A Thunder of Drums is a 1961 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Joseph Newman and starring Richard Boone, George Hamilton, Luana Patten and Arthur O'Connell.

In 1870 1st Lt. Curtis McQuade (Hamilton), a cavalry officer without field experience, arrives from the East at Fort Canby in Arizona, the remote, understaffed post where he was born as the son of the then-post commander.

They immediately clash when Maddocks demonstrates to the cocksure McQuade that the general knowledge of the West he gained as a child at Canby is not enough to permit him to command men in the field.

On the day McQuade reports, Maddocks is burying four troopers from a patrol led by Lt. Porter (Chamberlain), killed in a running fight with a large band of "hostiles" believed to be Comanches.

Prohibited by standing orders from conducting a retaliatory attack, Maddocks divides what is left of his troop, sending McQuade and nine men, including wise and seasoned 1st Sgt.

Uncredited The film starred a number of young actors under contract to MGM including George Hamilton, Richard Chamberlain, Carole Wells and James Douglas.