I figure they couldn't make it back as they had no horses in the gulch.....the one JW tried to get Fonda NOT to go into......they may have made it by orderly retreating, but by the time Fonda got to what was left of the command, there just weren't enough men left to attempt it.....I always wondered why they did not take a defensive position on high ground, which was a pretty standard tactic and would have made it much harder for the Apaches to ride over them, but we are talking Hollywood, after all.
Had a conversation with a buddy about this movie and LBH, and the Beecher's Island fight.......movie and LBH we lost......movie, well, poor defensive position, overwhelming force and single shot rifles.....LBH, high ground, but again the overwhelming forces and single shot rifles come into play.....at Beecher's Island, Forsyth had 50 "Frontiersmen", and each had been armed with a Colt 1860 and a Spencer repeater......they faced overwhelming odds too, but had a fairly good defensive position, dug in and had the repeaters, which I belive had a lot to do with them coming out as well as they did.
Still think a good movie based on this fight would be good to see.