Part 1 Summary

The story opens with a man standing on a railroad bridge, somewhere in northern Alabama, sometime during the American Civil War. The man is fixed to the spot, because his neck is in a noose. The man's hands are tied behind his back, and he is looking down into the water below. The rope around his neck is attached to a cross timber over his head. The footing is comprised of some slack boards, laid upon the railway supports. Four other men share this platform with him: two privates, a sergeant, and a captain, all from the Federal army. At either end of the bridge stand two sentinels. These two men do not appear to have anything to do with the impending execution. They simply block the ends of the bridge.

The only spectators are from a single company of infantry, in line...