Colonel
Robert E. Lee resigns from the
Union army as
Virginia votes to
secede from the Union and join the
Confederacy, beginning the Civil War. Major Jackson, who is a professor at
Virginia Military Institute in
Lexington at the outset of the war, leaves his family behind to fight in the
Battle of Manassas. Jackson is asked by a retreating General
Barnard Bee for assistance against the Federal army who is pursuing them after a brief stand on Matthews Hill. In rallying his shaken troops, Bee launches the name of Stonewall into history and the
Confederate Army routs the Federals at
Henry House Hill. Jackson maintains steadfast discipline in his ranks during the battle despite suffering a wound to his left hand from a spent ball. Meanwhile, Chamberlain makes his transition from teacher to military officer and practices drilling his soldiers and is taught military tactics by Col.
Adelbert Ames, the commander of the
20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He is called to battle at the
Union invasion of Fredericksburg. The Southern forces lead a fighting retreat as the Union army crosses the river to storm and loot
Fredericksburg. Outside the city, Lee,
James Longstreet and Jackson have prepared an elaborate defense on
Marye's Heights outside the town, and the movie focuses on Confederate defenses behind a formidable stone wall. Several Union brigades, including the
Irish Brigade, attempt to cross an open field and attack the wall, but are thrown back with heavy losses by Confederate rifle and artillery fire. At one point, two Irish units are forced into battle against one another, to the anguish of a Southern Irishman who believes he is killing his kin. Chamberlain leads an unsuccessful attack against Longstreet's defenses, led by Brig. Gen.
Lewis Armistead and finds his unit pinned down in the open field. He survives by shielding himself with a corpse until nightfall; eventually he and surviving members of
20th Maine are ordered to retreat and spend two nights on the battlefield, sleeping with the dead. Chamberlain and the defeated Union soldiers depart Fredericksburg. Jackson and Lee return to the city, and Lee is confronted by an angry citizen whose house has been destroyed by Union artillery. Jackson spends the rest of the winter at a local
plantation,
Moss Neck Manor, where he develops a friendship with Jane Corbin, a young girl who lives there. Later, Jackson discovers that Jane has died from
scarlet fever and he begins to cry. Jackson's adjutant asks why he weeps for this child but not for the thousands of dead soldiers, and Dr.
Hunter McGuire states that Jackson is weeping for everyone. Jackson is soon reunited with his wife and newborn child just before the
Battle of Chancellorsville. Outside
Chancellorsville, Lee identifies that the
Army of Northern Virginia faces an opposing force almost twice their size. Jackson calls upon his chaplain, Beverly Tucker Lacy who knows the area, and asks him to find a route by which the Confederate forces can infiltrate in secret. Jackson then leads his forces in a surprise attack on an unprepared
Union 11th Corps. Although his men initially rout the opponents, they quickly become confused in the melee, and Jackson's attack is stalled. While scouting a path at night, Jackson is caught in no-mans-land between the two armies and badly wounded by his own men, who had mistaken him and his staff for Union
cavalry. During his evacuation, his
litter bearers are targeted by artillery and drop Jackson on the ground. He is then taken to a field hospital where his arm is amputated. Lee remarks that while Jackson has lost his left arm, he (Lee) has lost his right. Jackson dies shortly after of pneumonia he had contracted during recovery. Jackson's body is returned to Lexington, accompanied by VMI Cadets and covered by the new
Confederate flag. ==Cast==