Rawhide · S5, E19
Incident of Judgment Day
Rowdy Yates is brought to "trial" by his former Confederate Army buddies who say he betrayed their plan to escape a Union prison. Cabot and Bellamy, an ex-captain and corporal in the Confederate Army, ride into camp and, after a solemn discussion with ramrod Rowdy Yates, ride out with him. They travel to a ruined courthouse in a nearby ghost town where they are joined by Pvt. Jordan and Cpl. Mason: their purpose is a private court-martial of Pvt. Yates whom they charge betrayed their escape from a Union prisoner-of-war camp (an act that resulted in the death of two men and almost total paralysis for Cpl. Mason). Ironically, the proceedings are interrupted by a drunken old man, Judge Alexander Langford a once-powerful, respected jurist who has retired from the bench to a life of drinking. Cabot decides that Langford would be a fitting judge and forces him, with his ever-present bottle, to preside. Thus, the "trial" begins.