Plot
Captain Tom Benson brings his fiancée Martha to Fort Abraham Lincoln where his regiment, the 7th Cavalry is stationed. Benson is mystified to find the fort deserted. He is met by the hysterical Charlotte Reynolds, whose husband replaced Benson as commander of his "C" Company and was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Only a small group of misfits and guardhouse prisoners led by an old sergeant remain.
When the commands of Major Marcus Reno and Captain Frederick Benteen return, they and the widows hold Benson in contempt. Martha's father Colonel Kellogg comes to the post to convene a board of inquiry into George Custer's actions that Benson sees as a smear against a man whom he admired.
When the president of the United States orders the recovery of the slain officers and the burial of the cavalrymen who fell in the battle, Benson takes his misfits and military prisoners into Indian territory to perform the task. Benson faces several mutiny attempts, mostly led by Vogel. After Benson beats Vogel in a fistfight, Sgt. Bates is forced to kill Vogel's henchman when he tries to kill Benson in his sleep.
The Indians have made the land sacred ground and do not want the enemies whom they respected taken from their burial site. A standoff develops as the cavalry insist on leaving the battleground with the dead officers' bodies. As the situation becomes tense, Vogel is shot dead with an arrow while trying to escape. Custer's second horse appears and is mistaken for Custer's dead horse by the Indians. The bugler blows the call to charge and the horse gallops toward the cavalry's position. The Indians believe that Custer's spirit has returned and allow the cavalry to leave the field.
Back at the camp, Captain Benson is reconciled with his father–in–law and salutes as a 35–star American flag is lowered.
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