John MacDonagh's script was originally on an Orange/Green theme, and set in Ireland where unionists and nationalists were at war, rather than the American Civil War theme to which it was adapted. The plot involves two soldiers, one Confederate and one Union, who leave their families to go to war. After a skirmish they end up separated from their own sides; the Union soldier shoots the Confederate. Escaping from pursuing Confederates, he looks for refuge in the house of his enemy's family.