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This was the second time that William C. DeMille's stage play was brought to the screen (DeMille's younger brother, Cecil B. DeMille, directed the 1915 version). Director Elmer Clifton downplayed the romantic angle of this Civil War story, not out of choice but necessity -- former Follies star Martha Mansfield, who played Agatha Warren, died from burn injuries she suffered in a tragic accident during filming. Ned Burton (Wilfred Lytell) and Agatha Warren have been sweethearts since childhood, but when the War Between the States breaks out, Burton joins the Union forces while the Warren family sides with the Confederacy. Burton is assigned the task of being arrested at Agatha's home so he can trick the Confederates and obtain information from them. As a result, supplies don't reach the Southern army in time. Burton is taken out to be hanged as a spy. But Agatha hears that Lee has surrendered and she enlists the help of Union soldiers to save Burton. After the war, Burton and Agatha reconcile their differences and marry.