At the Battle of Chancellorsville, four soldiers risk their lives to come to the aid of their friend Rance Dayton while he is under fire. An official commendation from General Stonewall Jackson follows, and the four are proclaimed heroes. But in a matter of days, their lives change drastically when the four mistake General Jackson and other approaching riders for Union soldiers and open fire. Jackson is killed and the four former heroes, now hounded and shamed, head west and turn to lives of crime. And it is Rance Dayton, now a U.S. marshal, who must bring the outlaws to justice.