AllMovie

This story of the Civil War is told in flashback. Some new college students want to know about the bullet hole in Mr. Curtis's old classroom and he relates a story about his own college days, in the 1860s: There was a rivalry between two men, Dick Randolph (Antonio Moreno) and Watkins (Gordon Gray), for the hand of Marian Young (Peggy Hyland). There is a trumped-up duel between the two, and Randolph believes he has killed Watkins but later he discovers it was a hoax. War breaks out and Randolph becomes a cavalry leader for the Confederates, while Watkins fights for the Union. Marian's aunt, a Union sympathizer, betrays Randolph to the Northerners, but Marian saves him with the help of his loyal black servant. He and Watkins meet once again on the battlefield and they die in each other's arms, while Marian, working as a field nurse, tends to them. As their lives end, the two men drink a toast to their alma mater from a canteen.