song from they died with their boots on
They Died with Their Boots On The film score was composed by Max Steiner. He adapted George Armstrong Custer's favorite song, "Garryowen", for use in the score. Custer knew the song while he was still at West Point, where he is said to have performed it in a talent show. In the film Custer hears the song being played on a piano by former English soldier, now a U.S. Army officer, Lt. 'Queen's Own' Butler, who claims its origin is Australian. This connection is apocryphal. It is actually a traditional Irish drinking song, much beloved by the cavalry for its galloping rhythm.The best movie of the period in The Fighting 69th, the famous New York regiment. This was also a film with James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, (George Brent and many other Irish actors. Jeffrey Lynn portrayed Joyce Kilmer, the poet and soul of the 69th. Warner Brothers recycled some of the music from the film and variations of it can be heard in Silver River and Rocky Mountain, both starring Errol Flynn, and The Searchers starring John Wayne.