Recent West Point graduates and friends J.E.B. Stuart (Errol Flynn) and George Custer (Ronald Reagan) are beginning their careers in the military and are sent to Kansas to bring the peace in this pre-Civil War tale. Along with the risks and dangers the two men face with the abolitionists and those supporting slavery in the territory, they find themselves as rivals for the affections of Kit Carson Holliday (Olivia de Havilland).