This first major filmization of William C. DeMille's stage play The Warrens of Virginia was directed by DeMille's brother Cecil B. DeMille. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Virginia girl Agatha Warren (Blanche Sweet) is separated from her sweetheart Ned Burton (House Peters), who joins the Northern army. Months later, Burton, now a Yankee spy, infiltrates enemy territory to gather information on a Confederate supply train. Despite her loyalty to the Bars and Stars, Agatha allows Burton to hide in the Warren mansion. Only the end of the war saves Burton from capture and execution, at which time he and Agatha are tearfully reunited. Like the much-later Gone With the Wind, The Warrens of Virginia eschews expensive battlefield sequences, preferring to concentrate on the results and consequences of the Civil War.