Major Dundee

Following the Battle of Gettysburg, Major Amos Dundee is relieved of command for an unspecified tactical error and reassigned to head a prisoner-of-war camp in the New Mexico Territory. The assignment marks a sharp turn from high command to frontier duty, setting him on a collision course with Apache warfare.

A family of ranchers and a relief column are massacred by Apache war chief Sierra Charriba, prompting Dundee to dispatch his scout Samuel Potts to locate Charriba. He soon starts raising his own, unauthorized fighting force to pursue the Apache threat.

Dundee tries to recruit Confederate prisoners led by Captain Ben Tyreen to strengthen his makeshift force. Tyreen, bearing a personal grudge from a prior court-martial, refuses the request.

Tyreen binds himself and 20 fellow prisoners to serve Dundee, but only until Charriba is taken or destroyed. The agreement cements a fragile alliance between former enemies.

Dundee assembles a diverse group, including a bugler, a horse thief, a drunken mule-packer, a vengeful minister, and black soldiers, reflecting the mixed makeup of his improvised force. He reluctantly appoints Lieutenant Graham as his second-in-command.

The assembled force engages the Apaches in several bloody battles and rescues some young children captured by Charriba. After an ambush leaves them short of supplies, they raid a village guarded by French troops supporting Maximilian of Mexico.

Dundee allows the French prisoners to escape, and they return with reinforcements. He then stages a surprise raid on a French column to seize badly needed supplies, improving his unit's morale and cohesion.

Teresa Santiago, an Austrian widow, arrives and becomes the focus of Dundee's affections, heightening tensions with Tyreen who competes for her attention. The personal drama adds another dimension to the frontier raid.

In an unguarded moment, Dundee is attacked by Apaches and wounded in the leg, forcing him to seek medical help in the French-held city of Durango. The doctor removes the arrow but Dundee must stay to recuperate.

While Dundee recovers, Lieutenant Graham leads a small distraction to keep the French occupied, and Tyreen shames Dundee into resuming his mission. The group’s resolve begins to rebuild as the campaign continues.

With little hope of catching Charriba, Dundee pretends to give up and lures the Apache into a trap. Bugler Tim Ryan shoots Charriba in the ambush, crippling the Apache leader and shifting momentum to Dundee's forces.

Dundee and Tyreen resume their private vendetta as a French column appears on the American side of the Rio Grande, joined by two other columns south of the river. The clash becomes a river-borne battle as both sides fight for control and supplies.

Tyreen is shot in the stomach while rallying his men, yet he single-handedly charges the French cavalry to enable crossing, and survivors emerge: Dundee, Graham, Potts, Ryan, Gomez, Chillum, Benteen, plus a few others.

As Dundee's force heads home, narration notes that it is April 19, 1865, with Lee's surrender and Lincoln's assassination not yet known to the troops. The march back is framed by the distant, unfolding peace of the war.