With the Civil War over, Frank Carlisle, the son of a Southern colonel, returns home to his ravaged Virginia plantation to be ostracized by his neighbors and sweetheart Virginia Leighton, because of his allegiance to the North. Although Frank, like the other whites, expresses concern over the blacks' newfound freedom, he is further disdained when he works alongside his former slave Jubilee, an action that is an outrage to the Southern sense of gentlemanly pride. Virginia forsakes Frank for Huntly Thornton, a dissolute Southern aristocrat who has formed an alliance with carpetbagger Isaiah Gore. When Frank opposes Thornton for a seat in the Senate, Thornton and Gore scheme to discredit him. They plan to drug a young African-American boy and terrorize him with "voodoo" spells so that he will be induced to rape Frank's mother. Thornton and Gore believe Frank, in a rage, will then kill the boy. Their plan backfires, however, when the boy attacks Virginia instead. Thornton shoots the boy and carries Virginia away, while Frank is led to believe that Jubilee has killed the boy while protecting Mrs. Carlisle. To shield his mother, Frank claims that he killed the boy, and Gore organizes a mob to lynch him. Frank, however, obtains a confession from Thornton, unmasks Gore and wins Virginia. -AFI
Originally titled "A Son of Battle."