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The Horse Soldiers Trivia

1. John Ford, a long-time alcoholic, was ordered by his doctor to abstain from drinking due to health concerns. Although he was known for his stubbornness, Ford followed the doctor's advice. However, his sobriety led him to treat his cast and crew more roughly than usual. John Wayne, who often received the brunt of Ford's tough treatment, also had to abstain from alcohol, even without medical orders. Wayne implored producer Martin Rackin to help him get away from Ford's watchful eye for a brief respite. Rackin complied and lied to Ford, claiming that Wayne's teeth were appearing yellow on film and that he needed to take Wayne and William Holden to New Orleans for a dental cleaning. The trio spent a wild night in New Orleans, returning to an enraged Ford, who had spies keeping tabs on their bar visits.
2. The film marked the beginning of mega-deals for Hollywood stars. John Wayne and William Holden each received $775,000, plus 20% of the overall profits, a remarkable sum for that time. The final contract was a complex document involving six companies and was twice the length of the movie's script. However, the film proved to be a financial failure, with no profits to share in the end.
3. The character Maj. Hank Kendall, played by William Holden, was based on the real-life Union surgeon Dr. Erastus Dean Yule. He did volunteer to stay behind and be taken prisoner by the Confederates, as shown in the movie. However, this occurred before the existence of the notorious Andersonville POW camp, during a period when prisoner exchanges were routine. Yule was eventually exchanged after a few months.
4. John Ford ensured that black extras in Louisiana and Mississippi received the same pay as white extras, which raised some eyebrows in the Southern communities.
5. To attract African-American viewers, John Ford cast Althea Gibson, a tennis champion who had broken racial barriers in sports, as Lukey. Gibson had won the Wimbledon and US Open tennis championships in 1957 and 1958 before appearing in this film.
6. Tragically, during the filming of the climactic battle scene, veteran stuntman Fred Kennedy executed a fall from a horse incorrectly, breaking his neck and losing his life. Ford was deeply affected by Kennedy's death and promptly moved the production back to Hollywood. Originally, the film was scripted to end with the triumphant arrival of Marlowe's forces in Baton Rouge, but Ford's interest waned after Kennedy's tragic accident. The film concludes with Marlowe's farewell to Hannah Hunter before crossing and blowing up the bridge.
7. The film is based on the true-life raid by Col. Benjamin Grierson, known as Grierson's Raid. The historical event, depicted in the movie, began in LeGrange, TN, in April of 1863.
8. John Wayne was dealing with personal issues at home during the shoot. His wife, Pilar Wayne, had become addicted to barbiturates, and Wayne initially refused to have her admitted to a private sanitarium, believing they could conquer her addiction together. He brought her with him to the Louisiana location but soon realized the severity of the situation when she began hallucinating and slashed her wrists with a razor. He had her admitted to a hospital in Encino, CA, to address her addiction. This personal crisis was kept out of the newspapers, and the public remained unaware of the challenges Wayne was facing at home, despite being the most popular box-office star in America at the time.
9. One of the historically accurate scenes in the film is the destruction of the railroad property at Newton Station. Soldiers heated some of the rails, bent or twisted them around telegraph poles, creating what was known as "Sherman's neckties." Other heated rails were thrown into water, making them unusable. The iron rails, unlike modern steel ones, would typically become too brittle for reuse.
10. The film accurately reflects the use of the term "contrabands" by Union soldiers to describe African Americans who had become free after the Emancipation Proclamation. The Proclamation declared slaves in Confederate states as "contrabands of war," and they were considered free individuals. This term was used to describe those who had been saved from enslavement by the Union army. The film also illustrates that Lukey is unsure whether this term applies to her, highlighting the complex dynamics of the time.
11. Bing Russell, who played Dunker, the scout whose leg Maj. Kendall had to amputate, is the father of Kurt Russell.
12. Initially, Lukey's dialogue was written in a stereotypical "Negro" dialect that Althea Gibson found offensive. She informed John Ford that she would not deliver her lines as written, and Ford agreed to modify the script.
13. Due to racial segregation laws in Louisiana, Althea Gibson would have been forced to stay in separate housing during the shoot. Consequently, all her scenes were shot in Hollywood, with doubles used in long shots filmed on location.
14. In the film's opening scene, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant is portrayed by Stan Jones, who also wrote the movie's musical theme, "I Left My Love," as well as the classic country-western song "Ghost Riders in the Sky."
15. In the first scene, Gen. Hurlburt greets Gen. Sherman as "Cump." William Tecumseh Sherman was initially named Tecumseh after the Shawnee chief. However, when he was baptized in St. William's Church, the minister added "William" to his name. Sherman was always referred to as "Cump" by his close friends, including Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
16. Initially, the producers wanted Clark Gable to play Col. Marlowe, with James Stewart as Maj. Kendall. However, it was decided that the younger John Wayne and William Holden were better suited for these roles.
17. The scene featuring the boys' military academy was suggested by director John Ford and was ad-libbed on set, according to the producers.
18. In a scene, John Wayne's character accuses William Holden's character of being out of uniform because he isn't wearing sidearms. Interestingly, in that particular scene, Wayne's character carries a cavalry sword, yet throughout the rest of the film, he does not wear any sidearms, even when Confederate forces are charging through the streets. He declines a pistol offered by one of his junior officers.