrender myself to the desert.
You chose the desert.
I prayed for an answer and I got one.
Kill four invaders and return home
for final judgment.
Why four?
Four is a magical number to his people.
- Hmm. Well it looks like
you're halfway there.
Who have you got in
mind for the other two?
Anyone we know?
How came you to speak the people's tongue?
I lived with the Lipan in Northern Texas.
Leader's name was Yolcha
and my father was friends with Sam Houston
and like him, he taught me
to respect the Red Man
and welcome his stay in Texas.
Yet you'll collect a bounty on my head?
I expect you to be gone
before we have a chance to.
- What?
- He said, just you two?
You'd better answer smartly feller.
- Got anything to eat.
General.
- Water. - Tobacco.
- Who the hell are you?
- Who the hell are we?
Perhaps a nightmare for
you my friend.
- Move off.
I don't think you can see us.
- Can you shoot straight and true?
Here, let us help you see.
- Shit!
Alright. Alright. Private,
get these fine gentlemen
some tobacco and your canteen.
We only have one.
- Horse is gone,
and I'm assuming
Great Seer with it.
- Who are you?
- Scouts. Currently on
detached duty, from General
Carlton's forces.
- S, gathering food
and forage.
- Deserters.
That's your opinion.
- Water.
- Hey Compadre.
Save some of that agua for me.
Puto.
- Bound for Texas?
- My Compadre here,
has a hacienda in Juarez.
We're headed there.
S, I'm tired of fighting your war.
It's time I go home. My
friend has graciously agreed
to hire on as my ranch
hand.
What have you got to eat?
First, throw that .44 Army over here.
- How were you able to
find us in the dark?
- My friend,
has eyes like a cat.
We are night crawlers. Now the
days are too bright for us.
- Once we've fed and water'd you,
we'd be much obliged if you moved on.
- S my compadres, we are done here.
- Right?
- Son of a bitch!
General are you hit?
Get this bastard off me!
Where's the other one?
- Oh, good shooting private.
I was about to say the same.
What do you mean?
I didn't shoot nobody?
He may have eyes of a cat,
but I have the eyes of a hawk.
Lord Almighty, we're indebted to you.
And thank you for your stupidity.
Now I wish to sleep.
Goodnight, Private. Corporal.
It's unclean work,
but it's the only way to prove my honor.
Good Lord. Well,
looks like you got your magical four.
I also collected some agave for roasting
and killed a rattlesnake.
You still have an appetite?
No, it's fled like a skeered jack rabbit.
Suppose you'll be expecting
me to bury the bushwhackers?
No, I'll help you.
I gotta work up my appetite again anyway.
Don't you feel like we've
spent the lion's share
of our spare time burying corpses?
Tell me a story,
how you came to be captured and paroled?
We're stuck together for a reason.
And I think you know why.
You sure?
I want the gospel truth from
you. I want the gospel truth.
I killed a lieutenant.
I dropped him like an old
unawares turkey hen,
that I used to hunt when I was a child.
Then I
turned and I saw a man
charge straight toward me,
firing a pistol wildly in my direction.
He came at me with such
unbridled ferocity,
like a wolverine, and I, I managed
to reload and fire and then he fell.
And then in, in a, in a state of shame
and delirium, I just ran
off towards the desert.
The man that charged you?
The man that charged you?
- It was you.
- It was you.
Help!
James, help!
You son of a bitch!
I was just doing my duty to my country.
- Your country.
When you finish covering
up our new friends,
we should break camp.
If you're to make your fort by sundown.
- Jesus!
Mary! Ahh!
Like a whole nest of hornets!
Ah, ah, ah, ah,
ah, ah.
Where, the hell you've been?
Found agave.
Make a poultice for yellow hair.
Needed to find yarrow, but did not.
We have to move on.
He's very sick.
He'll lose more water.
We have none to spare.
All the more reason to
quickstep it to Fort Defiance.
You can get water there.
I'll be splitting off
towards Fort Bliss,
and my father.
- You'll be splitting
off to the Promised Land,
if you try.
- Let me see your ankle.
- Eat this.
- He needs water. Needs to keep it down.
You'll never make it to
Fort Bliss, young Private.
- You'll see.
- You'll see.
- What's the idea?
- He's Akinse now.
One who has kinship
with the people.
Sleep again.
We don't have time.
If we march all day and all night,
we can be in Fort Defiance
by tomorrow morning.
- He cannot.
Then leave him!
Corporal.
Why are you so angry with
him now?
He's my enemy.
I almost forgot that.
What would it cost you to forget it?
My honor.
You sound like an Apache.
You go to hell.
If there's a place worse than hell,
we are in it.
My dear Charlotte,
I remain in the company of
a young Confederate soldier.
A dangerous reaction to
the poison of a scorpion,
has conspired to send him
to the precipice of death.
There is no reprieve from
the justice of nature.
It is quick and it is final.
He is my enemy, yet I
do not want him to die.
All I see now is a little
boy, afraid of the dark.
- Enda!
General.
When you bury me, surround my grave
with a circle of ash,
it'll keep me from wandering too far.
If you see my father,
tell him I died in service to my country.
But don't tell him where
I lay. I won't be moved.
It wouldn't be right.
I have seen this.
Sometimes the spirit
rallies and the body follows.
But for a moment. Do not
expect a different outcome.
Hey boy. Hey boy. Relax.
You're okay.
Where you going?
I'm going to pray.
Goodnight Corporal.
Goodnight Private.
Goien, Akinse!
Goien, Akinse.
Akinse.
- Private. Wake up.
- Moses!
Wake up you son a bitch! Ugh. Hey,
- Come on.
Lean back, lean back.
Thank you.
- You strong enough to
carry on? Alright. Okay.
Then we should break
camp. I think we can reach
Fort Defiance by sundown.
- Great Seer.
Goien?
Great Seer!
- He's gone.
Your Apache friend.
He left the Henry rifle.
- We gotta get you to Fort Defiance.
If we don't try, you will die.
- Let's go.
You're okay, you're okay.
- I killed him. I killed
your Lieutenant friend.
No.
And I'm sorry.
No, I blame myself.
You were just trying to
do what you thought was right.
You save your energy Private.
Is anyone here?
Where the hell's the garrison?
Is anybody here?
Is there anyone about?
- I have a soldier here,
he's dying.
Hey,
hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Okay.
- Okay.
- I have water.
Who are you?
- Corporal Israel Terry.
That's Private Moses Jennings,
friend of the Red Man.
We've come a great distance
and this is our destination.
Or rather mine.
- He cannot take water.
- Thank you.
Ah, ah, ah. Thank you.
Thank you, thank you. Thank you.
- You've come a great
distance to taste dust.
There are no whites
and no provisions here.
- Where's the garrison?
- We drove him out a year ago.
The nearest fort here is Fort Craig.
We'll let you continue on,
but I suggest you leave your friend here.
- Huh?
- We'll give him a proper burial,
and mark it for his people.
- Private. Private, Private.
Hey Private. Moses! Moses! Come on.
- Moses! Moses! Moses, wake up!
- Akinse.
- I have your boy here,
and Charlotte,
and Atticus.
I have them here,
and you need to take them.
Please.
- Moses Jennings. I
hereby award you a promotion
to the rank of Corporal.
- Say hello to Atticus for
me you Confederate bastard.
- You were enemies?
- Enemies and friends.
- The first one, then the other.
- No both,
together and neither.
- Bilagaana do not know themselves.
You'll kill one another until you do.
- Corporal.
The night will get cold.
- My time in this desolate
and breathtaking land is
rapidly coming to a close.
As I carefully retrace the
length of memories chain,
I find that there are links still missing,
but feelings remain in their place
like traces in the sand; anger,
joy, loss, longing.
I dream of my son.
An ugly dream, which is either
the residue of the past or
an omen of an unhappy future.
Visions of his mirthful laugh
and innocent face will
both comfort and haunt me.
To the end of my days.
Of Charlotte.
The desire to see her again sustains me.
I long to embrace her
and feel that she's near.
But how can that be?
Dear Dr. Jennings,
It is my
sad duty to inform you of
the death of your son Moses.
He and I had the misfortune
of being thrown together
by happenstance into
the unforgiving desert.
And it was unfortunate that his
journey came to such a cruel
and premature end.
Although I had the
privilege of knowing him,
but a short time, he impressed
upon me a sense of duty,
which you should be proud of.
And despite the hardships
he and I encountered
before his unexpected
death, he complained little
and bore his suffering with
stoicism and manly endurance.
I remain faithfully.
Corporal Israel Terry,
California Calvary, Fort Yuma.
- He is moving slow. Can you see?
- It looks like he's in bad shape.
Looks like a Navajo scout.
He is running for cover.
You're gonna miss him.
- Nice shot.
He's white. He's white
Stanton.
Move Stanton!
- He's still alive, let's get
him up. Get him to the infirmary.
- Come on. Move. Move!
- One, two, three. Lift!
- Roll him towards me.
This side.
Bind his wound.
Try to make him comfortable.
- I received a dispatch from
Washington just a few days ago
that listed Corporal Terry as
missing and unaccounted for.
- Sir, he was in a Navajo garb.
- Where's Private Stanton?
- I put him in the stockade Sir.
He failed to identify the Corporal
before blazing away at him.
- Considering what he
went through at Defiance,
I can understand him being
a little trigger happy.
Let him go and take
him off of sentry duty.
- Yes sir. One more thing, if I may, Sir.
- What's that, Sergeant?
Israel Terry? The woman in the infirmary.
- What about her?
- She says her name is Mrs. Terry.
- All right, that'll be
all Sergeant.
Yes sir.
- Israel.
Israel.
Stay.
Please, I must go to him.
- Ma'am do not exert yourself.
Ma'am. Do not exert yourself.
Please ma'am, you need to rest.
You've been exposed to
the elements for far too long.
Israel, yes.
Sorry.
It's okay.
I'm so sorry.
Israel. Israel.
No. No, no, no.
Come back to me please.
Please.
- Good Morning, Mrs. Terry.
- Colonel, how did,
how did he die?
- He was shot outside the Fort
by Navajo scouts.
They've harassed, attacked
us for a long time
and continue to do so.
- And you will track down those
responsible
and kill them?
- Yes. Upon my orders.
- Please don't. For my sake.
- Mrs. Terry your sentiment is
surprising to say the least.
- Colonel, this country has killed many
of my friends, my son,
and now my husband.
If we are to make a home here,
we must either clear away the
dangers which might destroy us
or try to come to terms with them.
I prefer the latter course.
I don't blame the Navajo
anymore than I could blame a
force of nature.
All I want now is to return to California
and try to reassemble the
broken shards of my life
as best I can.
- Understand.
Colonel.
- Ma'am.
He'll make sure you get to Fort Fillmore
and from there make sure you get aboard a
wagon train to California.
- Thank you Colonel. Colonel,
can you some how find a way
to send this to Fort Bliss?
My husband had it in his journal.
I think he intended to post
it when he had the chance.
- Fort Bliss is in Rebel hands.
- I know, it's important.
- I will see what I can do.
- Thank you for everything
you've done for me.
Journal of Corporal Israel
Terry and Charlotte Terry.
My Dear Husband, it was
with a heavy heart
that I read the words describing
your final journey from
this life to the next.
I had blamed you for the
loss of our dear boy,
for compelling us to follow
you to the fetid camps
of your fellow gold seekers.
Now, I know that was wrong.
My spirit is crushed.
But my will unbowed as I
am determined to carry on
with our grand experiment.
God rest you and buttons and Atticus
and your final companion, enemy,
and perhaps friend;
Moses Jennings.
Of whom you have written
so eloquently.
And who, I can only pray, is sharing
with you a world more peaceful
and harmonious than this one.
Salvum itinerabus.
Charlotte Terry,
Sunday, the 3rd of May, 1862.
- Sil a, Sil a, Sil a Gr
- Sure a' sure
And he loves me. When he'll come
back, will married be,
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Here I sit on Buttermilk Hill,
who can blame me cry my fill.
And every tear would turn
a mill.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Sil a, Sil a, Sil a Gr,
sure, a' sure
and he loves me
when he'll come back,
we'll married be.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Me, oh my. I love him so.
Broke my heart
to see him go.
And only time will heal my woe.
Johnny has gone
for a soldier.
I'll dye my dress,
I'll dye it red,
and through the streets,
I'll beg for bread.
For the lad
that I love is dead.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
- Sil a, Sil a, Sil a Gr
Sure a' sure
and he loves me.
When he'll come back,
we'll married be.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.
Johnny has gone for a soldier.