1864 After a huge battle and the brutal shelling of the population of Atlanta, Federal troops ("Yanks") take control of the city. Their plan is to use all of the goods remaining in the warehouse district of Atlanta to outfit their army for the upcoming March to the Sea, which they hope will end the War Between the States. Confederate spies move into the warehouse district, disguised as Yanks, to take stock of what is still there that might be of use to the army of the north. They find a lot. The word comes down from Confederate command to burn the entire district, destroying vast quantities of goods and uprooting hundreds of families that have been in the area for decades. "The Burning of Atlanta" is the story of the destruction of a major city near the end of the war, and the desperation and terror this causes in the lives of those who watch their entire society collapse around them.

　　福克納上校（理查德·伯頓 Richard Burton 飾）受雇于著名銀行家愛德華爵士（斯圖爾特·格蘭杰 Stewart Granger 飾），要去解救非洲自由斗士林班尼（Winston Ntshona 飾），然而，私下里，愛德華爵士和獨裁者切恩有一個秘密的交易，要以林班尼來交換非洲某國的銅礦開采權(quán)。
　　被蒙在鼓里的?？思{上校召集了昔日戰(zhàn)友，組建了一支戰(zhàn)斗力極強(qiáng)的敢死隊，命名為野鵝敢死隊，在經(jīng)過了一系列緊張的訓(xùn)練后，一行人躊躇滿志地踏上了他們的“戰(zhàn)場”。在成功解救林班尼，準(zhǔn)備撤離之時，福克納上校卻發(fā)現(xiàn)他們被本來該來接應(yīng)的運(yùn)輸機(jī)放了鴿子。聰明的福克納上校很快就明白了究竟發(fā)生了什么，現(xiàn)在最重要的，就是生存下去。