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In the spring of 1863, on board a boat on the Mississippi
River, Union Army Colonel John Marlowe of Illinois meets General Ulysses S.
Grant, head of the Union forces. Frustrated by the North’s long
inability to break through to the critical Southern stronghold of
Vicksburg, Mississippi, Grant orders Marlowe to form a cavalry brigade
and wreak havoc on Confederate supply lines within Mississippi. Marlowe
presents a plan to attack the main supply depot, Newton Station, over
three hundred miles behind enemy lines and wins Grant’s approval.
Later
while briefing his officers, Marlowe is annoyed to find that surgeon
Maj. Henry Kendall has been assigned to the brigade. Perplexed by
Marlowe’s unexpected hostility, Kendall asks what would become of the
wounded with no aid and the Colonel brusquely declares they would be
left behind. Presently, the brigade sets out and, after a day’s ride, is
well behind Confederate lines. When Marlowe’s scouts are spotted and
fired upon by a small band of Confederates, Marlowe decides to send back
one unit in hopes of convincing the enemy that the entire brigade has
fled. While Marlowe regroups with Major William Secord, of Michigan,
Kendall is summoned to a nearby shack where he delivers the baby of a
former slave. Angered by Kendall’s action, Marlowe places him under
officer’s arrest and insists that the doctor’s duty is to the army
alone.
That afternoon, the cavalry arrives at Greenbriar Landing, home
of Hannah Hunter, who lives alone with her black maid Lukey. Lukey is
surprised when the patriotic Hannah greets Marlowe and his men
effusively and invites the officers for dinner. That evening after
dining, Marlowe requests use of the room for an officer’s meeting, but
Hannah insists they use the study instead. Marlowe dismisses Kendall
from the meeting and the doctor, suspicious of Hannah’s ingratiating
manner, insists on accompanying her to her room where he discovers the
conversation in the study can be clearly heard through the open
fireplace grate. Kendall turns the women over to Marlowe, who is shocked
when Hannah reveals her contempt and disdain for the Union soldiers. As
Hannah and Lukey have overheard Marlowe’s plans to attack Newton Station
and then boldly continue through Mississippi to Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
the Colonel is forced the bring the women with them when they depart the
next day.
_NRFPT_01_small.jpg) On the ride, Hannah rebuffs Kendall’s attempt to befriend her
and breaks away from the line in a desperate attempt to escape. After
she is captured while forging the river, Marlowe demands that she
promise not to attempt another escape. As the cavalry continues their
journey, scouts report an enemy militia nearby and Marlowe orders a
retreat into the forest. As the Confederate troops ride by, Hannah darts
to the edge of the woods to get their attention but is tackled by
Kendall, then knocked out by a furious Marlowe. Upon reviving, Hannah
complains about her mistreatment, but grudgingly agrees not to try to
signal the Confederate forces again.
Later that afternoon, the Union
scouts come under fire from two AWOL Confederate soldiers who, upon
surrendering, reveal that the main Confederate Army has turned away from
Newton Station toward Vicksburg. Marlowe pushes his men on to Newton
Station where the advance led by Major Gray has rounded up the few
remaining enemy troops guarding the town. Among the prisoners, Kendall
finds longtime friend Jonathan Miles, who has lost his arm in battle as
a colonel in the Confederate Army. Marlowe hopes to burn the supply
depot and tracks without conflict but, when a supply train approaches
the station, he notices there is no guard on it and realizes an attack
is imminent. As the train pulls to a halt, Confederate soldiers pour
from the cars and Miles overcomes his guard and frees the other Southern
prisoners who join the attack. Marlowe rages against the ensuing brutal
fight, climaxed by the one-armed Miles hoisting the Confederate flag and
leading a charge. Kendall knocks Miles down to save him from being
killed and later tends to his friend’s wounds at the hotel that is used
as a hospital.
After the fighting ends, Marlowe is surprised to find
Hannah and Lukey helping Kendall and soldier "Hoppy" Hopkins. Frustrated
by the high casualties, Marlowe drinks heavily at the hotel bar and, as
his men blow up the depot, bitterly remarks to Secord that before the
war he built railroads. When Hannah expresses puzzlement over Marlowe’s
venomous attack on the exhausted Kendall, Marlowe confesses that the
ineptitude of doctors killed his wife years earlier. After completely
destroying the surrounding railroads, Marlowe and his troops depart
south while Hoppy accompanies the wounded north.
While passing through a
small town, Confederate scouts fire upon Marlowe’s troops and, to
Hannah’s despair, Lukey is killed. Several of the men offer Hannah their
sympathy and Marlowe offers to let her go, but she admits it is too late
to stop them. Continuing south, Marlowe’s scouts report a Confederate
unit across the river and Marlowe decides to attack the following
morning. Unknown to the Union troops, a Confederate messenger has sought
assistance from a nearby military institute, pleading for the young
cadets to help distract the enemy until reinforcements arrive.
The next
morning, Marlowe is outraged to discover that a soldier has died during
an amputation operation; when he admonishes Kendall, the irate doctor
challenges him to a fight. The men’s fistfight is interrupted by a
surprise assault by the Confederate unit. Both forces are then amazed by
the arrival of the school cadets in their full dress uniforms, who take
up an orderly position and fire upon Marlowe’s men. Refusing to attack
the cadets, Marlowe calls a pullback, leaving the enthusiastic cadets to
believe they have routed the enemy. Marlowe’s troops circle around the
river and, upon receiving word that a larger enemy force is trailing
them, press on southward, seeking refuge in a swamp to avoid conflict.
Arriving at a crucial bridge crossing, Marlowe tells Hannah that as the
Confederates are just an hour behind them, he will leave her there. As
the troops prepare to cross the river, however, a Confederate squad
opens fire on them and Marlowe is shot in the ankle. Hannah assists
Kendall in tending to Marlowe, who then leads his men in a fierce attack
against the enemy. After dispersing the enemy, the Union troops mine the
bridge, then cross into Louisiana. Kendall surprises Marlowe by
requesting to remain behind with the numerous wounded, despite the
likelihood that he will be captured and sent to the notorious
Andersonville prison. Marlowe bids a guardedly respectful farewell to
the doctor, then as he says goodbye to Hannah, admits he has fallen in
love with her. Marlowe then lights the bomb fuse and dashes across the
bridge, which explodes just as the Confederates arrive. |
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