dunbar can see the confederate riflemen now. they're rising up behind the wall to aim and fire.
the lieutenant passes the last of the riflemen and pulls the buckskin up at the far end of the field. the little horse is pitching and rearing, ready for another run.
dunbar swerves in a little closer to the wall as he approaches the other half of the confederate ranks. they're standing ready, like a firing squad.
the union trooper who fired the fatal shot gets up from a kneeling position and scrambles after some of his comrades.
the union troops have the rebels in full flight, chasing them into the woods beyond the field.
suddenly the field is quiet. there is rifle fire in the distance but otherwise everything is still. the field is almost empty. the three dead dairy cows are still there. and at one end of the field is a solitary buckskin horse. his rider lies on the ground, a foot hooked in one stirrup.
dances with wolves climbs to his feet and discovers that the battlefield is no longer so. the fighting has stopped.