Who rescued Lt. O'Rourke and his detail?
After Lt. O'Rourke reports two troopers have been killed by Apaches, Colonel Thursday sends him out with four men to repair the telegraph line and bring back the bodies.
Then Thursday orders a larger group sent to follow them.
You spoke before of a platoon
from A Troop, Captain York.
I suggest you assemble it.
Light marching equipment,
but full bandoleers.
We leave in 30 minutes.
I'll command, you'll accompany.
- You mean, we're gonna trail the wagon?
- At a striking distance.
Lt. O'Rourke's detachment encounters hostile Apaches and they ride back toward the fort in the wagon, with the Apaches pursuing.
And soon enough a group of cavalrymen appear and charge toward the wagon and the pursuing Apaches. And I didn't recognize either Colonel Thursday or Captain York leading the soldiers. Instead the officer leading them seems unfamiliar and on the younger side. Was he a third and younger officer from Fort Apache who was in the lead for some reason?
The rescuing cavalrymen have a company guidon flag. Would a platoon have a company guidon with them?
And would a platoon from A troop or company have a guidon with the company letter "C" on it?
The scene where the cavalry arrives to rescue Lt. O'rourke & Co. looks vey similar to a scene in Stagecoach (1939) which must have been its inspiration. AndIi have wondered if John Ford simply reused stock footage of that scene in Fort Apache (1948). However in Stagecoach (1939) the rescuing cavalry have a guidon which identifies company (or troop) F of 6th cavalry, not a company C. So the shot where the guidon is seen to say "C" must have been shot separately from the shot in Stagecoach (1939) where the guidon is seen to say "F".
So I don't know whether Ford shot all of that sequence especially for Fort Apache (1948), or if he acquired part of the sequence as stock footage from scenes in one or two other movies.
My best guess its that in the film part of the message from Fort Grant that was cut off when the Apaches cut the telegraph wires said that C troop from Fort Grant was trailing the hostile Mescaleros under Diablo. And by coincidence the troop from Fort Grant happened to arrive just as Diablo's men were about to catch the fleeing wagon and probably a few minutes before Thursday and York arrived.
But I am not certain of that guess. I wonder if not showing Thursday or York leading the rescue charge was due to using footage from another film, or whether that was written into the script for some plot reason. So possibly various script drafts for Fort Apache (1948) exist somewhere which could be checked to see what they say about the scene.
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