Colonel Robert E. Lee resigns from the Union Army as the south secedes from the Union and both sides prepare for war. Major Jackson, who is a professor at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington at the outset of the war, leaves his family behind to do battle at Manassas Junction. Jackson is asked by a retreating General Barnard Elliott Bee, Jr. 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 Confederates rout 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.