Horse Soldiers, The (1959) 5

This film is one of my favorites and was directed by John Ford. The film has a good historical basis as it is based on the American Civil War Union campaign called Grierson's Raid into Mississippi and Louisiana to cut communications behind the Confederate fortress of Vicksburg.

Ford always has a climatic scene often revolving around music in his movies, and the little boys marching out of the military school to the tune of Bonnie Blue Flag to fight the veteran Union troops was very moving to me and still is every time I view it.

Duke plays the Colonel leading the raid and has constant conflict with William Holden, the army surgeon accompanying them.