Shenandoah

In 1864, widower Charlie Anderson is a prosperous Virginia farmer. Together with his six sons (Jacob, James, Nathan, John, Henry and Boy), Charlie runs his farm without the help of slaves. Because of this, he ignores the Civil War raging around them and discourages his sons from enlisting. Other family members are his only daughter, Jennie, and James's pregnant wife Ann. Charlie's wife Martha died sixteen years earlier at the birth of their youngest son, known as Boy. Charlie regularly visits Martha's grave and talks to her. It was her last request that the family attend church each Sunday. They are usually late and create a disturbance while looking for seats. The family is visited by a group of men who have come to requisition supplies and horses for the Confederate Army. Charlie refuses to let them have anything and explains his stance on the war: why should he fight or allow his sons to fight for a cause that does not concern them. He is reminded that by law the men can take whatever they want. A fist fight ensues, which Jennie eventually stops by shooting the derringer out of one of the men's hand with a rifle. She orders them off the property and they leave. A regiment of soldiers stop at the farm and the captain attempts to conscript the Anderson sons. Charlie refuses to let them go, as usual. A skirmish occurs shortly afterward and the Confederate soldiers are killed. Charlie sends two of his sons to the Confederate camp to report the skirmish so the bodies can be collected. Jennie is being courted by Sam, a young Confederate officer. He asks for and receives permission to marry her. Charlie gives him some sage advice about marriage. Jennie wears her mother's wedding gown. Just as the ceremony ends, a soldier who had ridden up earlier and entered the church tells Sam he is wanted back at camp. Jennie is left alone at the altar, wondering if she will ever see her bridegroom again. Ann goes into labor after the wedding and gives birth to a daughter. Charlie is delighted to have a granddaughter. She is eventually named Martha, after her grandmother. While exploring with his African American friend, Gabriel, Boy is taken prisoner by Yankee soldiers because he is wearing a Confederate cap he had found floating in the river while fishing earlier. They don't believe he is not a soldier because he's carrying a rifle and has the Confederate cap. Gabriel runs back to tell Charlie, who says that now the war concerns them. Gabriel was told by a black Yankee soldier that he is free and can go wherever he wants. That night Charlie and his sons, all but James who will stay with Ann, pack up and ride out to visit prison camps in search of Boy. Jennie insists on going with them. They search a local Yankee camp and get directed to a train depot where they are refused permission to search for Boy. They later hijack the prison train but there is no sign of Boy. However, Jennie is reunited with Sam, who was on board the train. Charlie tells the prisoners they are free. They ask Sam, as the only officer, what they should do. He tells them to go home as the war is lost. That night the family makes camp in a deserted house. Charlie fixes up the bedroom so Jennie and Sam can have their wedding night. The next day they discuss what to do now. Their food supplies are almost gone and the horses need rest. Charlie admits that they are unlikely to find Boy. They start for home and Jacob is shot and killed by a young soldier who is startled awake while on guard duty. Charlie beats the boy and nearly kills him before he realizes that he is the same age as his missing son. Boy has been in a prison camp but escapes while being loaded on a paddle wheeler with other prisoner. They travel south but are caught up in a battle. Boy's leg is injured and he can't move. To his surprise, Gabriel, now wearing a Yankee uniform, picks him up and carries him to safety. Meanwhile, the Anderson farm was invaded by three Confederate army drifters. They kill James and Ann but do not harm the baby. Dr. Witherspoon, the family physician and a personal friend, discovers the bodies two days later. Having no idea where the rest of the family is, he arranges a nurse for the baby and has James and Ann buried near Martha. The Andersons arrive home and are devastated at the news. Jacob is buried with his brother and sister-in-law and mother in the family graveyard. It is hard for Charlie to sit down to a table with so many empty chairs. He chokes up and goes to the graveyard, where he once again talks to Martha. He tells her she will like Ann. When the church bells start to ring, Charlie realizes it is Sunday. He orders his surprised family to get ready for church. As usual they are late and the baby is fussy. Then the door opens again and Boy limps in, leaning on a crutch. The congregation begins singing the Doxology as Charlie embraces his son.