Colonel Robert E. Lee resigns from the Union Army as Virginia votes to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy, beginning the Civil War. Major Jackson, who is a professor at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington at the outset of the war, leaves his family behind to fight in the Battle of Manassas. Jackson is asked by a retreating General Barnard Bee 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 Confederate Army routs 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.