Young Benton Clune is not a coward at heart, but rather the victim of an overprotective mother who has taught her son to fear life. When the President's call to arms comes, Clune's regiment of the National Guard prepares, and Mrs. Clune, terror stricken, induces her son to resign from the unit. His comrades brand him a coward and Elsie Revere, the girl he loves, spurns him. After the regiment goes to war, Benton, hurt by the taunts that greet him, hastens to the front where he finds his regiment in dire straits with the enemy in overwhelming numbers threatening their annihilation. The colonel calls for a volunteer to make a perilous trip for reinforcements, and when those who had jeered at Benton hold back from what seems an inevitable death, Benton steps forth. His trip through enemy lines forms a series of narrow escapes, but he succeeds, thus redeeming his honor and winning the girl he loves.