Renegade adventurer and cattle driver Alvarez Kelly (Holden)finds himself stuck between a rock and hard place as his journey takes him into the midst of the battling Northern and Southern armies in the American Civil War.

With no loyalties to either side, Kelly is the ideal man for this cattle drive until he is captured by Confederate Colonel Tom Rossiter and forcefully persuaded to change his route, taking the cattle south in order to feed the famished Confederates. With attacks from the Union Army ever threatening, Kelly soon finds not only his cattle, but also his very life in dire jeopardy!