When the Union arsenal at Harper's Ferry is attacked, one immediate result is a division of loyalties in the Canfield household.

Jeff finds two men perparing to an re-enact a war. One man is a person from the north and the other from the south.

In a flashback sequence, Ben Canfield explains how he came to join the Union forces.

Ben's having difficulty disciplining his men—most of them are short-term volunteers who won't take the war seriously. He is rebuked by Captain Cardiff, who foresees a real battle at a place called Manassas Junction, Virginia—better known as Bull Run.

Ben and Colonel Fry are captured by Rebel forces and interned in Richmond's notorious Libby Prison. Finding that the Union prisoners there have been cowed by Major Turner, the tough Confederate commandant, Fry is determined to renew the men's fervor for the Union cause.

The Battle of Ball's Bluff was a disaster for the North, and Congress wants to know why. An angry Union officer says he knows the answer.