- Sgt. Elliott: Never say an Injun is dumb. He just waits for the chance to use his one good cavalry tactic: ring around and close in.
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: I'm getting out of the Army in seven days.
- Martha Cutting: As a civilian?
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: As a doctor.
- Martha Cutting: But you're one now.
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: Am I? A veterinarian can yank an arrow out of a dead man or a live one and a blacksmith can cauterize a wound with a hot iron. But neither of 'em can pull a child through diphtheria or pneumonia.
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: My troops has extra mounts, sir. I thought perhaps you would like to use one.
- Col. Janeway: I'm an infantryman, MacClaw. If I'm going to die, I'm not going to do it sitting down.
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: Sir, may I suggest that my troop act as rear guard?
- Col. Janeway: Where did you learn cavalry tactics, Captain?
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: Well, infantry isn't mobile...
- Col. Janeway: Neither is dead cavalry. Ask Custer!
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: The riflemen are going to fight from the wagons.
- Maj. Gibbs: Fight from wagons?
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: Well, why not?
- Maj. Gibbs: It's never been done! Wagons are supposed to be used as a defense.
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: So the book says. Let's keep a closed book and an open mind, Major.
- Sgt. Elliott: Well, Injuns fight two ways, Captain. When they're running against a little outfit, they go ring around right away and close in quick for the kill. But if they're running against a big outfit, like we're tied up with now, they'll keep hacking and chopping away at your weak spots until they wear you down. Then make a ring around. And once they get you in a circle, you're finished.
- Col. Janeway: Mr. O'Hirons! Mr. O'Hirons! Regulations stipulate $10 a month additional for command functions. When we reach the Paradise, notify the paymaster that Captain MacClaw has commanded with distinction. The government owes him $3.30.
- Martha Cutting: You hate being a soldier and you hate killing. Yet you do it.
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: I got a uniform and a conscience. Right now, the uniform covers the conscience.
- Martha Cutting: You sympathize with them. Why?
- Capt. Robert MacClaw: Perhaps because we destroyed the Indian's ability to make a distinction between the good and the bad. He has a child's logic: the white man hurt him, therefore all white men are bad.