After being away for six years fighting in the Civil War, John Sommersby - Jack in more familiar circumstances - returns to his home of Vine Hill, Tennessee, much to the surprise of his wife, Laurel Sommersby, for several reasons including that she had not heard from him over all that time assuming that he was probably dead. Jack also returns to their now adolescent son, Rob Sommersby, this man who is a complete stranger to him in his father having left when he was only an infant. Jack's return also halts what was Laurel's plan to declare him legally dead so that she could marry Orin Meacham, who she really does not love but who could provide a more stable life for her and Rob. As Jack settles back into life in Vine Hill including devising a plan to benefit the community as a whole to work the Sommersby land as a tobacco plantation collective with the ultimate intent to sell parcels of said land to who were sharecroppers, including many previous slaves, questions slowly begin to arise as to whether this man truly is Jack Sommersby, something that Laurel had questioned in private since the day of his return but that she did not openly state for her own personal reasons. As Jack holds steadfastly to his assertion that he is the one and only Jack Sommersby, he has to decide what to do when the life of whoever the true Jack Sommersby is placed in jeopardy, that decision regardless of his true identity.