Young Fleming joined the Union army dreaming of becoming a hero. Instead, on facing a Confederate charge, he throws his rifle down and runs. Wandering the woods, he meets other Union soldiers. They include a deranged “tattered man,” who believes Fleming is wounded. Fleming pretends that to be true. The soldiers assume that Fleming has, like them, lost contact with his regiment in the confusion of battle. Ashamed, Fleming lets them believe that lie and begins to search for his regiment. Fleming finds his regiment, but he now has a genuine head wound, inflicted by a panicky soldier who struck him with a rifle. Nursed back to health by a fellow soldier named Wilson, Fleming gains not only strength but also courage.When he overhears officers confiding that his regiment is comprised of “mule drivers” and “mud diggers” who are to be sacrificed in a pending battle, Fleming is outraged. Leaving fear behind, he engages in the climactic battle. And though he once ran from the clash of arms, he now stands and fights fearlessly — a true hero at last.