- 2 months ago
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00:00:00This is a production of WGBH.
00:02:18Is that going to tell me what happened?
00:02:21My brother hoped my brother could.
00:02:23Sir, Captain Donnelly's found something.
00:02:29Sweet Jesus.
00:02:47Oh, my Lord.
00:03:01Oh, my Lord.
00:03:15Oh, my Lord.
00:03:25Oh, my Lord.
00:03:27It's my brother Richard.
00:03:32Oh, may God be there.
00:03:34Oh, my Lord.
00:03:36Oh, my Lord.
00:03:37The ministers of grace defend us.
00:03:40Good Lord.
00:03:42Good Lord, baby.
00:03:45Our merciful Father.
00:03:47One year after that massacre, in the spring of 1863,
00:03:51another campaign was waged at Cadham Creek.
00:03:54Alabama, 51st.
00:03:56Which was by far the darkest of the Civil War.
00:04:00No honors were paid to its heroes.
00:04:03No wreaths laid for its dead.
00:04:06And though that was the one time Confederates and Yankees fought on the same side,
00:04:10it is only with the greatest difficulty that I can bear testament to it.
00:04:14It's not because I've forgotten,
00:04:17but because I remember.
00:04:20War had taught me the world cares little for man.
00:04:24The earth will drink the tears of the dead.
00:04:27The wind will consume the cries of the wounded.
00:04:30And the sun will impassively bear witness to it all.
00:04:35In my youth, I had only desired to be a minister of souls.
00:04:41But my own spirit had since become as the rock of the mountain.
00:04:45And I had long ago stopped my ears to the pleas of men.
00:04:49And thus was I still on that day,
00:04:53when the blood of those crucified soldiers screamed through the Kentucky fields and called to me.
00:04:58Captain Harlan.
00:05:00Captain.
00:05:02Captain.
00:05:05General Harlan said he wanted to see you.
00:05:07I had only one thought on that dry spring morning.
00:05:23My discharge.
00:05:25After two years of fighting, the call of home had become deafening.
00:05:30In the end, however, the cry from Tennessee rang louder.
00:05:34Captain.
00:05:35Captain John Harlan reporting is ordered, sir.
00:05:37Mm-hmm.
00:05:41Yeah.
00:05:42My apologies, Harlan.
00:05:44I have a very busy schedule, and you must work around the line.
00:05:47Understandable, sir.
00:05:49That is Colonel Thalman over there.
00:05:51You may salute him.
00:05:52He is not in the portrait.
00:05:54Colonel.
00:05:55Please sit down, Captain.
00:05:57Thank you, Lieutenant.
00:05:58Thank you, Lieutenant.
00:06:06A little further back from the General, sir.
00:06:08Your casting shadows.
00:06:15Recovering well, I hope.
00:06:17Yes, sir.
00:06:18Captain had a little mishap on his last reconnaissance.
00:06:20The fact is, we were planning to send him home tomorrow.
00:06:23I caught him just in time, then.
00:06:25Word has it that you're a tracker, Harlan.
00:06:30Yes, sir.
00:06:31You're very modest, George.
00:06:32Captain here is one of the finest trackers in the Federal Army.
00:06:36Thank you, sir.
00:06:37I just went from discharge papers.
00:06:40Anxious to get back to your preaching ministry, are you?
00:06:44Yes, sir.
00:06:47Nothing.
00:06:48Yes, thank you.
00:06:49Uh, Captain, I understand that you are familiar with the Alabama 51st?
00:06:58Yes, sir.
00:07:00Carly and Meyer Strain was their commanding officer.
00:07:04I thought I've always wiped them out six months ago at a place called Cows Creek.
00:07:08Strain survived.
00:07:11He's rotting away now in Bowling Green Prison.
00:07:14Excuse me, sir, but I don't see what this has to do with my discharge.
00:07:21Show him those other photographs, George.
00:07:27Not a pretty portrait, Captain.
00:07:30All this occurred in Tennessee just a few days ago, not far from Cows Creek.
00:07:34They were all Colonel Thalman's men, every last one of them.
00:07:38Thirty-one died.
00:07:39Twelve missing.
00:07:41But the only thing the Rebs loss was a goddamn belt buckle.
00:07:44You don't think the 51st did anything to do with this, sir, do you?
00:07:47A witness to this ungodly massacre has identified that man.
00:07:54His name is Lieutenant Josiah Elkins.
00:07:58He was the 51st second-in-command.
00:08:00According to our dear Colonel Strain, Elkins died six months ago during the 51st last stand.
00:08:07However, we now believe that he survived and has since raised a formidable army of his own.
00:08:14Under what state, sir?
00:08:19In the strictest confidentiality, Captain?
00:08:21Yes, sir.
00:08:22We do fear that there may be some Federal soldiers operating with Mr. Elkins as well.
00:08:29You know, Captain, sometimes in this war things get very confused.
00:08:34Particularly in our border states of Missouri and Kentucky, where there are so many young men fighting each other from the same extended family.
00:08:41Blue and gray is not always black and white for any of us here in Kentucky.
00:08:48No, sir.
00:08:50So many of our fine young fighting men become very confused between religious morality and practical military necessity.
00:08:58Every man has his breaking point, Captain.
00:09:03You and I have ours.
00:09:05And whoever did this deed has obviously reached there.
00:09:08Yes, sir.
00:09:10Obviously, sir.
00:09:13About my discharge.
00:09:14I'm terribly sorry, Captain.
00:09:15Your discharge has been rescinded.
00:09:20You will proceed with Colonel Thalman in a small detachment forthwith the area around Cadams Creek.
00:09:27There you will locate these men and you will call for reinforcements and we will have done with this sorry business.
00:09:34As soon as you have completed your mission, you may return home.
00:09:37Again, I'm very sorry, Captain, but sometimes this is how things are done.
00:09:45Yes, sir.
00:09:57Yes, sir.
00:09:58Thank you, Captain.
00:10:05Is there something else on your mind, Captain?
00:10:08Sir, with your permission, I'd like to speak with your prisoner, Colonel Neumeyer Strain.
00:10:12I believe you might be of some assistance.
00:10:15How's that, Captain?
00:10:17Well, in addition to being commander of the 51st, I started under him before the war.
00:10:22Yeah.
00:10:23Listen to him. He whistles Yankee Doodle every time he takes up piss.
00:10:31Hey, Strand, you got a visitor.
00:10:38Hey!
00:10:40I'm having an intensely private moment here, Corporal.
00:10:45Don't miss.
00:10:49That's right, Corporal. I can handle him from here.
00:10:54Johnny, I thought you'd go back to preaching by now.
00:11:00Union take the edge out of your religion.
00:11:09I'll be back on speaking terms.
00:11:12You owe me a favor, Nehemiah. I just come to collect.
00:11:17That's a hell of a time to ask.
00:11:19Come into my classroom.
00:11:27Put your hands on your head.
00:11:29Put your hands on your head!
00:11:30Stay there.
00:11:42John Horling.
00:11:43John Horling.
00:11:53Nehemiah!
00:11:54Short moment.
00:12:00Get back in here.
00:12:04Move!
00:12:05Oh, come on, cheer up, Johnny.
00:12:10I make life exciting for you.
00:12:14It weren't me.
00:12:17You wouldn't have any fun at West Point.
00:12:20You'd never gotten drunk.
00:12:22You certainly would never have the pleasure of chasing me around this war.
00:12:26I need to talk to you.
00:12:28What you need is a bath.
00:12:30It's about your regiment.
00:12:31I don't have a regiment, John.
00:12:32I don't have a regiment, John.
00:12:35Our boys found this two weeks ago.
00:12:38Stuffed in the mouth of a dead Union soldier.
00:12:40I thought you might be interested.
00:12:41You think my boys did this?
00:12:42Go to hell.
00:12:44I don't have a regiment, John.
00:12:46I don't have a regiment, John.
00:12:48I don't have a regiment, John.
00:12:49What the hell do you want, John?
00:12:54I wanna go home.
00:12:55I need your help.
00:12:56you think my boys did this
00:13:05go to hell
00:13:08what the hell do you want John
00:13:12I want to go home
00:13:12I need your help
00:13:26fire
00:13:33fire
00:13:35fire
00:13:39fire
00:13:43fire
00:13:46fire
00:13:47it's a taste of what you're going to get
00:13:55now lay down your arms and release that prisoner
00:13:58face this
00:13:59alright
00:14:01double up
00:14:03where's Murphy
00:14:08what's up to the wall Billy
00:14:10goddammit
00:14:12Murphy get your ass down here
00:14:14I'm a prisoner sir
00:14:16Murphy you're hurting me now
00:14:21now don't you try nothing
00:14:24you end up looking like that
00:14:26cause I'll be back
00:14:27damn it
00:14:31alright everybody fire
00:14:35start with me
00:14:36including you Murphy
00:14:37Murphy
00:14:39Murphy
00:14:41just sit there
00:14:42there
00:14:45what the hell
00:14:47what the hell
00:14:49what's happening
00:14:50did you see something out there
00:14:52I've got it
00:14:53reinforcements
00:14:54we got men coming up the ridge boys
00:14:56they ain't rosy now are they
00:14:59turn that cannon around
00:15:01boom boom
00:15:02boom boom
00:15:03freeze
00:15:05quick
00:15:06okay boys
00:15:07and
00:15:08pull
00:15:09first squad
00:15:11ready
00:15:12ready
00:15:13fire
00:15:14fire
00:15:15fire
00:15:16fire
00:15:17fire
00:15:18fire
00:15:19fire
00:15:20fire
00:15:21fire
00:15:22fire
00:15:23fire
00:15:24fire
00:15:25fire
00:15:26Oh
00:15:56Oh
00:16:09Shut up Murphy. I'm concentrating
00:16:14Hey
00:16:16You boys still alive in there? Who are you? Well, we heard all the fighting thought it might be some trouble
00:16:22I wouldn't be staying in there too long. Enemies coming this way. All right boys. We're gonna move out slow
00:16:28But keep one round loaded
00:16:31Murphy you stay here and cover us
00:16:34Bennett if something starts up
00:16:36I want you to aim for that one in the middle. I got my eye on him. Don't you worry
00:16:52Downright inhospitable if you ask me. That's just too damn bad ain't
00:17:07Hold your ground ain't fooling you. He ain't fooling either
00:17:11Oh
00:17:18Boys
00:17:20We're all on the same side now
00:17:35Dammit you want your freedom or not
00:17:41Hi
00:17:53Friend of yours
00:18:11Don't you know to do that? I heard you're kind of died off
00:18:24You know resorting to little tricks like that
00:18:28That's me you go weak
00:18:30Come on
00:18:36I will consume your bones
00:18:39And scatter the dust to the wind
00:19:00Out of your sides
00:19:00On the other side
00:19:02Masks
00:19:03Come on
00:19:04Come on
00:19:05Let run
00:19:05보여
00:19:08People say
00:19:10On-
00:19:11Person
00:19:12A
00:19:13pod
00:19:14O
00:19:15We-
00:19:16Do
00:19:16Why
00:19:18A
00:19:19יע
00:19:20Who
00:19:21Do
00:19:22We
00:19:23Qu divert
00:19:25funeral
00:19:27Su
00:19:28A
00:19:29Murphy, just where in the hell have you been?
00:19:45Boy, that goddamn stuttering, it's going to drive me to my graves.
00:19:49Sorry, sir.
00:19:54Are you hurt, boy?
00:19:59Don't worry, son. Everything's going to be just fine.
00:20:12It's a beautiful sight, ain't it?
00:20:22That's not going to work, son.
00:20:25Captain, it's us to wait on you, boy.
00:20:28Because of your youth.
00:20:30Didn't want nothing to happen to you, son, no?
00:20:35Now we're going to give you a good making.
00:20:51About two days ago, about 26 miles south of the last incident,
00:20:56the boy was a confederate.
00:20:57You know, it's not just the old ones are dying anymore, Nehemiah.
00:21:03The young ones now, too.
00:21:06In fact, it's about just a few years older than your nephew, Thomas.
00:21:12Memory serves.
00:21:13What are your terms?
00:21:17All right.
00:21:18You proceed with me into the area, under guard, strictly as an advisor.
00:21:22We flush them out.
00:21:24You get a pardon.
00:21:26If I pledge allegiance to the Union.
00:21:28That's right.
00:21:30Can't do that, son.
00:21:31No pledge.
00:21:35No pardon.
00:21:46Do we get a hot bath?
00:21:48I don't know.
00:21:58One.
00:21:59One.
00:22:00Two.
00:22:00One.
00:22:00One, one, one, three, two, one.
00:22:06Forward.
00:22:07You guide his left.
00:22:08March!
00:22:09Campwood, strawwood, campwood.
00:22:11Campwood, campwood.
00:22:13Campwood, campwood.
00:22:14Hello.
00:22:15Excuse me.
00:22:17Campwood, campwood, strawwood, campwood.
00:22:20Campwood.
00:22:21Hello.
00:22:22I say, have you seen Cap...
00:22:25Let's see.
00:22:27Yes.
00:22:29There you are, Captain.
00:22:36I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to photograph the document on our little excursion.
00:22:41It'll be just fine, Mr. Brownlee.
00:22:43Sir, you haven't seen my lens cap, have you?
00:22:47It's come all the way from England and I really hate to lose it.
00:22:50Captain?
00:22:51Captain?
00:22:52It's my third time today I've lost university.
00:23:00expenses.
00:23:01Great service, boys.
00:23:02Just like home.
00:23:03You live in peace.
00:23:04Let's go.
00:23:05Oh, look what we got here, Johnny.
00:23:14I got this when we won Texas in 1946.
00:23:18Of course, you're too young to remember that.
00:23:21So we'll take this.
00:23:22You take this home.
00:23:23Take it to the missus.
00:23:25And, of course, this.
00:23:29Pretty smart, huh?
00:23:31Granddaddy's watch.
00:23:33He's in the Revolutionary War, you know.
00:23:35Oh, so is mine.
00:23:40You taking pictures on this trip?
00:23:44His brother was killed at Captain's Creek.
00:23:46He's coming along.
00:23:48Arlake!
00:23:49Colonel, sir.
00:23:50What is that red pustule doing here?
00:23:52It's Colonel Nehemiah Strange, sir.
00:23:54I know who he is, Captain.
00:23:56And I do not want him on my expedition.
00:23:58Sir, General Harworth authorized his...
00:24:00I don't give a rat's ass who authorized anything.
00:24:03Colonel.
00:24:03I do believe my good friend, John...
00:24:07said it was a general that authorized my coming along.
00:24:10Back in the Confederacy, a general usually outranks Colonel.
00:24:14I don't know.
00:24:15Maybe y'all do things differently here in the Union.
00:24:19Things being the way they are, I think temporarily putting aside past differences will be in the best interest of this expedition.
00:24:35I'm leaving orders, Captain.
00:24:37If he gets away, no discharge till you catch him.
00:24:41Yes, sir.
00:24:45John, you can't let him push you around like that.
00:24:48Go on, move him out.
00:24:49Go on, move him out.
00:25:09in our boots he's a runaway sir witness on the last incident we come along that's what you know
00:25:16run away again no sir so you don't john john you can't what you can't chain me move out
00:25:27ain't you gonna at least give me
00:25:31that's a horse no horse can't help you there sorry about god damn it harling if you expect
00:25:37me to walk all the way to tennessee
00:25:54god damn it better at ass and that's how you can get to tennessee if you don't like it
00:26:07keep your god damn hands off on my watch move out
00:26:21and so we began
00:26:45i was no stranger to battlefields i had seen slaughtered lying upon the meadows of shiloh
00:26:53i had walked over corpses strewn in the cornfields of antietam
00:26:58but i feared that the battlefield to which we now journeyed was far darker than any i had known
00:27:04for it seemed as if god had turned his face from these mountains occluding them in the shadow of his
00:27:10vengeance and i wondered what kind of enemy walked within those shades and how were they different
00:27:17from the men i had had to fight for so long men like nehemiah strain who not two years ago i had
00:27:23laughed with and learned from oh hell no no no no they say that an enemy is only an injured friend
00:27:33but when a soldier goes beyond both injury and friendship what does he become that is all she
00:27:42wrote all she wrote all she wrote all she wrote yeah you keep going i'm gonna have you a great before
00:27:51evening's out all she wrote all she wrote the missionary zeal in you colonel damn right gospel of the south
00:28:05god is a southerner john is that right
00:28:11you think he keeps slaves too
00:28:13i see you still got your sense of humor tongue still sharp as a saber
00:28:27in fact uh captain here was one of my sharpest pupils mr bradley
00:28:33he was gonna go to yale become a uh uh doctor of divinity
00:28:39i'm gonna start leper calling or something lepers good for you no it was a tragedy mr bradley you see
00:28:46uh his daddy was a general a real missouri fire eater and he made poor boy go to west point where
00:28:53thank the lord he had the good fortune to study with me
00:28:59we are real close didn't we john that is until we tried to kill each other
00:29:05you see uh captain had me cornered but he's too much of a gentleman to kill me so he just said
00:29:22you owe me you can sort of say that's why i'm here now what was the name of that girl john
00:29:27don't get all heated up john with all this war going on
00:29:36ultimately that's what divided us
00:29:41or was it a girl whose name neither of us remember
00:29:44you keep working on that mr bradley but he forced you to go to the south
00:29:59johnny since when has this war been about slavery i don't have a slave most of my army don't
00:30:06that's how the south works until we come up with something better on our own terms
00:30:10that's the way it'll stay i don't think that's a popular opinion
00:30:17democracy huh i think you forgot someone
00:30:40it'll be a good way
00:30:49yeah
00:30:56sure as hell never want to see this place again feel proud of your regiment strain
00:31:01Thalman, I lost 200 men here, down by the creek.
00:31:12They weren't laid out nearly as pretty when our fighting was done.
00:31:31Colonel, with your permission, before we find out what happened to your men, we ought to determine what happened to his.
00:31:53Granted.
00:32:11You ever hear of the killing box, Colonel?
00:32:15I am familiar with the term.
00:32:18That's what happened here.
00:32:23General Bragg had run most of his men south to Murfreesboro to find another Union Army.
00:32:39He ordered my men behind enemy lines to see if we could divert any reinforcements coming that way.
00:32:47We got more than we bargained for.
00:32:54Half my regiment got pinned down on the southern bank of the creek by a Union battery.
00:33:03I desperately tried to rejoin them, but the barrage was unrelenting.
00:33:15When I, my second-in-command, Josiah Elkins got to them at the southern bank, they were in full retreat.
00:33:31The Union regiment began to advance.
00:33:43They tried to pull back.
00:33:44Before I knew it, they were surrounded.
00:33:45They were surrounded.
00:33:46They tried to pull back.
00:33:47Before I knew it, they were surrounded.
00:33:48They tried to pull back.
00:33:49They tried to pull back.
00:33:53Pull back!
00:33:55I tried to pull back.
00:33:58Before I knew it, they were surrounded.
00:34:20I gave the order to surrender.
00:34:23Lieutenant Elkins and the others followed suit.
00:34:32But the Union commander didn't accept.
00:34:45I was hitting the shoulder.
00:34:48The men took me for dead.
00:34:51Lieutenant Elkins did the only thing he could.
00:34:53Charged.
00:35:02Could have gotten past the clearing.
00:35:04Maybe led some of the boys to safety.
00:35:13The line held.
00:35:14The nephew, Thomas, they just blew his old stomach away.
00:35:26He was twelve.
00:35:31He was twelve.
00:35:43Those Union soldiers spared my life.
00:35:47A week later woke up in the hospital.
00:35:51A week later, I woke up in the hospital.
00:35:57My heart bleeds.
00:36:00It's getting dark. Burr, sergeant.
00:36:03Yes, sir.
00:36:04Find some dry wood for some fires.
00:36:07Yes, sir. Sergeant Hammond, detail some men for water.
00:36:11Torkel Burke, have some men round up some water.
00:36:14Yes, sir.
00:36:17The wood ain't gonna burn.
00:36:20It's too wet.
00:39:03Good morrow.
00:42:07Tell me.
00:42:09They're made sir
00:42:14Talk to me son
00:42:18Made into something
00:42:21Inhuman the makers have taken their souls
00:42:27Terrible evil escaped from Africa and hid in this cave
00:42:32For 200 years. They've walked the earth by night
00:42:35Consuming men growing more powerful
00:42:42Weak ones they use for food
00:42:46Strong ones they make
00:42:50Like Kalkins
00:42:57Like me
00:42:59You've got to stop them if they stay free up top they'll raise an army like you've never seen
00:43:04They've changed
00:43:07Their hearts have gone dark like the devil
00:43:11Moving water from the river they can't pass
00:43:17Sunfire
00:43:20Pale metal will kill
00:43:23These must be your weapons
00:43:25They've heard you
00:43:32They've heard you
00:43:35Thomas
00:43:36Go sir
00:43:39Come with me
00:43:42I can't
00:43:44That is an order
00:43:46Ah
00:43:48You all right?
00:43:49There's a cave
00:43:50I saw Thomas
00:43:51I've been here
00:43:52Have a nice swim?
00:43:54We just got word harling
00:43:55There was another incident last night
00:43:56Where?
00:43:57At the front of our lines
00:43:58Strain
00:43:59Looks like your boy has just busted back into the confederacy
00:44:00No, no colonel
00:44:01Hey
00:44:02No, no colonel
00:44:03Hey
00:44:04Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
00:44:06Johnny
00:44:08Look right here
00:44:09Look right.
00:44:10Look right here
00:44:12Look right here
00:44:13Look right here
00:44:14Look right here
00:44:15You're right there
00:44:16We're right there
00:44:17We just got word harling
00:44:18There was another incident last night
00:44:19Where?
00:44:20At the front of our lines
00:44:21Strain
00:44:22Looks like your boy has just busted back into the confederacy
00:44:23No, no colonel
00:44:24blah
00:44:25No colonel
00:44:26Hey
00:44:28Johnny
00:44:30Look right here
00:44:31Look, right here.
00:44:38Did you find it?
00:44:40Yeah, we found it.
00:44:44Did you do what I thought?
00:44:48I told you to do.
00:44:52Yeah.
00:44:55Backed it with rock and filled a hole with dirt.
00:45:01Do you think I'm crazy?
00:45:13You're delirious, Nehemiah.
00:45:15It's a snake bite.
00:45:18It's not a snake bite.
00:45:26The same thing that happened to my man.
00:45:29It's happening to me.
00:45:33They're out there, John.
00:45:36They're raised in an army.
00:45:38I'm sure the 51st's a god-awful regiment.
00:45:44You're asking me to track them on the wrong route.
00:45:47I'm not asking you anything, Captain.
00:45:48Sir, the 51st's a god-awful regiment.
00:45:56I mean, you're asking me to track them on the wrong route.
00:45:57I'm not asking you anything, Captain.
00:46:02Sir, I've got 10 men.
00:46:05If I had strain, maybe.
00:46:07But if he dies...
00:46:08If he dies...
00:46:09If he dies or lives...
00:46:14It has nothing to do with it.
00:46:18It has nothing to do with it.
00:46:19It has nothing to do with it.
00:46:20It has nothing to do with it.
00:46:25It has nothing to do with it.
00:46:26It is a tough one
00:46:27I have nothing to do every foot
00:46:28I have to do with it.
00:46:29You can't buy anything else.
00:46:30That Harrison
00:46:36I am your chef!
00:46:38They are forever Nos кварти��...
00:46:41If this city has been imprisoned...
00:46:43What is your son with nothing...
00:46:45It is a race trip.
00:46:46Either name is any offense.
00:46:48He's got a knife.
00:47:14Use it.
00:47:16Please.
00:47:18We move out now.
00:47:45You all right?
00:47:56Never better.
00:47:59You can ride with me if you like.
00:48:04Never better.
00:48:04Never better.
00:48:09Never better.
00:48:11Never better.
00:48:12Never better.
00:48:13Never better.
00:48:14Never better.
00:48:15Never better.
00:48:16Never better.
00:48:17Never better.
00:48:18Never better.
00:48:19Never better.
00:48:20Never better.
00:48:21We proceeded south, and with the help of Colonel Strain, pierced the borders of the Confederacy in pursuit of an enemy still unseen.
00:48:35Strain's recovery was nothing short of a resurrection, a miracle brought on, I suspect, by the machinations of the mute Negress.
00:48:44Nehemiah now clung to her, not as a man to a woman, but rather as a child to its mother.
00:48:52As if her body carried an antidote to the poison which had infected him, she began to heal him, protect him, and understand him.
00:49:02This I watched with growing unease and, dare I say, jealousy.
00:49:08For in the passing of a few days it seemed that she came to know him better than I, who was once his fastest friend.
00:49:15As for Thalman and his men, whose disposition toward the Negroes is not much better than their brethren to the south,
00:49:22their bewilderment at Strain's actions quickly turned to hostility as his behavior became more erratic.
00:49:28What time are you talking about?
00:49:45Just having a friendly conversation.
00:49:47She's a mute!
00:49:50I'm tired of having to explain to the Colonel why you're acting so goddamn strange.
00:49:55It's a strange world, John.
00:49:58Stranger than you think.
00:50:01You're behind enemy lines, Colonel.
00:50:04Do not make the situation any more dangerous than it is.
00:50:06I'm going to unshackle you.
00:50:14Maybe you'll start to act like a decent soldier.
00:50:16It's on your head, Captain.
00:50:18On your head.
00:50:19Ah!
00:50:23We got him!
00:50:32Assemble your men for skirmishers!
00:50:51Not them, damn it!
00:50:52Hold your fire, man! Hold your fire!
00:51:04You missed!
00:51:05Throw down your arms!
00:51:07You boys, Yankees!
00:51:08Yeah?
00:51:10Thank God!
00:51:12James Dawson, 31st Tennessee!
00:51:15Oh, sweet Jesus, do we surrender!
00:51:17We heard, uh, screaming.
00:51:23Screaming.
00:51:24They dragged a whole family out of that house yonder.
00:51:26And I never heard screaming like that before.
00:51:31We fell back to our wagons and just started firing everything we had.
00:51:36But they just kept on coming.
00:51:40And they just plucked our men out and just dragged them off.
00:51:43Why did they not come after you?
00:51:45I don't know. I don't know.
00:51:46But we just wouldn't come near a wagon.
00:51:49And then come morning, they just left.
00:51:54Well, we couldn't.
00:51:56I mean, we was all too scared to move.
00:52:01Sir, damn, it was our men who'd done this.
00:52:06They're not our men, Corporal.
00:52:08There are two regiments of infantry waiting across the Kentucky border.
00:52:12If I can break through, I will force march them here in 24 hours.
00:52:15Carl, you heard what the man just said.
00:52:17I know, Captain.
00:52:18I know.
00:52:20But under the circumstances, I can see no alternative.
00:52:24Yes, sir.
00:52:25Do not lose your men, Harling.
00:52:27If they engage you, fall back.
00:52:28If I'm not back in 24 hours, you send another man.
00:52:32Keep your head, Captain.
00:52:34I can use you at Vicksburg.
00:52:36I can help you get through this, John.
00:52:52But you have to trust me.
00:52:54Would you just hear me out, John?
00:53:08You want me to believe that Rebecca's a clairvoyant, is that right?
00:53:10Yeah.
00:53:13First, it's your cave, and then this drummer boy.
00:53:16Now these Quakers.
00:53:18Makers, makers, John.
00:53:19Quakers don't run around conducting a crucifixion's ass rule.
00:53:21Let me ask you one thing.
00:53:25How did you know her name was Rebecca?
00:53:28She can't write, she can't talk, but you knew her name was Rebecca.
00:53:34She put it in your head, didn't she?
00:53:38It's one of the things she does.
00:53:45Rebecca is a slave girl, Nehemiah.
00:53:48Just because she ran off a plantation into your arms...
00:53:53Rebecca has lived the whole story, John.
00:53:57She talks to me.
00:53:59No words come out of her mouth.
00:54:03But I can hear her.
00:54:06Oh, yeah?
00:54:07A long while ago, in Africa, there was a village.
00:54:16In it, there lived a very powerful tribe.
00:54:20No other tribe ever dared tangle with them, because everyone knew what they were guarding.
00:54:25There was a hole in the earth, like that cave I found back at Ketum's Creek.
00:54:30Inside it, there lived things that were out of a nightmare.
00:54:32Years ago, the tribe had bottled those beans in that hole and set their village around it.
00:54:38They didn't want none of what was down there getting out, spreading their poison, consuming mankind.
00:54:44Two hundred years ago, white slave traders came.
00:54:48They attacked the village, killed the men, and took most of the women.
00:54:52One of the slavers had the bright idea of going down in that hole.
00:54:55He found something all right.
00:55:00But it weren't slaves.
00:55:03When he came out, he weren't just a slave trader.
00:55:07That man brought a plague here, John.
00:55:14And a whole lot of people were, uh, changed.
00:55:19Like my men.
00:55:22Rebecca's ancestors, now they were the ones who hunted him down and bottled him up in that cave that I found.
00:55:30John.
00:55:31Rebecca's the only one left who knows how to end this.
00:55:37But she needs our help.
00:55:45Yeah, my head.
00:55:47That story don't beat all.
00:55:51Jump.
00:55:52I'd like to stay and play, but I gotta play in our defense.
00:55:59Listen to Rebecca.
00:56:00She has something to say.
00:56:04Sure.
00:56:16I tried.
00:56:22I want you to have this.
00:56:28My daddy'd kill me if he knew I'd given his watch to a newt.
00:56:34A nice girl like you.
00:56:42I mean to ask you something.
00:56:43How come you picked me to show all this to him?
00:56:59Because I'm the last of my tribe.
00:57:04You're hardly the last, Colonel.
00:57:10What's that?
00:57:10You boys been raising a whole lot of hell.
00:57:15The country's already gone to hell, Nehemiah.
00:57:18We're just starting an army to set things right.
00:57:21May I have the honor of presenting your new regiment, sir?
00:57:25Of course, sir.
00:57:26Welcome back.
00:57:28Stephens.
00:57:30Walker.
00:57:31Riggs.
00:57:33I'm a little confused.
00:57:36Besides, you boys plan on fighting for.
00:57:39Besides, Colonel, are what killed the country.
00:57:41We want to resurrect it.
00:57:45I see, huh?
00:57:47We're doing a whole lot of crucifying just to bring it back to life.
00:57:51Yeah, but for those that deserve it, it's a glorious life.
00:57:59Sword's just a stick, Nehemiah.
00:58:03Gunshot, just a meaningless piece of metal.
00:58:05When you felt death breathe on your face, and you breathe right back.
00:58:11That's the sweetest victory of all.
00:58:17Horizon of the Union!
00:58:19Glory to our cause!
00:58:20Your commands are like the wind, Colonel.
00:58:30And this war?
00:58:32This war is just a cry of desperate men.
00:58:35We're not afraid.
00:58:38War never promises resurrection, Nehemiah.
00:58:41But I do.
00:58:42You're a damn coward, Nehemiah.
00:59:06Who goes there?
00:59:07What the hell is going on here?
00:59:18God damn it.
00:59:21You gotta listen to me, John.
00:59:22I saw El...
00:59:23What the hell is going on here?
00:59:28All right, Nehemiah, what the hell is going on here?
00:59:32I saw Elkins.
00:59:33I saw Elkins.
00:59:33I saw my regiment.
00:59:34We gotta fall back to a river running water.
00:59:36They can't cross it.
00:59:37What the hell are you talking about?
00:59:38It's not that Thomas told me.
00:59:39The pump.
00:59:40We'll dig a trench.
00:59:46To the wagon.
00:59:46To the wagon.
00:59:47It's like the captain's hand.
00:59:48Rebecca!
00:59:50It's them, John.
00:59:52God damn it.
00:59:54Surrender your arms.
00:59:55Surrender your arms.
00:59:56Running water, John.
00:59:59Identify yourself.
01:00:05God damn it.
01:00:06Do you not know it is against military code to fire upon a superior officer?
01:00:16Colonel Thoutman?
01:00:17Very nearly.
01:00:18You're late, Colonel.
01:00:20Captain Harling.
01:00:27You boys, all right?
01:00:30Yes, sir.
01:00:32The ramps.
01:00:34They're near.
01:00:36Very near.
01:00:38Did you encounter them, sir?
01:00:40The goddamn rebel picket shot my beautiful horse right out from under me.
01:00:47I caught a ball in the lake.
01:00:51I need a tourniquet.
01:00:55I need a tourniquet.
01:00:57I need a tourniquet.
01:00:59God damn it.
01:01:01Wait.
01:01:02John, it's been out there.
01:01:03John.
01:01:10John.
01:01:11Go.
01:01:15Colonel.
01:01:16Colonel.
01:01:16They only want you, Strennan.
01:01:24The others can go free.
01:01:26Let him go.
01:01:27Oh, come to me.
01:01:29Come to me.
01:01:29Come to me.
01:01:30Come to me.
01:01:35Now.
01:01:35String.
01:01:36Now, String.
01:01:38Now, String.
01:01:38Now, String.
01:01:39Now, String.
01:01:40Now, String.
01:01:40Now, String.
01:01:41Now, String.
01:01:41Burnham!
01:01:45Please!
01:01:47I have a family!
01:01:49Please!
01:01:51Back up, Burnham!
01:02:11You hear it?
01:02:21Do you hear it?
01:02:23What, sir?
01:02:25A blue jay.
01:02:27The morn is near.
01:02:29I will die soon.
01:02:33And when I'm gone,
01:02:39I must raise my body into the air,
01:02:43so that I may not suck the life back from the earth.
01:02:47It must be done that way, Kent.
01:02:51We were wrong about the crucifixions.
01:02:55They were not trying to frighten us.
01:02:57They were trying to keep the weak ones rising up.
01:03:01The weak ones, sir?
01:03:03Colonel Strait.
01:03:07Do not blame young men for their actions.
01:03:11But neither be merciful toward them.
01:03:15For they will surely fall on you.
01:03:19Tomorrow's nightfall.
01:03:21Get them.
01:03:23Yes, sir.
01:03:27Will you do me a service of remaining by my side till dawn?
01:03:35I have been a soldier all my days.
01:03:41And I would like to live.
01:03:45The rest of my moments.
01:03:47The company of my fellows.
01:03:49The company of my fellows.
01:04:01Well over there's almost dry.
01:04:13That's not good enough.
01:04:15Maybe we'd make a stand at the Holston River, Captain.
01:04:17No, we'd never make it by dark.
01:04:19Dawson!
01:04:21Yes, sir.
01:04:23You said those things never came near your wagon.
01:04:25What are you carrying in there?
01:04:27Oh, all sorts of stuff.
01:04:29We were evacuating Shawsville up north.
01:04:31So we had clothing and ammo.
01:04:33Bullion.
01:04:35Bullion.
01:04:37Yeah, from the bank up there.
01:04:39What kind of bullion?
01:04:41Well, silver, mostly.
01:04:43Maybe there's some silverware, too.
01:04:45Maybe there's some silverware, too.
01:04:47I don't know.
01:04:49I don't know.
01:04:51I don't know.
01:04:53I don't know.
01:04:55Think what a silver bayonet could do.
01:05:09Now, that's what Rebecca was trying to tell me.
01:05:12What do you mean?
01:05:14I'm scared to hell out of Elkins.
01:05:17Think what a silver bayonet could do.
01:05:25Colonel Thalman had told us to expect an attack at nightfall, but Nehemiah, always the master of tactical improvisation, had already planned the defense.
01:05:37Stolen silver that had once adorned a family's dining table now became ammunition for our rifles and a poison sheen for our bayonets.
01:05:46A simple trough of water was transformed from a tool of irrigation into an invincible line in the earth.
01:05:53A stock of coin was turned from currency into an impervious wall.
01:06:00I could not fathom how any of these could fend off such a ruthless enemy, but military logic had begun to fade with the waning daylight, making less clear the lines between blue and gray, black and white, sanity and insanity.
01:06:16I could only now pray that the winds of fate would be merciful to us all and carry us to a place where lies undivided ground.
01:06:28And Strain himself had elected to become human bait, a lure for his once beloved regiment into what would be the most bizarre killing box in military history.
01:06:40Well, thanks for sure.
01:06:44It's going to be the most expensive battle of the war.
01:06:46Yeah.
01:06:48It's very nice not to have to shoot at you this time.
01:06:52Likewise.
01:06:55All right, men.
01:06:57Find your positions.
01:06:59Load all weapons.
01:06:59All right.
01:06:59All right.
01:07:10Going out, John.
01:07:39Nehemiah, don't you run away on me.
01:08:09All right.
01:08:18Come on.
01:08:20Come on.
01:08:32Come on.
01:10:13Nehemiah...
01:10:15You take a good look in your heart and tell me what you see.
01:10:51There's no caves, no makers, no slave traders.
01:10:57To find an excuse for evil.
01:10:59No!
01:11:05Fire!
01:11:07Fire!
01:11:15Fire!
01:11:17Fire!
01:11:19Fire!
01:11:21Fire!
01:11:23Fire!
01:11:25Fire!
01:11:27Mr. Bradley, we're your own men.
01:11:35We're friends.
01:11:37Pull it up.
01:11:44North to the right.
01:11:45North to the right.
01:11:48Dawson.
01:11:54Dawson, let's teach these boys to rub the air.
01:11:57Woo!
01:12:01I'm finished, for God's sake!
01:12:17I'll catch!
01:12:22Fall nearby, silver, run of water.
01:12:28Are we so simply the devil?
01:12:45I bleed.
01:12:47So am I still the devil!
01:12:49I don't know.
01:12:50Stay with me.
01:12:51I'm so sorry.
01:12:52I'm so sorry.
01:12:53I'm so sorry.
01:12:55Come here.
01:12:56Let's do this.
01:12:57Let's go.
01:12:58Come here.
01:12:59Come here.
01:13:00Come here.
01:13:01Come here.
01:13:02Let's go.
01:13:32Rebecca.
01:14:02She was brave, sir.
01:14:11Braver than you know.
01:14:13On that day, I, John Lawrence Harling,
01:14:17released my former mentor from captivity
01:14:19and thus forfeited my discharge.
01:14:21As a result, I was forced to remain on active duty,
01:14:26serving with General Ulysses S. Grant
01:14:28till the end of the war.
01:14:29In Nehemiah Pearson's train, we joined the Confederate Army
01:14:33and was to serve valiantly at the battles of Gettysburg,
01:14:36Chickamauga, and Cold Harbor.
01:14:39Though still an ardent believer in the Southern cause,
01:14:42he made many enemies there
01:14:43due to his outspoken stance against slavery.
01:14:47After the war, it is rumored he returned to the cave
01:14:51at Caddams Creek to rescue his nephew,
01:14:54the last remaining member of his regiment.
01:14:55Since then, to my knowledge,
01:15:00he has not been heard of.
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