Living at a frontier crossroads can have unexpected perils, especially when war is afoot. Mel Carroll, an isolated, self-sufficient hill farmer, wants only to plow and harvest, tend to his stock, marry his sweetheart, and live a quiet life in the rugged Ozark country of southwest Missouri. But, within a day of the arrival of a northbound Confederate army, his farm is hurriedly transformed into a fortified military camp, and the army that has seized his home and land waits tensely for their enemy to arrive.