Several weeks ago, I read The Cavalry Trilogy by Michael F. Blake. This short book covers the history of three John Ford Westerns, each starring John Wayne as a cavalry officer in the 1870s and 1880s. All three Westerns, Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950) feature beautiful shots of the southwestern desert, cavalry charges, bugle calls, the occasional love story, command and its challenges, and the harshness of life on the uncivilized frontier. Although the plots of the three movies are unrelated, Wayne portrays a similar character in each: a grizzled and experienced cavalry officer who is respected by enlisted and officer alike as the Indian Wars drag on. Each cast is complete with wellperforming extras and co-stars. Some of the notables include John Agar, Harry Carey Jr., Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen, and Ben Johnson. Ford made excellent use of Monument Valley to shoot these movies. Especially interesting in each movie is the distinct relationship between John Wayne’s character and the South and Civil War. All three address reconciliation between the
North and the South in some fashion. 84 years after Appomattox, one movie from the Golden Age of Hollywood subtly but firmly drew together a Confederate and a Federal, not in opposition, but as partners in a new struggle. This piece explores a classic western, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and the reconciliation between soldiers in the Wild West.
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is my personal favorite of the three. It was one of the first movies I watched as a child. Its booming soundtrack, memorable lines, and amazing colors all stick in my memory after the better part of two decades. John Wayne plays Captain Nathan Brittles, a veteran of both the Mexican-American War and the Civil War. His lead scout is Sergeant Travis Tyree, an ex-Rebel. The relationship between Brittles and Tyree starts early in the movie after Tyree accurately identifies which tribe attacked a U.S. Army paymaster for Captain Brittles and Major Allshard. We learn that Tyree served in the Southern Arms when he makes a report to Brittles while on patrol. He trails a suspicious Indian agent and potential gunrunners before picking up the dust clouds of a group of Arapahoe moving their entire village. Brittles asks Tyree why the Indians are moving towards a frontier trading post and the scout replies, “My mother didn’t raise any sons to be making guess in front of Yankee captains.” Brittles lets out a chuckle before redirecting his patrol to avoid immediate contact the Indians. Later the patrol discovers a massive herd of buffalo. As Brittles ponders hostile Indians, buffalo, and the status of his patrol, he again addresses Tyree and tells the sergeant, “Don’t tell me it ain’t your department.” Tyree and Brittles proceed to share their thoughts on the situation, with Tyree confidently contributing to the discussion with his superior.
After an attack on the same trading post is repelled, John Ford significantly deepens the Brittles and Tyree dynamic. The ex-Rebel defended the trading post with a cavalry patrol he picked up prior to the arrival of Brittles’ column. After making his report to Brittles, the sergeant requests, “Sir, would you take a look at Trooper Smith?” The two make their way towards a wounded cavalryman leaning against a post. Brittles immediately kneels before the man and looks to his wounds. The trooper looks up and says to Brittles, “Don’t bother about me Captain. Trust you’ll forgive my presumption. I was commending the boy here for the way he handled this action, in the best tradition of the cavalry, sir.” Tyree extends his hand to Smith’s shoulder saying, “I take that very kindly, sir.” Smith, rapidly succumbing to his wounds, cries out in the loudest voice he can muster, “Captain Tyree! Captain Tyree!” Brittles rises and looks at the sergeant before commanding Tryee, “Speak to him.” Tyree thanks Brittles and then snaps to attention. The young sergeant responds to Smith, “Yes, sir. Sir. Sir.” Brittles, realizing Smith has just died, gently says to Tyree, “I’m afraid he can’t hear you, Captain.” The two men then lay Smith on the ground and cover him. Behind this entire scene, playing softly and respectfully, is Dixie.
Later that evening those killed in the fight are buried and a small funeral service is held.
Tyree and two other cavalrymen (presumably other former Confederate soldiers) approach Major Allshard’s wife as she sews a small Confederate flag. She states, “Well, that’s the best I can do. I ran out of red flannel petticoat.” The men smile, bow, and express their gratitude. She tells them, “I’m proud to do it.” After a Bible passage is read Captain Brittles provides a brief word about the deceased. When he reaches Trooper John Smith, he states the following: “I also commend to Your keeping, the soul of Rome Clay, late Brigadier General, Confederate States Army. Known to his comrades here, sir, as Trooper John Smith, United States Cavalry. A gallant soldier and a Christian gentleman.” A salute is then fired for the dead. Tyree, with the captain’s permission, walks forward, places the Confederate flag on Smith’s coffin and removes his hat as he kneels beside his old comrade. Cavalrymen salute the dead as the bugler sounds Taps.
On Captain Brittles’ final day in the Army, he picks Tyree to ride into an Indian encampment with him in an attempt to negotiate peace. As the men ride past a throng of warriors, Brittles queries of his enlisted scout, “Ever scared Captain Tyree?” Here the respect between the two gains even more ground, as Tyree is addressed in the rank he formerly held in the Civil War. The young man responds, “Yes, sir. Up to and including now.” Brittles instructs his ex-Rebel to locate the Indian pony herd.
Finally, as Captain Brittles rides westward into the sunset towards retirement and
California, Tyree gallops after him bearing new orders. The sergeant carries a dispatch “From the
Yankee War Department.” Brittles, expecting a court-marshal, is instead reappointed as Lieutenant-Colonel and chief of scouts. His smile widens with palpable joy as he reads his endorsements. His orders bear the signatures of Generals Sheridan and Sherman, and President Ulysses S. Grant. The old soldier exclaims, “There’s three aces for you boy!” Tyree smiles and responds, “Yeah, but I kind of wish you had been a-holding a full hand.” Brittles asks what he means. Tyree says solemnly, “Robert E. Lee, sir.” Brittles responds, “Oh, wouldn’t have been bad” with a smile. The two then gallop back to Fort Starke.
After watching this movie countless times, I have developed a fictious yet likely backstory for Sergeant Tyree. When he joined the Confederate cavalry, he likely was a teenager and possibly came from Texas since his knowledge of the Indian is so great (the Comanche terrorized Texas settlers for decades).* The young man received a promotion to captaincy on merit and also to augment the rapidly dying CSA officer corp. He served under General Rome Clay in the latter stages of the war, gathering intelligence and leading raids. Following the Civil War, the young Captain Tyree went west. The South, war torn and deeply troubled, likely did not offer comfort to the young veteran. In search of a new life, he went west. Eventually he found himself serving in the US Cavalry since he could fight and ride exceptionally well. Travis Tyree did not brood over the Confederacy and its defeat but rather accepted it and carried on with his life. Additionally, the young man refused to hold any deep grudges against Yankee soldiers. However, this does not mean that he forgot who he was, how he was raised, or what he first fought for. The merit and character of young Tyree reflect his good stock.
The display of the Confederate battle flag during the funeral never surprised me when I was young. My parents and maternal grandparents always spoke about the Old South and the Confederacy. I have seen plenty of Confederate flags in my life. My childhood and upbringing consistently offered the Confederacy a great deal of respect, especially since we have ancestors who fought in the South Carolian infantry and others who were blockade runners. I was taught to honor those who fought for their homes, their families, and the rights they desired to preserve. However, as I grew older and modern culture in the West commenced a hateful crusade against the Confederacy and those who served in her armies, I realized that the appearance of a Confederate flag for the sake of honoring a good man at his funeral was an anomaly. Of course, this movie was filmed and released three quarters of a century ago, but the scene now holds a new meaning for me. Rome Clay, as Brittles himself stated, was “a gallant soldier and a Christian gentleman,” no matter his affiliation. The honor paid to the character of Rome Clay and the Confederacy as a whole is not only beyond reproach, but to quote President Lincoln, “it is altogether fitting and proper.”
Well before the Second World War there was a grand reunion at Gettysburg on the 50th anniversary of the battle. By many accounts this event was a smashing success. Confederate veterans once again crossed the fields of Pickett’s Charge, although this time they shook hands with their federal counterparts. President Woodrow Wilson, born in Virginia, delivered an address July 4th. By the mid 19th century, the Confederacy and its widely recognized flags were yet to be condemned as evil. In fact, U.S. Marines flew a Confederate flag over the captured Shuri Castle on Okinawa in 1945 for several days. John Ford clearly wished to convey respect for the South and its heritage. Michael Blake speculated that the subtle Irish moments in the Trilogy are Ford’s way of sticking up for his own heritage. It appears that the director did the same for the South.
The movie concludes with a strong desire for unity. A patrol with Brittles as the head rides down a dusty path. The narrator’s firm voice closes the story with the following: “So here they are, the dog-faced soldiers, the regulars, the 50 cents-a-day professionals, riding the outposts of the nation. From Fort Reno to Fort Apache, from Sheridan to Starke, they were all the same. Men in dirty shirt blue and only a cold page in the history books to mark their passing. But wherever they road, and whatever they fought for, that place became the United States.”
Watch the trailer here! Purchase Michael Blake’s book Amazon. Here is another brief article about this topic.
*Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne is an excellent book detailing the Comanche.
The views expressed at AbbevilleInstitute.org are not necessarily the views of the Abbeville Institute.
I enjoyed this essay and have watched She Wore a Yellow Ribbon many times. The Searchers, which is John Wayne’s greatest film, also pays tribute to the South, but in very subtle ways.
I agree that “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” is my favorite of the “trilogy.” However, I will always have a warm feeling for “Rio Grande” as at the end the marching music of “Dixie” is played with great pomp for the Southern wife of John Wayne.
Here’s proof the commie atheists didn’t always control the film industry.