The Passersby - Recap

Confederate soldiers are marching back from the Civil War. A battered Sergeant sees a woman sitting on the porch of her burned-out manor. He asks her for a glass of water and she invites him to go ahead. They talk about the devastation caused by the War and he asks to sit down for a bit and plays a song on his guitar. The woman, Lavinia, talks about her husband and admits that he was killed in the War. She clutches at her side in pain and cries at all the men going by, and begs the Sergeant to play louder so no one can hear her cry and she can't hear the sounds of the men on the road.



The Sergeant cuts some wood for the widow, who sees a man she knows walking by on the road. Thinking he had been shot through the head at Gettysburg, she runs out to the man, Charlie. She tells him to go home to see his wife just like she'd want her husband too, but Charlie is obsessed with continuing down the road to its end and barely seems to recognize her. As he continues on, Lavinia picks up his cap... covered in blood. Later, the Sergeant talks about how he went off to war to become a man and plays a song for her. She recognizes the song as one her husband played for her and she thinks back to the times they shared before the Yankees came and destroyed their lands. She asks the Sergeant what he thinks happened to the man who killed her husband, and he warns her not to think of it. She talks about having a gun in the house and killing the next Yankee she sees, but the Sergeant doesn't want to hear about any more bloodshed. They're interrupted when an officer on a horse rides up and asks for water. The Sergeant recognizes him as a Yankee lieutenant who saved his life. He goes to get Lavinia, who is ready to shoot the Yankee with her shotgun. The Sergeant tries to stop her but Lavinia pulls the trigger... and nothing happens. The Sergeant remembers that the lieutenant died that day when he was helping the Sergeant, blinded by shrapnel. He gives the lieutenant the water and then holds up the lantern to reveal the wounds on his face.



The next day, the Sergeant prepares to leave and explains that during the night he realized that all the men heading down the road, Yankee and Confederate alike, are heading somewhere and he wants to see what's there. She begs him to stay but her husband Jud arrives and they embrace. He explains that it's not his home any more and the Sergeant leaves to see what's up the road. Jud explains that he died in the War... and she died of fever. She refuses to go with him but he promises to wait for her at the end of the road and departs.



As Lavinia collapses on the road in grief, the last casualty of the Civil War approaches her: Abraham Lincoln. He comforts her as best he can but she backs away as he says he's the last man on the road. Finally coming to terms with the fact of her death, Lavinia runs after her waiting husband, and Abraham Lincoln follows her.



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