The setting is the countryside around Richmond, Virginia. The time is 1863, the middle of the United States Civil War. The Stafford family is aligned with the Confederacy, and the father, Major Stafford, is away fighting on Christmas Day. The Union Army has blockaded the area around the Stafford homestead, making Christmas shopping impossible.
The Major manages to get home before Christmas Day ends, but he has no presents, either. His three children, however, are unfazed, assuring him that Santa Claus is going to bring them everything they want next Christmas.
Throughout the year then-Colonel Stafford buys Christmas presents, but has no hope of delivering them through the Union lines in his Confederate uniform. He devises a plan to sneak through the lines dressed in civilian clothes, but is spotted, labeled a spy, and, even though he makes it home, the chase is on, and the outcome is not at all certain.
