A sergeant takes charge of a US Cavalry regiment after senior officers are killed, and sets out on a journey through Apache territory to reach fresh water. However, the men begin to suspect their new commander has a personal vendetta against the natives and is leading them into a battle they cannot win. Western, starring Joel McCrea and Forrest Tucker.

New Mexico Territory, August 1879. The few surviving members of a cavalry column, which has been relentlessly decimated by the Apaches, attempt to reach Fort Crain. On their way through a hostile land, the obsessive and ruthless Sergeant Vinson takes to the limit the battered will of the troopers under his command.