While the unit rests at Greenbriar Plantation, Miss Hannah Hunter (Constance Towers), the plantation's mistress, acts as a gracious hostess to the unit's officers. But she and her slave, Lukey (Althea Gibson), eavesdrop on a staff meeting as Marlowe discusses his battle strategy. To protect the secrecy of the mission, Marlowe is forced to take the two women with him. Initially hostile to her Yankee captor, Miss Hunter gradually comes to respect him and eventually falls in love with him, despite him being a Yankee. In addition to Kendall and Miss Hunter, Marlowe also must contend with Col. Phil Secord (Willis Bouchey), a politically ambitious officer who continually second-guesses Marlowe's orders and command decisions.