In 1885, while his regiment is sent to the Sudan to battle the rebellious Dervish tribes, British Lieutenant Harry Faversham resigns his officer's commission in order to remain with his fiancée Mary Burroughs in England. His friends and fellow officers John Durrance, Peter Burroughs and Tom Willoughby brand him a coward and present him with the white feathers of cowardice. His fiancée, Mary, adds a fourth feather and breaks off their engagement. However, former Lieutenant Faversham decides to regain his honor by fighting in the Sudan incognito. He travels to the Sudan where he employs various guises and tricks to save the lives of his former fellow officers who branded him a coward. During the battle of Khartoum, Faversham leads a prison revolt in the enemy's fort, thus enabling General Kitchener's forces to take the city.