It is the Florida Everglades in 1863. Four deserters of the Confederate Army—Sergeant Todd, Plunkett, Cockney and the Kid—are hiding out. The Colonel, a fellow deserter, appears from the brush with a note from an Indian who has arranged to take him to the ocean so he may be taken to Cuba. When the Indian guide is found dead by Seminoles, the foursome reluctantly join forces with the Colonel in order to reach the coast and ride out the rest of the Civil War.