In the shadow of an advancing front, a burial detail conducts its duties as a chaplain prepares to pray over the dead. However, the sad rituals are interrupted as a groan is heard from the newly dug graves and the fallen soldiers rise to their feet. Incensed at their plight, the men plead not to be buried in the saturated ground but instead ask to rejoin the living. As word of the insurrection spreads, the establishment seeks to suppress it.