Martial law comes to town. An army posse arrives warning Marshall Gib Scott that there is intelligence that army deserters are on their way.
The town is in lockdown. It is Tim Potter who notices something amiss with one of the horses of the soldiers.
Clay Culhane finds himself outgunned and outnumbered. The posse are in fact deserters. They come into town and loot it.
Now the menfolk of the town including the Marshall are locked up in jail. Only Nora's crippled father is allowed in to stay in his room but he's up for a gunfight.
There is a clever premise here. Shades of Die Hard with Clay having to finish off the deserters by stealth. Dick Sargent plays one of the deserters.